Tuesday, August 5, 2014

Top Ten Tuesday #21

Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

Top Six Books I'd Give To Readers Who Have Never Read Books Relating to Mental Disabilities


Look at that originality! Ha! Actually, I was going to just go for the YA fantasy, because I read so much from that genre. But then I figured "Well everyone has read YA fantasy or just regular fantasy because it's just so darn good, so my list would mean NOTHING." And then, lightbulb!

I have a thing for books about main characters with autism, alzheimer's, memory loss, and anything else brain or behavior related.

Because I am a cognitive scientist, and I eat brains.

And I especially love it when it's about children. Which is why, I will be featuring a list specifically focusing on this. And I know all of you readers will be rushing home to pick these up, because they are that good. 


Still Alice by Lisa Genova - This book, was amazing. I remember reading it on a train ride in Europe, and trying to hold back all my tears, while my friend silently judged me. Basically, it's about a Harvard professor, going through the stages of Alzheimer's. It was incredibly sad and depressing, and also heart-wrenching. But still, I liked it a lot.

Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes - Another amazing book, which I think is considered a classic at this point? Not sure, but I did read it on my own time, and absolutely loved it. It's about a disabled man, named Charlie, who volunteers to be a test subject for this new drug that makes him super, super smart. But then after awhile, it stops working, and slowly his intelligence drops. It's another great, but sad read.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon - OKAY enough with the sad talk. Are you ready for a book all about wit? Then this one is for you. It's centered around Christopher John Francis Boone, a super smart boy that relies and depends on patterns and logic. When his neighbor's dog is "murdered", he sets out to solve the case. I'm not sure if this is categorized as autism, but I'm still putting this here because I love this book too.


Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer - Truthfully, this didn't stick to me as some other novels, but I still did like it at the time. I loved how the sentences weaved together, and how Oskar, our little main character, traveled all throughout NYC in order to discover the mystery behind his father's key, who recently died in the 9/11 attack. Not sure if I would classify this as autism, again, but OH WELL.

The Universe Versus Alex Woods by Gavin Extence - Something I read last year, because I was really intrigued by the whole "a meteorite struck his head". I did love his way of thinking, and how determined he was to learn, and also, he became friends with a grumpy elder, and formed a Kurt Vonnegut book club. I think that's pretty cool. Honestly, just think of it as the Pixar movie, Up!

And last but not least, one of my favorites that everyone should go read right now

Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend by Matthew Dicks - It's actually about imaginary friends, specifically Budo, who is the imaginary friend to Max. AND IT IS AWESOME. And you think this is just about friendship? Well, yeah, but there's also kidnapping. Like there's actually a mystery to this, and Budo has to save his best friend. And ultimately, maybe even let him go. THE FEELS FROM THIS BOOK. It was just so, so good.


So there, there you go. Now all you guys know about these titles, and it gives you no excuse to have never heard of them. Especially that last one!

Feel free to link up TTTs below. Also, which book are you most interested from my list?

46 comments:

  1. Awesome list! I haven't read any of these but they all sound super interesting. =)

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  2. Really fantastic idea for this week's top ten tuesday! I'm definitely adding a few of these to my TBR list.

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    1. Yay! That was my goal the entire time! Muhahaha

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  3. Haha. I love the originality of your topic for this week! I LOVE fantasy too, but then I also thought that a lot of people had read that genre so I guess that's why mine went to a different case.

    Anyway, I've heard of Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend everywhere!! I've always wanted to read it, but I guess I'm going to hunt it down in the library soon :>

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    1. Yeah there were a lot of fantasy titles I could've recommended, but then I was like, nahhhh. AND YES PLEASE GO HUNT IT DOWN. It is a beautiful, adorable book!

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  4. Fantastic idea for a list. Very original. I love to read books about those with mental disabilities, they're often very thought-provoking!

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    1. Yes they are! I love the way the characters think and their thought process! These types of books really make you think!

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  5. I haven't read any of these, but I've been meaning to read "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nigh-Time" for ages. My TTT

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  6. The curious incident of the dog in the night-time was a great pick!

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  7. Great idea for a prompt!

    I'd add Metamorphosis and The Bell Jar.

    Here's my list of nonfiction you can't resist!

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    1. Ooo ok I've heard of the Bell Jar, but never looked into it. Thanks for the recs! Adding them to my TBR

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  8. So I've only read 2 on this list and therefore am RUNNING TO GOODREADS TO ADD THE REST. I love books that deal with brains too, not because I think, like there's something wrong with these people all the time, actually. I think it's interesting. I think people who think differently are amazing and interesting and I LOVE reading about them. Anyway, Extremely Loud really broke my heart and I love love loooovoed The Incident. I read Marcello in the Real World which is really similar to The Incident, but not as good. (Still good, though.) And Wonder too.

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    1. PLEASE READ MEMOIRS OF AN IMAGINARY FRIEND! THANKS. And yeah, there's nothing wrong, it's just how it's captured on paper REALLY gets to me. Like it's incredibly good! AND The Incident was amazing!

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  9. About a year after my grandmother died after a battle with early onset alzheimer's, I read Still Alice. While it broke my heart, I did feel like I had a better understanding of what she went through. I shared it with my dad also and he couldn't get through it, unfortunately. Anyway, great list! Thanks for sharing :)

    Here are my Top Ten!

