Teaser Tuesday: Broken (in the best possible way) by Jenny Lawson

 

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by The Purplebooker.

Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read

• Open to a random page

• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

• Share the title and author so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

So basically now I have to flush with my foot too because you people are troublemakers. Unfortunately, because I was new at it (and because my movie theater now has a bar) , I lost my balance and fell into the wall  and that's when my shoe hit the toilet seat AND FELL INTO THE TOILET. 

Toilet water splashed on my dress.

I wanted to set myself on fire. (p.20)

Broken (in the best possible way) by Jenny Lawson was published April 6th, 2021 by Henry Holt and Company.

Would you keep reading? What's your teaser this week? Share it or a link in the comments. Are you enjoying your book? Let us know! Happy Reading!

Teaser Tuesday: Broken (in the best possible way) by Jenny Lawson

 

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by The Purplebooker.

Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read

• Open to a random page

• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

• Share the title and author so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

And as the stories continued to flood in I watched people slowly realizing that no one really wants to celebrate the size of your yacht/hair/waist/penis. What really brought the world together was dropping the pretense that everything is shiny and perfect so that, for a moment, we could all accept how wonderfully human we are. (p. 121)

Broken (in the best possible way) by Jenny Lawson was published April 6th, 2021 by Henry Holt and Company.

Would you keep reading? What's your teaser this week? Share it or a link in the comments. Are you enjoying your book? Let us know! Happy Reading!

Can't Wait Wednesday/Waiting on Wednesday #347: Broken (in the best possible way) by Jenny Lawson

 

Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly event that had been hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine where we spotlighted upcoming releases we are eagerly anticipating. I'm now linking up with "Can't-Wait Wednesday" hosted over at Wishful Endings.

From the Publisher:

As Jenny Lawson’s hundreds of thousands of fans know, she suffers from depression. In Broken, she explores her experimental treatment of transcranial magnetic stimulation with brutal honesty. But also with brutal humor. Jenny discusses the frustration of dealing with her insurance company in “An Open Letter to My Insurance Company,” which should be an anthem for anyone who has ever had to call their insurance company to try and get a claim covered. She tackles such timelessly debated questions as “How do dogs know they have penises?” We see how her vacuum cleaner almost set her house on fire, how she was attacked by three bears, business ideas she wants to pitch to Shark Tank, and why she can never go back to the post office. Of course, Jenny’s long-suffering husband Victor—the Ricky to Jenny’s Lucille Ball—is present throughout.

A treat for Jenny Lawson’s already existing fans, and destined to convert new ones, Broken is a beacon of hope and a wellspring of laughter.

Broken (in the best possible way) by Jenny Lawson is expected out April 6th, 2021 from Henry Holt and Company.

Why am I waiting on this book? I liked Jenny's other books Let's Pretend This Never Happened and Furiously Happy as well as her coloring book. I also regularly read her blog. She is more often than not funny even when tackling serious subject matter.That's not to say she doesn't have a serious side, because she does. But no matter how she's writing, it's worth reading.

What book are you waiting on this week? Share it or a link in the comments so we can check it out and maybe add it to our TBR lists. Thanks for coming by and Happy Reading!

Review: My Squirrel Days by Ellie Kemper

My Squirrel Days by Ellie Kemper

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This is a pleasant memoir with a few interesting stories. I think, if she hadn't made a disclaimer early on in the book that some of the stories were possibly made-up, I would have enjoyed the book more. There were cute stories, but not so many laugh-out-loud moments. I give this book 3 stars out of 5.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. All opinions herein are my own and freely given.



View all my reviews on Goodreads

Teaser Tuesday: My Squirrel Days by Ellie Kemper

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by The Purplebooker.
Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read

• Open to a random page

• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

• Share the title and author so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

The final installment of gifts from Ms. Romanoff, the prized float in that parade of enchantment, was the box that held Wilbur, Paisley, Caplis - and Waldo. While these guys didn't fit in with the mystical theme, that was okay. Waldo was unequivocally adorable, and I knew even then that astrology might come and go, but a stuffed walrus would always stay true. (7% through on my Kindle)

My Squirrel Days by Ellie Kemper was released October 9th, 2018 from Scribner. 

