Mental Illness Advocacy (MIA) Reading Challenge for 2018

Once again I will be doing this one, since it is a subject that is close to me. I'm still working on it or this year. You can sign up at any time. Click Opinions of a Wolf to sign up and see more info.

NOTE: The challenge has been deleted by the blog, so I plan to participate unofficially by still reading book on mental illness.
1/12: I now will be keeping tract of my mental illness readings on this post.

About the Challenge:

I started the Mental Illness Advocacy (MIA) Reading Challenge in December 2010 in an effort to raise awareness, knowledge, and acceptance of mental illness.  Reading, both fiction and nonfiction, is an excellent way to broaden one’s horizons and expose one to new ideas and ways of thinking and being.  Many reading challenges already existed in the book blogging community to address racism, sexism, and homophobia, but I could not find any to address the stigma faced by those suffering from mental illness.  In spite of mental illnesses being recognized by the scientific community as diseases just like physical ones, many still think those suffering from one are at fault for their own suffering.  I hope reading and reviewing books featuring characters struggling to deal with mental illness, whether their own or another person’s, will help remove the stigma faced on a daily basis by those with a mental illness.  They already have to struggle with an illness; they shouldn’t have to face a stigma too.

Please note that this is the original MIA Reading Challenge. For the years 2010-2014 there were no other reading challenges addressing mental illness.

What books count?Any book, fiction or nonfiction, that is either about mental illness or features characters or real people with a mental illness counts for the challenge.  However, the book must not demonize people with mental illnesses.

So, for example, the movie Fatal Attraction, which features a character with Borderline Personality Disorder, would not count since she is demonized in the movie.  However, Girl Interrupted, which also features a character with Borderline Personality Disorder, would count since that character is presented as a three-dimensional person with good and bad traits.

If you’re having trouble coming up with books to read for the challenge, check out the list of reading suggestions below.

Challenge Types:There are two challenge options: ongoing or annual.

Ongoing:You simply make an effort to seek out books that count for the challenge throughout your reading for however long you personally feel works for you.  For instance, you could decide to do it for 6 months or 3 years or just until you decide the challenge is no longer working for you.  It is not necessary to state how long you will be doing the challenge for when you sign up, but you can if you want to. (This is the challenge type I personally am following).

Annual:You commit to read a certain number of books within one year.  It does not have to be the calendar start year. It can be a year from the day you yourself wish to begin.  So in 12 months, you commit to read at one of the levels below:
Acquainted–4 books
Aware–8 books
Advocate–12 books

Here is what I am reading:

1. The Ice Queen--Alice Hoffman
2. I Hate Everyone But You--Gaby Dunn & Allison Raskin
3. Pandora's Daughter--Iris Johansen