If you follow me you have already heard that I started dabbling in audiobooks to accompany me while I go on my daily walks. Memoirs have always been mIf you follow me you have already heard that I started dabbling in audiobooks to accompany me while I go on my daily walks. Memoirs have always been my go-to when it comes to nonfiction reading, so those are what I have tended to pick up in audio as well. This one came to be when I found myself on eternal wait lists for sure to be Pulitzer winners like Paris Hilton and RuPaul's autobiographies and I Googled "funny memoirs." It's probably pretty safe to say I would have not picked this up had it not been for my fellow Redditors, but I'm really glad they steered me in its direction.
Simultaneously hilarious (I mean, just how many things can one guy find shoved up orifices???) to heartbreaking (note this was an OBGYN so there's a solid chance of tears when discussing still births - even for a robot like me). But right when he breaks your heart the next entry is a dry-heave inducing gross out that will have you gag laughing. These journal entries from Dr. Adam as he attempted to make his way up the food chain of the NHO deserve all the Stars....more
When I put my hold at the library for this audiobook, I had no clue I would be investing 16.5 hours of my life listening to Les Dogggg get me through When I put my hold at the library for this audiobook, I had no clue I would be investing 16.5 hours of my life listening to Les Dogggg get me through my walk ‘n talks for the week. And when I saw the Kindle version came in at less than 300 pages, the math simply was not mathing. That didn’t stop me from immediately dumping my planned listen in order to get right to this one – and it didn’t take long to figure out why there was such a discrepancy in the length. The Kindle version is going to be a condensed version of the audio, polished up by a ghostwriter. The audio is pure Leslie. She spits truth and offers sage advice with her infamous “trumpet voice.” If you are allergic to fucks or motherfuckers, keep your distance. But if you are like me (who, unfortunately, was pretty late for the party since I’m an old die-hard SNL fan but not much of a comedy special sort of fan) and fell in love with Leslie’s love for Colin Jost . . . .
It makes me terribly sad to only give 3 Stars on this edition of my “Walk ‘n Talk.” Watching reruns of The Carol Burnett show at my Grandma and GrandpIt makes me terribly sad to only give 3 Stars on this edition of my “Walk ‘n Talk.” Watching reruns of The Carol Burnett show at my Grandma and Grandpa’s house are some of my favorite childhood memories and I couldn’t wait to hear all about the behind the scenes and unknown (to me, at least) stories of the “company” she kept with Vicki Lawrence, Lionel Wagoner, Harvey Korman and the absolutely hilarious Tim Conway.
While the trip down memory lane did reminisce on some unforgettable moments in comedic history . . .
Hours were spent giving detailed play-by-play of various skits that really should simply be watched rather than listened to in order to get the belly laughs. This was a book for already existent fans – we KNOW these skits as they have been on repeat for 50 years! Also unfortunate was that Carol’s favorite bits were often not my favorite bits and at times I considered maybe fast-forwarding.
Burnett is still a national treasure, much like our dearly departed Betty White. This just missed the mark a bit for me. ...more
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
At just a little over 200 pages with conversational delivery style and vignettes that are generally only a page or two, The World Record Book of RacisAt just a little over 200 pages with conversational delivery style and vignettes that are generally only a page or two, The World Record Book of Racist Stories is one I flew right through in no time at all. If you were worried this follow up to You’ll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey couldn’t match the original, rest assured it most certainly does. I mean, America is nothing if not a land of plenty when it comes to tales of bigotry!
Following the footsteps of its predecessor, this time the entire Ruffin family contributes their most racist stories – not just Lacey. And just like its predecessor every entry is cringe at best and horrifying at worst. I read this rather than listened to it simply for the fact that I’m still eleven millionth in line for the audio, but if you are an enjoyer of the audiobook that is the way to go. Amber is literally a comedian, after all, so the comedic timing is *chef’s kiss* . . . .
. . . every time Mom would come to JCPenney in this cape, they’d follow her. She’d buy whatever merchandise she came to buy and walk out to the van and every time, there was a guy watching her who had followed her out to the parking lot waiting to see if she took out anything from her shirt. I asked her if she ever took out two middle fingers and showed him those. I got in trouble.
At the end of the book Lacey and Amber say . . .
If you’ve made it to this point you have now been bestowed with the power to pass out your very own Racist Awards. So put on your evening dress or top hat and make your voice heard!
