Wow. This was a HARD read. It took me two months to parse through because it brought up so many strong emotions. But it is so important. If you want to learn about race in America, read this book.

This was the second time I read Casual Vacancy, and it struck the same deep chords it struck the first time. It is gritty, it is real, and it is multi-faceted. This book should be REQUIRED reading for all social workers. The depth and characterization is incredible, and this book shows all people act from an array of different motives and circumstances. Very little is what it seems on face value. Casual Vacancy shows the shades of grey of every person. It is tragic, but there is beauty in the darkness.

This was a very different sort of book. I felt it was pretty good, but jerky in places, by necessity because of the format chosen. The richness of the main character's world is fantastic, though. I would have loved for there to be some companion chapters from perspectives of others in Christopher's life, such as his parents or his classroom aide.

WHOA. This book, my first Ness experience, was phenomenal. The intersectionality, the characterization, the look at how the non-Chosen-Ones deal with catastrophes in their world...all fantastic. I loved the look at mental illnesses. I loved the look at LGBT issues. It was fantastic.

This was an amazing book. It was heartbreaking and raw and real and it is so fascinating watching the lifetime of a person born in the late 1890s who lived through WWI, the 1918 flu, the Great Depression, WWII, and beyond. The innovation in that time was incredible, and seeing it all through someone's lived experience is so valuable. If I had one qualm, it is that race wasn't touched on much at all, but this is a fictionalized memoir of a woman who, it seems, had little to no contact with African Americans, so that made sense. It was a wonderful listen on Audible. Lots of tears. Lots of smiles. Lots of feelings.

Just phenomenal.

This book is pretty darn phenomenal. His story, from the years he's lived to the people he's known to the songs he's written, is real, raw, and beautiful. I've always loved Willie, and now I love him even more.

Absolutely a phenomenal read. Anyone interested in the rise in antidepressant and related medications in youth in the 1990s and 2000s should read this book. Part memoir, part sociological cross-section of society, this was a beautifully put-together book on the complexities of treating mental illness, both with medications, with therapy, and with a combination of the two. It focuses on young people being treated with medications and how it impacts the quest all young people go on to find themselves. It is carefully done and covers all opinions and facets. Marvelous book. Researched and digestible. I would assign this book in a social work & mental health 101 or a psychology 101 class for sure.

I enjoyed this book, but I'm not rating it higher because it took me months to read. I kept getting distracted by other books, which tells me that as much as I liked the storyline, it wasn't hooking me. I suspect it's partially the lack of chapters in the Kindle edition (not sure if Terry Pratchett did chapter headings in his hardcopy books or not as I've only read them on the Kindle so far). At any rate, I enjoyed the social commentary immensely. I love the philosophical edge of Pratchett books.

For what it is, I am remarkably impressed with Meet Addy. The descriptions of slavery are harrowing when one considers 7-10-year-olds are reading this book. And the tone of hope pervades it, even in moments of desperation. I never got to Addy as a little girl, because I was bound and determined to read the books in historical order (at the time - Felicity, Josephina, Kirsten, Addy, Samantha, Molly), and by the time I got through Kirsten and wanted to get into Addy, I couldn't find all 6 books. So I'm reading them now, but it is well worth the wait. A quick read for an adult, but I'm so impressed with how slavery is discussed. It may be more accurate and less whitewashed than many elementary school history texts.