I’m going to start this by borrowing the author’s own words and saying to Chris Whitaker . . .
“Can’t you see how beautiful you make tragedy?”
In my house my husband and I often use the turn of phrase “We Got Shawshanked.” If you are familiar with the film The Shawshank Redemption, you most likely have experienced this yourself. It happens less frequently in the time of streaming services, but occasionally we still flip through channels trying to decide on something to watch and run across that movie. Getting Shawshanked starts off innocently enough. You say “oh this is the scene where _____________ happens – I’ll just watch for a minute.” Then two hours later you realize you completely lost time and ended up watching the entire movie.
That’s what happened with this book. I went in completely blind and I’m not going to provide a summary of any sort to anyone reading this, so go to other reviews and risk being spoiled if you dare. I loved both We Begin at the End and Tall Oaks so when I saw this author had a new release I put my name on the library waiting list. Unfortunately for me (but fortunately for Whitaker and his book sales), it was after Jenna already made it her “Read With” selection so I was about eleventy-seven down the list. Luckily I have a great library system who acquired a trillion more copies of this so my wait was nearly non-existent. Then I realized it was 600 pages long – and if you know me you know I will die on the hill that 350 pages is the magic maximum number for nearly everything out there. But I dove in anyway . . . and then it was midnight, I turned the final page and found myself 100% in a bookhangover and mourning the loss of all of my new best friends.
Not only was this an exception to my “ugh this has too many pages” rule, it was an exception to nearly alllll of my personal tics. I loved the multiple viewpoints, I loved jumping from location to location, I loved the cobwebby storylines that eventually came together, I effing LOOOOOVED the youngsters (and that’s only happened like twice this year), I loved the descriptive prose when it was utilized. Everything. I loved everything about this book. I made half a gazillion notes and highlights, but I still have a feeling that should anyone question me about nuanced plot points or any other details in a week I’ll still be like . . .
I’m going to steal from Rotten Tomatoes and certify this one as fresh.
When Hannah’s most recent soulmate ghosts her and her BFF gets engage
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I’m going to steal from Rotten Tomatoes and certify this one as fresh.
When Hannah’s most recent soulmate ghosts her and her BFF gets engaged, Hannah takes her obsession with true crime to a whole different level and starts looking for love in all the wrong places. Specifically, as a pen pal with a suspected serial killer who has been charged with murdering four women and dumping their bodies in a ravine. What’s the harm, right? I mean all signs point to a conviction so it’s not like she’s actually at risk of being victim #5. That is until an actual fifth body is found while William is on trial which obviously makes him not guilty, he gets released and is ready for his happily ever after with his new girlfriend. Then it becomes a question of did he or didn’t he . . . or maybe more appropriate, will he or won’t he?
Simply put, this was a lot of fun. From the “Burn Book” style of cover art to the new take on “romance” in your 30s, I had a ball. The whodunit won’t be much of a shocker, but this made for a most enjoyable day out on the deck soaking up some unseasonably warm weather here in flyover country.
ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review....more
If you are like and get a little squicked out with too much dirty sexy talk, multiple masturbation and dry-humping sessions and a plot that all but completely disappears once the two main (pretty much only) characters start boffing like bunnies, well, you might want to skip this one.
I’m going to give this 2.5, but round down for the aforementioned not smexy smexuals. The pacing was off a bit at the beginning as well and “grumpy” really turned his frown upside down and acted like he was “sunshine’s” B.F.F. without much interaction. But then things settled in and for a while I was loving the banter between Mable and Alfie as they got to know each other while she was ghost writing the famous footballer’s memoir. I just wish the flow would have kept going once things got steamy.
ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, NetGalley!
This one popped up on the library’s recommendation software when whatever book it was I was trying to download was not instantly available. Although iThis one popped up on the library’s recommendation software when whatever book it was I was trying to download was not instantly available. Although it’s been more than a hot minute since I’ve read some teenie-bopper stuff, if you’re thinking to yourself . . . .
This isn’t a book that’s going to change the world, but if you have a young’un who enjoys reading this is a perfectly acceptable Young Adult selection. It has a little (strictly PG) romance, a little finding yourself, a little finding your people and it . . . .
