The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B by Teresa Toten. Filled with moments of deep emotion and unexpected humor, this understated and wise novel explores the complexities of living with OCD and offers the prospect of hope, happiness and healing.
Perfect for readers who love Eleanor & Park and All the Bright Places. ADAM’S GOALS:Grow immediately.Find courage.Keep courage.Get normal.Marry Robyn Plummer. The instant Adam Spencer Ross meets Robyn Plummer in his Young Adult OCD Support Group, he is hopelessly, desperately drawn to her. Robyn has an hypnotic voice, blue eyes the shade of an angry sky, and ravishing beauty that makes Adam’s insides ache.
She’s also just been released from a residential psychiatric program—the kind for the worst, most difficult-to-cure cases; the kind that Adam and his fellow support group members will do anything to avoid joining. Adam immediately knows that he has to save Robyn, must save Robyn, or die trying. . “. . . achingly authentic. “This book made me laugh, cry, think, and kept me coming back for more.” Tamara Ireland Stone. Every Fifteen Minutes - Lisa Scottoline. Nonfiction Book Review: Here's the Deal: Don't Touch Me by Howie Mandel, Author, Josh Young, With Bantam $25 (220p) ISBN 978-0-553-80786-8.
Howie Mandel, Author, Josh Young, With Bantam $25 (220p) ISBN 978-0-553-80786-8 In this reflective autobiography, written with verve and passion, actor, comedian and game show host Mandel alternates between funny anecdotes and stories of intense personal problems, opening with a description of his Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and the situations in his Toronto childhood that shaped his comedy career.
Despite little experience, Mandel left Canada for Los Angeles to pursue stand-up comedy, where he eventually moved from the clubs to cable specials, an album, and numerous late-night talk show appearances, success he'd parlay into film roles and a 6-year stint on NBC hospital dramedy St. Elsewhere. Mandel soon developed what he calls ""Obsessive Prankster Disorder,"" a need to stage elaborate practical jokes, some quite amusing. Nonfiction Book Review: Just Checking: Scenes from the Life of an Obsessive-Compulsive by Emily Colas, Author Pocket Books $22 (176p) ISBN 978-0-671-02437-6. Emily Colas, Author Pocket Books $22 (176p) ISBN 978-0-671-02437-6 What could have been a fascinating exploration of a complex psyche never gets much beyond the level of stand-up comedy in this disappointing memoir of a young woman's life with obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Substituting sarcasm for insight, Colas presents brief, easily digestible tidbits describing her overwhelming fear that she might catch diseases from strangers. She recounts her bizarre rituals of handwashing, garbage disposal, 800-number calling (is this product really safe?) That eventually hurt others and destroyed her marriage. Colas can be funny --(an episode of the stranger's underpants in the laundromat dryer is especially amusing (""I called my OB to ask her if she'd be willing to test me for gonorrhea"")--but her flat prose and superficial approach mask an intelligence that's never sufficiently engaged with this material--a typical analysis is, ""It sucks big time.
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