great chances to win!

Sheila over at Book Journey has a ton of great giveaways going on currently.  I love how organized she is!  I entered a few that looked interesting to me...

The Little Giant of Aberdeen County by Tiffany Baker (3 books up for grabs!)

When Will There Be Good News by Kate Atkinson (3 to win)

Crazy School by Cornelia Read (3 chances to win)

Book Journey is one of my favorite book blogs, so you should totally check her out!

write to be understood, speak to be heard, read to grow

Weekends at Bellevue

Weekends at Bellevue by Julie Holland, M.D. was my first book of the New Year.  Joe bought it for me as a Christmas present.  He had heard her discussing psychopharmacology on NPR and promoting this book- which is a memoir about her years working in the Bellevue CPEP.  I had heard of the book in passing, but didn't look into it because it was still out in hardcover, and I very rarely buy hardcover books.  Needless to say, I was BEYOND excited when I unwrapped it!  This very well may be one of the absolute best memoirs I have ever read.

For those of you who are unaware, CPEP is the emergency psychiatric unit at a hospital.  CPEP stands for Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Program.  These units typically have a multitude of levels and beds to which admitted patients can go.  CPEP is also known for long hours in the triage and being sent away (CPEP doesn't have near as many beds as necessary in most cases).  Our agency often deals with CPEP and when we take a resident there it is a crap-shoot... will CPEP admit them for observation?.. will they send us back with a slap on the wrist, telling us to deal with it?... will they tell us our resident is too debilitated and that no hospitals will take them so we have to 'figure it out'?  At CPEP, you never know what you are going to get.  And that goes for both ends- those bringing the patients, and those seeing the patients.

This memoir follows 9 years of Julie Holland's life as the attending at CPEP on the weekends at Bellevue in New York.  Bellevue hospital is a well known name, and was once an asylum.  Because of this, they see a lot of patients- more than the typical CPEP.  Also, being in the city, CPEP sees more patients in general (think of the homeless- some just looking for a warm bed, and some on the street because they do have a mental illness).  Julie is a head strong doctor and over the 9 years at Bellevue, we see her grow as a woman and as an attending psychiatrist.  This memoir gives the reader a bit of everything- we get a peek into the behind the scenes drama, read about some of the crazier of her patients, view her personal life, remember what it was like in New York City on 9/11, and see the general insanity that surrounds the CPEP... all with a good dash of humor.

If you like memoirs, this is one of the very best.  It isn't all about Julie, which is what I think makes a good memoir.  She is able to not only bring us into her life, but also shed light on the overall theme of helping others and learning about yourself.  This is also a great read if you have any type of tie to psychiatry- whether you are knee deep in the field everyday or you have just been brushed by the wind.  It is very interesting and even if you know NOTHING about psychiatry, it is easy to follow.  She wrote it with the intention to allow any reader the opportunity to learn something about the field.  A small glossary of terms and abbreviations in the back is also very helpful for those who aren't in the field of psychiatry.  (Trust me, our field in FILLED with weird abbreviations and terms and medications).

I hope that those in participating in Melissa's Memorable Memoir Challenge will think of this book when picking out their memoirs!

Don't forget: I am an Amazon Associate- so click my link for purchase! :)

write to be understood, speak to be heard, read to grow

Catching up

Where or where has the time gone?!  Things have been a bit hectic here... report cards are due... new students in the class... more Behavior Management Through Adventure integration into my lesson plans... IEPs due.. progress notes... catching up on grading... and of course, trying to live it up and actually enjoy being 24 and having fun weekends!  Spent this past weekend in NYC- got to see a concert and wander around and stop in to see our friends and their 2 1/2 month old twins.  Such a fun time!  I have some videos and a few photos to post when I upload them from the camera.

I have a few reviews (3 actually!) that I need to post.  So.. lets get on to that..

The Doctor's Wife by Elizabeth Brundage is one of the best fiction novels I have read in a long time.  Set in Albany (upstate NY.. not far from me, as a matter of fact), this psychological thriller keeps you guessing.  The story begins with a tragic event... then the events leading up to that begin to unfold.  the novel jumps back and forth between past and present until it catches up with itself... but even then there is still a lot to learn and discover.  That is why this novel keeps the reader on her toes.  Without giving too much away, the novel is about a bored housewife, an artist / art professor, journalist / professor, and a doctor.  Their lives wrap around and around one another, before any of them realize and it is too late.  The twists and turns, the ins and outs of these four lives are so seamlessly connected.  That is how the novel is both engaging and riveting, without losing the reader in the time warp aspect of the writing.  If twists and turns sprinkled with a good dose of extra marital affairs, politics, and religion is your thing, than this book is the best read out there.  An amazing debut novel by Elizabeth Brundage!  Cheers!

