www.downwardspiral.com

It’s been awhile, my friends, and I’m sorry for that. I have been so busy reading that I have not been very busy sharing my thoughts with all of you on my literary conquests. I have read three more books in the last few weeks, and have mixed reviews. The first two that I read were good, but nothing to write home (or a whole blog) about. Jewel says that I have to at least mention them so you guys don’t think I’m lying about reading them. Okay, fine, I will. There were This is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper, and The Reading Group by Elizabeth Noble. They were both standard fiction books – somewhat heavy themes, but stirred in with a lot of fluff. Oddly enough, they both had themes of crazy dysfunctional families. A theme that I know well, and have been dealing with lately.  Not on a huge scale, but big enough that I think about selling some of my family members more than one time a week. But like I said in the blog before this, don’t we ALL have a crazy sibling? (Looks around as she is the only one who raises her hand…) Awkward…

Anyways – this brings me to the book that I finished last night. As I have said before, I am a sucker for a good memoir. That tends to be first place I go when looking for a good book. I love people’s first-hand accounts of their lives. I think it’s because it gives me a glimpse into something new and different – maybe something that I wish to accomplish, or something that I want to know about but obviously won’t/don’t want to/can’t experience it.

So this last book that I got the chance to read, Beautiful Boy by David Sheff, was a perfect read. It is all about David’s son’s downward descent into the crazy world of meth. He started as a well-behaved, bright young boy, and quickly becomes a completely different person, ensnared by the evils of drugs. I haven’t had a lot of experience with drugs. I haven’t even done any (smoking pot included), and none of my close friends have fallen into their traps. But I do know people who have had drug problems in the past, and have since changed their lives for the better. This book was a crushing book – it was extremely well written, and was infused with facts about addictions and the drugs themselves. There was no fluff in this book. It was all pure emotion – the love of a father for his son is a very raw, beautiful thing. I cannot wait to be a mother. And even when I read books like this, I can’t wait. I know that sounds strange – but reading about the love that the parents have for their child even through the craziest points in their lives, makes me realize how much I am yearning to be a mom and to be filled with that reverential awe for my child.

As I said before, drugs are a foreign territory to me. But one thing that struck a chord with me in this book is what Nic’s drug problems and disease did to his family – mainly his younger siblings. He would take off, and not show up to important things, and stole money from his little brother’s piggy bank. The kids knew what was happening with him, but they didn’t fully know the extent. But it was a scary and confusing thing for them to live through. I know how this is – I did the same thing with my brother. But with my brother, I don’t think it was drugs (still am not sure) – it was mainly violence and a rage and anger that he could not keep in check. It was getting kicked out of my house constantly, and smoking after saying how much he hated smoking, and hitting my mom and dad, and even scalding my dog. It was this erratic behavior that I could not fully wrap my mind around that was incomprehensible for a little girl – so reading this book, my heart ached for Jasper and Daisy, Nic’s younger siblings. I had been there to an extent. I had lain awake at night crying because I wasn’t sure where he was, and wanting him to come home and to be nice to my family. I hid things that were special to me in case they got broken or stolen. I was afraid to trust him when he seemed like he was in a good mood because I didn’t know how long it would last.

My brother has grown by leaps and bounds. He still makes decisions that I don’t like, but all family members do that. I’m not longer afraid of his anger. But like dealing with people with drug addictions, I am sure, it’s still eggshell city sometimes. I am always afraid that the old Aaron will come back – and sometimes shades of him do, but never like it used to be.

I highly recommend reading this book. David’s son, Nic (the one who the book is about) has a book called Tweak that I am planning on checking out soon. I want to see the story from his angle.

I am in the middle of three others books too… Hahaha… I’m out of control! So that’s what, 9 books now since September 1? Not bad, Mandy, no bad! Only 43 to go! -Mandy

Amazing book. Read it now.

www.thesequeliscoming.com

Dear Diary,

It’s been a long time since I’ve written.  Just a quick update- my crush talked to me the other day!  He told me that my shirt wasn’t ugly today!  It was so so awesome!  He even looked me in the eyes as he said it!  My life is complete.

Wait, I just realized something.  This is not my diary.  Oh my gosh.  My life is ruined.  I don’t have a delete button on this thing. 

OHMYGOSH. 

Anyways, I know I haven’t written on here in awhile either.  I apologize.  I’m just pretty important, and my life is pretty busy.  Actually, you must know that I’m kidding here, but in reality, I have been pretty busy, and this blog did take a backseat, and now I come humbly back.  Since I last wrote, I have read two books, and am halfway through my third.  See, I have been super-stressed, and my way to escape is to read.  It’s definitely been a help in these last few weeks. 