I snatched this one up from the library pronto during prom season where people on the Socials are still more than happy to celebrate their childrens’ I snatched this one up from the library pronto during prom season where people on the Socials are still more than happy to celebrate their childrens’ antebellum proms. As the title states, this truly is not okay.
I realize I’m not the target demographic for this YA book, buuuuuuuut that being said, the problems with all of these books with a message is the people who actually neeeeed to read them will be those least likely to ever pick them up. The writing here is definitely for an audience who needs every microagression spelled out for them, which, unfortunately makes the lead Harriet a not-so-likeable character who takes being offended to an entirely different level. In addition, the other characters aren't fleshed out much at all and Harriet shows absolutely no empathy to the idea that anyone else could be dealing with real-life issues of their own. Eventually it is disclosed that Harriet suffers from anger management issues, but the therapy portions of the story leave much to be desired and it was pretty clear Harriet probably needed more than an every once in a while talk session to deal with her problems. As a mom I simply could not get on board with the decision of Harriet not attending her dream college because it only acknowledged its tainted history in 2014 rather than sooner. And the instalove which would result in moving away with a boy immediately after high school graduation after only dating for a few weeks being fully supported by her father made me realize I’m a Boomer who probably should stop reading books for teenagers.
Not to mention nearly all of the dialogue was super cringe like . . . .
But there’s really no other way to describe Tara Conklin’s style (she is, after all, the person who wrote a romance about falling for a ghost).
This time around we get a “maybe you can go home again” story. After Darcy’s husband leaves her for a skydiving instructor and she’s put on sabbatical from her job, she decides to return to the comfort of her familial home in Murbridge, MA to lick her wounds. When she arrives, however, she finds she is not greeted by her parents’ loving embrace, but instead an empty house while said parentals try out retirement life in Arizona for a year. She does find a stockpile of Chef Boyardee that could get the entire fam through a zombie apocalypse and a seriously quality WiFi connection where she can peruse the “Community Board” while fully leaning in to her new hermit lifestyle, though.
Told via Darcy, the aforementioned community message board, draft emails and texts, this is a story about moving on, adapting to change and finding your people. It won’t be for everyone, because like I said . . . . quirky, but I like originality and Conklin delivers in that respect. 3.5 Stars and rounded down because at only 250 pages this one had a bit of drag in the flow. Don't let the low rating steer you away - I assume it's mainly because most people gave it threes rather than ones. ...more
If you don’t watch Below Deck that was probably all just *wordswordswordswords*, but if you DO watch it then you know this was the moment that made Kate a true Bravolebrity and ensured she would always have a paycheck if Andy Cohen had any say-so in the matter.
When Vanessa finds her employment terminated due to her “face” she doesn’t even get a chance to make a penis towel as revenge. Instead, she discovers she had potentially been working for a Jen Shah sort of telemarketing company. If you’re asking yourself how many Bravo reality series references I can make in one review, here’s a spoiler . . . .
So she and her fellow co-workers decide to dabble a bit in The Art of War in order to bring down the company.
If you enjoy zany antics, this one will probably be more of a winner for you than it was for me. It wasn’t bad by any means, just not really my style. ...more
The premise here is a simple one: Liz accidentally sees a text on her husband Arno’s phone and spirals out of control for the entire book. That’s it. The premise here is a simple one: Liz accidentally sees a text on her husband Arno’s phone and spirals out of control for the entire book. That’s it. As the quote below states . . . .
“Nothing crazy, just a text thanking Arno for all his help on some major project and then a stupid kissy-face emoji. From someone named ‘Viv’ who I’ve never met before.” Tracy’s eyebrows lift even higher. “What else?” “Huh?” “I mean, what else?” “That’s it. Nothing else. The text is what made me feel suspicious.” “That’s it?” “Er, yeah.” “No suspicious phone calls late at night? Maybe from an unfamiliar name that sounds fake, or just an initial, like ‘F’?” “No.” “No weird receipts for lingerie that he never gives you, or designer chocolates?” “Nope.” “No unexplained work trips to Miami that get extended because of ‘bad weather’?” “No.” “No burner phones?”