So here we go with some moments in history I’ve witnessed from my bajillion years in the workplace:
1. Eleventy thousand times a black person was “complimented” for “being so articulate” – and mind you they are all attorneys so double WTF at that comment; 2. Eleventy thousand and two times someone had to answer questions about their hair; 3. Eleventy thousand and three emails about diversity when one Black person and one gay person are gainfully employed at this bigass company; 4. When they tried to diversify and hire a Hawaiian attorney (whose name was not difficult to pronounce/was spelled pretty much 100% phonetically but will not be printed here because she didn’t sign up to be a part of my mess) and old white man #412 said “what’s her name? Tsunami?” And then called her Tsunami at least a dozen times; 5. When the 800 year old attorney wanted to take a new associate to his old man club because “it would be impressive that he was friends with a colored person.” OMG to infinity and also, you ain’t friends m-effer – he and everyone else in the office is forced to be nice to you; 6. When the company did a celebrity look-alike PowerPoint during Staff Appreciation and as soon as a black employee’s face popped on screen you were hoping it wasn’t going to be G.D. Hattie McDaniel like in this book. The comparison was to Regina King, which would be a compliment for sure . . . until you realized they really meant Regina Hall. I guess all Reginas look alike??? Zoinks; 7. When the clerks (who are supposed to take overflow work and learn how to climb the corporate ladder) got recruited to scrub office furniture that had just came out of storage – mad props to the Black clerk being brave enough to stand up for herself and say NO MA’AM to that noise which was 100% not her job; 8. When two women attending a diversity seminar were set up as an excellent example for lesbian representation . . . and then they had to explain they were sisters not a married couple and they were in the meeting because of their Mexican heritage; 9. Hearing someone say “you know who you remind me of? R KELLY!” ‘Nuff said.
I’ve been pretty vocal about books that came to fruition during the lockdown portion of the pandemic. Even one of my favorites (Lisa Jewell) stumbled I’ve been pretty vocal about books that came to fruition during the lockdown portion of the pandemic. Even one of my favorites (Lisa Jewell) stumbled a bit with the very unnecessary The Family Remains (good news is, she has another release coming up this Summer and that one is a banger). When I saw Samantha Irby was getting ready to release her own pandemic offering, I was so there for it. I mean she’s hilarious to begin with so her take on quarantine life was sure to be a winner. Right?
Unfortunately, wrong. I mean there were times when I was like oh yes bish, you are me . . . .
“Quietly hostile is how I would describe my public personality. I am mild-mannered and super polite, but just beneath the surface of my skin, my blood is electrified and I am one inconsiderate driver away from a full Falling Down-style emotional collapse.”
And there were the standard LOLz from stories of a weak bladder (and anal sphincter), a near-death experience via allergic reaction and how delicious a “dip dinner” can be. Buuuuuuuuuut then there was a deep dive into which Dave Matthews songs are her faves and over 20% of the word count spent analyzing porn and breaking down Sex and the City eps . . . .
As someone who still calls it Sex IN the City – I was obviously not the target demographic for any of that. I was also not aware the Irby wrote “The Pool Episode” of Shrill (but I have actually watched it and thought it was the only 100% great one in the first season so kudos to you, Irby). Nor did I know (or really care) that she was a part of the Sex and the City reboot.
I wanted an analysis of the mundane daily motions she went through to make it past Covid – not this.
ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, NetGalley!...more
When I was pulling my Hiassens out of the hoard off the shelf for a pic to post on The ‘Gram it occurred to me that despite owning nearly everything hWhen I was pulling my Hiassens out of the hoard off the shelf for a pic to post on The ‘Gram it occurred to me that despite owning nearly everything he’s written, I sure haven’t read very many of them. Good news for me should the zombie uprising ever occur! Hiassen may or may not be a familiar name to you, but if you’re a Boomer you may be familiar with this moment in film history . . . .
His books are sort of formulaic in that there are about eleventy-twelve characters and storylines who all become interconnected at some point whilst trying to figure out a fairly easy to solve a mystery. Said mystery always leans toward the zany, and take place in . . . . .
He gets razzed for writing not-so-great female characters, but really all of his characters aren’t super well developed since there are a bounty of them. In real life I imagine him as a die-hard Parrothead, but that may just be me projecting.