Would you keep reading? What's your teaser this week? Share it or a link in the comments. Are you enjoying your book? Let us know! Happy Reading!

Teaser Tuesday: The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by The Purplebooker.
Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read

• Open to a random page

• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

• Share the title and author so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! 

Bottom line, not only am I not a liar, I'm not even an exaggerator. If anything, I like to dial things down a bit so everything doesn't come off as a drag queen line dance at Mardi Gras. (p. 50)

The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher was published November 22nd, 2016 by Blue Rider Press.

Would you keep reading? What's your teaser this week? Share it or a link in the comments. Are you enjoying your book? Let us know! Happy Reading!

Teaser Tuesday: It Looked Different on the Model by Laurie Notaro

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by The Purplebooker.
Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title and author so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! 

Now the last time I had my makeup done was the day I got married, and I walked out of that salon looking less like a girl who was about to snag a cute boy for the rest of her life and more like an undercover cop who was about to go stand out in front of a cheap motel and arrest ministers. All I needed was a fur vest and a chipped eyetooth. So, I wisely passed on the dolling-up and chose the hand massage instead, because I'd never had one. (95% through on my Kindle)

It Looked Different on the Model: Epic Tales of Impending Shame and Infamy by Laurie Notaro was published July 26, 2011 by Random House Publishing Group.

Would you keep reading? What's your teaser this week? Share it or a link in the comments. Are you enjoying your book? Let us know! Happy Reading!

Review: Finding My Badass Self by Sherry Stanfa-Stanley

This book is about 52 weeks, 52 new experiences at the age of 52 - otherwise known as The 52/52 project. All of the adventures are outside of Sherry Stanfa-Stanley's comfort zone. Some of them more so than others, but all providing a somewhat different experience and perspective on life. All designed to get her out of the rut or "crater" as she puts it, that she found herself in in her 50s as a divorced empty-nester. And she wondered, would this be "opening the door to an exciting new life or opening Pandora's Box. Turns out the two are not mutually exclusive."

She begins with belly dancing which leads to more adventures such as an audition for "Survivor", eating chocolate covered bugs, going to a nude beach with her mother in tow, getting a drastic haircut, going without electronics for a week, singing with a band, and so much more.

I admire her courage as she faces the challenges she has chosen for herself. And the smarts she shows when she backs down from one challenge. It's a wiser decision than going through with it.

The book is designed with each experience making up a short chapter. She shares her mistakes and her successes humbly and with humor. The one thing that remains consistent is that she is a winner for trying all of these things whether she is successful at them or not.

I give the book overall a 4 out of 5 stars. It's well written. The challenges are interesting as are her take on them. And there is humor to the tales she tells.

You can find out more about The 52/52 project on her Facebook page for it here. And she also blogs at her website.

Finding My Badass Self by Sherry Stanfa-Stanley was published August 15, 2017 by She Writes Press.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book through NetGalley from the publisher. All opinions are my own and freely given.

Teaser Tuesday: Finding My Badass Self by Sherry Stanfa-Stanley

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by The Purplebooker.
Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title and author so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! 

"Wait, you and Grandma went to a nude beach?" His eyes widened in horror before he tightly closed them, attempting to shut out the image. "I could have gone my whole life," he muttered, "without knowing that." (45% through on my Kindle)

Finding My Badass Self by Sherry Stanfa-Stanley is expected to be released today, August 15, 2017, from She Writes Press. It's a humorous memoir written about her 52/52 project wherein she attempted something outside of her comfort zone every week for a year. This teaser comes from an ARC and may appear differently in the final version.

Would you keep reading? What's your teaser this week? Share it or a link in the comments. Are you enjoying your book? Let us know! Happy Reading!

