Review: The Incomplete Book of Running

Most people who know The Incomplete Book of Running author Peter Sagal know him as the host of the decades-long running NPR show Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me! But I must confess I’m one of the few running fanatic oddballs who knew him first as a columnist in Runner’s World magazine. I always liked his articles, as he identified as an “amateur” runner. New to running, I could identify with that and quickly came to laugh at and enjoy all the silliness and embarrassing components of running he wrote about, like the inevitable, but unexpected, undesirable “egress” that will inevitably happen when you’re running near the woods and nowhere near a suitable toilet. I could also identify with his description of the power and high of finishing a quality run or setting a new PR in a race. After continuing to read his columns for some time, I was not at all surprised when he wrote in one issue that this would be his final column, that he felt he was no longer properly representing the true “amateur” runner anymore. I agreed. This was a guy who started as an amateur, but had very quickly gone on to run many marathons with objectively speedy finish times. And yet, I knew I would miss his columns.

Boy, was I surprised when years later, I discovered the Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me! podcast and put all the pieces together that the host of the weekly news quiz podcast was same Peter Sagal whose columns I’d lovingly read years ago. So when I finally stumbled upon his book, The Incomplete Book of Running, I knew I would love it. And I was right.

His memoir revolves around running and how he came to it as a boy, how he fell off the habit during the family-building years of adulthood and how somehow it reeled him back. He writes about his quest to PR in the marathon. He writes about the marathons that were completely unfocused on finishing time, but instead focused on running with people with physical handicaps. He writes about his experience running the Boston Marathon in 2013 when the bombing happened. He writes about jumping into races he wasn’t signed up for and the consequences he face when he was so transparent about his frowned-upon misdeed.

Some parts of his book seemed familiar to me, particularly the section about “egress” when you run, and I wondered if parts of this book were made up of some of the columns he’d written in Runner’s World. It wouldn’t surprise me, and it seems like a highly effective way to take on writing a memoir. Hey, if you’ve already done the writing, why not re-use it?

All of these little running anecdotes I expected and loved. It tempts me to say if you’re not a runner, you may not like this book. But then I think about the other stuff that’s also in his book: the depression, the anxiety, the end of a marriage, the body image issues and disordered thinking about food and fitness, a second shot at love, coming to terms with his childhood, coming to terms with his parenting, forming friendships, building community. The Incomplete Book of Running is a reference to the famous running book, The Complete Book of Running by James E. Fixx. But it’s also incomplete because it’s not completely about running; it’s about how running affects all the other stuff in your life, and the other stuff in your life affects running.

And then I realize this book probably is for everyone. After all, it made me cry, which most books do not do. There has to be more to a book than running to make me cry. To make me cry, a book has to have heart. And inspire. And this one does both, in spades.

Buy The Incomplete Book of Running in paperback for $11.87.

Or on your Kindle for $13.99.

Review: Popism: The Warhol Sixties

Andy Warhol is an artistic icon, a legend in the art world, photography, film industry and pop culture. He’s known for the big risks he took in pop art and being one of the few artists to become a household name by becoming a celebrity in his own right in the 1960s. I’ve always been fascinated by him because, quite frankly, who hasn’t, with his silver white hair, oddities, fangirling around with the most beautiful models of yesteryear and successful Marilyn Monroe and tomato soup pieces of art? But after visiting The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, I realized there’s a lot I didn’t know about him. So I picked up this book, maybe or maybe not realizing in that moment that he co-authored it. Written years later, Warhol and co-author Pat Hackett detail what it was like to be Andy Warhol in the 1960s.

He spent most of his time in New York but of course made big trips to Los Angeles too. But he was a city boy through and through, and The Factory in New York was his biggest canvas. The Factory was where Andy lived during this time and hosted dozens and dozens – no, maybe hundreds or thousands of parties? I say thousands because practically everyday and eveyr night was a party at The Factory. He writes that people would just show up. Sometimes he knew them. Sometimes he didn’t. But always, it was fun. Until the end.

What’s interesting about Warhol’s writing in Popism is that it’s just as you would expect. Fairly nonchalant and matter-of-fact like a blase journal entry, and yet, there are tonal shifts in these moments of pure poignancy that remind us why Andy Warhol is one of the most iconic artists of all time for a reason. At the end of a paragraph, he’ll make a statement full of deep meaning that clues the reader into just how observant Warhol really was, and how even though he was so “cool” and “nonchalant,” things mattered to him just as much as the next person. Warhol was never too cool to feel.

