The book suffered somewhat from my sparse reading of it, but when I sat down to finish it in a gulp, I thought it was far more interesting, and pretty heartbreaking. A family in which the genetic AND situational factors for depression are obviously passed down in the family. This is basically a book to help the author deal with his suffering without succumbing to the same fate of his relatives, even when his losses become even worse than what they have faced.

A light, fun read. Very odd, and probably not for the squeamish or prudish. Moore has a strange sense of humor, but if you get it, you get it. I enjoyed it and will continue reading Moore's books when I need a break from reality! I especially love Roberto, the Filipino bat who talks and wears sunglasses.

A description of the story makes it sound boring. But somehow, it really isn't. O'Nan manages to write about completely mundane, everyday topics and make it very interesting, and perfectly real. And this one's nice because it's short enough to read in one sitting, so you feel like you really experienced that last night with them. Nothing is forced (like a happy ending that seems false), everything seems right and true to life. I think it really says something about O'Nan's talent that he can take this story and make it so good.

Interesting to see how a manic person might lose their inhibitions and do stupid and irrational things. Once again, as I've noticed in a lot of these "dysfunctional" memoirs lately, I don't much like the way things are recalled and written about after the fact. There seems to be too much reconstruction, losing the realism. Still, interesting, and sad to see how the disease can basically ruin someone's ability to live a normal life.

I finally read this one! And, just as I expected, I did really like it. I don't think I loved it, but it was very, very good. I guess some people didn't like the "twist", and some people didn't like the ending. But it all worked for me. I even liked the movie (which I watched AFTER reading the book yesterday).

I thought this was a decent memoir, and would be very helpful for people who don't understand depression, or who have a family member with it. However, I didn't much like how it was presented. It was sort of like a journal, and in the present tense, but it was painfully obvious that it was written after the fact. Some things were presented too "prettily". Still, an interesting read, if you're interested in mental health.

I just picked this up on a whim. I tried several of the stories, and just found I didn't like them. They were just boring and too opaque. Felt like the author was trying too hard, maybe due to what some people call "too many workshops."

At first, I had a hard time with this, because I just didn't like the author (the father), and I've seen too many cases of addiction with parents just like this, so I was kind of sickened by the father's behavior and how he raised his son. But as I kept reading, I really did learn how desperate an addict's family can become, and how it can consume your life, until you're addicted to their addiction. What an awful experience. I still don't like the father much, but I do feel more compassion for him and his family, including his addicted son. Just an awful thing to happen to any family.

Another very dark one by Koppelman. This one had me wondering how much of it is really autobiographical (because she admitted that some of it is, although certainly not the ending). A very sad example of post-partum depression and how it can affect a whole family.

Wow. Dark. You never really figure out what Laney's problem is (though it's definitely hinted at), why she is so self-destructive, or even why her husband loves her so much. She's a despicable person, and she knows it, and she seems to revel in it. Like she doesn't deserve any better, she doesn't deserve to have a good life. She's a self-fulfilling prophecy with serious Daddy issues. I understood her (which I maybe shouldn't admit), but I did wish there had been a little bit more explanation, if not redemption.

Very quick read, despite the page number. Oddly, I actually enjoyed this more than the first book in the series. Although "dreamy" Edward is missing for most of the book, I enjoyed some of the back stories and the introduction of new characters....and werewolves! Bella wasn't quite as irritating (although she's still a damsel in distress..the feminist in me wants to roll her eyes quite a lot throughout the books). But the story definitely kept me interested, and the relationships between Bella and Jacob and between Charlie (Dad) and his friends seemed much more real. Most readers preferred Twilight to this, but being the rebel, I guess, I liked this one more.

Another book in my course in "The English Novel." This one had much deeper characters than I had encountered in the previous books. While most of it is predictable, there were lots of funny moments, and real emotion. Some awful people around, but also some very smart, gentle, well-behaved people that you could root for. Though it took me a long time to read (life gets in the way), I was actually interested in what happened to Evelina and those she cared about. Nice to see a heroine back then who had a brain, morals, beauty, and manners!

This one gets an A for concept, a C for execution. I thought it was just a mess! Especially the first half of the book. Admittedly, I listened to an audiobook, so I'm sure that made a difference. But I had a hard time telling what was actually going on at first. It seemed to slip between reality, dreams, hallucinations, and delusions without any indication of which was which. Or who was "speaking." I suspect that because it was originally self-published and then got a lot of word-of-mouth, by the time the big publishers came around, they didn't want to change it too much, but it needed some serious editing and rearrangement. Towards the end, the author kind of hit her stride, but it was work getting there.

This was definitely not something I would normally read, but I'd heard it was really good (especially for something written by THREE authors!), and I was surreptiously trying to force it on my sci-fi-loving but won't-listen-to-my-book-recs sort-of-ex-boyfriend. Well, he really liked it, and I thought it was pretty good. A different kind of story that kept me guessing and surprised me a number of times (not being the veteran sci-fi reader like the ex, who wasn't overly surprised). I was impressed by the inventiveness, and also the fact that the writing style didn't really vary, like I expected.

Apparently I'm some kind of heathen, because I didn't think this was such a great novel. It was bleak and sad and depressing, but those aren't bad things. I just didn't find it quite as chilling as other readers seem to have. I never felt much empathy for the characters, because they just didn't seem all that real to me. It was a disappointment to me.

I read this book many years ago (I don't remember when), and thought it was interesting. At the time I don't think I "got" all of it, but it has stuck with me enough that I've been able to understand it more as I have gotten older and learned more. An important book that is also an interesting read.

Not nearly as good as I expected this to be. It didn't focus on the book club as much as it focused on other things going on around them. It wasn't a bad book, just wasn't what I was wanting or expecting at the time.

I tried to read this book. I was so bored out of my skull, I think I've blocked the rest of it out. I thought it would be an interesting nonfiction book, and I could learn a lot from it. Not worth it.

I enjoyed this book, but I don't remember a whole lot about it. It was dark and sad, but also hopeful. And the girl was understandable for book lovers reading about her.