The story here is about a missing octogenarian socialite named Kiki Pew who went missing at one of the many galas held down the road from the Winter White House, a Burmese python with a suspicious bulge, the owner of Descreet Captures, bumbling criminals, a fornicating First Lady, callbacks to Skink, a tanning bed from hell and a President who is all about making sure the public knows . . . .
Here’s an embarrassing little confession: We have had Prime for two or three years, but it was under my husband’s name and I did not learn until last Here’s an embarrassing little confession: We have had Prime for two or three years, but it was under my husband’s name and I did not learn until last month that I could link my Kindle to that account via the family sharing feature. Sooooooo I never got a Kindle Firstread or any of the other freebies (like this one) until now.
This is Jenny Lawson’s take on . . . .
Halloween, vintage rural-Texas-style
Available as both a Kindle version or on audio (highly recommend – Jenny has a great voice for narration), this little nugget won’t take but a few minutes to read, but definitely delivers on the nostalgia of a bygone era. Especially in the form of the cakewalk . . . .
See that kid lusting over the cake table there? Yeah, that’s what I was like. I guess I was always destined to be a fat girl because THAT’S what I saved my money for when it came to the school “Fall Festival” and refused to leave the gymnasium until I won. I also refused to share even a piece of my major award with anyone else in my family because IT. WAS. MINE. AND. I. WON. IT. Ahhhhh, childhood in the 1980s. A simpler time when you ate cake because – duh, cake is life – and you didn’t question the baker. A time before I experienced a case of explosive diarrhea food poisoning from a work potluck so severe that I will never eat off a communal table again.
If you have Prime and want to take a little trip on the Halloween wayback machine go grab this one. 3 Stars because I really could live without the supposed exchanges between her and her editor.
Oh, and Mitchell said I need to tell Jenny he loves her....more
“People always say that your wedding day is the happiest day of your life, but honestly, people should try solving murders more often.”
Jesse Q. S “People always say that your wedding day is the happiest day of your life, but honestly, people should try solving murders more often.”
Jesse Q. Sutanto is a dabbler in nearly all of the genres. She has written Middle Grade, YA Thrillers and even Romance. But I am here to tell you that she is the QUEEN of the comedic cozy . . . .
Despite all the razzing our dear ol’ Goodreads takes on the regular, I’m pretty sure its Summer Reading List gets the credit for this one even going oDespite all the razzing our dear ol’ Goodreads takes on the regular, I’m pretty sure its Summer Reading List gets the credit for this one even going on my radar. I picked Just By Looking at Him up for the cover since it is most definitely of the variety I love carrying around the office with me for all of the pearl clutchers to see. I didn’t know much else before beginning.
On paper, this shouldn’t have been a hit for me. I’m an old, fat, straight, white lady who really does not enjoy storylines involving cheating (or millennials) and this puppy was chock full of both. And despite being a fogey I never watched Queer as Folk back when it was originally on (in my defense, it’s not because I hate gays, it’s because I was too poor back then to have Showtime). Now all I watch is trash reality so there’s little chance I’ll ever watch the revamp. But that’s where Elliot comes in. He too is a connoisseur of all things Bravo - in fact, his live in boyfriend Gus is a story producer for The Real Housewives of Orange County!!!!!! . . . . .
And that’s how we pretty much hit it off immediately. I also don’t shy away from details of sexual activity and read pornies as palate cleansers, so the smex stuff was A-okay by me. Also, some of my best friends are gay (ha! made you cringe!) and young, so I was able to overlook my own oldster heteronormative relationship dealbreakers like infidelity – especially when Elliot dubbed it the “Cumspringa” making me LOL for realsies. Annnnnnd I’ve made it well known that the loveable losers are my most favorite fictional friends so me adoring all things Elliot was pretty much kismet. But most importantly . . . .
…he agreed that Kyle Richards wasn’t the most compelling Housewife but that she’s an excellent producer and provides access to her sisters, Kathy Hilton and Kim Richards, who are national treasures
I started to wonder about Pink, if she’s ever brought a sex worker into bed with Carey Hart. Are they still married? They were very on-again, off-again, quite the seesaw, but also why the hell did I know this? I’m not remotely a Pink fan. What precious memory in my brain had to die so Carey Hart’s name could live?
