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 am always down for some "maybe you can go home again" family drama which is totally what I was expecting to receive here. What I got instead was a pretty comprehensive explanation of OCD that presents itself in the form of intrusive thoughts, along with the story of the Beck family who were always fairly dysfunctional, but who truly haven’t been the same in over a decade when Henry died. Told through the voice of youngest daughter Eliot, this is a story of first love, of family, of grieving, and of The Worries that plague her mind.
I don’t know that this will be for everyone. I understand “Boose’s” brain could be triggering for some and potentially exhausting for others. But I hope people give it a chance.
4 Stars
ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review....more
In homage to “Darkly Dreaming Dexter” I have lovingly been referring to Augusten Burroughs as “Darkly Delightful David” for years since I have enjoyedIn homage to “Darkly Dreaming Dexter” I have lovingly been referring to Augusten Burroughs as “Darkly Delightful David” for years since I have enjoyed his memoirs nearly as much as my one true love, David Sedaris. While Burroughs has always leaned waaaaaay more into the macabre memories of his coming of age and adulthood than Sedaris, he has done so often in a laugh out loud way that makes you feel like (even more of) a terrible person.
This time around he tackles his childhood – back when his parents were still together, in a VERY dysfunctional marriage, and before he went to live with his mother’s shrink. Much like Sedaris’ Happy Go Lucky this one delves into true darkness – including alcoholism, untreated mental illness(es), and domestic violence to name a few. And then there’s this hinting around nearly at the end that maybe his father was, if not a serial killer, potentially at least a murderer of one person that has become a reoccurring dream for Augusten.
I was really ready to pan this one . . . but then at the end Burroughs explained it was sort of a “modern art project” for him so take my rating with a grain of salt. I’m giving this 2.5 Stars and rounding down for the audio version because I absolutely HATED all of the interludes of sound and music that, unfortunately, were 100% Burroughs’ own idea. He also includes four songs at the end and I really didn’t like the Patty Smith one . . .
(But how absolutely kick-ass is it that he could just call PATTY SMITH up and say, “hey, wanna write me a song for this audiobook thing I’m doing?”)...more
The story here is about the Larkin family. We start in in the Summer of 1951. Eldest daughter Myra is dabbling with her first taste of freedom as a young teen and is allowed to go to the diner after Sunday mass for a couple of hours before coming home to assist with family chores. On this given Sunday, Myra meets a young man who says his name is Mickey Mantle and that he is a rookie with the New York Yankees who has been sent back down to the minors for the time being. He offers Myra a ride home since it is raining outside and even gives her one of his baseball cards to remember him by . . . . and then that night neighbors down the street are victims of a grisly murder in their own home with the main suspect being a young, male, blonde stranger.
The story is then a SWEEPING narrative spanning sixty years and told by multiple members of the Larkin clan. Hot button headlines of the day are mentioned (such as the assassination attempt on Ronald Regan and Rock Hudson’s AIDS diagnosis), but also there are a couple of near-misses by notorious serial killers. And then. WHOA BOY OH BOY AND THEN! The Larkin mother begins receiving bizarre postcards from the only surviving son of the family, Alec, consisting of simple “hello and goodbye” messages – accompanied by the name and age of a child.
This was perfection. Family saga plus serial killers? Talk about my bucket list dream novel. Every Star.
Endless thanks to Little Brown for a copy in exchange for my honest review. ...more
I have probably put this on hold at the library only to remove my name when my turn came around over a dozen times. I tend to be a wrongreader when itI have probably put this on hold at the library only to remove my name when my turn came around over a dozen times. I tend to be a wrongreader when it comes to releases that become part of a massive hype train and since I’m an old lady I have to confess that I, Carly was one of my least favorite things to endure when my kids were little. And Sam Puckett????
Seriously? Butter sock? That ish was annoying as hell.
The great news is Jeanette McCurdy thought the show/her character were annoying as all get out as well!