Of course she never bothered asking and OF COURSE he’s probably cheating and OF COURSE Liz has not only a generalized anxiety disorder but is also a pretty solid drunk once the baby goes to bed. But the biggest problem? This could have been some poolside fun in the sun if it had been approached as a dark comedy. Around the 40% mark Liz goes in for a total makeover and I’m telling you I laughed out loud. And then I realized . . . .
Holy shit – a 5 Star read. This is not a test. Run do not walk to your local library or bookseller next Tuesday. Orrrrrrrrrr maybe only do
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Holy shit – a 5 Star read. This is not a test. Run do not walk to your local library or bookseller next Tuesday. Orrrrrrrrrr maybe only do so if you are a Saturday Night Live superfan? If you’ve been around my crap reviews at all, you should be aware that I am an SNL superfan who not only watches, but has gone on many a deep dive of the processes involved in making the weekly magic happen as well as reading/listening to celebrity memoirs of former cast members when I need something for Nonfiction November, but am too dumb to read most nonfiction. The only thing I have enjoyed more than my weekly hangouts with the Not Ready for Primetime Players for the past 35+ years was when the never disappointing 30 Rock was on the air (which, in case you live under a rock, was a fictionalized behind the scenes action of creating “The Girly Show” – an SNL knockoff). All that being said, Romantic Comedy could have been called “Liz Lemon Finds True Love” and I have no words for how much I loved it.
The first half (46%) is a breakdown of how “The Night Owls” (again *cough SNL cough*) comes together each week in order to appear live on your television. Like I said above, this is the make it or break part that will determine if this is your idea of a good time or not. I was practically crapping myself and most definitely Googled “did Curtis Sittenfeld work at SNL????” because it was so accurate. “Chapter 2” takes place a couple of years later and is epistolary format told via text messages (let me double down on my love and say epistolary when done well is also my jam). Then there’s Chapter 3 and an Epilogue but I ain’t a spoiler, so you’ll have to read it for yourself to find out what happens. Just now that unlike nearly every writer over the course of Covid, Sittenfeld didn’t shit the bed with her take on the pandemic.
The basic premise here is a potential love story revolving around “The Danny Horst Rule” – Danny being a fictionalized version of a The Night Owls writer/actor who somehow bagged an A-List babe who on paper would be considered way out of his league. (see Dan Akroyd/Carrie Fisher; Emma Stone/Dave McCary; Fred Armisen/Elizabeth Moss or Natasha Lyonne; Jason Sudakis/Olivia Wilde; Pete Davidson/pretty much everyone he’s ever fucked if you doubt this is a real-life thing – and note I’m excluding Colin Jost from this answer because he’s just as hot as ScarJo so the only thing that doesn’t add up with the two of them is the number of zeroes in their respective bank accounts.) Romantic Comedy turns the tables by featuring Noah Brewster, a superhot male rock star, possibly falling for the hilarious, but average TNO writer, Sally Milz.
I thought every single second of this was perfection. The only gripe I have is that my request for an early copy sat pending so long before I finally got approved, but since I got my greedy mitts on it a week early all is forgiven.
ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, NetGalley!!!!!...more
Seeing the paltry 3.26 (!!!!) Goodreads’ rating after taking a looky-look at the synopsis of this one I was sure everyone was just being a hater. BuuuSeeing the paltry 3.26 (!!!!) Goodreads’ rating after taking a looky-look at the synopsis of this one I was sure everyone was just being a hater. Buuuuuuuut now that I’ve read it and am only awarding 3 Stars myself, I get how it came to be.
The problem here is that are actually TWO potentially really solid (talking 4 Star minimum) stories in Sedating Elaine. The first would be the one that coincides with the title. Dear Frances finds herself with vivacious rebound girl Elaine – who, can I just say from the description was 100% . . . .
Frances owes a significant amount of money to her weed dealer so she bites the bullet and asks the wealthy Elaine to move in with her in order to ask her for the dough rather than a loanshark. Immediately upon cohabitation, Frances comes to realize there’s no way she can keep up with Elaine (and that’s in generic energy levels, actual physical activities such as running or her sexual appetite). How to solve the problem? A little sedation and a truly laugh-out-loudable dark comedy.