Popism is extremely detailed and assures me that Warhol had so much of his life documented. That’s the only way he could have remembered all the shenanigans, all the pranks, all the art, the people, parties, trips, drugs, and extravagances. The time he was shot. The friends who disappeared and later died. The book may be best for those who lived through that time, who would be more familiar with some of the mega name drops throughout the memoir. But anyone who reads it will be fascinated by the lifestyle, whether they recognize those name drops or not. And everyone can appreciate the warmth, yet distance Warhol holds in his heart for the fun times of youth before they turn sour and the ability to look back on those times with the benefit of age and wisdom, knowing when to leave it behind and grow up.

Get Popism in paperback for $6.99.

Or on your Kindle for $13.99.

Review: Naturally Tan

In my ongoing theme of reading Queer Eye stars’ memoirs before watching the latest season of the show (no, I still haven’t gotten around to it; there are a lot of shows to watch!), I read Tan France’s memoir in quick succession after reading JVN’s. Anticipating it to be not-so-great after reading and not loving JVN’s, Naturally Tan turned out to be a pleasant and vast improvement in the way of QE books. Naturally Tan is as fabulous as the author himself. Maybe I shouldn’t have been so surprised after all. Tan France, as we know from the show, is fashionable, prim, proper, soft-spoken and kind. From his memoir, we also learn he’s an intellect who is extremely in touch with his feelings, self-aware, and lives with intent and love. His showcases all this through his book, which is much more than just a memoir.

It’s part memoir, part self-help, part fashion how-to with chapters about him and his life growing up gay and brown in England interspersed with “PSAs” about little black somethings, T-shirts and accessories as well as life advice asides about not gossiping in the workplace and dating dos-and-don’ts. If it seems like that might be a lot to mix into one book or if it seems like that might become a jumbled mess, it actually isn’t and doesn’t. With the bullying and rebellion Tan went through growing up as a brown outsider, the love he found in his partner and the the no-bullshit approach he’s taken to become an extremely successful business owner and TV personality, the reader quickly trusts him with every piece of advice he offers. After reading about his businesses and the hard work he put into building them, including hiring associates, his chapter on not gossiping with or about coworkers affected me and made me want to be a kinder, more generous employee. His chapters about clothes made me re-think my closet. Even his dos and don’ts of dating forced me to consider the way I treat my partner and myself.

When a person you respect offers advice, you’re more inclined to listen. Naturally Tan enforces – or if you’ve watched Queer Eye, reinforces – that Tan is a person to not only be respected, but admired. He may only be 40 years old, but he’s lived quite some life, one worth writing a memoir about and one worth reading about.

Get Naturally Tan in hardcover for $18.20.

Or on your Kindle for $11.99.

Review: Over The Top

With the new season of Queer Eye about to be released, it felt only fitting to spend my time leading up to it reading the first memoir from Queer Eye star Jonathan Van Ness (JVN). The title for the memoir is perfect as anyone, including JVN himself, would describe Jonathan Van Ness as over the top. The flamboyant hairdresser has become known on the show for his outspoken, loud praise and positivity, luscious locks and unforgiving, strong style choices and affinity for abbreviating words (“ferosh,” anyone?).

If you’ve watched Queer Eye on Netflix, you already know a little about JVN and his background, as the show best quality is its showcasing of each star and hero’s vulnerability. JVN even went to his old high school in one of the episodes. So we know he grew up closeted in a small town, became a hairdresser, went viral with his reviews of Games of Thrones and ultimately got cast in Queer Eye, undeniably the biggest break of his life. What I didn’t know before reading his memoir was that he was abused as a young child, he battled years and years of addiction to not only drugs but also sex, spent several stints in rehab and was dead broke. His story is sad and powerful. The fact that he’s not only come out the other side, but achieved the level of success he has is beyond commendable. That is not to be denied.

