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4.12 AVERAGE
4.12 AVERAGE
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
A memoir made from recollections of both real events and imagined incidents, Susannah Cahalan's Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness is her account of the effects of a mysterious autoimmune disorder that attacked her brain, causing the titular madness. Cahalan's training as a reporter makes this a great read, as her ability to construct the narrative from her own faulty memory, the recollections of family and friends, and information from doctors and researchers on her illness and the workings of the brain makes this an important book for pyschiatric medicine for the layperson.
read an an audiobook.
good. very good. actually explains what's going on in ways i didn't understand from the movie. also goes into more depth about recovery and is simply Good.
good. very good. actually explains what's going on in ways i didn't understand from the movie. also goes into more depth about recovery and is simply Good.
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
I'd intended to read a medical memoir for a reading challenge so I figured, why not this one? The movie intrigued me, though I haven't watched it yet, but I'm glad I started with the book first. Everything leading up to her recovery was interesting and had me gripping the edge of my seat. The after, was a bit mundane, and didn't capture my attention half as much. It was interesting reading about what was happening with her, and just how long and how many doctors it took for them to finally figure out what was going on with her. Medicine in 2009 was not as advanced as it is now, and even now, it's not perfect, and this is a testament to the medicine world and how much it's progressed or stayed stagnant since 2009.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Chronic illness, Cursing, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Alcohol
informative
slow-paced
emotional
informative
medium-paced
Such an interesting read, very well written.
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Intriguing topic but just was kind of boring after the initial shock of reading about the disease and what it is.
This was a book club assignment and it started to freak me out. I have medical anxiety and am currently going through some health issues and I’m not in a place for this one