The other half of the novel is a maudlin tale of Elaine’s inability to move past traumas (sad ones, but thankfully not anything sexual or abusive) that happened when she was a child. She spends as much time as she can at the restaurant job she loves – but is unwilling (or feels undeserving) of moving beyond basic KP duties. She has no real friends (although well liked by her co-workers) and spends all of her time alone except when she is engaging in meaningless sex until she meets the too-goo-to-be-true Adrienne. The writing in this portion is hauntingly beautiful at times.
The problem lies that these two stories do not comingle well. Good news is this was Dawn Winter’s debut novel and she has proven to have some quality writing chops. I’ll definitely be looking for what she comes up with next.
ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review....more
What does it take to make you add a book to your TBR? All that was necessary for me here was the title. I’m not going to lie a
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Ha! Too late!
What does it take to make you add a book to your TBR? All that was necessary for me here was the title. I’m not going to lie and present myself as the biggest Prince fan that ever lived, but I will tell you I got grounded when my mother heard me singing along to Darling Nicky and I totally pulled a swappy-swap at the video store and slipped the Purple Rain VHS tape in another benign movie’s case in order to sneak watch it when I was just a wee young'un. When I saw this cover I was all in – no blurb reading, no ratings gandering, nada. And in an attempt at full disclosure, I’ll tell you I just assumed this was going to be a YA book.
But I was WRONG! So I had just finished a Kristin Higgins book a couple of days before and had told my husband how a good Chick Lit really warms the cackles of my heart, but it’s sometimes hard to find said good ones and I tend to not read the same genre back to back. Then I picked this puppy up and . . . .
It’s just a typical weekday for Ramona – well, aside from the Category 4 hurricane currently churning out in the Atlantic, her work/life balance being a constant struggle and the fact that she just walked into her kitchen midday to find her husband in his unders and Sarah Ellen from the school drop-off/pick-up line taking the last coconut La Croix from the fridge all decked out in her cowboy boots post coitus.
I did a quick brain adjustment from thinking this was going to be about too-cool-for-school teenie boppers and the realization that the sun truly does occasionally shine on a dog’s butt that I was going to get my wish of another potential winner in the #cluckcluck category.
And oh what a winner it was. I absolutely ADORED Ramona and her children (and I like kids in books about once per year so sucks to be every other thing I read in 2023). I also hate most all adults in real life, but I’m telling you this gal could be my best friend if she weren’t fictional. The bits analyzing their marriage were so honest and I cannot remember a time where I laughed so many times out loud while reading.
“All right. Are we finished pretending like you could forgive Desmond for his lying cheating cold dead beatin’ two-time double-dealing mean mistreating loving heart – “
“Patty Loveless? Respect.”
“Earned all this money but they’ll never take the country out me.”
“Rihanna”
“Beyoncè. Sweat Jesus, what has happened to you?”
“I know. I know!”
Don’t let the crap Goodreads’ rating fool you. Bunch of haters around this joint! I’m blown away that this was a debut novel, and I’m telling you I’ll pick up whatever Carolyn Prusa wants to put down. Every Star! Take it sleazy, y’all. ...more
I never read friends’ reviews before starting a book for some bizarro unfounded fear I have of accidentally plagiarizing their stuff, but I do occasioI never read friends’ reviews before starting a book for some bizarro unfounded fear I have of accidentally plagiarizing their stuff, but I do occasionally take a peek at their ratings and absolutely was going to start my thoughts here with Joan is Okay is . . . okay (just like my friend Michelle did!).
So the story here is about, you guessed it, Joan. It’s partially about the grieving (or lack thereof) process, partially about the immigrant experience, partially about being a woman of a certain age who has no children or partner, partially about competing in a male dominant industry, partially about family and home, partially about Covid, and just a titch of snide humor (which Joan, I’m sure, isn’t even aware she has). It’s told in a free association sort of style with no punctuation indicating dialogue, no chapter breaks, etc. And it’s . . . okay. I read this because it popped up on some of the “Must Reads of 2022” lists. I’m just not smart enough to get what makes this one so special, I guess.