That said, while the content of JVN’s memoir and personal story is tragically and empoweringly gripping, his writing is rough around the edges. His memoir is at some points chronological and some points not, making some sections tough to follow. Instead of taking me back to childhood years to write about his stepdad, I would have preferred to learn about him when I was still reading about the childhood years. And while good writing is supposed to show, not tell, JVN’s does the opposite. There are times when he writes as if he’s trying to public a self-help book and share tidbits he’s learned along the way. For instance, he writes about how hard it is to stay positive but he does it anyway. I found myself asking “well how do you continue to stay positive? What are you doing that evokes positivity? What is it still so hard? What are you still battling? How does that come up for you?” Because the reader isn’t getting the full breadth of what he’s trying to say here, these sections that are clearly trying to make the reader feel hopeful and inspired fell flat. It felt very much like he was glossing over some of the hardships, as if he was still uncomfortable sharing details or is maybe still in the thick of it. But if that’s the case, I’d prefer him to be honest about that instead of writing a page-and-a-half of fake inspo.

I wonder if I would have enjoyed the book more on audio. I assume he reads it himself, and the book is so written in his language, that I imagine I would have laughed a lot and gotten a kick out of it. Maybe that’s it. Maybe JVN’s book is a just a perfect parallel of his own messiness that you just have to be fully in it with him, having him write and speak it into your ears, to enjoy the ride. But if you’re not, it’s probably not worth buying a ticket.

Get Over The Top on your Kindle for $11.99.

Book vs. Limited Series: From Scratch

The Netflix limited TV series “From Scratch” blew up and was all over my social media feed when it debuted last fall. Women seemed to be head-over-heels for the dramatic love story about a black American and white Italian man who meet, fall in love, start a life together and face cancer. But because I was watching other streaming shows at the time, I made the decision to hold off on watching the series until after I read the book first – and what a good decision that was.

Don’t get me wrong. The series is good! There’s a reason it was so successful. Zoe Saldana is amazing as the lead character, Amy, who studies abroad in Italy and falls for Lino, the handsome chef. Saro eventually follows Amy back the United States, where they marry as she builds her life as an artist and gallerist and he, as a chef. Midway through the series, Lino becomes ill. Despite being so young, he and Amy discover he has a rare form of cancer. The first half of the series focuses on their budding romance. The second half dives into their joint fight against cancer. But throughout all of it, there is love, Italy, the joining of two families from literally opposite sides of the worlds and also opposite sides of the emotional spectrum. While Amy’s family embraces Lino, though not necessarily his food in the beginning, Lino’s family is hesitant to welcome a black American woman to the family, resulting in years of residual family drama and disconnection that it ultimately rectified after Lino’s cancer diagnosis.

The story is based on author Tembi Locke’s real-life story and married to a man named Saro. So let’s start there. Right off the bat, the names of all the real-life people are changed for the TV series. According to a podcast interview I listened to with Tembi Locke and her sister, Attica Locke, who co-wrote the TV series, they decided to change the names to offer some separation because telling their story on-screen felt particularly raw, personal and traumatic. I can understand that. But it did feel kind of confusing having just read the book. These are real people after all. It’s not a fictional story.

And while the TV series detailed most of the same parts of the story, I preferred the format of the book. The book begins by telling the reader the Saro (spoiler alert!) dies. The memoir is told with a back-and-forth format allowing the reader to understand where Tembi is now emotionally and then explains what led up to that and how she got there. Telling the story this way eliminated the “plot twist” of Saro getting cancer, but also emotionally prepared the reader for what’s to come. Knowing what’s going to happen helps shift the focus from the tragedy of Saro’s death to a broader story about love and families coming together. The memoir spends more time elaborating on the family’s several trips to Sicily and the way Tembi and her daughter ultimately connected with Sicily and Saro’s mother so beautifully. Because the series doesn’t mention Saro’s cancer until halfway through, we don’t get a glimpse into that worldly and familial connection until the final episode, which is a little too late to allow for the same depth and poignancy the memoir offers.

The series also dives a little more into the relationship between Amy/Tembi and her sister, changes Amy/Tembi’s job from actress to artist/gallerist and focuses on financial struggles the couple was having. Financial problems had little mention in the memoir, so I’m not sure how much of that was true and dramatized for TV or simply not included in the memoir because there were so many other topics and themes to explore. Either way, I found some of these subplots distracting from the focus point of the story. Zoe Saldana’s performance was amazing and the show was gorgeously shot, but From Scratch was sadly turned from a beautifully-crafted memoir into a TV series that seemed hell-bent on making women cry rather than helping viewers better understand the meaning of finding life before and after death.

Review: Natural Disaster: I Cover Them. I Am One.