So while I didn’t have the same reaction as someone who grew up as a superfan of McCurdy’s child stardom, I thought this book was very well put together and really provided a lot of insight with regards to coming to terms with an abusive childhood as well as disordered eating and removing toxic people from your life (hopefully on your own and not because they finally kicked the bucket).
I listened to this on audio and it most definitely held my attention so 4 Stars. The hype was pretty real here....more
Romantic Comedy was definitely one of my Top 5 reads in 2023, and I knew I would be returning to the works of Curtis Sittenfeld in short order. I loveRomantic Comedy was definitely one of my Top 5 reads in 2023, and I knew I would be returning to the works of Curtis Sittenfeld in short order. I love coming of age stories and love the idea of the goings on at some prestigious boarding school so it was easy to add this to the TBR. Little did I know this was going to be a first person experience that truly meanders through Lee Fiora’s four years at Ault. If you are of the DNF ilk, you will know right away this probably isn’t for you. And I wouldn’t blame you at all for putting it down because not a whole lot happens aside from residing in Lee’s head and dormitory room for hundreds upon hundreds of pages. It reads very much “MFA” course, which typically I can’t stand, but for some reason I became invested and kept on keeping on. I can’t say I would ever recommend this one, but I don’t regret reading it and I’ll definitely get around to Sisterland one of these days....more
This is for everyone who wishes there was a bigger backlog of Sally Rooney books to dive into when they are in the mood for something a bit melancholyThis is for everyone who wishes there was a bigger backlog of Sally Rooney books to dive into when they are in the mood for something a bit melancholy. I loved it.
ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review....more
In case you are new here with me, I have a diagnosis of chronic C.R.S. disease (that’s can’t remember $hit, if you aren’t familiar with the term). It In case you are new here with me, I have a diagnosis of chronic C.R.S. disease (that’s can’t remember $hit, if you aren’t familiar with the term). It is a fairly non-debilitating condition that makes you question things like “did this book get put on my TBR after watching The Florida Project and The Motel Kids of Orange County or was it already there and it’s simply a coincidence that they kind of brought the same vibes???”
Lullabies for Little Criminals is Baby’s story – and boy is it a bleak one. Born to a couple of 15-year olds and raised solely by her father after her mother died when she was only a baby, Baby’s life is certainly no fairytale. Her father is a part-time drug addict, full-time untreated mental illness suffer who bounces her from long-stay hotels to cheap roach trap apartments to foster care and group homes when necessary. The story follows Baby from 12 to 13 as she strays further away from “normal” and gets involved with a pimp, starts turning tricks and doing drugs.
As I said, B.L.E.A.K., but the delivery is not of the tragiporn variety – in fact it’s so matter-of-fact and observational in style that I only kept turning pages because I wanted to see what was coming next, not because I was so emotionally invested. Maybe it was because the two films referenced above made me cry the ugly cry so hard that I just didn’t have anything more in the tank to give, or maybe the lack of a cohesive storyline was the issue. Who knows? ...more
But then the same night I picked up this library hold I came across a news article where one twatty mother had managed to ban over a dozen books in a local high school. So basically near children are allowed to fight and die for our country, but they can’t read about sex and/or gender whatsoever. Got it. Oh, and also the state decided keeping conversion therapy legal is also A-Okay so I live in a shithole.
Ziggy, Stardust and Me tackles conversion therapy in an aggressive One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest sort of way as it is set in 1973. I’ll be honest and say this story didn’t 100% work for me (the Ziggy Stardust parts served as more of a gimmick and a distraction to a solid narrative), but I always love a coming-of-age story and this was an important one to tell – touching not only on the aforementioned conversion therapy and being an outcast to your family for the way you were born, but also mistreatment of Native Americans and the Wounded Knee Occupation, realizing being gay doesn’t mean you’re “broken” so there’s absolutely nothing to be fixed, etc.
The Virgin Suicides meets Bunny. If that sounds like your idea of a good time you should check this one out - otherwis"You girls sure are creepy."
