I’m so interested to hear what you all have to say about our book club pick this month!! I’m including Mom of the Year‘s Meredith’s review below … or check it out on her site as well.
As far as my review, I breezed through this book in a weekend. I always appreciate a light, fun read. I don’t think it was exactly what I expected, but it was interesting – especially reading about her career path and how many times she took risks that, obviously, paid off.
I’ll be honest, when I read a book written by a celebrity, I kind of want celebrity gossip. It’s the desperate housewife in me. It makes total sense that she wouldn’t include that, as I’m assuming she wants to keep her friends, but there were some cute stories that give you a little taste.
And, as always with any author, I appreciate the discussion about how hard it is to write a book. DAMN RIGHT!!! (Did I type that out loud?)
Make sure you leave comments … our next pick, I am told, is AMAZING!!! Win a free copy!!!
And with no further ado, Meredith’s review:
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For those of you that have been reading with Carrie from Normal Level of Crazy and me through this online book club: WE LOVE YOU. Trying to make a go of anything new in this blogging world is can be tricky, but we’re going to keep up with this because, quite simply, we love reading. Also, most sincerely, we love you, readers.
After our last post, one woman told me how grateful she was to have someone else to read with, even if she never actually met them. She too is a book fan, but her young kids prevent her from the magic trick of leaving her house. Yet she still wanted to know someone else was reading the same book she was–and thinking about it and caring what she thought.
Being the sap that I am about connecting with others, I teared up when she shared this with me. And then I felt reaffirmed that this book club was a smart idea. I love my books. I can’t always go out like a normal person to talk about them face-to-face, but being able to read with all of you is a blessing.
So thanks for humoring us, friends–we are genuinely thrilled that you are here!
And make sure to leave a comment below to win a copy of our pick for this month!
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Leaving the house to attend book club in person can be a feat of God. No need to tackle that business with this online book club. Join us here as we chat about Amy Poehler’s new book!
Buy the book!
All that gushiness aside, our pick for last month was Yes, Please by Amy Poehler. This is hard review for me to write because I LOVE AMY POEHLER. But I was not a huge fan of this book.
As we noshed on chips and margaritas, I worked hard to put my thoughts into words so I could explain them to Carrie, but it’s tricky. My concept of Poehler is that she is sweet, genuine, very smart and wonderfully sarcastically funny. I simply could not get this image to savvy up with the voice in her book, which to me came across as cocky and even foolish at times. All quotes and input from other people featured in the book served to confirm my original notion of her, but her voice itself confused me. Did anyone else feel this way??
Amy Poehler’s book, Yes, Please, may not have been my favorite, but it was certainly excellent book club discussion fodder. What is YOUR opinion?
What do YOU think?
My admiration of her was also disillusioned by some of the book’s content. It was disjointed and confusing. For example, on one page Poehler both noted the damage drugs can wreck on a family, only to then seemingly praise drugs for their redeeming qualities. The flow felt bizarre and off to me.
Perhaps my feelings about the book mostly stem from my difficultly relating to Poehler. For while we have children the same age, our day-t0-days are wildly different. Usually inability to relate to the people I read about does not color my opinions of books, but I think in this case, it did.
There were some very cool things about the book, though. Carrie noted her appreciation for Poehler’s recognition of the difficulty of book-writing, and I whole-heartedly agree. Poehler’s honesty about this was not only refreshing, but inspiring for those of us aspiring to write while feeling overwhelmed by the reality of actually producing a book.
I also delighted in the photos and excerpts that were included throughout the book. These served not only to break up text and provide levity but reinforced my original affection for Amy Poehler.
While I didn’t love this book, I remain a tremendous fan of Poehler’s work in general. I don’t think all authors are meant to write books, and this is fine. We need people to write amazing content for television so we can roll on the floor in laughter after we stash those kiddos in bed 😉
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After hearing WONDERFUL things about Jodi Picoult’s Leaving Time, we decided to cozy in for the holiday month with one of our all-time favorite authors. Please join us and read along this month–we will look forward to chatting about it with you the first Friday of January!
And if you’d like to win a copy of Leaving Time, just tell us in your comment below. One winner, age 18 or above, living in the continental U.S. will be randomly selected from the comments left below before 12/12/14 at 5am EST.
Put this on hold or buy NOW! We will discuss the first week of January and would LOVE to have you join us for the online book club discussion!
Grab your copy now!
Here is the summary for Leaving Time from Amazon, along with the link to buy the book:
Jodi Picoult’s Leaving Time weaves elephant behavior into a search for a missing mother. The connection isn’t as odd as it might sound at first, and Picoult has written another page-turning novel, even as it focuses on motherhood, loss, and grief. Teenager Jenna Metcalf was just three years old when her mother disappeared from an elephant sanctuary. Ten years later, she takes up the search for her mother, Alice, by studying Alice’s decade-old journals on grieving elephants. The research itself is fascinating, the hints about Alice’s disappearance are compelling; but Jenna cannot find her mother on her own. By enlisting the help of a formerly famous—now infamous—psychic, as well as a down-and-out private detective whose career went south during the botched investigation of Alice’s disappearance, Jenna forms a sort of new family to help her in her quest. As the facts begin to come together—described in alternating chapters by Jenna, the psychic, the private detective, and Alice’s journals—it all heads toward a thrilling conclusion. And, yes, there is a big twist at the end. – Chris Schluep
Looking forward to reading with YOU, friends! Happy cozy holiday reading!
WE LOVE our books! Hop in with us every first Friday to talk about what we’re reading and share your thoughts–we want to hear from YOU!
normallevelofcrazy 