My main complaint (I’ve read enough Cormac McCarthy that the lack of quotation marks will never be an issue for me) was that Joan started off as an obviously “quirky” character – who noted every person she came across by height and weight, mimicked facial expressions and hand gestures because she was unsure of her own, found solace in “friendships” with anthropomorphized objects like the Roomba or the hospital ECMO, was unintentionally funny at times as mentioned above, etc. But then that stopped. And I'm not exactly sure why . Joan had had no epiphany . . . it was like the author either forgot about or simply tired of her own gimmick.
Strangely enough, the things I liked most about this were the mundane items I would normally complain about. Descriptions of food and language and particularly Covid. Go figure ; )
In addition to my house cover addiction, I have to confess that if you put “kill” in the title, there’s about a 112% chance Imma want to read it. If fIn addition to my house cover addiction, I have to confess that if you put “kill” in the title, there’s about a 112% chance Imma want to read it. If for no other reason than to carry it around the office so others can see it while waiting for their turn at the coffee bar or the copy machine . . . .
Last week I read How to Kill Men and Get Away With It, then I read this, and coming soon it’s Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone. Ahhhhhhh, it’s like hanging out with my besties.
This selection was absolutely a had me at hello with the premise of triplets who spend their free time murdering their boyfriends. And having it not be all about the gore or twists and turns was once again super satisfying to my hate-everything lately self.
Sissy has always had the role of the “cleaner” when it comes to her sisters’ shenanigans, but now it’s her turn. She’s identified her mark and now has a maximum of six months to make him fall in love with her before offing him, disposing of his body and moving on to the next. It’s her time and she’s ready . . . until she starts catching some feels.
This slow roller didn’t include a lot of shock and awe, but it kept me engaged right from the jump and I read it in a day. There was a bit of jumping of the shark with the added neighbor narrative muddying up the waters, but for the most part I really enjoyed this one. 3.5 Stars and rounding up because I’m full of the holiday spirit.
ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. ...more
Dark fairytale retellings have become sort of my jam. I intentionally held off reading my advanced copy of How to Be Eaten for an October read and boyDark fairytale retellings have become sort of my jam. I intentionally held off reading my advanced copy of How to Be Eaten for an October read and boy oh boy I sorta wish I would have read it right away. The story here revolves around a new form of experimental group therapy. All of the ladies have responded to an email directed to public figures who had suffered some form of personal trauma. Some of the faces are immediately familiar . . . .
Be patient, be kind, be good, say please, say thank you, don’t speak unless spoken to, don’t forget to smile, don’t give it all away, don’t disobey your teachers, your boyfriend, your husband, your producers. But don’t, you know, follow them blindly either. Hold this key, but don’t go in there. Don’t you dare open that door. Don’t cross the street without looking both ways, but don’t dawdle. Yeah, don’t get distracted on your way. Or, actually, you know what? Maybe don’t even be out there, on the street, not if it’s dark, not if you’re alone, not if you’re a kid, not if you’re a woman, not without a rape whistle around your neck, not without pepper spray clutched in your hand, not, anyway, if you’re wearing that outfit. But, I mean, don’t be a prude either.
I’m all about awarding points for fresh voices and originality. While this may have been a twisted take on old subject matter – it felt 100% brand new. It was not, however, funny. Dear Publicists – stop calling things funny when they aren’t. kthxbai.
ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review....more
Boy, the knuckledraggers didn’t even have to put any effort into finding this one. Sonora Reyes did all the work for them with this title!
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Boy, the knuckledraggers didn’t even have to put any effort into finding this one. Sonora Reyes did all the work for them with this title!
I read this last week for Banned Books Week and of course failed to review it on time because that is what I do. The story here is about Yami – a teen who, along with her brother, has transferred to a private Catholic school after being outed and ostracized by her former best friend and due to her brother’s inability to stay out of trouble. Her goals for the new year are simple . . . .
1. Find a new best friend. 2. Don’t be gay about it.
Throughout the course of the book you learn about why Yami’s brother was having issues, meet her parents – neither of which are approving of homosexuality and one who was deported, and experience first love. Also included are some helpful doses of facts . . . .
