This post contains affiliate links. I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.

The Sunday Post is a chance to recap the past week, talk about next week, tell you what I’m reading, and share news. It’s hosted by The Caffeinated Book Reviewer, Readerbuzz, and Book Date.

The Sunday Post #284

On The Blog Last Week

• On Tuesday we talked about which bestsellers are worth reading.

On The Blog This Week

• On Tuesday I have a book haul.

In My Reading Life

Nonfiction November continues!

I finished Cursed Objects: Strange But True Stories Of The World's Most Infamous Items by J.W. Ocker. It was a nice change from the depressing nonfiction I usually read. The book delivers exactly what the title promises. The author travels to museums and to the depths of the Internet to find "cursed" objects that are linked to death, destruction, or misfortune. The history of each object is told in 2-4 pages, which makes the book a quick read. The writing style is upbeat, and the objects are weird and fascinating. I enjoyed it. It's obvious that the author is passionate about cursed objects and had a lot of fun researching their history. If you're shopping for holiday gifts, this book is perfect for the history lovers in your life. It's quirky and memorable. Actually, it reminds me of collections of folktales or campfire stories. The stories of curses are ridiculous and easily disproven by historical research, but they're fun in a spooky way.

My biggest complaint is the lack of photographs. I know it's probably expensive or impossible to get permission from museums to publish photos, but I really wanted to see the objects. The book has illustrations, but it's not the same. I want to see the creepy junk!

After a brief foray into joy, I scampered back to my depressing comfort zone. I finished No One Cares About Crazy People: The Chaos And Heartbreak Of Mental Health In America by Ron Powers. This book is part memoir, part American history textbook. Both of the author's sons were diagnosed with schizophrenia. The memoir chronicles his struggle to get them help in a country where "no one cares about crazy people." He examines the history of mental health care in America and the different ways that doctors and the government have tried (and spectacularly failed) to help mentally ill people. The book isn't completely bleak, though! The author is optimistic about how recent scientific breakthroughs will help mentally ill people in the future.

I have mixed feelings about this one. The historical information is great. I learned a lot, especially about the anti-psychiatry movement and how influential they were in shaping public opinion about mental health care. I appreciate the information, but I'm not a fan of the author's writing style. It's pretentious and self-indulgent. I understand that he loves his children, but do we really need deep dives into song lyrics they wrote? Or endless emails praising them for their good grades? I found myself skimming over the memoir to get back to the historical information.

I also think the book could have benefitted from interviews with other families of mentally ill children. The author (somewhat) kept his sons safe by sending them to boarding schools, buying them a house, finding them great doctors, and driving all over the country to rescue them when they got in trouble. How is the mental health care experience different for families who can't do those things?

This book is worth reading for the historical information, but I found myself getting frustrated with the author at times. I think his emotional investment in the subject prevented him from writing a balanced book about it.

Then, I read a graphic novel: My Friend Dahmer by Derf Backderf. It's a memoir written and illustrated by serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer's high school friend. I saw the movie adaptation last year and loved it. The book and movie do an amazing job of showing Dahmer's troubled teenage years without making him a likeable character. I love how the author contrasts his normal teenage life with Dahmer's extremely abnormal teenage life. There were many times when someone could have stepped in and questioned Dahmer's bizarre behavior, but people are so caught up in their own problems and successes that we don't really pay attention to each other. Hindsight is 20/20, right? If you're interested in crime, I highly recommend the book and movie. The book is sad and unsettling, but since the events all occur before Dahmer became a killer, it's not gory.

I know the book is focused on Dahmer, but I wish the author had slightly more self-awareness. As a teen, he was a jerk who exploited Dahmer for his own entertainment. (Actually, you could argue that he's still exploiting Dahmer by writing this book.) It's not the author's fault that Dahmer killed people, and it wasn't the author's job to save Dahmer when they were teenagers, but I wonder if hindsight changed how the author sees his own behavior. That's the only issue I have with the book. It's a fascinating memoir. I think it's worth reading as a cautionary tale.

Right now, I'm back to happy nonfiction. I'm reading Unmentionable: The Victorian Lady's Guide To Sex, Marriage, And Manners by Therese Oneill. So far, it's irreverent and fun. I love the old photos and advertisements.

In The Rest Of My Life

Five things that made me happy last week:

1. Who's excited about Thanksgiving? Me!
2. Baby Brooklyn has a hard time with the "R" sound, so she mispronounces "Christmas" as "Pissmas." I'm immature enough to find it hilarious.
3. We're in that strange time of year where nobody knows how to decorate their house. Houses in my neighborhood have Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas decorations up. We're living in festive times, people.
4. I've been working hard on my Pinterest account. It's back up to 1 million monthly viewers. Please follow me on Pinterest! I'll love you forever.
5. I finished my 5-week training plan for running. It was supposed to make me run a faster 5K. That didn't happen, but I finished it! I'm just doomed to be a slow runner.

Join My Book Cult

  Pinterest || Bloglovin’ || Goodreads || Instagram || Twitter || Donate || Wish List

Take care of yourselves and be kind to each other. See you around the blogosphere!