Genre: humor (though that is questionable)
Subgenre: memoirs, suburbanites (I would add first world problems, white whines)
Format: Audiobook
Source: Overdrive system via the Madison County (KY) Public Library
The book description offers the following: "From noted blogger Jen Mann comes a collection of hilarious essays about suburban life and motherhood." That is probably one of the most highly inaccurate descriptions for a book I have read as a reviewer, and I have read some bad stuff in my time. I have no idea how or where she is a noted blogger, and this book is definitely not hilarious at all. It is more like cringeworthy and embarrassing. I had her other book, the holiday edition checked out too on Overdrive, and I returned it without bothering to read it because one dose of this is more than enough.
I am giving the book one of out of five stars, and I am doing it under protest.
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A few reading notes, which are mostly me responding some of the things I read as I was listening to the book:
Book written by Jen Mann. Renee Chambliss is narrator. Chambliss must have either been paid very well or was desperate given the material she was stuck with reading. Still, for those audiobook readers out there who pay attention, she did a decent job narrating.
Author starts out with the amusing nature and yet boring and mundane traits of chat in the AOL days. There are not many pseudonymous chat places left online, which in a way is a pity really, but I digress. This AOL segment started amusing, but it pretty much gets annoying fast. She is describing a man she met via AOL chat in those early days. They both make all sorts of assumptions based on little to no real evidence, get mad at each other, and it amazes me they still kept on chatting. This is a segment that the author is stretching way too long, and she should have just moved on after a while.
She actually ended up marrying the guy?? Good grief, the woman must have been desperate or a masochist. This whole exchange is insane in an annoying hipster yuppie way.
She is right. I wonder how that man puts up with her brand of crazy. She either got lucky, or he has really low standards, was desperate too. He seems dorky, but not nuts to the scale she is. Sheesh, can we move on already?
This is related to the story of the pillow for the ring bearer at her wedding. Her mom does have a point: you should have grabbed the damn pillow before you left. But yea, the guy is an asshole too. Again, how the hell they got married is beyond me, and hearing this is just getting painful at this point. I will be blunt: the Better Half did not make that mistake. She made sure all the bases were covered, and no one lost their cool. What can I say? Some of us manage things better, but we do not need to write books about it.
I did not think this would be some crappy first world problems memoir. The subtitle of the book is seriously misleading as I have not heard anything about crafters, despots, or other suburban scourges. This is just the author pretty much whining about every other little white whine first world problem imaginable. How anyone thinks this is humor is beyond me. The more I read, the less I give a shit.
Her whole uptight thing about the swinger friend is even more ridiculous. Lady, can't handle it? Just leave. And "best part" is everyone else knew but her. Not very attentive I guess. So the neighbor swings. It is not the end of the world nor a scandal.
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This book qualifies for the following 2017 Reading Challenges:
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