The Reason You're Alive by Matthew Quick

David Granger wakes up from brain surgery muttering a name - but not Hank (his son), Ella (his beloved granddaughter), or even Laura (his deceased wife). No, it's the name of an arch enemy from his Vietnam War days, and the time has come for him to make things right.

Hank doesn't understand David, but their living together during David's convalescence will be good for them all (if nobody dies). Soon Hank learns you have to go deeper than David's words to find out who he really is.

I adore everything Matthew Quick writes, and this is no exception. It's a tough book sometimes - David is a crabby old bastard - but like Hank we see there's much more going on that first glance suggests.

David's friends are a diverse and interesting bunch, and he loves them as if they were blood. They're a fun bunch to meet, and they keep the story moving as they aid and support David's quest. The book's title is a bit of a surprise: a story from Laura that's not fully explained until the very end.

Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things by Jenny Lawson

Mental illness isn't funny ... unless maybe when it's Jenny Lawson writing about it.

Lawson is the internet-famous The Bloggess - a profane, hilarious, honest bright spot in the world. This is her second book, and I believe it's less autobiographical and more inspirational than her first. In the first book, Lawson told about growing up, about her marriage, and about their struggle to have a family. In this one, she discusses her medical records and what the myriad diagnoses mean to her everyday life. She talks about the dark times where creating physical pain is the only way to tamp down the emotional pain. She talks about the events she cannot attend due to her extreme anxiety.

And while that sounds dark and sad, this is still Lawson's typically laugh-out-loud, snorting kind of funny, too.

She tells about experiencing Australia as an official tourism visitor - and how you can't just go around hugging koala, apparently. And boomerangs don't always come back, so it's not really stealing if you throw one from the gift shop door and it doesn't return - you're just helping to weed out the defective products.

This book is truly a rollercoaster of emotions that gets to the heart of human existence - we're all just trying to get by. But what a wonderful world it is with Jenny Lawson in it.

And here I note that I listened to the audiobook READ BY THE AUTHOR and it does not not not get any better than this. Period.

Dark Knight: A True Batman Story by Paul Dini and Eduardo Risso

When a comics-industry professional writes his memoirs, there's probably a law that it has to be in graphic novel form. But unlike the common awkward kid's story of how comics saved me, Paul Dini's is an adult tale of how comics pulled him from the brink. 

Dini was already an acclaimed writer when he was brutally attacked and nearly killed in a mugging. His injuries weren't just physical - in addition to his skull broken in multiple places, he was deeply traumatized by the attack and spiraled into a frightening depression.

But Batman understands because he's got a dark side, too, and he doesn't let it rule him. He's still on the side of good, and Batman helps Dini see that he can beat back the nightmares by doing what he's always done: writing good stories for great characters.

This is a fantastic way to tell this specific story - since most of the action takes place inside Dini's head, his thoughts and hallucinations are vividly depicted as appropriately twisted comic book characters. It's dark, but also hopeful and very well done.

Know Your Beholder by Adam Rapp

As musician Frances Falbo's life has crumbled around him (band breakup, divorce, agoraphobia), he conveniently has turned his childhood home into a small community of apartments; this means he has income, friends, and people to watch and interact with, all without ever taking off his robe and slippers.

This apartment microcosm community includes Frances' reclusive ex-brother-in-law, a pair of former circus acrobats whose young daughter has just gone missing, an aspiring thespian, a college artist, and a transient former bandmate, and more.

The book is funny, and also a little heartbreaking. The apartment tenants are a motley crew, and observing their comings and goings is full-time entertainment for Francis and for the reader. It's not the kind of book that everything gets tied in a ribbon bow at the end, but things end in a satisfying manner, and it looks like Francis may get out of the house after all.

Hyperbole and A Half: Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem, and Other Things That Happened by Allie Brosh

Allie Brosh is that wild sort of storyteller whose true tales should make you weep for her struggles but instead make you howl with laughter. And they're accompanied with her distinctive kindergarten-style MS Paint illustrations.

Brosh has a wildly popular blog (hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com) that birthed this book; the publisher says half the book previously appeared on the blog, and half is brand-new material. Whether it's the story about her desperate efforts to eat somebody else's birthday cake as a child, or the challenges of adopting "broken" dogs you won't even mind if you've seen it before - it's worth the reminder.

