Top 5 Wednesday: Top Books With Mental Illness/Health

Hello lovelies – it’s Wednesday so that means it’s time for another Top 5 Wednesday!

Top 5 Wednesday’s group, which is a group on Goodreads created by Lainey from the booktube channel, GingerReadsLainey. This is open to any Booktuber or blogger that would like to get involved. Basically, there’s a list of topics every Wednesday and you find five things that fit well for the topic.

You can find the group here: Top 5 Wednesday

This week the topic is: Top Books With Mental Health/Illness

The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick

In this novel we follow Pat after he has spent time in a mental health facility, his goal is to improve himself so that he can re-establish his relationship with his ex-wife Nicky. I felt that the book portrayed mental health in an interesting way, as it’s from the first person perspective so we see how Pat feels about his mental illness, and how it affects his relationships with others.

Am I Normal Yet? by Holly Bourne

We follow Evie as she goes into college for the first time, she wants to make friends and find a boyfriend. Whilst she worries about all of the usual teenage issues, she’s also battling with OCD. I felt the author really gave me a big insight into the this illness, and it was quite eye-opening. I felt like I took a lot away from it, in particular how it’s portrayed in the every day – such as, “I love keeping my room tidy, I’m so OCD” when really they’ve no idea.

Every Last Word by Tamara Island Stone

Similar to Am I Normal Yet? in the respect that this books follows a character that is suffering from OCD. In Every Last Word we have Samantha who is trying to hide her battle with mental health from her friends. She finds solace in an underground poetry club, and finds out a lot about herself. This author portrayed another side to the OCD, as this character suffers from purely obsessional OCD. I came away with a greater understanding of the disorder, and the knowledge that it’s not just the stereotyped symptoms.

The Perks Of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

Charlie is socially awkward, and is aiming to make the most of his life but he’s also trying to get away from it. This is a wonderful coming of age story, as he tries to overcome his mental health issues. Charlie suffers from post traumatic stress disorder and anxiety. I personally felt I took a deeper understanding of what it could be like to live with those illnesses, particularly the anxiety. I know people personally that suffer with anxiety, and I liked being able to read a book enlightened me on how they must feel.

Thirteen Reason’s Why by Jay Asher

This book is probably the hardest book to read from this list, as it really is tragically sad. We follow Clay as he receives a stack of cassette tapes from Hannah, who recently took her own life. Those tapes explain her reasons behind her decision, and they’re really eye-opening. This book made me conscious about how I treat those around me, because even something small to you could feel monumental to the person.

I hope you enjoyed this weeks topic. Let me know which books you love that cover mental health in the comments. I’ve really enjoyed reading and expanding my knowledge on the subject. Make sure to check out next weeks Top 5 Wednesday post, and the topic is: Title Fonts on Covers.