Recap: Ginger Zee is one of the most recognizable faces in TV news. As the chief meteorologist for ABC News, she appears daily on Good Morning America, travels the country to storm chase and deliver vitally important news about the weather and shares the details of her personal life on Instagram – complete with very adorable photos and videos of her two young sons.

But as she describes in her memoir, it took a while and a windy road for her to get this point. She worked in small markets, wore flip flops her first time on-air and wasn’t entirely sure how to write a script. She dated men who were horrible for her, broke off an engagement and suffered from verbal and emotional abuse. She tried to commit suicide and ultimately checked herself into a facility to get help. All of this was going on “behind the scenes” as she climbs the professional ladder, eventually making it to New York.

She is so delightfully adorable on-air and on social media that it’s hard for viewers to consider the many layers of anxiety and depression that she has managed over the years. And that is exactly why she wrote the book – to show the way things appear on the outside aren’t always the way they appear inside. This book is a thorough study on that, and an encouraging look at what can happen when you recognize the problems in your life and finally decide to get help.

Analysis: Ginger Zee’s story is powerful and necessary to be heard. Especially by young women – in any industry. But as a TV news person myself, I was also enraptured with her tales of job interviews, TV mishaps and ABC Network travels and assignments.

As much as I love her as a person and her anecdotes and found her story to be captivating, the writing itself could have used some work. The Natural Disaster title works perfectly as a representation of what she does for a living and how she describes herself, but the metaphor is used repeatedly throughout the book, to the point where I felt like I was being beat over the head with it. At times, I also found the book confusing in terms of time jumps. There were a few chapters that would go in chronological order and then she would write something like “But wait, let’s go back because this was also happening that entire time.” Maybe she was going for a little whiplash action in her writing just as she felt she was experiencing in her life, and just as one would experience in a real natural disaster. Either way, I sometimes got a little lost keeping track of what happened when because of those time jumps.

All that said, Ginger Zee has a voice and she’s using it to talk about big topics that MATTER. And there’s nothing more that I can do except respect and thank her for that.

Get Natural Disaster in paperback for $16.99.

Or on your Kindle for $14.99.

Lara’s Top Picks of 2020

I’m going to be completely honest with you. This year was an absolute crap year for me when it came to reading. I recognize a global pandemic may have seemed like the perfect opportunity to sit and read a ton, and I’m well aware that many people did that. However, I’m an essential worker and was not home nearly as much as some others this year, and I also felt so completely drained by work and the day-to-day reality of the state of the world that when I was home, I found myself wanting to do nothing more than veg out on the couch watching Netflix. I simply felt I had no more brainpower to expend on reading.

That said, I read far fewer books than I normally do in a year and kept this list a little shorter for that reason.

Another thing. Here’s the disclaimer I include every year. This is not a list of my top picks of books that were published this year (although some were). For that kind of list, I recommend the NYTimes 100 Notable Books of 2020 list. This is a list of my top picks of books I personally read in 2020, regardless of what year they were published. Below that is a complete list of the books I read this year. Enjoy!

8. The Sweeney Sisters – This fictional tale of three wealthy sisters grappling with the death of their famous father and what to do with his legacy was a perfect summer beach read. Light, easy, romantic, a little predictable and still a lot of fun.

7. Living the Sutras – Part yoga textbook and part journal guide, this book breaks down the ancient yoga sutras, detailing the theory and practice of yoga. Each of the 195 sutras go much deeper than “triangle pose!” and in this book, each is accompanied with a little writing prompt, allowing the reader to also go deep and learn about themselves while reading.

6. The Promise of a Pencil – Part memoir/part self-help, Adam Braun shares how he built an incredibly successful charitable organization from the ground up. In doing so, he also shares how he learned to let go of the corporate life he was conditioned to desire, how to be a better leader and human and the importance of leaning into your passion for the betterment of the future.

5. Unbearable Lightness – I never really cared or knew much about Portia de Rossi until I read this book, and now I have incredible respect for her. Her memoir about her battle with an extreme eating disorder and depression is dark, honest, real and compelling. And her ability to write far exceeded my expectations.

4. Universe of Two – This WWII-era historical fiction novel has nothing to do with battle and nothing to do with the Holocaust. What a gift. Instead it centers on the Manhattan Project: one of the engineers involved and the women he was in love with who lived across the country. It’s romantic, educational, beautifully written and I couldn’t put it down.