Review: Death Need Not Be Fatal by Malachy McCourt

Death Need Not Be Fatal by Malachy McCourt with Brian McDonald is a memoir of sorts. It pulls from events in his life both tragic and humorous - sometimes both at the same time.

From the synopsis: "It seems the only two things he hasn't done are stick his head into a lion's mouth and die. Since he is allergic to cats, he decided to write about the great hereafter..."

I hadn't read any of his previous books or his brother Frank's books. So I wasn't at all familiar with the subject matter he draws on most - their lives. You don't need to have any familiarity with it though to enjoy the book and his stories.

As expected, much of the book focuses on deaths and how they have affected him. The last part of the book is something of a contemplation of his own death. He says, "Any day on this side of the grass is a good day." And he talks about reading the "Irish Sporting Pages" - otherwise known as the obituaries. There's more to it than that.

"I'll try to keep the lies to a minimum, but I never let truth get in the way of a good story, and a lie is just a dream that might come true." location 101 on my Kindle

So after a while, I wondered how much might be exaggeration. I decided to take most of it at face value.

Overall, it's a good and interesting book. It has a conversational tone. It's like he's sitting there telling you these stories from his life. I give it 4 stars out of 5.

Death Need Not Be Fatal was published May 16, 2017 by Center Street.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book through NetGalley. My review is my own opinion and freely given.

Teaser Tuesday: Death Need Not Be Fatal by Malachy McCourt with Brian McDonald

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by The Purplebooker.
Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title and author so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

"I'll try to keep the lies to a minimum, but I never let the truth get in the way of a good story, and a lie is just a dream that might come true." ~ 3% through on my Kindle

Someone once asked what the death rate in Limerick was. "Same as everywhere else," came the reply. "One per person." ~ 11% through on my Kindle

Death Need Not Be Fatal by Malachy McCourt with Brian McDonald is due out today, May 16, 2017 from Center Street. It's a memoir of sorts, sometimes humorous other times more serious and with depth.

What's your teaser this week? Share it or a link in the comments. Are you enjoying your book? Let us know! Happy Reading!

Review: I Hate Everyone, Except You by Clinton Kelly

I Hate Everyone, Except You by Clinton Kelly is a book of autobiographical essays. I didn't know much about him before reading the book. I enjoyed getting to know more about him through the essays.

One of the things we learn about Clinton through his writing is that he isn't afraid to use profanity. And it seems no topic is off limits. This is a book for adults.

The book opens with an essay about his strong desire to go to a water park at 13 and ends with one where he is giving the commencement address for a high school graduation.  So, he sort of seems to come full circle. The path to getting there is circuitous and includes essays from many different events and time periods in his life.

I love the confidence he shows in his writing and hope it truly carries over into his life. It was interesting reading how he got into fashion writing, and about how he got his job on What Not to Wear, and how he met his husband among other things. Besides being informative, most of the essays are humorous. There were several times I laughed out loud.

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. It's an entertaining batch of autobiographical essays definitely written for an adult audience. I Hate Everyone, Except You is due out January 10, 2017 from Gallery Books.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Teaser Tuesday: I Hate Everyone, Except You by Clinton Kelly

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by Ambrosia of The Purplebooker.
Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title and author so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

He wanted so much to go home, to go anywhere actually, to relieve himself of this obligation. But he had committed himself to showing her around town. He could feign a headache or emergency, but she would be able to detect the lie, wouldn't she? Then she would go back to her apartment, feeling rejected and alone. He couldn't do that to her.

~77% through on my Kindle

I Hate Everyone, Except You by Clinton Kelly is a sort of a collection of memoirish essays. Most of them are humorous in nature. The book is due out January 10, 2017 from Gallery Books.

What's your teaser this week? Share it or a link in the comments. Are you enjoying your book? Let us know! Happy Reading!

Waiting on Wednesday #164: The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly event hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine where we spotlight upcoming releases we are eagerly anticipating. 