Elliot is my lobster and Ryan O’Connell your novel should be treated like it’s going to be the new Sally Rooney. You are worthy of all of the stars and also should I ever get the opportunity please note that I would stalk the crap out of you and Jonathan Parks-Ramage, but not in a wear you like a skin suit way. Promise....more
What you may not know is the creator of one of America’s most famous families was also known for his cartoons which appeared in The New Yorker from the 1930s all the way to the late 1980s. Happily Ever After is Addams’ macabre take on wedded bliss and it is a collection that I will be purchasing a hard copy of – perhaps to sit next to my own wedding photo ; ) The entire book is chock full of selections that bring a chuckle – a couple of my favorites are featured below . . . .
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(The caption reads “For heaven’s sake, can’t you do anything right?”)
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(Here the husband is trying to be helpful by planting some “gladiolas”)
Ahhhhh, there’s nothing like a little gallows humor to add some color to my dead, black heart. ...more
As noted in the comments below, I would not recommend Happy-Go-Lucky as the jumping off point to David Sedaris. There was definitely a darker tone to As noted in the comments below, I would not recommend Happy-Go-Lucky as the jumping off point to David Sedaris. There was definitely a darker tone to this release than any of his previous stuff. Mind you, it has been a darker time in general the past several years. He touches on all things COVID in a deliciously David sort of way . . . .
“The terrible shame about the pandemic in the United States is that more than eight hundred thousand people have died to date, and I didn’t get to choose a one of them.”
To an outlier, he might come off as someone with nothing but first world problems, or a privileged white male, or a one percenter. To established fans, you are well aware that HE is well aware he is all of those things.
The death of his father is also covered in this book – and there definitely seems to be a sort of “talk” (written) therapy where he spits truths that he was perhaps not brave enough to mention while his father was still alive. When he wrote of his mother’s passing, I felt like I grieved with the family and cried the ugly cry – with Lou I felt like a stranger who walked in on a private conversation that was not meant for me to overhear. Perhaps those entries should have been saved for a future “Diaries” submission, or maybe left on the cutting room floor completely, but obviously it is David’s call with regard to what parts of his life he shares with the public.
That being said, along with some of the dark, there is most assuredly plenty of light. Stories featuring Amy are always my favorite and they abound here. David (and Hugh) also hopped back across the pond purchasing not only an apartment on the Upper East Side, but the neighbor to the Sea Section on Emerald Isle as well. While stories of “The Rooster” were certainly missed, Amy, Gretchen, Lisa and Hugh more than brought the hardy-hars.
I read this back in March and wasn’t sure what to say. My rating is obviously weighted, as I am a Sedaris superfan. I gave it a re-read to see if the uncomfortable entries were as uncomfortable as I originally thought, and YEP – sure were! Buuuuuuuut, no Sedaris experience is complete without a listen too, and his delivery on audio helped lighten the vibe considerably on some of the eyebrow-raisers.
For all the #tldr people out there all you need to know is I will most assuredly continue to put my bra back on whenever my Darling David beckons.
ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, NetGalley!
Read as part of the library’s Winter Reading Challenge – “Humor Me”...more
Oh B.B. Easton, where have you been all my life?!?!?!?!?! Seriously though, I can’t believe I’ve never read her smut before now. I’ll be honest and saOh B.B. Easton, where have you been all my life?!?!?!?!?! Seriously though, I can’t believe I’ve never read her smut before now. I’ll be honest and say that despite the fact I am usually gal #1 to Google “was that originally a book?” when a new movie or series is advertised because I am a reader rather than a watcher, I didn’t really have an interest in having anything to do with Sex/Life. You see, not only am I not a huge T.V. fan, but I am also a good girl and like my porn all nicely disguised in the confines of my Kindle rather than bumping and grinding on the ol’ tellie where my teenager could walk in at any moment embarrassing us both for eternity. I also assumed this program had not initially been a book. But then I heard about a *cough certain scene cough* . . . . .
So I Googled “was that originally a book?” while attempting to find said scene via some sort of interweb backdoor in order to maintain my closet voyeurism and not give my husband the wrong impression that I was interested in making the sexytimes. There you have the long and short of how I found my new best friend B.B. Now let me introduce you in case you haven’t met. Goodreads’ friends, meet B.B. . . . .
Therefore, some covert ops must happen in order for her to get the banging she deserves . . . .
After consulting with the devil on my shoulder, I’ve decided to embark on a morally bankrupt psychological experiment with the hopes of transforming Ken into someone warm and affectionate whose love for me is so immense that he needs a tattoo of my name and/or likeness just so that he can better broadcast his feelings for me to the world.