3. Waiting for the Punch – If you’re a fan of Marc Maron’s podcast WTF, you will love this book. And if you’re not, but have always wondered what the fuss is all about, this book is your perfect way in. The book is divided into themes, and each one includes transcriptions of some of his best, funniest and saddest celebrity interviews. I may have cried more reading this book this year than any other. It is chock full of life lessons and earns its own credit separately from the podcast.

2. Becoming – What more can I say about Michelle Obama’s famous, bestselling memoir that hasn’t already been said? It is superb. It is honest, feminist, political without being too political, uplifting and inspiring. I don’t know why I waited so long to read it, and honestly, why have you?

1. Untamed – Glennon Doyle deserves every bit of praise she received this year for this book. The bestseller struck a serious chord with most of America as Doyle details her honest descriptions of falling in love, parenting, feminism, politics, charity and the importance of being true to yourself and your passions and following through with everyone you want despite the “consequences.” She calls herself on her bullshit. And you’ll read this, crying, calling yourself on yours.

BOOKS I READ IN 2020

The Magnanimous Heart – Narayan Helen Liebenson

The Promise of a Pencil – Adam Braun

Unbearable Lightness – Portia de Rossi

Okay Fine Whatever – Courtenay Hameister

40 Days to Personal Revolution – Baron Baptiste

The Sweeney Sisters – Lian Dolan

Universe of Two – Stephen P. Kiernan

Untamed – Glennon Doyle

Becoming – Michelle Obama

Waiting for the Punch – Marc Maron

Living the Sutras – Kelly DiNardo

Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream – Doris Kearns Goodwin

Review: Becoming

Recap: To us, she is the former First Lady, a woman about whom we already know so much – who Michelle Obama is married to, how many children she has, what her platform was while serving in the White House, where she’s from. Her Wikipedia page tells a lot more – where she went to school, what she got her degree in, where she worked prior to her role as First Lady.

But all that is surface information – interesting, but mostly trivial when it comes to the wealth, insight and warmth a human being has to offer. Michelle Obama’s bestselling memoir Becoming offers a much truer, more authentic view of who Michelle Obama was, is and is…becoming.

The level of detail in which she remembers her life is astonishing. She is full of beautiful and meaningful stories and anecdotes, trials and tribulations that have set her on this path. Stories from her childhood are full of piano lessons, growing up black, strict but loving relatives, her mother getting her out of her second grade class, the guidance counselor who told her she wasn’t “Princeton material.” Stories from adulthood tell the romance of her relationship with President Obama, the loss of her father and close friend, and the struggles she faced with finding her purpose in work, getting pregnant and then managing work, motherhood and her husband’s politics. And then there’s the politics of it all – the criticism and backlash she faced, the lessons she learned, the racism she faced, the platforms she picked and the behind-the-scenes details of life in the White House (they pay for their own groceries!) and some of the biggest events we only know as televised (i.e. On Election Night 2008 when, after President Obama’s win and on the drive to his acceptance speech, with the streets emptied and blocked for their motorcade, one of her daughters said “Dad, I don’t think anyone’s coming to your party.)

Analysis: With this memoir, Michelle Obama paints a picture of herself as the star character in her own fish-out-of-water novel. And for the first time, despite any number of articles and interviews I’ve read, seen or heard, I got it. I got her. I understand the level at which she was swept into a life of “wife of politician.” So focused on her own career and family for so long, she never saw any of this coming. It’s hard to believe that from someone who has been married to the guy who ran the country for eight years, but reading her book, you ultimately reason one critical piece of information: she’s just a woman, like any other. A woman with doubts and fears and questioning about whether she’s doing the right thing. A woman with love for her family and unending support for those she loves. A woman who takes experiences and learns from them, hoping to only learn and grow more with each new chapter.

Becoming is not a “self-help” book, but so many parts of it are so relatable, it’s hard to ignore the insights she has to offer, like this:

This may be the fundamental problem with caring a lot about what others think: It can put you on the established path — the my-isn’t-that-impressive path — and keep you there for a long time. Maybe it stops you from swerving, from ever even considering a swerve, because what you risk losing in terms of other people’s high regard can feel too costly.

In Becoming, Michelle Obama portrays herself as the every woman, but she has lived quite a life because of the ride she’s just so happened to hop on.

Buy Becoming now in hardcover for $11.89.

Or on your Kindle for $12.99.

