For context, she is 17, has a history of self harm, had a very recent failed attempt that has landed her in a mental hospital for the first time (as I write this, she is still there), and has not spoken to me in over 3 years.
I know that’s a lot. I know I’m asking for a lot. I just feel responsible for her depression worsening over the years, I feel like I abandoned her during her adolescence over a stupid fight and due to my stupid pride.
I’m thankful she’s still here, and I want to once again try to mend our broken relationship. I’m preparing a “Boo Basket” for her when she returns from the hospital and want to include a book. She loves books, her room is filled with them. She is part of the lgbt community, and enjoys romance novels (GL). I’m sure she likes all genres tho I feel like she’d spit in my face if I gave her a self help book.
Any recommendations? A story that has helped you during a dark time, that made you look at life differently? I want it to be a situation where you start something just for the fun of it but leave with a life lesson.
Thank you for reading through this rant.
by 2shy2fafo
8 Comments
Hyperbole and a Half, by Allie Brosh
“Visit Sunny Chernobyl” by an author whose name escapes me. He was a travel writer and having difficulties getting anybody to comp his travel anywhere cool because he wasn’t well-known enough and those are cushy gigs with a lot of competition. He eventually got sick of it and decided you know what, fuck it, I’m going to travel to the absolute worst places imaginable and write about THAT. So he literally compiled a list of the areas in the world that were toxic and/or the most hazardous-to-human-health places, and visited them. And when I say visited them, I mean he was really up in those places. He was INSIDE the Chernobyl exclusion zone with a tour guide, the description of whom is hilarious. He visited a bunch of other places too, one of them being a huge SuperFund site.
I wouldn’t say that it pulled me out of anything, and it didn’t teach me any meaningful lesson, but it was funny and refreshing because that’s just life. It sucks sometimes and then you die. People live and work in these toxic dumps because that’s just how life goes and it doesn’t always end like Eat Pray Love.
A Psalm for the Wild Built and A Prayer for the Crown Shy, they’re beautiful sci-fi novellas and are queer as well.
you should see me in a crown was a sweet GL book about a girl trying to win prom queen in her school!
I’m quite a bit older than your sister at 28, but back when I was a high school student, a circle of people I knew going through various hard times related to the characters in Looking for Alaska by John Green. This was hailed as an amazing book by them. I did enjoy it, but I’d look into the themes and figure out if they’re right for your sister. There are definitely tough topics discussed in the book.
I personally preferred escapism fantasy for getting away from my problems during my late teens, rather than reading books that are directly related to my issues. I loved the Percy Jackson books in my teens, and I feel like, in general, you can’t go wrong with these books. They might be technically considered middle grade books, but I feel like they can be appealing to a wide age range. Back when I was reading them, my mom read them at the same time, and she enjoyed them too.
Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson is one that hit me hard as a recent read. The main character is clearly traumatized, but there are some lessons about self care being important, mixed in with an adventure, and some cool battle scenes.
I don’t know if I’d actually recommend this, at least not at this moment, but later on giving her ‘How To Make Friends With The Dark’ by Kathleen Glasgow might help her a bit.
It’s about a girl who loses her mother, and her struggling with that grief.
I also used to be somewhat similar to her in some aspects, and this book really helped me understand how my actions could affect those around me, and made me a bit more self aware. It was also a captivating and emotional story, and made me cry more than I’d care to admit.
That author has some other books, I think one of them even has self harm, which might be relatable and helpful for her.
Again, maybe not right now, but something to be considered later?
Edit: I’ve read a good couple thousand books in my life, most of them romances, so if you could give a few examples of what she has read and enjoyed I could probably find a few recommendations for right now that won’t be so obvious or confronting as the books mentioned above.
The Red Tree – Shaun Tan 🤍✨
It’s like a short story picture book. It’s honestly super emotionally powerful for anyone going through mental health struggles. It’s the same for those who aren’t going through it too. 🥺
C. S. Lewis wrote [The Problem with Pain](https://amzn.to/46muORK)about handling emotional pain. “With his signature wealth of compassion and insight, C.S. Lewis offers answers to these crucial questions and shares his hope and wisdom to help heal a world hungering for a true understanding of human nature.” I think it might be a useful read.