2 more coming soon... Buried by Robin Merrow MacCready and Weekends at Bellevue by Julie Holland, M.D.

ps: I am an Amazon Associate, so if any of these books seem appealing, think about purchasing through my links!

write to be understood, speak to be heard, read to grow

Reading zones

Welcome to my reading nook(s)... Joe & I took the tree down a few days ago and have been changing up the living room.  On the left is the new addition - it is behind the couch, so when I don't want to lay in bed, but Joe is watching tv, I am still in my own quiet zone.  The picture on the right... well thats the original reading nook, which has so nicely been stole by Benji!  Good thing the chair fits us both, so we cuddle up a lot while I am reading.  I only have 2 book shelves- which look fairly empty right now because I have about 20 books out to people on loan... and a stack next to my bed.  I wish that I had never sold so many books at garage sales years ago- but I am rebuilding my book collection.  Hope you enjoyed a peek into my book zones!

write to be understood, speak to be heard, read to grow

Shakespeare Sunday

It is CRAZY cold (with an insane wind blowing) here today... so in honor of the frigid NY temperatures:

"Blow, blow, thou winter wind!

Thou art not so unkind as man's ingratitude."

As You Like It

Act II, Scene VII

write to be understood, speak to be heard, read to grow

Read in 2009

Books read in 2009:

56. The Doctor's Wife by Elizabeth Brundage

55. Elephants on Acid by Alex Boese

54. Te of Piglet by Benjamin Hoff

53. Buried by Robin Merrow MacCready

52. The Professors' Wives' Club by Joanne Rendell

51. Trauma & Recovery by Judith Herman

50. The Center Will Not Hold by Elyn Saks

49. Walking In Circles Before Lying Down by Merrill Markoe

48. Without Conscience by Robert D. Hare

47. I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell by Tucker Max

46. The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs

45. Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen

44. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

43. Secrets to Happiness by Sarah Dunn

42. Every Last Cuckoo by Kate Maloy

41. An Unquiet Mind by Kay Redfield Jamison

40. Awakenings by Oliver Sacks

39. Confessions of a Counterfeit Farm Girl by Susan McCorkindale

38. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

37. Cut by Patricia McCormick

36. I Love Dirt by Jennifer Ward

35. The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams

34. Breathing Space by Katrina Repka

33. Go Ask Alice by Anonymous

32. Places I Never Meant To Be by Judy Blume

31. The Wednesday Sisters by Meg Waite Clayton

30. The Normal One by Jeanne Safer

29. Sybil by Flora Rheta Schreiber

28. 32 Third Graders and One Class Bunny by Philip Bone

27. Love In The Asylum by Lisa Carey

26. I Hate You- Don't Leave Me by Jerold J. Kreisman

25. The Boy Who Was Raised As A Dog by Bruce D. Perry

24. The Quiet Room by Lori Schiller

23. The Autobiography of a Schizophrenic Girl by Marguerite Sechehaye

22. Nobody's Child by Marie Balter

21. A Man Named Dave by Dave Pelzer

20. The Privilege of Youth by Dave Pelzer

19. The Lost Boy by Dave Pelzer

18. A Child Called It by Dave Pelzer

17. The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks

16. Maus by Art Spiegelman

15. 1984 by George Orwell

14. Animal Farm by George Orwell

13. Montessori: The Science Behind The Genius by Angeline Stoll Lillard

12. Whispers: The Voices of Paranoia by Ronald K. Siegel

11. The Lives They Left Behind by Darby Penney

10. Angels & Demons by Dan Brown

9. Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie

8. Food of the Gods by Terence McKenna

7. The Book of Lies by Brad Meltzer

6. Watership Down by Richard Adams

5. Why I'm Like This by Cynthia Kaplan

4. Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbit

3. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through The Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll

2. Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff

1. Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu

write to be understood, speak to be heard, read to grow

2010 Reads

Books read in 2010:

