Once

Once is an Irish musical film that takes place in Dublin. It got great reviews and won some awards including best foreign film. This movie is a love story different from most.

The two main characters are an Irish man who performs his music on the streets of Dublin and a Czech immigrant who sells flowers on the streets of Dublin. Neither of them are named in this film, in the credits they are listed as "Guy" and "Girl". The girl is lured in by the guys music and despite his withdrawal she persists with questions about his music. Eventually she finds out that he fixes vacuum cleaners and says hers needs to be fixed. The next day she comes to his spot with her broken vacuum cleaner.

They go to lunch and she tells him that she too is a musician. They go to the local music store and she plays piano for him. They sing and play a song together and it's perfect. (The sound track to this movie is amazing.) After more getting to know each other she takes him to her apartment where he finds out she had has a toddler and lives with her mom. She also has a husband who lives back in Czech Republic, who she seems to dislike. While the guy has a girlfriend who left him and moved to England. They record an album together because the girl wants him to move to London and promote his music. The story ends with all of these things fighting against them being together.

I love you Beth Cooper

This book was written by a former Simpson writer and the writing definitely reflects this with its sort of TV show feel. It is written as if in real time. One page will be like two minutes in real life and it's great because not many book are like that. I truly feel like you could make this book into a thirty minute show and not miss out on one part of the book. Actual i just checked and it is a movie. Crazy, i need to watch that.

Will basically the book is a bout a nerdy valedictorian who has been in love with the same girl his whole high school career. He decides that during his speech at graduation it would be a good idea to confess his love for this popular cheerleader in front of everyone. This leads to a comical series of events that you would never expect. The cover of the book shows the various stages of appearance Denis (the nerdy valedictorian) will go through during his adventurous night.

The book is really great because the way it is written is so unique. Larry Doyle uses such a vivid explanatory style that you can see everything going on as if you were watching it. He describes things in a way that you would never think to describe them yourself. He says things that you only think in your head and it's really hard to explain so you just have to read the book.

The cover was illustrated by: Evan Dorkin.

Wreck This Journal

Keri Smith is the creator of Wreck This Journal. It is a creative outlet for anyone who wants to express themselves or just wreck something. Each page has different directions on it to do to the journal. The first page says to doodle on the cover of the journal and the copyright page. Some pages tell you to write things like: make a grocery list, write the same word over and over, and record in detail an insignificant event. Each person will interpret these pages differently and think of their own creative way to fill them out.

I received this journal as a present form my friend for Christmas. I really like the idea of it and i think it is a great way to get away from everything. it's sort of like a journal where you write down all your worries and problems and get them out in the open, but it's different. You don't actually come out and say these things you can display them through how you "wreck" the journal. I remember when i got to a page that said write the same word over and over i wrote purpose. That day i was very stressed about college and i couldn't decide what i wanted to do with my life. It's a way to get things out of your head and onto paper because it helps to externalize your feelings sometimes.

The journal also has pages that say things like document your dinner on this page and one collect fruit stickers on this page and one say collect stamps on this page. The fruit sticker one was fun because i am a cashier at Hyvee so i day i just stole every one's fruit stickers as i was checking them out. i collected them all on a piece of paper then transferred them to my journal. Also another page i am looking forward to doing is the one that says place a picture of yourself here that you hate. Now scribble all over it.

The back of the journal looks like a letter and has a place for an address and a return address. One of the pages says tape this journal shut and mail it to yourself. I think that when i am all done with my journal i am going to mail it to someone else. I am excited for this day but i still have a lot to do.

Comfortably Numb: How Psychiatry is Medicating a Nation

Written By Charles Barber, Comfortably Numb is a book about how pharmaceutical companies are taking over the world. It gives his perspective on the increasing mental health issue in the United States and the various reasons it is happening. Charles Barber is a talented author who also wrote Songs From the Black Chair, which is a memoir about his own experience with mental illness. He writes a blog for the Huffington Post.

The use of psychoactive drugs in the U.S. has been rising dramatically which has contributed to a nice profit for the pharmaceutical industry. This wasn't by accident. These companies make this medicating readily available to everyone. They blur the line between mental illness and everyday problems with their advertisements that promise a quick fix. These drugs are the second most advertised product in America exposing millions of people to this unrealistic quick fix. It is illegal to advertise drugs in other countries which would explain why the united states has a much bigger problem with over medication then other counties.

