Far From the Tree: Parents, Children and the Search for Identity | 
📕 Tagged (TBR), Five Days at Memorial (TBR), The First Day of Spring (TBR)
✍️ Gillian Flynn and Ken Follet (TBR)
🎥 Fight Club, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Finding Nemo
🎸 Flyleaf and Future Palace
🎵 Faint (Linkin Park), Fall for Me (Sleep Token), Feels Like Tonight (Daughtry), Fully Alive (Flyleaf)
#manicmonday
@CBee
Catching up again! #curiouscovers #littenlisten
Hoping my migraine doesn‘t stop me from getting some audiobooks in today.
The chunkster love is contagious! Thanks for being inspired to hop on the challenge train and complete this fantastic book, Meg!
@megabooks
#chunksterchallenge2021
Airykah13, bibliobliss, Daisey, rockpools, BarkingMadRead, Crazeedi, erzascarletbookgasm, CarolynM, Wife, Texreader, TheBookDream, BookNAround, shortsarahrose, Deblovestoread, mom2bugnbee, EclecticBookLover, CoverToCoverGirl, rjsthumbelina, JenReadsAlot, Bookwormjillk, BeckyWithTheGoodBooks, Bookishlie, zezeki, Cathythoughts, JamieArc, Mollyanna, Ash.on.the.line, Liz_M, GinaKButler, Butterfinger, Freespirit, sblbooks, tenar, jewright
pickThe subtitle of this book says it all. This is a book about the search for identity. Peppered with interviews of families as well as stats & citations, Solomon looks at what it‘s like for parents to raise a child that is fundamentally different from them, like one with Downs Syndrome. He does talk to a few where the parents have the same condition in chapters on dwarfism and deafness and non-hereditary conditions like being the child of rape. ⬇️
The chapter on babies conceived from rape was difficult to read. He brought up an excellent, if sad, point that in this age of genetic determinism, how are these kids thought of? So many mothers struggled to love their children while others had to fight their rapists for custody, which is f***ing ridiculous. Often there were cycles of sexual abuse.
The social services that are there in other situations aren‘t available for juvenile offenders. ⬇️
The chapter on multi-system disability was hard to read. The families he profiled had children that will not have more abilities than a toddler. These challenges were my own worst fear of parenthood, so it was a lot to read. I took a break between that and prodigies because I thought, how could being a prodigy be as bad as that. And despite his 4-hour argument that being a prodigy is THAT BAD, I still don‘t believe it. Continued (1/2) ⬇️
It‘s been incredibly moving hearing so many individual families struggling with Downs Syndrome, autism, and schizophrenia.
There is a lot more understanding of DS now. There has been a movement towards home care of children and strong early intervention programs, which seems to make a difference later in life. People living with DS may be easier to care for than chaotic disorders like autism or schizophrenia. ⬇️ (several comments below)
I‘ve decided to do periodic updates, as I couldn‘t capture a book this complex in a single review! The author got the idea of writing a book about parents raising children with major differences from being gay raised by straight parents.
I‘ve finished the introduction and the chapters of being deaf and having dwarfism. They both have some similarities in that the conditions in the wider world can be socially isolating, and some have family ⬇️
My updated #bookspinbingo card! Only four spots left. 🥳 (Review of I‘ll Tell You in Person to come.) I‘m thinking of using my last free space for the tagged #audiobook. I just picked it up at the Audible sale, but it‘s over 40 hours! 🤓 I‘ve listened to one other that long before (Ducks, Newburyport), and I think I‘m ready to take on the challenge again!
pickTerrible cover, fantastic book. After a decade of research and interviews with hundreds of families, Solomon shares his findings on the lives of parents who are caring for a variety of exceptional children. Some parents are undone by the challenges, and others find great depths of love and purpose in parenting their unique children. Solomon writes with startling honesty and keen insight, blending personal stories and fascinating research. So good.
This book is fantastic. This is one of the best first paragraphs of a book ever. Solomon is such an honest, keen observer and his writing is just marvelous.
Far from the Tree: parents search
Tana French
Footloose
Aretha Franklin
Free Fallin' #manicmonday #LetterF
Day 23 of #adventrecommends One of my favorite nonfiction reads. It includes chapters on deafness, dwarfism, Down syndrome, autism, schizophrenia, disability, prodigies, transgender identity, children who are conceived during a rape and those who become criminals. Each chapter includes children & their parents struggling with identity & interweaves individual families‘ tales with wider meditations on science, medicine, psychology, and philosophy.
#7Days7Covers #CoverCrush
Day 6
7 covers you love, one a day for 7 days. No explanations. Tag a different Litten each day.
@LapReader , would you like to play?
The amount of self control I have when I walk into a book store.
What is zero, Alex?
I had no intention of buying a book for myself and was shopping for bookish goodies. Three feet inside the door and I was drawn to the tagged book in the bargain section. At page 4, and I‘m already loving it. A couple books for the husband, and some gifts, and I got the last set of Pride & Prejudice pencils! SchulersBooks is worth 1 1/2 hour drive.
pickIn the interest of full disclosure, I have to admit I didn't finish this book. I made it to page 640, but it's just really, really long and it was slowing down my fiction reading. Now that it's due at the library with no renewals left, it feels like time to let it go. It was a fascinating book, though: a look at families where the child differs dramatically from the parents. I'm going with "pick" rather than "bail"--the 640 pages were good!
[Solomon] "writes about families coping with deafness, dwarfism, Down syndrome, autism, schizophrenia, multiple severe disabilities, with children who are prodigies, who are conceived in rape, who become criminals, who are transgender. While each of these characteristics is potentially isolating, the experience of difference within families is universal, as are the triumphs of love Solomon documents in every chapter." #Challenge #AndItsAugust
A few #doorstoppers from my shelves for #riotgrams Feb day 27. I've read and recommend all of these, except for one, which I really didn't like. I was in the minority on this in my book club though. It felt a bit like when I saw and loathed Forrest Gump 😕. Can you guess which one of these was a 'pan' for me?
pickWow. Just wow. This tome prized open my mind and blew it away. Such incredible insights following years of interviews and research. Organised into types of difficulties by chapter, making such a massive work more accessible. Can't recommend highly enough.
pickMagisterial but overlong. Each chapter was necessary but author ended up using too much of his source material. Raises important questions about why we have kids and what happens when they are unlike us in some significant way. Also, what makes a family and an individual person in an age of seemingly infinite self-curation and transformation.
The biggest book I've read this year was Andrew Solomon's fascinating exploration of identity. It's long, but so worth reading! #ilikebigbooks #booktober
pickBeautifully written, but an awfully long slog. Chapters would have been as effective at half the length. That said, very well worth reading.