What’s the experiment, you ask???? Well, after the husbot apparently read some steamy offerings in B.B.’s journal he took the bait and gave her a taste of what she was looking for and a plan was hatched . . . .
I’m going to start planting a glossily exaggerated Lifetime movie version of you under the filename Super Private Journal That Ken Is Never, Never Allowed to Read Ever where I will plant completely fabricated stories about my ex-boyfriends designed to inspire Ken to up his fucking game.
And that’s just what she does. Hilarity ensues. I am for real this was laugh out loud funny at times. And also really porny. Like . . . .
I have no idea how this translates to the screen and I have no intention of finding out. This was a hilariously raunchy way to spend an afternoon and that’s all that matters to me : ) ...more
If you don't get the above, you probably don't like her quite as much as me. This offering contained a couple of *sadface* selections, but all in all it was still 4 Star worthy material that made me laugh out loud more than once. Miles Finch highly recommends the entry about the cat and the toy mouse. He completely relates that one minute black mouse is your bro and the next you just need to drown his ass in your water bowl . . . .
Is it a good quality or a bad quality that I imagine all of my reviews to be terrible? Is one more narcissistic than the other?
If you’ve been arouIs it a good quality or a bad quality that I imagine all of my reviews to be terrible? Is one more narcissistic than the other?
If you’ve been around more than a minute you are well aware that my love for David Sedaris has no end. And while all of his collections are obviously non-fiction, being able to climb inside his brain and roll around for a bit via these diaries just hits different. All the Stars. He’s my darling.
Favorite entry hands down . . .
I went to bed at three and shortly afterward Hugh woke up, and we talked for a while. He’d dreamed that he was walking past a house and saw a man on the front porch reading a book called Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim. I got up and wrote the name in my notebook. If it’s not too late, his dream will be a prophecy. Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim. I think that’s a great title for my new book.
Sloppy Firsts was a book that had actually been on my TBR probably since I joined Goodreads but much like everything else that is out of sight/out of Sloppy Firsts was a book that had actually been on my TBR probably since I joined Goodreads but much like everything else that is out of sight/out of mind I didn’t ever actually try to obtain a copy. Then it got a new look for it’s 20th(????? – I think 20th) anniversary and a freebie was available to me for review so obviously I was all over it.
You’re probably getting sick of hearing me say that I have no ability to read anything “deep” of late, but it is what it is and that’s what ended up being the driving force behind me finally getting to this one. My qualifier for a good YA selection always seems to be “would it translate well to the screen.” I’m happy to report that is the case with this option. I could easily see this series becoming a Netflix bang bang bang release. I'm also always a sucker for a coming of age tale. Good things about this one were the leading lady was pretty hilarious/relatable/likeable, the diary type writing style leads its hand easily to a voiceover/narrator to fill you in on all the goings on inside Jessica’s head, the leading male is every girl’s bad boy swoony selection . . . .
Oh Dylan McKay, how much I wanted to bang the crap out of you before I even knew what banging was.
That’s another good thing I should mention. Since this is a revamped oldie my geriatric heart found so much fondness in reminiscing about the olde days of yore when The Real World was fresh and Amaya was boiling bunnies over Colin, the Smiths weren’t just for poseurs and youngsters weren’t offended by John Hughes movies. Ahhhhhh, good times.
The bad news????? This was one hundred percent open ended. Now I am well aware that this is #1 in a series, but generally books like these work just fine as standalones. For someone like me who is nearly always allergic to reading past book one, my reaction upon turning the last page and seeing the Acknowledgments was . . . . .
And I know I tend to go on and on about cartoon covers and my inability to stop myself from requesting them either in ARC form or from the library, but I actually like the original leg cover of this one so call me fickle.
So 3.5 Stars and rounding down rather than up it shall be.
ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, NetGalley!...more
Have you ran through all twenty-five Stephanie Plums and find yourself jonesing for a new quirky crimefighting female lead? If so, look no further thaHave you ran through all twenty-five Stephanie Plums and find yourself jonesing for a new quirky crimefighting female lead? If so, look no further than Sunshine Vicram . . . .
I keeed. I keeeed. In all honesty I wasn’t exactly sure Sunshine’s series was going to be my cuppa tea after book one either, but there’s occasionally an exception to the rule so I buckled down and requested the second. I mean seriously I did it for the cover alone. That’s just good stuff. And the contents weren’t terrible either. I mean, I could really do without some of the trying-waaaaaay-too-hard-dialogue . . . .