The Virgin Suicides meets Bunny. If that sounds like your idea of a good time you should check this one out - otherwise steer clear. A new take on the missing girl story told via a combo of the Greek chorus as children and individual narratives as adults. This is a time where the purple writing really worked for me …..
Imagine for a second there is inside you something like a soul. This soul is like a bowl of still water. It sits, a clean and precious thing, balanced in your chest. The water is cool. Holy. It is entirely itself. It is like water before water was a word. Now, imagine a syringe. The vial is brown and, as you look at it, you realize it is full of human shit, the tiniest, foulest amount. And imagine this needle being pressed, slowly, into the skin of your sternum, injected, as you watch helplessly, into this bowl of balanced water. How quickly it spreads and stinks and fouls this cleanest thing at your center. And in seconds the bowl is ruined. And you look at the bowl and feel terrible you were unable to protect it, this precious and fragile and perfect thing. And you recognize the life’s work it will take to wash and repair the bowl, and it is not fair, because it is not you who dirtied it. So you tip the bowl over and it breaks. You pretend it does not exist.
But then there are times when a feeling crawls across you. The feeling is all the sadder and truer because you cannot name it. You can live a happy enough life with a broken bowl inside you. But you will always be wanting, a feeling as keen and common to you now as thirst.
I’m going with 3.5 Stars because it seems that’s my go-to in 2023 when I come across something fresh but can’t say I looooooved it. Personal growth that I’m only talking about how much I hate this cover and not deducting points for it ; )
EDIT: Because the blurb calls this "The Virgin Suicides meets The Florida Project" (which I had not watched prior to today). That's accurate as far as the "Greek chorus" portion which is what is only witnessed through the childrens' eyes. The Florida Project is quite possibly one of the best films I've ever seen and a real punch in the throat if you are capable of watching truly depressing shit in your free time....more
I’m fairly certain A Grown Up Kind of Pretty ended up on my TBR after an Instagram “drive-by” of sorts where I noticed someone I follow loved it and tI’m fairly certain A Grown Up Kind of Pretty ended up on my TBR after an Instagram “drive-by” of sorts where I noticed someone I follow loved it and then I thought to myself “hey, Joshilyn Jackson – I’ve liked her stuff before” so I requested it from the library and then kept it (unread, natch) for so long it became overdue and I wasn’t allowed to renew it anymore. Yesterday it was 70 degrees and beautiful outside, I had the house to myself and once I had quite literally mopped myself out the door and onto the deck I figured I’d give it a shot, knowing if it wasn’t for me I would have to return it today and remind myself I’m a reading failure.
I’m happy to report that did not happen and instead I read this puppy cover-to-cover while soaking up some Vitamin D. I’m also happy to say at this point I would not hesitate to recommend this author to anyone who follows me and is interested in books about family with just a titch of mystery thrown in to the mix to keep things interesting.
The story here is about three generations of Slocumb women. “Big” (and can I just say shame on the blurb for referring to this character as “Jenny” rather than her actual name “Ginny”), her daughter Liza (“Little”) and granddaughter Mosey are all simply trying to hold it together after Liza has a debilitating stroke at only 30 years old. That’s how things go for the Slocumbs, though. Every 15 years like clockwork some misfortune befalls the family. Generally it’s in the form of an unplanned pregnancy, but both Big and Little have been doing their best to terrify Mosey about all things that may come along with inviting a penis into her life. But when Liza’s beloved willow tree is uprooted in order to install a pool that will hopefully aid in the physical therapy required to get kick her rehabilitation into high gear, a tiny unmarked grave is revealed making both Big and Mosey question everything about what they thought they knew about their family. And Little’s inability to explain things certainly isn’t helping.
