Book Review: Darkness Visible, A Memoir of Madness by William Styron

A first hand account of severe depression by Pulitzer prize winning writer William Styron.

Book Review: The center cannot hold : my journey through madness by Elyn R. Saks.

Probably the only autobiography of a schizophrenic, The center cannot hold truthfully captured Elyn R. Saks (a MacArthur genius winner and USC professor)'s struggle with mental disease.
First hand, insightful and honest. Especially her truthful depiction of hallucination and affected thought process

Book Review: A kind of mirraculas paradise : a true story about schizophrenia by Sandra Allen.

Sandra Allen's uncle is a schizophrenic, who wrote a autobiography. Sandra mostly used his own words with her added research and background notes.
A good semi first hand description of a schizophrenic mind and how he viewed the world and people in a distorted mindset. And the writing was very good, showing a deep empathy and captured author's belief and understanding of her uncle

Book Review: Resilience : two sisters and a story of mental illness / Jessie Close with Pete Earley

A OK first hand recount of Jessie Close (who is sister of famous actress Glen Close). Jessie suffered from bipolar disease (which was only diagnosed later in her life). One contributing factor may be her parents belief in a cult organization and following the cult's way of life (living in a commune, kids separate from parents). Also there is family history: Jessie's maternal grandparents suffered mental disease.

Book Review: "Lives of" series by Kathleen Krull

What:Short and colorful biography for young readers age from 6 to 10. A gentle way to introduce kids to biography

Include:

• Lives of the athletes : thrills, spills (and what the neighbors thought)
• Lives of the writers : comedies, tragedies (and what the neighbors thought)
• They saw the future : oracles, psychics, scientists, great thinkers, and pretty good guessers
• Lives of the musicians : good times, bad times (and what the neighbors thought)
• Lives of extraordinary women : rulers, rebels (and what the neighbors thought)
• Lives of the presidents : fame, shame (and what the neighbors thought)
• Lives of the scientists : experiments, explosions (and what the neighbors thought)
• The book of rock stars : 24 musical icons that shine through history
• Lives of the artists : masterpieces, messes (and what the neighbors thought)

Book Review: My beloved world by Sonia Sotomayor ISBN 0307594882

Being a minority in the States, I am always interested in success story of minorities. Sonia Sotomayor was born in a Puerto Rican immigrant family from New York city public housing, went to a Catholic middle school and high school, got into Princeton University under Affirmative Action, went on graduating from Yale Law School and became Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. It is a story of talent, well thought out plan and perseverance. I didn't finish the whole book, only reading her high school years and college years. Several things jumped out from the book:

• She is extremely talented. She got into Princeton under AA, but she graduated summa cum laude and awarded Moses Taylor Pyne Honor prize, the highest honor awarded to undergraduate. Undoubtedly she has a very high IQ.
• Although she came from a unprivileged upbringing and she experienced first hand such deficiency costed her, there was not a single trace of bitterness in the book. She definitely has a very high EQ too. This is a stark contrast to another book I read and reviewed on this blog Paper Daughter.
• She stays the course throughout her college and law school and didn't detour much. A supereme court justice is highest point of a law career and she made it to there in a very straight line.