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A review by jessdekkerreads
Bibliophobia: A Memoir by Sarah Chihaya
REVIEW: Bibliophobia: a Memoir by Sarah Chihaya
Out today!
#gifted - thank you @atrandombooks
If you’re a reader, purchase this book
If you’re a lover of books, purchase this book
Sarah Chihaya bares it all, discussing her breakdown that landed her in a hospital, even calling her breakdown her “personal hobby” - with suicide attempts happening at a very young age. As a young child, she felt immense pressure and emotional abuse from her father, anxieties and insecurities emerged after becoming a naturalized American citizen, yet, books became her everything.
After her breakdown she starts to fear she’s developing Bibliophobia, which is many things, including the fear of the idea of books. She felt she didn’t deserve books anymore.
Chihaya introduces us to the term The Life Ruiner: a book that sets you on a path to a life built by and around reading. The book that won’t let you go, you carry these books like tokens.
Chihaya’s Life Ruiner: The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
My Life Ruiner: The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt - the only book that I credit to reigniting my love for reading, after an intense 18 weeks of morning sickness (or all day sickness) while pregnant with my first, this was my only solace, my Life Ruiner. This was in 2018 and I’ve been reading nonstop since.
This memoir did not only make me feel for Chihaya and her vulnerabilities she shared, but it made me realize why I love to read, how I don’t need to read for anyone but me, I should read with no expectations, that my annotations can feel like meditations, and sometimes it’s not about the ending or explanations, but instead, the in-betweens.
So many literary references. Get your pen and notebook ready. I marked up so much of this memoir, and took pages and pages of notes.
TW: eating disorder, cutting and suicide
Out today!
#gifted - thank you @atrandombooks
If you’re a reader, purchase this book
If you’re a lover of books, purchase this book
Sarah Chihaya bares it all, discussing her breakdown that landed her in a hospital, even calling her breakdown her “personal hobby” - with suicide attempts happening at a very young age. As a young child, she felt immense pressure and emotional abuse from her father, anxieties and insecurities emerged after becoming a naturalized American citizen, yet, books became her everything.
After her breakdown she starts to fear she’s developing Bibliophobia, which is many things, including the fear of the idea of books. She felt she didn’t deserve books anymore.
Chihaya introduces us to the term The Life Ruiner: a book that sets you on a path to a life built by and around reading. The book that won’t let you go, you carry these books like tokens.
Chihaya’s Life Ruiner: The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
My Life Ruiner: The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt - the only book that I credit to reigniting my love for reading, after an intense 18 weeks of morning sickness (or all day sickness) while pregnant with my first, this was my only solace, my Life Ruiner. This was in 2018 and I’ve been reading nonstop since.
This memoir did not only make me feel for Chihaya and her vulnerabilities she shared, but it made me realize why I love to read, how I don’t need to read for anyone but me, I should read with no expectations, that my annotations can feel like meditations, and sometimes it’s not about the ending or explanations, but instead, the in-betweens.
So many literary references. Get your pen and notebook ready. I marked up so much of this memoir, and took pages and pages of notes.
TW: eating disorder, cutting and suicide