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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.