Review: Okay Fine Whatever

Recap: Courtenay Hameister has been living in a state of anxiety and dread for years. She knows it. She’s accepted it as her way of being. And then she decides to step down from her job as a host of a popular NPR show, knowing that working on the show in a less-showy capacity will eliminate a fair amount of her stress. She’s right, but she quickly realizes in order to better handle her anxiety, she cannot only step down but also must step up and face her fears.

Courtenay Hameister begins a new mission, calling it her Okay Fine Whatever (OFW) Project, during which she must suck it up and say “okay, fine whatever” to all the things that scare her. For a year-and-a-half, she follows this mantra as she dives into a sensory-deprivation tank, goes on 28 first dates, visits a sex club, dates polyamorous men, books a session with a professional cuddler and gets high while writing with her coworkers.

For better perspective, it’s worth noting we’re not talking about a young, hot twenty-something embarking on all this but a mid-40’s woman who never had experience in any of these areas. This is exactly why these leaps of faith are much more than simply “experimentations” but they’re explorations of self-discovery and opportunities to flex her bravery muscles, which only sets her up for the next big thing in her life.

Analysis: Doused in dry humor and brave bluntness, Okay Fine Whatever may have been the exact perfect book to read in the middle of a pandemic. Though compartmentalized into little vignettes, it’s a book that forces you to step back and look at the bigger picture. It’s not about her crazy shenanigans, but about the baby steps she’s taking toward being up to the something bigger in her life. She’s doing the things she needs to do to take a massive leap at the end, and that’s more than I can say for most people.

It must be said that the concept feels a little redundant. Grey’s Anatomy writer/producer/creator Shonda Rhimes wrote the book Year of Yes a number of years ago with a similar idea: say yes to all the things that scare her. But the things Hameister embarks on versus Rhimes are completely different, as is her writing style and voice. So while similar in nature, they’re not necessarily that similar in tone.

Hamesiter is uproariously funny and weird and goes in unexpected directions. Her honesty is astounding; I know I wouldn’t feel comfortable writing half the things she wrote about, let alone doing them. Massive kudos to Hameister for letting it all hang out there.

Get it in hardcover for $14.79.

Or get it on your Kindle for $11.99.

Review: Unbearable Lightness

Recap: There’s a voice in Portia de Rossi’s head. There’s a voice telling her she’s disgusting. And fat. And lazy. Ugly. Stupid. Worthless. It’s a voice that’s been there since she was a little girl, pushing her to work harder at everything, including her job, her weight, her sexuality. It’s a voice that’s only grown louder over the years until it becomes a constant and piercing ringing in her ears.

In Unbearable Lightness, actress Portia de Rossi writes honestly about her struggles with an eating disorder, being gay and fame and success. She writes about her young modeling career, her journey from Australia to America, the pull she felt to be “pretty” and “perfect” and “straight” in order to attain success in Hollywood.

She writes about the embarrassment and crying fits while doing fittings for her first big job on “Ally McBeal” and her divorce from her husband, knowing she was in love with women in her life. She opens up about the vomiting after eating Mexican food or ice cream, the incessant cycle of binge and purge, of running up and down the stairs for an hour to eliminate the calories she’d already eaten.

Reading this book, one comes to learn Portia de Rossi was an extremely unhappy woman for a very long time, a woman living in fear, in a state of inner isolation and violence, striving for something more while only allowing herself to feel less.

Analysis: This book came recommended to me by a good friend, and though I don’t know much about Portia de Rossi or her work, I read it anyway. And I’m glad. As someone who overcame an eating disorder years ago, I identified with so many of her disordered thoughts around food. I remembered those days. But the degree to which de Rossi obsessed was on another level that seems unimaginable.

Her ability to access those thoughts directly, to state them plainly without judgement or shame is astounding. Her bluntness and honesty and beautiful, yet dark language are impressive. Not every “celebrity memoir” is necessarily well-written. This one is. She has a poetic way of describing the deranged thoughts coursing through her mind.

The book details her slow and steady declines and culminates in the moment where she needs help. It was an interesting way to end the book, rather than giving us the full rollercoaster ride of worsening and getting better. She offers an epilogue, but it’s written from the voice of so many years later that it’s hard to piece together exactly what the journey was from start to finish. And maybe that was the whole point — to NOT offer glimmers of hope amid shiny stars and rainbows, but to be REAL. And real is not always nice.

Get Unbearable Lightness in paperback now for $16.99.

Or on your Kindle for $12.99.