Loganberryblog

Sara Collins’ debut novel, The Confessions of Frannie Langton, is simultaneously the heir to Sarah Waters and Toni Morrison that I’m always looking for, and also a completely new voice and incandescent love story I didn’t know I needed.

The person of slave-turned-English lady’s maid, Frannie, that Collins brings to life is so passionate and singular, I followed along breathlessly as much for her voice and keen vision of the her world (a world bent on destroying her) as to untangle the horrible crimes at the heart of her life. This is literary historical fiction at its best: a portrayal of an ostensibly different time and place that catches the reader off-guard with its immediacy and familiarity of human experience. To boot, Frannie and Marguerite’s love story is the most dazzling and unforgettable I’ve encountered in a very long time.

We are in the process of revitalizing our social sciences section, and there are two new, and one upcoming, psychology books in particular that I have found are wonderful reads!

1. The Collected Schizophrenias, by Esme Weijun Wang.  I cannot recommend this book enough!  Esme details her struggles with both schizoaffective disorder and chronic illness, relating her personal demons to the greater world.  Her essays cover everything from the failure of the higher educational system to appropriately deal with students’ mental illnesses, to medical disagreements over the form and function of diagnoses, to issues with the mental hospital system; but also go into great (and spooky) detail on her various psychoses and how it affects how she presents herself to the world.  For anybody wanting to understand either a person with severe mental illness, or the forces they are fighting against, this book is quite enlightening.  (Available Now)

2.  Never Enough, by Judith Grisel.  When it comes to addiction, there are many competing theories and it can be hard to make sense of it all.  Judith has written a book that condenses the latest research on how addiction affects the brain, as well as presenting chapters on each class of drug that explains exactly how they affect the brain and the person taking them, making it so that there is “never enough” of a drug for an addict.  Her book contains snippets of her personal experience, as she was addicted for many years prior to sobering up and getting into neuroscience, and she also suggests public policy reforms that are more in line with the latest research.  Highly recommended for anybody in recovery, anybody who knows an addict, those who work with the addicted population, and those in public service who have the power to change policies that hurt addicts – who are just people with broken brains.  (Available Now)

3.  The Wisdom of Anxiety, by Sheryl Paul.  Like many adults in the United States, I have suffered with anxiety for a significant portion of my life.  If you also fit into this category, this book is for you!  Sheryl reveals that those feelings of anxiety that we want to hide from are actually signals from the body that are trying to tell us that something is wrong.  Whether that something is internal or external, Sheryl is here to help with a combination of Jungian theory and practical exercises designed to increase mindfulness and access the body’s hidden knowledge.  She explains how various life transitions can increase anxiety – everything from the changing of day into night to the fear of death.  Learning that many other people have anxiety about the same things that I do was rather comforting in itself!  I have also been finding the exercises she prescribes to be immensely useful; I feel that my anxiety has decreased dramatically since I got a hold of this book and started to discover my inner wisdom (thanks, Harriett!)  (Available May 28, 2019)

–Reviews by Julie

When you read the words “zombie apocalypse,” you probably think you’re in for a gory fright-fest. But Beverly Williams’ post-apocalyptic novel Survival Kit’s Apocalypse is less about the horrors of its zombified world and more about the exquisitely personal terrors of trauma—and the relationships that can help heal them.  

            In this character-driven novel, the titular heroine Kit is fleeing both from the novel’s zombies (called “rotters,” a mostly standard interpretation of the classic monsters, albeit with hints at a twist in their origins) and from a hideously violent past. Almost preternaturally capable but psychologically stunted, as a protagonist Kit is relatable if not quite likeable. Her past traumas are treated with sensitivity and humanity by the author, but are still quite disturbing to read about as they are revealed slowly throughout the novel. The physical and emotional scars of her twisted upbringing are excavated through the relationships she develops when she arrives at a camp of survivors. There, she is drawn out of her shell by survivalist heartthrob Eric and his brothers Thom and Matt. The siblings also come from an abusive household, so they can relate to Kit as she struggles to not only live in this new world, but to thrive and belong.