"Comfortably Numb chronicles the extraordinary psychopharmaceuticalization of everyday life that has arisen in recent years and appears to be growing apace. Charles Barber marks out the inconvenient truths on our path to emotional climate change but also offers alternatives to readers who wish to avoid pharmageddon."— David Healy, author of Let Them Eat Prozac

Also pharmaceutical companies bribe psychiatrists to promote their drug so they can maximize their profit. There have been reports of companies paying doctors to write false information about their competitors drugs and even same articles in prestigious journals with unknown authors. These are called ghostwriters whom pharmaceutical companies pay to write an article with completely false information about different medications. A good psychiatrist knows to take what they read in these journals with tremendous doubt.

The problem is these companies promote these drugs and neglect telling people the much saver and better alternatives. People have an unrealistic expectation and vision of these drugs, they are a magical cure. Other routes that people could take is going through therapy or even just good old aerobic exercise which has been proven to reduce stress and make you a healthier person. Just talking to someone and having a strong social support system can also help tremendously. You have to try to help yourself before you resort to relying on a foreign substance to mask your symptoms and risk side effects.

I Don't Want to Be Crazy

PUSH, the publisher of this book, is dedicated to new authors and getting their voices out. Some of the books are fiction some non fiction and some are a mix of the two. The goal is for the stories to sound real and for the reader to believe what they are reading. PUSH is always looking for new writers and encourages anybody to submit their own work. They are having a 2009 PUSH novel writing contest. These are to rules and regulations. These books are heartbreaking, interesting, insightful, and very easy to relate to.

I Don't Want to Be Crazy is one of the books that I have read from this publisher. It is a poetry memoir written by Samantha Schultz. In this book she takes you on a journey that you feel like you are taking yourself. You become Samantha and experience her words as if they were your own. She tells the story of her terrifying panic attacks that never seem to go away. Her life resolves around the question of when is the next one coming. The way Schultz tells her story leaves the reader feeling her anxiety and relief and happiness.

The story starts with Samantha excited and getting ready to move on to college. She is ready to start a new life all on her own. When Schultz gets to college everything goes great for awhile. Until she is in the middle of a lecture something starts to happen. She feels like her hands are shaking uncontrollably. She looks around to see if anyone notices but no one does. Then she thinks she is going crazy. She gets really hot and her heart is beating fast. She feels like on the inside she is going crazy but has to keep her outside composed. She leaves the lecture hall and doesn't go back. This happens several times within the next few days and Samantha decides to go to the school psychiatrist. She gets prescribed medication but still lives with the fear of another attack happening.

The book goes through Samantha's life and talks about how she copes with these attacks. She talks about the guys she hooks up with and all of the friends she makes in college. The story follows her all the way through her college career and then afterwards also. I loved the way this book was written and it was very easy to read. I couldn't put it down and i didn't unless i absolutely had to (because i had to walk to my next class).

Here are some titles of other books published by PUSH
Kissing the Rain - Kevin Brooks

Martyn Pig - Kevin Brooks
The Dating Diaries - Kristen Kemp

I Will Survive - Kristen Kemp
Cut - Patricia McCormick

Crashing - Chris Wooding

Kerosene - Chris Wooding

Pure Sunshine - Brian James

You Remind Me of You - Eireann Corrigan

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Written by: Mark Haddon

This book is written in first person through the perspective of a 15 year old autistic boy named Christopher. Christopher is a very interesting character. He Is diagnosed with Aspergers disease however he is brilliant at math and has a photographic memory. The disease that he has is a social disorder. He is not very good at understanding human behavior and relationships. Christopher has some sort of pathological thing against lying. He cannot lie however he can tell only parts of the truth to be misleading, he calls these white lies. Also, he is very observant and has interesting theories. Christopher absolutely hates the color yellow but he loves the color red. If he sees a lot of red cars in a row then he is going to have a good day but if he sees a lot of yellow cars in a row then he will have a "black day" and he won't talk to anybody. All of this makes to be a very compelling main character.

In the book, Christopher lives with his dad, who in the beginning seems to be very compassionate and understanding with him. Christopher is told that his mother died of a heart-attack when he was younger. What starts off the series of events that takes place in the book is the mystery of who killed their neighbor, Mrs. Sheer's, dog. Christopher discovers Mrs. Sheer's black poodle stabbed with a pitch for in her front yard. He is immediately dismayed and doesn't know what to do. The book consists of Christopher solving the mystery and learning things he would have never imagined.