If I’m “living a lie,” then so is every straight person who’s never “come out” to every single person in their life about their sexuality. I shouldn’t have to talk about it if I don’t want to.
Aside from being “too gay” – there’s zero reason why this book would ever be an issue to the crazies. It’s a typical young adult type of story that would easily translate over to Netflix like the trillions of other teenage romance books that have been converted to film in the past. A little meatier dealing with the homophobia aspect, but all in all a feel good type of coming of age story. I’ve stepped back from my YA reading in the past few years and find my complaints to be those of a grown-up that might not even bother the targeted audience. I was interested in knowing more about the mother and father’s relationship – how he got deported – how they managed to maintain a family while being so far removed – etc., but this was Yami’s story and not the parents so that’s my issue and not the book’s. I have plenty of other complaints regarding the mother, but I prefer to leave my reviews spoiler free so I’ll just leave it with she need a good shaking for more than one reason. The characters could have used a lot more dimension, the story was nothing super new and I’m fairly certain real life situations like these wouldn’t get tied up with a big bright bow at the end, but again I’m not a kid so what does my old Boomer ass know?
Now a longlister for The National Book Award. ...more
Picture it, Sicily 1929. Okay, not really, but this was the story of a group of “golden girls”of sorts. Billie, Mary Alice, Helen and Natalie have spent the past 40 years . . . .
As a thank you for their contribution to ridding the world of various drug lords, sex traffickers, Nazis, dictators, etc. the four have been given an all expenses paid retirement cruise. And also, now they are the targets for the next hit?????
Talk about an action-packed thrillride. I generally don’t tend to enjoy reading fight scenes and high adrenaline cat and mouse situations, but this one was an exception. Mad props for a new take on a familiar plotline, introducing me to these enjoyable ladies, for the humor and for keeping me on the edge of my seat from start to finish. This was pure fun.
ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, NetGalley!...more
Never yearn for the light that some men will shine on you for the briefest of moments. Snuff it out instead.
Oh my. It’s super disappointing to be Never yearn for the light that some men will shine on you for the briefest of moments. Snuff it out instead.
Oh my. It’s super disappointing to be ponying up a mediocre rating on a book with a title as perfect as this one. But alas, throughout the majority of the tale I found myself . . . .
The problem here was simply getting mired in the mundane details. Sooooooo many boring details and irrelevant backstories of characters that were – per the title – family who were about to die. What really stinks is the plot was great. Grace was raised by a poor single mother who had a dalliance with a rich bastard she expected more from, but who was not interested in leaving his actual family for his side piece. Now Grace is in the pen . . . for a murder she didn’t even commit. How to Kill Your Family is Grace’s journaling of her life story to pass the time while awaiting the decision on her appeal hearing.
I hope this is a better fit for most people than it was for me. While revenge fantasies haven't typically been my jam, I had high hopes upon starting this one. Good news is the stabbin’ was quality stabbin’ and Grace’s voice and dry humor made me laughsnort a time or two . . .
Some people have fathers who beat them, some have fathers who wear Crocs. We all have our crosses to bear.
And that ending???? That ending was great. But still I set this aside multiple times for other books and I NEVER do that.
2.5 Stars, but I’ll round up so Grace doesn’t come kill me too....more
I put this book on my TBR simply for the title alone. If you are new here, one of little joys I get out of life is carrying around my own selection ofI put this book on my TBR simply for the title alone. If you are new here, one of little joys I get out of life is carrying around my own selection of “NSFW” book titles and covers so this one automatically hit the sweet spot simply for the outside. Then the Center for Fiction debut novel nominees were announced and – yay me – I already had this on hold at the library. Unfortunately for this novel, I think it has zero chance at winning thanks to said nominations also including the brilliant Nightwalking, but I thought this was great too.
NSFW is the story of a young Harvard grad who, thanks to a fairly healthy dose of nepotism adjacent connections, lands a temp job at the television network XBC. Her own skillset is what gets our unnamed protagonist promoted to an assistant position for one of the major movers and shakers of the network and eventually even allows her to sit in on pitches for new program development. The timeframe is prior to #metoo where office engagement is taken as . . . .
