Cody's Bookshelf

Day 5: A book that makes me happy 

Something most folks don't know about me is I have a lot of social anxiety and am prone to unexpected bouts of panic attacks followed by depression. This dates back at least six years, and is partly why I love books as much as I do -- they provide escape for a while. I first read It's Kind Of A Funny Story in 2010. I had just lost one friend in an automobile accident and another to suicide. I was about to go into high school, I felt like I had no one to talk to, and I was lonely. I was in Books-A-Million one day and saw this funny-looking paperback by Ned Vizzini.  The synopsis spoke to me so I picked it up and read it in one day. I've read it countless times since. This book has had more of an impact -- for good or bad -- on me than anything else I've ever read. It's not a particularly uplifting novel until the very end, but it's the ending that make me happy. It gave that little junior high kid hope five years ago, and it gives this college kid hope today.