Like I said, I read this sucker from start to finish and only stopped for refills of sweet tea (duh) and to use the potty. I fell in love with each of these women and was bummed when my time with them ended. I’m giving it every Star because I wouldn’t change a dingly dang thing about this story and I’m so happy this author has a backlist for me to fall back on whenever I need a guaranteed winner. ...more
Did I just read this nearly 750 page book in two days? Tell me you’re crazy without telling me you’re crazy. In my defense, I didn’t realize how long Did I just read this nearly 750 page book in two days? Tell me you’re crazy without telling me you’re crazy. In my defense, I didn’t realize how long this was before I requested it from the library. I simply saw B.E.E. had a new release and Mitchell said he would hurt me if I didn’t get it immediately. I think I was like a billion and a half down the wait list too, but ended up getting this within a week of asking for it so I think it’s safe to say others either were intimidated by the sheer volume or realized pretty darn quickly this wasn’t for them and returned it. And to whoever you are I say THANK YOU for letting me get my grubby little mitts on it post haste.
Now on to the book. Simply put, this is about . . . .
“the memories I had of the Trawler and more specifically of Robert Mallory.”
Written as a nonfiction narrative, this one is for the Bret Easton Ellis superfan. I mean, if you ever wanted to crawl around inside this fella’s brain, The Shards is the one for you! After finishing I did a Google to see what was said about this “true story” before it was released and I am amazed at how many people were duped. Dear Dummies: YOU LITERALLY HAVE A COMPUTER ATTACHED TO YOUR HAND ALMOST ALL THE TIME. It’s not hard to find out these cases didn’t actually happen. Not to mention he is an author who previously wrote a “true story” about fucking vampires. And also . . .
I was a storyteller and I liked decorating an otherwise mundane incident that maybe contained one or two facts that made it initially interesting to be retold in the first place but not really, but adding a detail or two that elevated the story into something legitimately interesting to the listener and gave it humor or surprise or shock, and this came naturally to me. These weren’t lies exactly – I just preferred the exaggerated version.
I just found out this was initially released as a serial story – new entries were written every two weeks and read by Ellis himself on his podcast. My first reaction to that? Oh yeah, I would have read the crap out of this as a serial. Followed immediately by, ewwwww, B.E.E. even YOU have a podcast?
With that knowledge now is the time to disclose that while I’m the first to say “don’t you have an editor?!?!?!?!” – on this occasion I’m giving a pass – because there literally was no editor nor any intention that this would be released as a physical book when it was initially created.
But I wasn’t kidding when I said this is for the superfan. Basically it reads like a high school journal written by someone with extreme literary chops and covers Bret Easton Ellis’ senior year at Buckley in 1981. Ellis more than dabbles in sex (both of the hetero and nonhetero varieties) and drugs, works on his debut novel Less Than Zero, finds himself a member of the “me too” movement nearly 40 years prior to its time and develops a bit of an obsession with the new boy in school who he believes might just be a serial killer. Oh, and also? It is QUINTESSENTIALLY 1980s. We’re talking popped collars, Topsiders, ray bans and a detailing of every single song that was playing at any moment throughout his days. It certainly is not a book for everyone, but it was most definitely for me. All the Stars.
Whistling tunes we hide in the dunes by the seaside . . . . ...more
Everyone and their dog has been falling all over the place expressing their love for Barbara Kingsolver’s latest release. And then there’s me . . . . Everyone and their dog has been falling all over the place expressing their love for Barbara Kingsolver’s latest release. And then there’s me . . . .
I’m not here to yuck your yum so Imma keep it real short. In a nutshell, Kingsolver is an author who is consistently trying to write the “Great American Novel” and nothing demonstrates that more than her undertaking a modernization of David Copperfield. In short, I just don’t think she’s my jam. Nearly 25 years ago The Poisonwood Bible knocked my socks off, but it’s a book I could never re-read in fear that I wouldn’t have the same reaction a second time around.