“Little comments, tiny things, nothing really.”
It is a time where compliments should be received with a smile, women expect the worst from other women and apologize for the behaviors of certain men, things sometimes just “go too far” – and we are active participants in our own oppression. So basically, about a decade ago.
I have been an “assistant” since Jesus was in diapers so there might have been a deeper level of appreciation for me that others who have not held this illustrious job title won’t feel. Luckily I have never been sexually harassed or assaulted at work, but boy did the words here still resonate. The dark humored delivery and conversational tone rather than a preachy approach (which would surely get the authored labeled as some sort of shrieking harpy even with the strides that have been made) make the readability factor of this one go straight through the roof. Don’t let the low Goodreads rating fool you, NSFW is whip smart and worth your time.
She’s a 10 4, but she reads ARCs for books that won’t be released until 2023 rather than the billion that have already been published and remain unreaShe’s a 10 4, but she reads ARCs for books that won’t be released until 2023 rather than the billion that have already been published and remain unread on her Kindle . . . .
Yeah, that’s pretty much what happened. Shelby sent me a text that Mothered was a Read Now on NetGalley and I snatched it up lickity split before the offer expired. I didn’t intend to read it right away due to that FEBRUARY pub date, but since I looooooved Baby Teeth this sucker just kept screaming to me . . . .
After reading Zoje Stage’s take on a “bad seed” devil child, I couldn’t wait to see what she had to offer when it came to mommas.
A note to anyone who found the pandemic extremely traumatizing: this is NOT a book for you. It takes place in the height of panic where lockdown restrictions are just easing up a titch, but well before the vaccine was invented. You literally get locked in with Grace and her mother Jackie. Claustrophobic is a very apt description of how this book reads. It won’t be for everyone, but man oh man this was a slow burn of psychological fuck-up-edry that I read cover to cover one night after work.
Once again I broke my own rule of not reading the author note and took a gander at this one. I am so sorry for the author’s loss, but holy moly do I appreciate a brain that can turn the grieving process into something so delicious. I also couldn’t imagine quarantining in total isolation. While I tout my hermitlike lifestyle on the regular, at least I have other people who live in my house with me and who I like to talk to every once in awhile ; ) ...more
First off I’d like to take a moment to acknowledge that this may very well end up being my one and only nonfiction selection for Nonfiction November. First off I’d like to take a moment to acknowledge that this may very well end up being my one and only nonfiction selection for Nonfiction November. When presented the opportunity to pick up something important or to take a deep dive further into my trash addiction, I will most likely always choose the latter . . . .
Oh, I assure you it is the most delicious kind. I didn’t realize when I requested that the library obtain a copy of this title that it was going to come in as a ginormo puppy squisher at nearly 500 pages. This is for the Housewives superfan. The ones like me who have missed nary an episode of any iteration in over a decade. The ones who decorate for the holidays as soon as the clock strikes midnight on November 1st and then scream things like this at their family until the New Year . . . .
I took a little gander at the first fistful of ratings and (aside from fairly obvious sockpuppetry) I was surprised to see how many low reviews I found. The main issue seems to be that Bravo had final say-so in what was said, but I ask you – why in the hell wouldn’t they do whatever they could to protect their cash cow? And as far as the complaints go about “favorites” being played with the various wives – again D.U.H. We all have our favorites – I’m not stupid enough to think that doesn’t go for Andy as well. As long as everyone agrees that Kandi Burruss is magic, I won’t have to cut a bitch ; )
At the end of the day, this is a Real Housewives compendium. Told in interview format, it rehashes some of the most memorable events city by city from the OC to Potomac. (Sadly, Salt Lake City isn’t included, but since it’s only in Season 2 it makes sense.) What struck me the most is how mind boggling it is that this franchise can continually metamorphosize itself whether through cast flipping or changing storylines and yet remain so successful. While not everything works for everyone, it’s pretty clear that as a whole this sucker simply works.
So if you want to hear play-by-play about moments such as . . . . .
Kelly (and the Book Boar)
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Books:
it-s-all-in-the-name
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