Not to mention characters with names like Crystal Meth. Oh the cringe! At over 400 pages there’s probably close to 100 of filler and subplots no one gives a rip about that could be left on the cutting room floor in order to keep things flowing too. But the good news is once Darynda Jones finds her rhythm, she’s actually pretty funny without even trying . . .
“I don’t recognize any of them. Do you?”
“Nah. Sorry, boss.”
She noticed a couple had visible tattoos. “What about their ink?”
“That one,” he said, scrolling back until he came to the stocky one with the tattoo of a scorpion on his hand, “is La Cosa Nostra.”
She gaped at him. “Really?”
He laughed. “No.”
Additional good news is the questions I had at the end of the first book all got answered in this one and the dealbreaker I was afraid of never came to fruition (or was explained away and didn't leave me feeling like I needed a bleach bath). So when it comes to how many of these will I be reading before I give up on the series? At this point . . . .
I know Goodreads gets a lot of flak from readers and authors alike, but this is a place where I met a person who became a real-life bestie and where II know Goodreads gets a lot of flak from readers and authors alike, but this is a place where I met a person who became a real-life bestie and where I’ve connected with dozens of others who I truly consider buddies despite the fact that we most likely will never meet in real life. I have no recollection of how Jan B came to be my friend, but she has been a treasured addition ever since the day it happened. Not only do we share the same opinions on most of our reading selections, but she steers me towards books I would have never heard of otherwise sometimes too. That was the case here.
I really should have not enjoyed this book. Infidelity is a plot device that just never seems to work out well for me. This one featured not only a couple whose relationship began with the two of them cheating, but also a question of whether the second wife was engaging in new dalliances, along with the husband thinking the grass may have been greener in his previous life and considering a potential affair back with wife number one too.
And Audra, the second wife???? Oh my lord if I ever had to experience her in a not fictional setting my reaction would probably be this at best . . . .
Yet somehow she will go down in the history books as one of my most favorite characters of all time. Oh my god her free association type of ramble speech was so delightful – despite the fact that she would clearly be an energy vampire to an introvert like me.
This was another story that didn’t have a super clear conflict/resolution type of approach but more of just being a fly on the wall of an upper-middle class couple trying to raise a special needs child while keeping their shit together. I ended up with ZERO highlights simply due to the fact that I was not willing to pause my reading even for one second in order to make any sort of notation. Also, the fact that nearly the entire thing had me in stitches so the end result would have ended up with me being sued for copyright infringement when I offered practically the entire book up as an example of why I loved it so much.
I’m already on the waiting list for this author’s new release and I will certainly be picking up Single, Carefree, Mellow as well. This one gets every star.
But I’m getting a little ahead of myself here. In all honesty, I didn’t even wait to see the cover of this one before I was attempting to score an early copy – and I sure as heck hadn’t yet read a synopsis. Nope, I saw “Auntie” and my brain immediately went to the best thing to air on Bravo since the first table-flipping season of my Househoes where everyone knows everyone and constantly sticks their noses in their children’s lives . . . .
I just assumed this would be some sort of matchmaking trope. Imagine my delight when I discovered it was part murder mystery and part opulent wedding like . . . .
So the story here is of Meddelin and her meddlin’ Ma. Unbeknownst to the fam, Meddy is still pining for the one that got away. But Ma doesn’t know that and with the best of intentions attempts to set Meddy up on a date using my favorite technique to snare a man . . . .
Yeppers. Between using Meddy’s actual name and picture and not understanding what things like eggplants means, Meddy’s mom really has this dude on the hook. Luckily for Meddy she has a taser in her purse before he can get rapey – unlucky for him, he . . . . Well, you’ll have to read it yourself. Be prepared for over-the-top situations and slapstick fun times. It’s definitely something you need to be in the mood for, and I was so ready. This was hilarious and exactly what I had hoped it would be – once I actually read the blurb, that is.
ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, NetGalley! ...more
I had really high hopes for this collection and I am not one of the aforementioned jerks who believe women to be less funny than men. I mean just look at SNL – who run that world????
It’s unfortunate there wasn’t more of that content. I need to try and get my hands on the original collection by funny females Titters that served as inspiration to this one. I have a feeling Gilda Radner, Phyllis Diller, Candace Bergen and the like would not disappoint.
Kelly (and the Book Boar)
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Books:
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