We Are Never Meeting in Real Life by Samantha Irby: A Review

I love a good book consisting of comedic essays.  Samantha Irby did not disappoint.  I laughed out loud as Irby describes how she hides from children she babysits so that she doesn't have to help with math homework and models clothes for her cat, Helen Keller.  Irby also described her difficult childhood that was a challenge to read but many readers will feel a connection to.  The essays in this book reminded me of the books by Jenny Lawson, another super funny writer.  I really enjoyed the escape that this book gave me and anyone who is looking to have a few good laughs should definitely read this book.

My rating:
★★★★★

Reviews of books like this one:
I Hate Everyone, Except You by Clinton Kelly
Sleepless Nights and Kisses Before Breakfast by Matteo Bussola
Hungry Heart: Adventures in Life, Love and Writing by Jennifer Weiner

This book is currently available and can be purchased from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.  Read more reviews on this book on Goodreads.

This is my honest opinion of this book.  I am a participant in the Amazon Affiliates program.  By clicking on the Amazon link and purchasing this product, I receive a small fee.  I am not associated with Goodreads or Barnes and Noble in any way and the links provided are available strictly for your convenience and not to imply a relationship of any kind. 


I do not track activity of visitors beyond that which blogger already does.  If you click on an outside link, those websites may track your activity but I do not actively share any information with third-party websites.

The Lauras by Sara Taylor: A Review

Alex's mom has always been a wanderer but, one night, she decides to take Alex for an epic, across the country road trip to settle scores and learn to overcome her unhappy childhood.  By accompanying her, Alex's childhood pains and lessons are revealed.  

I liked the story about Alex's mom a lot.  I love stories about one's childhood that eventually lead to healing.  It was rather annoying, though, that one of the central parts of this book was that we never discover whether Alex is a boy or a girl.  I didn't really care one way or another but it felt as if the author was trying to be trendy in that "genderless" is very on topic right now.  It felt like the author was trying to bank on that trendiness.  It just didn't feel like it should be an important part of the book and too much of it was used for something that I don't think most people care that much about anyway.  That being said, I really liked both Alex and Alex's mom.  While both have been through enormous painful obstacles, the characters show how resilient people can be.  Even the minor characters were so interesting and unique.  Taylor is a gifted writer.  I felt myself going back and rereading many of her poetic writing.  While many of Alex's mother's stories, and even some of Alex's own stories, are very sad, there are some light moments in this book, as well.  This is not a total downer of a novel by any stretch of the imagination.  I really enjoyed this book and I think anyone who enjoys coming of age stories will, too.

My rating:
★★★★☆

This book is currently available and can be purchased from major booksellers.  Read more reviews on this book on Goodreads.  Visit the publisher, Penguin Random House, for booksellers and information about the book.

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.  This is my honest opinion of this book.  I am not associated with Goodreads in any way and the links provided are available strictly for your convenience and not to imply a relationship of any kind. 

I do not track activity of visitors beyond that which blogger already does.  If you click on an outside link, those websites may track your activity but I do not actively share any information with third-party websites.

The Stolen Marriage by Diane Chamberlain: A Review

Chamberlain's The Stolen Marriage has a lot going for it but it could be slow getting there, at times.  Tess DeMello will soon wed her childhood best friend, Vincent, when she decides to take a trip to Washington, DC with one of her friends.  There, she meets a wealthy furniture salesman from Hickory, North Carolina named Henry.  After an evening of too much drinking, Henry gets Tess pregnant.  Shamed by her strong Catholic faith and fearing that her fiancée will not accept her, she travels to North Carolina to ask for financial help from Henry.  He proposes that she marry him instead of raising the child alone.  She agrees but she soon finds that Henry, and her new in-laws, keep a lot of secrets from her.

This book has a lot of things going on.  There is the end of World War II, the polio epidemic and race relations in the American South.  While all of these make for great background stories, there were too many moving parts in this book.  It felt like an imitation of Forrest Gump.  The story could move a bit slow, at times, too.  The ending paid off but I wish that the author had gotten there a bit quicker.  I also wish there was more about Hickory, North Carolina in this book.  One thing that I love about southern fiction is the way that the author is so often able to describe southern life so vividly that you feel as if you are there, living in that city, in that time period.  But I live less than three hours from Hickory and even I didn't feel connected to it.  I grew up in the DC area and I did not feel any connection to Baltimore girl, Tess.  The place and time that Chamberlain described felt unrealistic and... just off.