My main issue with this one is that I am so over clichéd, stereotypes of Appalachia. Boy oh boy did Demon Copperhead deliver them in spades. Our impoverished lead goes from bad to worse when it comes to an abusive household, to being orphaned, to one awful foster home situation to another (but don't worry - it ends at neglect - Kingsolver isn't ready to go to the darkest of locales when it comes to Demon's childhood). Eventually genetics get on young Demon’s side and he becomes a local high school football hero . . . until, you guessed it, his knee gets blown out and he becomes an addict. But don’t worry – he still gets a fairly happy ending and sees the ocean *eyeroll*
In addition to the been there/done that feel of this entire story, you can’t re-write history in an attempt to prove how “woke” you are. A high school English teacher (and a black teacher in the middle of the Holler, at that) in the early to mid-1990s wouldn't have dared to explain the movement of literature changing the term “black” to “Black.” Not to mention how regular folks were not aware of the dangers of opioids or how Big Pharma was controlling the narrative when they first hit the market, but the nurse in here was 100% in the know of what's going down. You want to learn more about the modern-day drug crises and how it came to be? Read Dopesick....more
Hide yo kids and hide yo wives ‘cause Kelly (and the Book Boar) is posting not one but TWO Five Star reviews today! Which leads to the question – whatHide yo kids and hide yo wives ‘cause Kelly (and the Book Boar) is posting not one but TWO Five Star reviews today! Which leads to the question – what makes a five star read for you? For me the perfect rating is purely a result of my enjoyment. Trashy romances, chick lit, thrillers, highbrow literature can all earn the coveted full monty if I feel a connection. And a connection to an often unlikeable character who I have very little in common with? Well, that’s like spotting a unicorn.
All This Could Be Different features a twenty-two year old unnamed until the second portion of the book main character who has recently graduated from college and relocated to Milwaukee for a job as an entry level project consultant at a Fortune 500 company. This new job affords Sneha the luxury of being able to send money to her parents as well as recruit a fellow college pal into the company. The story follows our lead while she tries to navigate her way through “adulting” for the first time, while also living with constant reminders of her father’s deportation and trauma from her past – both while things are going well and when her newly formed world begins to fall apart.
As I said above, I didn’t have much in common with this group of characters, but boy oh boy did I find myself invested in their lives. This one won’t be for everyone, but if you give it a go I hope you have the same result as me . . .
The meaning of refrain is split. Doubled. To refrain means to stop, to hold yourself back from something, keep yourself in check. But a refrain also points us to repetition. A song’s refrain, constantly returned to. What is the thing that is remembered because it is constantly returned to? think of the ballerina on a child’s jewelry box. The refrains of our lives are the moments we revolve around, maybe the moments that were stopped too soon, stopped before we were ready, and so we are frozen, pirouetting in time, always thinking on the possibility that might have been. If only. If only....more
♪♬♪“I don’t wanna live no more / Sometimes I hear death knocking at my front door,”♪♬♪ but there was a brightness beneath the weight, if you really♪♬♪“I don’t wanna live no more / Sometimes I hear death knocking at my front door,”♪♬♪ but there was a brightness beneath the weight, if you really listened. Something strange and surprising – big and small, brash and vulnerable at once.
Big Girl was one of the nominees for the Center for Fiction debut author award and it is most deserving of the honor. The aforementioned quote really taps into what you will experience with this read. A familiar premise of coming of age is made fresh via Malaya’s voice, her home life, the Harlem neighborhood where she lives, the Upper East Side prep school she attends, her 172 pound at 8 year old frame, a momma who has her counting points at weekly Weight Watchers meetings, and the writing. It’s all about the writing . . . .
Hunger had been a sixth sense, a whisper on her skin, telling her that something was urgently needed, and that food would make it better. She knew hunger’s voice so well she didn’t really need to listen to it; she heard the signal, and she responded with fries or chips or a four-piece chicken dinner, and she felt better until hunger sighed her way again.
we are the color of 7-Eleven root beer. The color of sand at Rockaway Beach when it blisters the bottoms of our feet. Color of soil. Color of the cwe are the color of 7-Eleven root beer. The color of sand at Rockaway Beach when it blisters the bottoms of our feet. Color of soil. Color of the charcoal pencils our sisters use to rim their eyes. Color of grilled hamburger patties. Color of our mother’s darkest thread, which she loops through the needle. Color of peanut butter. Of the odd gene that makes us fair and white as snow, like whatsername, is it Snow White? But don’t get it twisted—we’re still brown.
