What a mess All Over the Place: Adventures in Travel, True Love, and Petty Theft turned out to be. I was ready to be dazzled but I was mostly left thrilled that I don’t know this woman. I think she thinks she is being charming and self-deprecating but she really comes across as smug and … Continue reading
I have to admit that a good bit of the reason I wanted to read this book is that I had read fellow (now former for her) food blogger, Ahern’s earlier memoir/self-help book, Gluten-Free Girl: How I Found the Food That Loves Me Back…And How You Can Too ten years ago and in it, she hints … Continue reading
Apparently, I’ll Have What She’s Having is based on a series of articles Rebbeca Harrington wrote in New York Magazine. That explains the choppiness and length of the chapters; they must have just compiled them and bound them. The premise of the book is cute, she tries various celebrity diets and reports back. Unfortunately, the … Continue reading
Some of the essays in Selfish were really good. Geoff Dryer’s essay was hilarious. Others were sort of sad. Lots of divorces and bad childhoods. I can’t say I related to a lot of them but it was interesting to read the reasons people had for making the same decision I made not to have … Continue reading
I had mixed feelings about Agorafabulous!. On one hand, it was fascinating to read about agoraphobia, on the other I felt like she was trying too hard to be funny at times and occasionally was slightly offensive. For example, she’d refer to people’s race, sexuality or ethnicity all the time even when it didn’t matter. It … Continue reading
Surprisingly written by a girl who GRADUATED HIGH SCHOOL in 2016! It is a memoir about growing up in the Chelsea Hotel. For some reason, it was on my wishlist so I requested from my library. I have no idea when I heard of it and knew pretty much nothing about it. At first, I … Continue reading
I enjoyed this book quite a bit. Mikita Brottman lives in Baltimore too and the book club she starts is right in Jessup south of the city. I always like a local connection. Each chapter focuses on a different novel or play she has the prisoners read and their reactions to it. There is also a … Continue reading
I’ve been a big fan of Illeana Douglas’ work for a long time so I was excited when this finally came in for me at the library. I Blame Dennis Hopper is certainly an intriguing title so luckily she starts off with a chapter with an explanation of why, exactly, she blames Dennis Hopper.* She has good … Continue reading
I’ve always sort of liked Jennifer Weiner’s books. They are fluffy but generally well-written, normally set in the Mid-Atlantic, frequently feature dogs, characters are normal people and they are not too romance novel-y. I had read her blog back in 2002 (when even her publisher had to ask her what a blog was) and follow … Continue reading
Perhaps it was a mistake reading this right after Schadenfreude which I enjoyed so much. I had both out of the library and they seemed like a natural pair: both were written by American women writers who lived abroad in a country where English was not a first language. I was wrong. When in French is well … Continue reading
Rachel Reads Books 