Synopsis from Goodreads: 

The Princess Diarist is Carrie Fisher’s intimate, hilarious and revealing recollection of what happened behind the scenes on one of the most famous film sets of all time, the first Star Wars movie. 

When Carrie Fisher recently discovered the journals she kept during the filming of the first Star Wars movie, she was astonished to see what they had preserved—plaintive love poems, unbridled musings with youthful naiveté, and a vulnerability that she barely recognized. Today, her fame as an author, actress, and pop-culture icon is indisputable, but in 1977, Carrie Fisher was just a (sort-of) regular teenager. 

With these excerpts from her handwritten notebooks, The Princess Diarist is Fisher’s intimate and revealing recollection of what happened on one of the most famous film sets of all time—and what developed behind the scenes. And today, as she reprises her most iconic role for the latest Star Wars trilogy, Fisher also ponders the joys and insanity of celebrity, and the absurdity of a life spawned by Hollywood royalty, only to be surpassed by her own outer-space royalty. Laugh-out-loud hilarious and endlessly quotable, The Princess Diarist brims with the candor and introspection of a diary while offering shrewd insight into the type of stardom that few will ever experience.

Why am I waiting on this book? I grew up in the time period when the first Star Wars movie was released. I think I was in sixth grade. It made a big impact on me, my brother, and our friends at school. And I enjoy a well-written memoir. To couple the two things, it seems like it would be a fun book to read. Especially since it says that it is "laugh-out-loud hilarious and endlessly quotable." The Princess Diarist is due out November 22, 2016 according to NetGalley.

What book are you waiting on this week? Share it or a link in the comments so we can check it out and maybe add it to our TBR lists. Thanks for coming by and Happy Reading!

Review: Don't Think Twice by Barbara Schoichet

 "You know, marriage isn't all it's cracked up to be. You're going to have adventures your sisters never will never have," (p.23) Barbara's mother couldn't have spoken truer words.

Sometimes it seems like when it rains, it pours. The author lost her job, her girlfriend, and her mother all within a short time. She was in counseling, but it just didn't seem to quite be doing the trick. She signed up for a class on motorcycles and got her license to drive one. And that's where the real adventures begin.

Ms. Schoichet speaks of feeling as if she was 2 people when she dressed in her leathers and left home to fly to New York to get the motorcycle she had purchased via eBay from the 2 Daves. The journey she takes serves to reunite her halves and in essence, find herself again. Barbara is a fifty-year-old woman taking a cross country motorcycling trip on her own. This is something I would never do, but I did enjoy reading about her journey.

Barbara learns a lot on her trip, both about herself and others. It's fascinating to read. The book was hard to put down. I wanted her to heal and I didn't want to miss a minute of her story as she explored herself and followed her road whimsy.

I give this book 4 stars out of 5. It's a well-written memoir about a woman later in life healing and finding herself again.

I received a copy of this book via Penguin's First to Read program in exchange for my honest opinion. The book was published September 6, 2016 from G.P. Putnam's Sons.

Teaser Tuesday: Don't Think Twice by Barbara Schoichet

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Books And A Beat.
Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title and author so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Published September 6th 2016
by G.P. Putnam's Sons

My teaser comes from a memoir this week.

"Motorcycling is like life," he warned me. "There's nothing solid about it. Sometimes not even the asphalt under your tires." (p.86)

From Goodreads: "A late-in-life coming-of-age escapade told with humor and heart, Don't Think Twice is a moving and irreverent account of grief, growing up, and the healing power of adventure.

Within six months, Barbara Schoichet lost everything: her job, her girlfriend of six years, and her mother to pancreatic cancer. Her life stripped bare, and armed with nothing but a death wish and a ton of attitude, Barbara pursues an unlikely method of coping. At the age of fifty, she earns her motorcycle license and buys a Harley on eBay from two guys named Dave, and drives it alone from New York to Los Angeles on a circuitous trek loosely guide by her H.O.G. tour book and a whole lot of road whimsy."

