Reasons to Stay Alive

4 StarsNonFiction

Oct 10

A kindle is propped up against a square glass vase filled with pink roses. On the screen is the cover for Reasons to Stay Alive. Just in front of it is a cocktail in an orange, green, blue, and yellow striped coupe glass — ⭐⭐⭐⭐

*“There is no standard normal. Normal is subjective. There are seven billion versions of normal on this planet.”*
*Reasons to Stay Alive* is Matt Haig’s extremely personal account of his struggle with mental health over the years. The book felt more like a collection of essays than a memoir with a single overarching flow, but each chapter was engaging and well written. People who struggle with anxiety or depression will likely resonate with many of Haig’s descriptions of his own journey, and those who have been lucky enough to avoid those particular challenges may get a better understanding of what it's like. I’d recommend reading it rather than listening to the audiobook - one chapter is mostly a list of reasons his twitter followers have for staying alive and while it’s sweet,

twitter handles don’t translate well to spoken format.

Honestly, you’ll get a good idea of if you’ll like the book or not based on the book description - it’s surprisingly light considering the subject matter, but stays on theme. Because of the somewhat disconnected chapters this would be best read in bits and pieces rather than in a single sitting, but it’s definitely worth reading if you want to understand depression and anxiety better or if you want to feel less alone in your own mental health journey.

In honor of the book this cocktail pairing was all about the glass. I found these coupe glasses in a little antique store on some road trip years ago, and they bring me so much joy! I have yet to figure out a drink that actually looks good in them, so I tried a new gin cocktail that looked like fun. It didn’t end up a new favorite, but I enjoyed the process and for this book that’s what matters.

Fly Me To The Moon Cocktail