            Scenes of head-popping rotter encounters and survivalist tactics are interspersed with slower, more nuanced set pieces in which Williams deftly develops the relationships between Kit and the other survivors, using quotes from favorite songs and authors to organize the scenes thematically. In addition to Kit’s struggles with self-harm and thoughts of suicide, she also experiences moments of joy as she develops her first-ever romantic relationship with Eric, finds a new friend after saving the meek but resilient Sam from her abusive boyfriend, and begins exploring what happiness and family might look like in the aftermath of societal breakdown.

As the camp members realize that the rotters are not the only threat they face, Williams brings home a central theme: humanity can be more monstrous than any supernatural creature.

While there were moments when I would have preferred greater emphasis on pulse-pounding action and fright over deep-thinking exposition, Survival Kit’s Apocalypse is ultimately a page turner which is deeply invested in its characters, and as a reader I couldn’t help but worry about Kit and her strange, eccentric new family. Although I came into the book expecting a thrilling tale of terror, in reality it is a surprisingly subtle parable of hope, home, and healing.

Survival Kit’s Apocalypse: Survival Kit #1 by Beverly Williams. Published 2017 by Curiosity Quills Press. 366 pp.

Review by Carmen Tracey.

     With sparseness and simplicity, Comics For A Strange World, reminds us of the beautiful absurdity in being alive. Whether the narrator is a smoking ghost, a caveman or a pigeon, Farazmand uses blunt honesty to delve into both common situations and bizarre adventures .
      The comics first generated a huge following on the internet and since then he has been able to turn his ideas into two books: the first, Poorly Drawn Lines was a NYT bestseller. Leaving very few topics untouched, he slyly comments on our internet obsessed culture (the pigeon goes online), our escalating culture of violence (a squirrel buys a gun) and religion (God gets called out for being an old man in a bathrobe).
      For fans of The Far Side, Sara Scribbles or Hyperbole and a Half, this book is not to be missed. Matthew Inman (best selling author of The Oatmeal) says it best when he describes Farazmand’s work as “Walk(ing) the line between deeply poignant and laugh-out-loud funny.”

When Breath Becomes Air
by Paul Kalanithi
Random House, January 12, 2016

With a message both mournful and life-affirming, When Breath Becomes Air chronicles a young doctor’s journey from literature student to promising neurosurgeon and finally to a patient in his own hospital after being diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer. Always profound, never sentimental, this important book refuses to take refuge in platitudes, instead facing mortality with honesty and humility. Written in engaging prose and filled with penetrating insights, this story is relevant to everyone and will captivate fans of memoir, literature, philosophy, and popular science alike. Lyrical passages of great beauty and vulnerability are deftly balanced by bright, candid moments of joy and even humor. Come prepared with plenty of tissues; over and over again this exquisite book will break your heart. This is a great choice for fans of Atul Gawande’s Being Mortal. You can read more and buy the book here.

Dietland by Sara Walker Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, May 26, 2015

Who has ever read a fashion magazine, contemplated a diet, bought a lipstick? This book is for you! The heroine is Plum, not yet 30 but already a veteran of the fight to measure up to body images popularized in contemporary culture. Her book is funny but wise, a romp through the opposing worlds of a media-hyped lifestyle industry and feminist-inspired war against violence and pornography. Plum writes answers to questions emailed by readers to Kitty, the publisher of a magazine for teens. She grew up in Los Angeles, went to college in VT, lives in Brooklyn, and dreads monthly visits to the glitzy Manhattan headquarters of the media empire that employs her. Strange encounters lead her to stranger discoveries in the basement of this corporate skyscraper. Mystery, danger, drama, pathos, absurdity, enlightenment follow. Whether enjoyed as a diversion while walking a treadmill or devoured while propped in a recliner, this book will deliver great pleasure, many laughs, and satisfying insights. I loved it!