*All book title links are associated with my Amazon Associate account

68. Marvel Illustrated: Sense & Sensibility [adapted by] Nancy Butler
67. Bare: The Naked Truth About Stripping by Elisabeth Eaves {review}
66. This World We Live In by Susan Beth Pfeffer {review}
65. The Dead & The Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer {review} 
64. Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer {review}
63. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever  by Barbara Robinson
62. Dark Places  by Gillian Flynn {review}
61. Pictures of Hollis Woods by Patricia Reilly Giff {review}
60. Ways To Live Forever by Sally Nicholls
59. Firegirl by Tony Abbott
58. Flower Children by Maxine Swann {review}
57. Candy Girl by Diablo Cody {review}
56. Room by Emma Donoghue {review}
55. Ready Freddy: Thanksgiving Turkey Trouble by Abby Klein
54. Bad Marie by Marcy Dermansky {review}
53. Pilgrims Research Guide (companion to Thanksgiving on Thursday) by Mary Pope Osborne and Natalie Pope Boyce {review}
52. Thanksgiving on Thursday  by Mary Pope Osborne {review}
51. Ready Freddy: Going Batty  by Abby Klein
50. The Home For The Broken Hearts by Rowan Coleman
49. Million Little Mistakes by Heather McElhatton {review}
48. Homer and Langley by E.L. Doctorow
47. Stash by David Kline {review}
46. Cat and Mouse in a Haunted House by Geronimo Stilton
45. The Twits by Roald Dahl
44. The Haunted Castle on Hallows Eve by Mary Pope Osborne {review}
43. Fright Night by Molly Albright {review}
42. Frights! Camera! Action! by Marcia Thornton Jones & Debbie Dadey {review}
41. Ready Freddy: Apple Orchard Race by Abby Klein
40. The Peculiar Pumpkin Thief by Geronimo Stilton {review}
39. Dexter the Tough by Margaret Peterson Haddix {review}
38. Contagious by Scott Sigler {review}
37. Infected by Scott Sigler {review}
36. Teachers Have It Easy: The Big Sacrifices and Small Salaries of America's Teachers by Daniel Moulthrop, Ninive Clements Calegari, Dave Eggers
35. The Walking Dead, volume 12: Life Among Them by Robert Kirkman {review}
34. Free To A Good Home by Eve Marie Mont {review}
33. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
32. The Walking Dead, volume 11: Fear The Hunters by Robert Kirkman {review}
31. The Walking Dead, volume 10: What We Become by Robert Kirkman {review}
30. Marvel Illustrated: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz [adapted by] Eric Shanower
29. The Walking Dead, volume 9: Here We Remain by Robert Kirkman {review}
28. The Walking Dead, volume 8: Made to Suffer by Robert Kirkman {review}
27. The Walking Dead, volume 7: The Calm Before by Robert Kirkman {review}
26. The Passage by Justin Cronin {review}
24. The Walking Dead, volume 6: This Sorrowful Life by Robert Kirkman {review}
23. The Walking Dead, volume 5: The Best Defense by Robert Kirkman {review}
22. Easy Green Organic by Anna Getty
21. Organic Gardening: A Practical Guide by Michael & Christine Lavelle
20. The Walking Dead, volume 4: The Heart's Desire by Robert Kirkman {review}
19. The Walking Dead, volume 3: Safety Behind Bars by Robert Kirkman {review}
18. The Flock by Joan Frances Casey with Lynn Wilson {review}
17. The Walking Dead, volume 2: Miles Behind Us by Robert Kirkman {review}
16. The Walking Dead, volume 1: Days Gone Bye by Robert Kirkman {review}
15. Marvel Illustrated: Pride & Prejudice [adapted] by Nancy Butler {review}
14. The Mighty Queens of Freeville by Amy Dickinson {review}
13. Schooled by Gordon Korman {review}
12. Catcher In The Rye by JD Salinger
11. Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
10. Prozac Nation: Young and Depressed in America by Elizabeth Wurtzel {review}
9. American Therapy: The Rise of Psychotherapy in the United States by Jonathan Engel {review}

8. Crazy School by Cornelia Read

7. Mini House by Alejandro Bahamon {review}

6. Off The Grid: Modern Homes & Alternative Energy by Lori Ryker {review}

5. The Spare Wife by Alex Witchel     {review}

4. The September Society by Charles Finch {review}

3. The Weight of Silence by Heather Gudenkauf     {review}

2. Switching Time by Richard Baer     {review}

1. Weekends at Bellevue by Julie Holland      {review}

write to be understood, speak to be heard, read to grow