This book never has a dull moment and just keeps surprising you with every turn of the page. I likes it a lot mainly because the perspective was so interesting. I read this book awhile ago and almost forgot about, until i remembered how Christopher gives hugs. He hates touching people or anybody touching him, so to give the people he is close to a hug they put their hands close to each other but never touch. Almost like you are going to give a high five. I remembered this because my boyfriend and I both read the book and we both found the "hand hug" very interesting, so we participate in it. This book is tre bien, read it!

The Kite Runner

It is about a boy from Afghanistan who is haunted by the guilt of betraying his friend, who is the son of his fathers servant. The book takes place around 1989 when the fall of the Afghanistan monarchy occurred, which takes place in the novel.It is a very well written and interesting book especially for being the author, Hosseini's first novel. He has written two more books, one is a sequence to The Kite Runner called A Thousand Splendid Sons. I haven't read it yet but i hear it is even better then the first one.The Kite Runner was made into a movie which came out on DVD in march. It is a great movie and it's even in the original language of Afghanistan so it has subtitles. The movie, of course, isn't as good as the book because books are always better but it still is a must see.The book is challenging mainly because of the setting being in a different country with the whole different culture. However that was my favorit part about the book the fact that it was different then most books I have read read. Sometimes you have to jump out of your element. Even though i will probabaly never visit Afghanistan i can still read about it and pretend like i'm there.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

The Perks of Being a Wall Flower is a novel written by Stephen Chbosky. It is an epistolary novel which means it is wriiten as a series of documents. It consists of letters that the main charicter, Charlie, writes to a freind, whose identity is never revealed. The book is about being a teenager and it touches on many teenage topics. Charlie is a freshman in the book and at the beginning is the "wallflower".

The book is easily relatable by adolecence becasue it talks about things they are expirieincing. This was my favorite book all through high school. The Catcher in the Rye and this book are very similar in the aspect that they both have a teenage boy as the main charictor and they talk about them going through tough situations. In the book Chbosky reffers to other literature and films, one of them being the Catcher in the Rye. He finds J.D. Stalinger as a big inspiration and read his books growing up.

My favorite poem is from this book.
once on a yellow piece of paper with green lines
he wrote a poem
and he called it "chops"
because that was the name of his dog
and that's what it was all about
and his teacher gave him an A
and a gold star
and his mother hung it on the kitchen door
and read it to his aunts
that was the year father tracy
took all the kids to the zoo
and let them sing on the bus
and his little sister was born
with tiny toenails and no hair
and his mother and father kissed a lot
and the girl around the corner sent him a
valentine signed with a row of x's
and he had to ask his father what the x's meant
and his father always tucked him into bed at night
and was always there to do it

once on a piece of white paper with blue lines
he wrote a poem
and he called it "autumn"
because that was the name of the season
and that's what it was all about
and his teacher gave him an A
and asked him to write more clearly
and his mother never hung it on the kitchen door
because of its new paint
and the kids told him
that father tracy smoked cigars
and left butts on the pews
and sometimes they would burn holes
that was the year his sister got glasses
with thick lenses and black frames
and the girl around the corner laughed
when he asked her to go see Santa Claus
and the kids told him why
his mother and father kissed a lot
and his father never tucked him in bed at night
and his father got mad
when he cried for him to do it

once on a paper torn from his notebook
he wrote a poem
and he called it "innocence: a question"
because that was the question about his girl
and that's what it was all about
and his professor gave him an A
and a strange steady look
and his mother never hung it on the kitchen door
because he never showed her
that was the year father tracy died
and he forgot how the end
of the apostle's creed went
and he caught his sister
making out on the back porch
and his mother and father never kissed
or even talked
and the girl around the corner
wore too much makeup
that made him cough when he kissed her
but he kissed her anyway
because that was the thing to do
and at three a.m. he tucked himself into bed
his father snoring soundly

that's why on the back of a brown paper bag
he tried another poem
and he called it "absolutely nothing"
because that's what it was really all about
and he gave himself an A
and a slash on each damned wrist
and he hung it on the bathroom door
because this time he didn't think
he could reach the kitchen


This is a great book and everyone should read it.