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    1. Aww, I'm really sorry about your grandmother :(

      Still Alice is definitely incredibly informative, and I also learned a lot from it, all while bawling.

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  10. I love your topic! What a great idea... I am definitely going to add The Universe Versus Alex Woods to my to-read list! Love your list. :)

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  11. New Follower! This genre is kind of foreign to me, but some of these books sound interesting. I'm adding Still Alice and Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend to my tbr.
    My TTT: http://givemethebooks.blogspot.com/2014/08/top-10-tuesday-books-i-recommend-for.html

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    1. Haha truthfully I'm not sure if it constitutes as a genre, but it's definitely a good topic to read about in the book world :)

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  12. I really want to read Still Alice. I too have something about books that deal with mental illnesses, especially Alzheimers. It's just so fascinating to me, and I really want to understand it.

    Interesting post!

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    1. Yes, Still Alice was really, really, REALLY GOOD! But be warned that you will cry!

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  13. Thanks for sharing such a wonderful post, Val! I'm sad to say that I haven't read any of these, but I do have a couple on my TBR and I own Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, so I hope to read some of them soon. :)

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    1. Your welcome Ebony! I also own Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, and I think I should reread it soon!

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  14. Thank you for this list! I've been wanting to read more books about people with mental disabilities/psychological disorders, but I don't know where to start! I had The Universe Versus Alex Woods from NetGalley but apparently it never downloaded onto my kindle before archiving. So boo, I was never able to read it. But I still want to! And Still Alice sounds amazing, adding it to my TBR. :)

    -Holly

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    1. YES GO READ STILL ALICE!

      I'm glad my list is a starting point for you! :D

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  15. I've always been interested in mental health in general so this is a great list. You should check out House Rules by Jodi Picoult it's about a teenaged boy with Asperger's syndrome. It was pretty amazing :)

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    1. Thanks for the rec Jazmen! Going to add it to my TBR now :)

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  16. I HAVEN'T READ ANY BOOK FROM THIS LIST. I'M SUCH A LOSER. BUT. Half is on my TBR already. This is an awesome list, Val. Oh and I KNEW IT! I knew you eat brains. Huh.

    Paula M. @ Her Book Thoughts!

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    1. YOU ARE SUCH A LOSER! jk. And hey good thing they're on your TBR! ANd of course I eat brains, what kind of person would I be without eating them?

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  17. Flowers for Algernon actually reminds me of that Bradley Cooper movie, Limitless. Except a bit less action-y :P I've heard about Still Alice before, but never read it because I didn't want to be reduced to a blubbering mess. But maybe someday ;)

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    1. I've never seen Limitless, and yes definitely less action-y lol. YOU SHOULD STILL READ IT. Though it's true that you will cry by the end. So I guess if you're trying to avoid sad books, then don't read it LOL.

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  18. Oh wow, what a great list choice! I'd heard of some of these, but didn't know what they were about. I've added a few to my TBR, they sound incredibly fascinating (and sad, yes). I think it's so important to feature mental health issues in books, and your list is wonderful!

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    1. Thanks Shannon! It's definitely mind opening, and I love knowing more about the different types of issues and situations. :)

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  19. Awesome picks, Iwant to read these! I'm reading The Shock Of The Fall this month which is supposed to be really good! Fingers crossed :)

    Check out my TTT!

    Katrina @ Chased By My Imagination

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    1. Yesss I heard that was good and I'm also looking forward to reading it soon!

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  20. I’m also a fan of books revolving around mental health. My favourite will probably always remain The Bell Jar.

    Of the books you’ve mentioned, I’ve only read “The Curious Incident...”. Except for “Still Alice”, which I haven’t heard of before, all the other books are ones that are on my reading list. I especially want to read “Flowers for Algernon”!

    Some other books I’d like to get around to are John Elder Robinson’s “Look Me In the Eye”, Elyn R. Saks’s “The Center Cannot Hold” (both non-fiction) as well as “Girl, Interrupted” by Susanna Kaysen!

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    1. Ahhh I need to read the Bell Jar! And Flowers for Algernon was really good, surprisingly. And I've only heard of Girl, Interrupted, but I would love to read some non-fiction books as well! *adds to TBR*

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  21. Try "Counting to D". It's about dyslexia. I am not sure if you count that as one of the books you'd read, but it was a good read for me. I like this list, and will check out the books you included. I think I already have Alex Woods.

    ~ Dre @ Sporadic Reads

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    1. THANKS FOR THE REC! I'm not that informed on dyslexia, so I would love to read more about it!!

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  22. Interesting list! I actually had a really hard time with The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time (just couldn't connect with the pov). But I'll have to look into some of the other ones-thanks for the ideas!

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    1. Hahah I think I remember you mentioning this! But definitely check out the other ones, I think you would really like Still Alice!

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  23. I'm not sure this is my genre really...I've tried some but I kinda always felt a bit unconfortable to be honest although I have no negative thoughts towards it. I think thought that one I enjoyed and there was a mental disability theme in it was Dear John...and it made me crazy so you see? I'm to emotional when that genre is included. :P Wonderful post though!

    Lola @ Hit or Miss Books

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    1. No I completely understand! I'm the same with books about bullying, because I hate bullying and I don't support it, but it just really makes me uncomfortable while reading it. And I so desperately want to throw the book across the room or something.

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