Okay, this is a tough one for me. Quite simply, I know the author and I’m not sure I can give this book a rave review. Despite this, the book is intriguing and evoked strong emotions in me. I’m just not sure they’re the emotions the author was hoping to elicit. Smile is the autobiography of Jenny Matula, who was raised in the Philippines. Because English is not her first language, the book is rife with grammatical errors. For me, it was endearing, because it […]
This crazy fool is reviewing a textbook!
Ummmmm…this is a textbook. Wait! Don’t stop reading! Okay, okay, the textbook wasn’t SO AWESOME I had to review it. It was more like, “I’m reading this entire book for a class and damn right I’m gonna get credit on my CBR for it.” It kept me away from other books for EIGHT WEEKS for crying out loud. It’s not like I’m computer illiterate. I grew up in a house that always had at least one computer. I remember using DOS at my high school […]
Bad Boy and His Mama
This is a book from my guilty pleasure genre: true crime. It was a random pick from my work library (as it usually is). While there are many things unique to the case of Eric Napoletano, I’m not sure it’s the most interesting True Crime I’ve ever read. Napoletano had a close relationship with his mother, Carolyn. By close, I mean strangely close. Eric and Carolyn spoke several times a day and argued like brother and sister. When Eric was only 11, he met a […]
Like most people, he lied best by omission….
Mary Karr’s award-winning memoir of her early childhood in 1960s East Texas reads like a novel. This poet knows how to spin a yarn, and in this case, a mostly true story that focuses on the years she was about 6-8 years old. Mary and her older sister Lecia lived in a dysfunctional household, to say the least. At the center was their mother, an alcoholic who was battling depression and rages, the origins of which are revealed at the very end. Karr is an […]
Body by Diaz Has a Nice Ring To It
The Body Book by Cameron Diaz was the latest selection from my book club; so recent in fact, we haven’t even met yet to discuss it. This book had been on my list of books to read (love you Amazon wish list) and was glad to have the opportunity to pick the book up. Even have an out if I ended up not liking the book and wanted to dissociate from my selection…” Oh, that, I’m reading it for book club.” I was pretty sure […]
“Money Doesn’t Give You Class, It Just Gives You Money”
Confession time, I love the Real Housewives franchise. It is a phenomenal machine of hair and fake lashes and egos. It’s all the glory of gossip with none of the pain of hurting someone you know and care about. This is not a secret shame for me; anyone who knows me in real life likely knows my proclivities for terrible but well produced reality television, particularly of the Bravo variety. Andy Cohen, you own me. Given this love for all things Real (it’s not) and […]