What's your teaser this week? Share it or a link in the comments. Are you enjoying your book? Let us know! Happy Reading!

Quickie Review: Fat Girl by Susan Bodiker

Fat Girl: How to let go of your weight and get on with your life by Susan Bodiker
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Fat Girl by Susan Bodiker is a short book that is pretty much a cross between a memoir and a how I did it book. She talks about how awful her time growing up with her mother was and her mother's focus on her weight. And then there is a rather miraculous change when she gets married and moves out from under her mother's roof. Her changes in thinking are detailed and she credits this awareness to changing her life and her weight.

The book is ok. I don't think it was really a how-to book, but rather a how I did it and maybe it will work for you too book. I gave the book 3 stars. I liked it, but wasn't crazy about it.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book in exchange for my unbiased opinion.


View all my reviews

Teaser Tuesday - Under Magnolia by Frances Mayes

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by Miz B of A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can participate, just do the following:

• Grab your current read and open to a random page
• Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page.
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure what you share doesn't give too much away! You don't want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title and the author so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers.

Published March 31, 2015
by Broadway Books

"Walking with Willie Bell around the tabby remains of Oglethorpe's settlement, I stood looking at the site of the baker's house, just an outline of crushed shell, and imagined the oven, women walking under the oaks to get their bread, the fragrant smell as they stood at the door. I thought I'm walking here just as they walked. That was my first inkling of how the past pounces: Once they were here so I can be here thinking of the fragrance of their bread."

- p. 71

The synopsis from Goodreads.com: 

The author of three beloved books about her life in Italy, includingUnder the Tuscan Sun and Every Day in Tuscany, Frances Mayes revisits the turning points that defined her early years in Fitzgerald, Georgia. With her signature style and grace, Mayes explores the power of landscape, the idea of home, and the lasting force of a chaotic and loving family. 

From her years as a spirited, secretive child, through her university studies—a period of exquisite freedom that imbued her with a profound appreciation of friendship and a love of travel—to her escape to a new life in California, Mayes exuberantly recreates the intense relationships of her past, recounting the bitter and sweet stories of her complicated family: her beautiful yet fragile mother, Frankye; her unpredictable father, Garbert; Daddy Jack, whose life Garbert saved; grandmother Mother Mayes; and the family maid, Frances’s confidant Willie Bell.

Under Magnolia is a searingly honest, humorous, and moving ode to family and place, and a thoughtful meditation on the ways they define us, or cause us to define ourselves. With acute sensory language, Mayes relishes the sweetness of the South, the smells and tastes at her family table, the fragrance of her hometown trees, and writes an unforgettable story of a girl whose perspicacity and dawning self-knowledge lead her out of the South and into the rest of the world, and then to a profound return home.

What's your teaser this week? Share it or a link in the comments so we can check it out. Thanks for stopping by. Happy Reading!

Review: I See You Made an Effort by Annabelle Gurwitch

I See You Made an Effort: Compliments, Indignities, and Survival Stories from the Edge of 50 by Annabelle Gurwitch was released from Blue Rider press March 6, 2014.

This book is  a collection of essays that in turn make up a memoir of sorts of Annabelle Gurwitch's life as she approaches 50. Since I am approaching 50 myself, I expected to find much of it funny and applicable. It didn't quite translate to my situation. And it wasn't quite as funny as I expected.

It did have humorous parts. But it also had some very poignant parts such as when her friend is dying of cancer. For some reason it seemed funnier towards the beginning of the book than towards the end.

Growing older isn't always funny though. There is that. The book is touted as appropriate for women of all ages. You have to judge for yourself, but I know that it's not quite appropriate for any woman in my family other than those approaching 50.

I think that the humor might be kind of hit or miss and it missed me more than it hit me. Many other people seemed to find it very funny. So, perhaps you should look at it and judge for yourself.

I gave the book 3 stars. It's likable, but for me, not lovable.

Disclaimer: This book was given to me in exchange for my honest opinion.