The two books I read have both been sequels- “the Girl Who Played with Fire” by Stieg Larsson (sequel to “the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”) and “Catching Fire” by Suzanne Collins (sequel to “the Hunger Games”).  “The Girl Who Played with Fire” was okay.  I really don’t want to spend time talking about it though.  But “Catching Fire” was pretty amazing.  But truthfully, I don’t really feel inspired to talk about it either. 

One thing that did come to mind during reading both of them though, was the idea of a sequel.  It made me think about my life, and if my life was a book, where the writing would stop and then start again as a sequel.  Would my life be parceled into different times of schooling?  Would it be when I survived hard struggles?  Or has my sequel even begun yet?  Will it be when I find the love of my life?  When I have kids?  Will my life be an entire series of books (ala Anne of Green Gables, aka the best series of all time?).

If I had to split my life into two books, I don’t know where the divide would be.  It’s quite possible that it would be between high school and college.  I feel like I experienced a lot in my younger life, but it was in college and after that I pulled the knowledge from those life experiences and was able to become a more complete person.  But then, that just sounds like one book.

In a lot of ways, I feel like I’m still waiting for my sequel to start.  I’ve put so much work into my life, finding my way and becoming the person that I think people want me to be, expect me to be, and I am waiting, and waiting, and hoping for something to start.  I just don’t know what.  When does life start?  How do you start a new chapter…or more importantly, start a sequel?  Hopefully I will have lots of time in my life, and lots of experiences to fill lots of books.  But for now, I will just settle with trying to remember to write new blog entries…

Thank you all for being part of the book of my life.  <3

www.dontweallhaveacrazysibling?.com

See, I have this friend. Her name is Jewel. You may have heard of her. No, not the singer - Jewel, my best friend. She was supporting me in my library adventure the day that she issued this challenge to me, and she grabbed a book and handed it to me and walked away. It was a book that I had already seen the movie for a - movie that I loved. And guess what Jewel says? "The book is way better."

Hmm... I'll be the judge of that! Okay, I was honestly expecting it to be better. It usually is, as we well know.

The book? The one that turned out to be book #5?

In Her Shoes, by Jennifer Weiner.

If you don't know the premise, I will give you the super quick synopsis: A slightly frumpy girl and a super gorgeous girl are sisters. Their mother died when they were young, and the frumpy one is constantly taking care of the beautiful sister. And she doesn't have very good self esteem, but she's got a great life. And her sister seems to be constantly messing up... Throw in some shoes, some dogs, some men, and wackiness ensues. Read the book to find out more.. or the movie if you are lame. :P Actually, they are both good.

This book really made me think about my brother and myself. My brother Aaron is 6 years older than me, and to say that we are different is an understatement. We chose totally different paths in life, have done different things, achieved different milestones. It's shocking when my friends meet him to know that we are related, because we are like oil and vinegar. So the relationship between the sisters, Maggie and Rose, in this book really hit me.

My brother and I are so different, yet so alike in the sense that we know exactly what buttons to push to piss the other off (as most siblings do.) There is no person in the world that can get me as fired up as my brother. He brings out a side of me that I hate sometimes - he is the only person that I can remember full out screaming out in my lifetime. And not just sibling banter - worse. Terrible, mean, things. Not unwarranted, but still, terrible. I can still feel myself in that moment, thinking that I hated who I was right then and pissed at him for bringing me to that level.

But just like Maggie and Rose, who go through a terrible fight in this book and go their seperate ways for awhile, I have the weirdest soft spot for this crazy brother of mine. And I know that in a heartbeat he would be there for me, because he constantly has. Okay, so maybe his way of making me feel better is asking me if I want to sell drugs to make friends, or telling me that he will have someone killed. But still - when he really means it, he really means it. He has had a really hard year - my whole family has had a weird year. And my brother is still standing, which is impressive. Sometimes when it feels like I am about to watch him crumple, he pulls himself out of the mess. Just like Maggie in this book... I watch how Rose, the older sister, takes care of Maggie so well and I think about my brother and I, even though I am the younger one. I make fun of him, and roll my eyes at him, and don't approve of his decisions, but I do love him.

I think that we all have people in our lives that we will have that soft spot for no matter what... We all have someone, be it a family member or a friend that no matter what happens, and no matter how many times we say to ourselves "if he threatens to put me in a bucket one more time, I'm outta here (no? just me?)", we stick around. Maybe it's because we have a great neice and two great nephews in the mix. Maybe it's because we know that no matter what, we both care. And maybe it's because we're not so different when it boils down to it. Maybe it's because we are both doing the best that we can for ourselves and for each other, and we can both respect that without always agreeing with it.

So this book? A+.

I also read another one, called the Magicians, which I loved at first but then got stupid. I stumbled through it so I wouldn't be a quitter. And now I'm on to book #7.

Good recommendation, Jewel. :)

Anyone have anymore recommendations for me? Anyone? Anyone?

It's a trick. You can't click to look inside. I jacked this picture from Amazon. oops!