My complaints about the time and place setting aside, this was an enjoyable book.  Tess DeMello was a likeable character.  Actually, all of the characters were likeable.  There were no true villains in this novel, which was very different.  While Tess's mother-in-law, Ruth, could be cold-hearted and greedy, reasons for her actions were obvious.  Henry's sister, Lucy, seemed, at first, to be meaner than Ruth but she was revealed to have a soft heart, in the end. There really wasn't anybody in this book to hate.  This may be agreeable to some readers and disagreeable to others.  I believed that this book was a mystery when I read about it but it really was more in the category of women's fiction or historical fiction.  I think readers who enjoy historical fiction with a lot going on, where the author does not settle on one important historical topic, would enjoy this book.  


My rating:
★★★☆☆

Reviews of similar books:
If the Creek Don't Rise by Leah Weiss
The Breakdown by B.A. Paris
Secrets of Southern Girls by Haley Harrigan

This book is currently available and can be purchased from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.  Read more reviews on this book on Goodreads.

I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher in order to review it but that did not have an effect on my review of the book.  This is my honest opinion of this book.  I am a participant in the Amazon Affiliates program.  By clicking on the Amazon link and purchasing this product, I receive a small fee.  I am not associated with Goodreads or Barnes and Noble in any way and the links provided are available strictly for your convenience and not to imply a relationship of any kind.

Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood: A Review

Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood

Having really enjoyed The Handmaid's Tale, I was very excited to read Alias Grace and to see that it is a new series on Netflix.  I really enjoyed The Handmaid's Tale but I have to say that I actually liked Alias Grace more.  It might have been because it was based on a true story but the story was fascinating to me. 

Grace Marks is a prisoner, having been found guilty of the grisly murder of her employer and his housekeeper.  She is said to have committed the murders of Nancy Montgomery and Thomas Kinnear with her coworker, James McDermott, who is a surly and jealous man.  While she was initially sentenced to hang like McDermott, she is saved by her lawyer, who pleads with the court to consider her youth, and her sentence is commuted to a life term.  Soon after she is imprisoned, she is committed to an asylum on account of fits and her amnesia surrounding anything to do with the crime.  While she is treated with the worst of the time's psychiatric treatments, she still does not remember anything about the time when Montgomery and Kinnear are murdered.  Years later, a young psychiatrist is brought in by a group trying to prove her innocence to try to help her remember more about the crime.

My favorite part of this book would have to be the characters that Atwood has created, Nancy being one of my favorites.  She is the perfect narcissist.  She is jealous, manipulative and overly sensitive.  One never knows where they stand with her as she can love you or hate you from day to day and minute to minute.  Grace, herself, is actually quite likeable.  She comes off as very intelligent in a very street smart way.  I also think that she could be a very relatable character for many of us in that she is but a product of her past.  While I didn't feel that Dr. Jordan's story added very much to the overall feel of the book, Grace's story was sad but very interesting.  I was left wanting to know more.  The writing style is sophisticated but still very easily readable.  I really enjoyed this book and I believe that anyone who enjoys historical fiction, true crime or medical mysteries will enjoy this book, too.

The series on Netflix compares very nicely with the book.  I didn't think too many liberties were taken with the story.  The overwhelming feeling that I got, both when I read the book and when I watched the TV show, was how sad this story was no matter whether or not Grace Marks did anything.  Grace had such a sad life up until she was 16 and the crimes took place and then ended up in a place where more sadness and depression were heaped onto her.  Some of the phenomena that occurred to her seem to mimic what we would diagnose as psychological disorders today.  While the story took place during the Civil War, this story, with its portrayal of cruelty and the aftermath of a tragic childhood, still ring true today.  I believe this story should be just as popular as Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale and sends just as powerful a message.

My rating:
★★★★★

Reviews of books like this one:
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
Quackery: A Brief History of the Worst Ways to Cure Everything by Lydia Kang and Nate Pedersen
The Guest Room by Chris Bohjalian


This book is currently available and can be purchased from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.  Read more reviews on this book on Goodreads.

This is my honest opinion of this book.  I am a participant in the Amazon Affiliates program.  By clicking on the Amazon link and purchasing this product, I receive a small fee.  I am not associated with Goodreads or Barnes and Noble in any way and the links provided are available strictly for your convenience and not to imply a relationship of any kind. 


I do not track activity of visitors beyond that which blogger already does.  If you click on an outside link, those websites may track your activity but I do not actively share any information with third-party websites.