Brown girls, brown girls, brown girls. Told by the collective “we” – this debut is alllllll about the lyrical prose. From elementary through death, these vignettes tell snippets of the lives of being a “brown girl” in Queens. Simply remarkable. The feeling combined with various city landmarks and the dropping of song lyrics weaves a “non-story” into a story seamlessly. Minor complaints are that every woman of color has been lumped into one voice which removes all individuality or cultural differences and that since the author is herself young the entries dry up when she doesn’t have her own life experience to draw from. I would have preferred that the book simply stopped at adulthood instead of an attempt being made to cover the entire lifespan. Still, such a talent! ...more
I wanted this one as soon as I saw the cover (#duh) and after being denied an early copy waited very impatiently for publication day. I mean once you tell me poppa was a rolling stone serial killer, it’s pretty much just like . . . .
Vera returns to her childhood home at the request of her dying mother. She’s there to clean it out and prepare for it sale (or to burn it down, if the townsfolk get their way). Vera doesn’t hold out much hope for a reconciliation with her momma, especially since she’s the reason dear old dad’s little hobby was discovered by the police in the first place. What she doesn’t anticipate is the trip down memory lane she’ll go on while staying in her old digs.
This is going to be super short because I want to blab about alllllll of the things and that is not acceptable on a story like this. I just took a peek at the blurb and Just Like Home has been labeled a “gothic” thriller. Maybe I’m just stupid and don’t know what gothic means, but I wouldn’t call it that. I went in blind and started this when thunderstorms were going to be in the area for the duration. The timing couldn’t have been better because this sucker ended up creeping me plum the eff out. It starts slowly (not in a terrible way, the page turnability was present throughout I just didn’t know where it was headed), but once she gets going it is off to the races.
For real, though. I think a lot of people are going to love Mary Jane. The year is 1975 and fourteen year old Mary Jane has been hired to b
[image]
For real, though. I think a lot of people are going to love Mary Jane. The year is 1975 and fourteen year old Mary Jane has been hired to be a summertime “nanny” (more like a playmate as both parents will be on site) for five year old Izzy. This is a different kind of coming of age tale from the usual where rather than first love being the driving force behind the story, it’s about when you fall a little bit out of love with your parents. In Mary Jane’s case, she falls a lot out of love when she realizes here folks aren’t just . . . .
But super judgey classists who don’t hesitate to dabble in anti-Semitic and racist remarks. The summer of Mary Jane’s 14th year will open her eyes to the fact that households come in all sorts of different make-ups and maybe even make her see that she’s a sex addict . . . . despite never having kissed a boy.
I loved this book. I loved Mary Jane and little Izzy and the Doc and Mrs. and the rocker and the movie star. The blurb lies, though. This is nothing like Almost Famous (check out Groupies if you want one like that) or Daisy Jones and the Six. It’s a coming of age story like I said above. And it’s one that I highly recommend. ...more
I simply was not smart enough for this one. I kept plugging along waiting for something to happen that would get me invested in this character or to discover this fabulous dry humor both the front and back blurbs mentioned, but …..
You are the second stage of creation. You fill the empty space and the desert. You may be a means to an end, but that end is the beginning of everything. Without you, there is nothing – no soil for creation. You’re right about the poet – and how right you are. Poetes are liars, obsessed with cereal. They try to hammer the atom back to Fruit Loops, life back to paradise, and love back to nonexistent simplicity. You’re right – they shouldn’t do that. It isn’t possible, and they shouldn’t pretend.
This email filled me with unmixed joy. It was what I had been waiting for him to say – that you couldn’t go backward from love, and that he was calling me, that I should go. I felt a kind of peace and relief I had never felt before.
Kelly (and the Book Boar)
>
Books:
becoming-groweds-up
(163)
Loading...