Perhaps her most inspirational work is about her own mental health challenges. Brosh has been very open and outspoken about her struggles with depression and anxiety, and I think her brave, honest descriptions are an important part of the dialog. Plus, did I mention she's got a hell of a sense of humor?

I follow Brosh's blog, and I was anxiously awaiting this book. I'm delighted that the book holds true to her visual style, and I'm certain she'll attract many, many new fans with its release.

Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick

Leonard Peacock has a gun in his backpack, and once he's delivered a few parting gifts he's going to kill Asher Beal, then himself. It's something that needs to be done - and today's the day.

Not just another book about school shootings, this one's a fantastic look from Leonard's perspective. Through his thoughts, memories, and interactions we learn about Leonard's lonely existence and piece together the source of his fury. Leonard (and the reader) know that each conversation today will mean something different in reflection tomorrow, after Leonard fulfills his plan. And when you can see things from Leonard's point of view, you really may see why he thinks this is a logical course of action.

This book is puzzling, heartbreaking, suspenseful, and thoughtful. Leonard's a guy you want to befriend before it's too late. You wonder how in the world it got this bad, while also understanding that all too frequently kids like Leonard slip between the cracks.

Quick's an excellent writer who really gets inside the head of his characters (see also: Silver Linings Playbook). This book features a multitude of footnotes (little asides in Leonard's narrative) and some typographical weirdness (when Leonard's closest to the edge of insanity, so is the text - it gets crammed out to the page's edge and marginalized like Leonard).

I love, love, love this book - it's absolutely one of my new favorite books.

Have a Nice Day by Julie Halpern

Fresh out of the hospital (3 weeks forced hospitalization for depression/anxiety), Anna's concerned about her reappearance at school: Will everyone look at her funny? Will they avoid her? How should she approach her absence? What will she wear? And how much homework has she missed? This kind of worry is no help to her irritable bowel syndrome and anxiety!

But Anna quickly finds that attention span in teenagers is short, and she doesn't really have anything to worry about. Plus, her newly-acquired coping skills may mean she's better-equipped to deal with common phenomena like crushes, parents, homework, and class projects.

Apparently, this is the sequel to "Get Well Soon" - that book deals with Anna's hospitalization - but I didn't know that until half-way through "Have a Nice Day." It didn't seem to matter that I hadn't read the first book; this one stood alone well without missing a beat.

Anna's a regular, likeable teen with the kind of concerns to which many will easily relate. Even if you haven't been hospitalized, most of us still worry about fitting in and sharing our personal struggles and triumphs. Anna was never an absolute nutcase - so, neither are we, right?

Broken Soup by Jenny Valentine

Everything kinda fell apart when Rowan's older brother died - her mum's totally fallen apart and become a zombie, her dad get fed up and moved out, and Rowan is left to hold things together for her six-year-old sister.

But when does Rowan get to be a 16-year-old kid, and grieve too?

The world tilts on its axis one day when a boy Rowan's never met insists she dropped a photo negative - that turns out to be an incredible picture of Jack she'd never seen before. Who was the boy? Where did the photo come from?

This is a short, powerful book about family dynamics and all the things we don't know about the people we know best. I consumed it in a sitting, and will highly recommend it to our teen readers.

It's Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini

I picked this one up because the movie looks good (Zach Galifianakisi as a mental patient? OK!), but I like to read the book first, if possible, before I see the movie.

Craig's not just a darkly mooded teenager - it's much worse than that inside his head. Taking the one good piece of advice he gets from the worst suicide hotline operator ever, Craig walks down the street to the hospital and checks himself in. The people he meets and the things he learns on the ward will force a true shift in Craig's head and in his life.

It's a good book; funny, and yet heartwarming. While the book's resolution is perhaps a bit too glossy and pat, much of the book rings true and many readers will find bits of themselves inside Craig's head, too.

Everything is fine

by Ann Dee Ellis

This could be a very depressing book and that is exactly why I think teens would like it. Every so often it is comforting to read about a fictional character whose life is sadder than your own. Precisely because it is fiction, the reader can see so clearly what can be done to resolve the central problem. If only real life were so easy.

Pick up this story of preteen Mazzy who lives alone with her severely depressed mother. Mazzy truly believes she is capable of running the household on her own. As the story moves along, see how Mazzy grows to trust a neighbor for guidance once in a while and find out what has caused her mother to retreat so far into herself.