Curled Up With a Good Book and a Cup of Tea

On April 20, 1999, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold walked into their high school in Littleton, Colorado and committed what would forever be remembered as one of the worst high school shootings in America. Twelve students and one teacher died and twenty-four were injured before the boys took their own lives.  In the days, months, and years that followed many questions were asked about how such a horrific incident could have happened. People looked for places to lay the blame and they did so everywhere they could find. One of those places was on the parents, and Dylan’s mother Sue completely understands why. For the last sixteen years, she has wondered how her loving and caring son could turn into a hateful and violent young man. She asked herself, like many others did, how could she not have known that something was wrong? She spent years searching for clues she might have missed and answers she would never find. A Mother’s Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy , by...

In the 1980’s, a young mixed-race woman moves from Canada to Germany in search of a new life. Berlin is full of dreamers, artists, and travellers, and Ruby Edwards quickly finds her place amongst them. She is able to break free from her overbearing family and the claustrophobia of her all-white neighbourhood in Canada and discover the person that she was meant to be. But just as Ruby is finding her place and building her life, she finds herself hospitalized for mental illness. As she leans on her family and her tight-knit community she is able to fight her way through it but for Ruby it is something that she will be fighting every day of her life. Café Babanussa , by Karen Hill, is a moving and heartbreaking novel based on the authors own life experience of race, immigration, and mental illness.  It is especially poignant knowing that Hill passed away a year before it was published and was never able to see the finished product hit the shelves.  This was an anti...

At the age of 24, writer Matt Haig found himself standing at the edge of a cliff, wanting to jump off. In Reasons to Stay Alive he shares why he didn’t jump and how he learned to live with the anxiety and depression that had brought him to that point. The statistics show that 1 in 5 people will deal with mental health issues at some point in their life. But how it presents itself is different for each person and that can often make it difficult to talk about.. Those who are going through it feel as if they are the only person who has ever felt like that.  Those who have a loved one experiencing it feel at a loss of how to help them. This is a book that will help everyone. A few years back, I struggled with anxiety. I did not understand it, nor did I talk to anyone about it and for quite a few months I suffered in silence until it turned into a depressive episode. That is where I sought medical help that changed everything for me. But even as I worked my way through it, ...

Fourteen-year-old Audrey has been struggling with an anxiety disorder since a terrible incident at school.  Though she has been making progress with the help of her psychologist, she still keeps herself hidden away, preferring the dark provided to her by the sunglasses she constantly wears. But when a friend of her brother named Linus initiates contact with her, she finds herself having feelings she had long forgotten.  At first, Linus is someone she can talk to, but very quickly he becomes so much more.  As Audrey’s recovery gains momentum, she finds herself making a romantic connection she never expected.  But is Audrey moving faster than her family and doctor think she should be and will it ultimately help or harm her recovery? Finding Audrey is the first Young Adult novel from celebrated author Sophie Kinsella and is a heart-warming, sweet novel that readers of all ages will love. I read this book, not just because I’m a huge fan of everything Kin...