Toss Me That Book

Straight off the bat, I am rounding up to 3 Goodreads Stars. I was incredibly excited when I read the blurb for this book because the idea of learning about a life that's so radically different from my own was incredibly appealing. And while, Ms. Feldman absolutely did provide me with an education about Hasidic Jewish history, cultures, customs, and traditions, I don't feel like it was a very full picture of the author's life -- either in the Hasidic community or out of it. I think this could be because - as other reviews have mentioned - the author wrote this book almost as soon as she left her marriage and the Hasidic community. This leads me to believe that this left little time for editing because a lot of the narrative is the author telling us that she feels like she doesn't fit in but not actually explaining or showing why. I think, too, it left little time for reflection by the author. The end of the book is practically euphoric with fre...

Format:  Hardback (First Edition - woot!) Date Started:  June 20, 2019 Date Finished:  June 21, 2019 I am a Murderino.  I blame my parents who let me read whatever I wanted.  I was probably in 6th grade when I stumbled onto the author Lois Duncan and quickly plowed through all of her scary/thriller books for pre-teens.  Browsing the bookstore with my dad one afternoon, I found her book, "Who Killed My Daughter," which is the true story of her own daughter's unsolved murder.  I must have read that book over a dozen times, and I'm dying to read it again...after I re-buy a copy because mine was donated to the library in the early 2000s.  Thanks, Mom. I feel like Georgia & Karen have similar origin stories as to how their interest in true crime developed.  And while I was originally extremely nervous to read this book -- it was billed as a memoir, so I thought I'd have to hear in detail about their formative years -- I LOVED IT....

Format:  Kindle Date Started:  June 7, 2019 Date Finished:  June 12, 2019 More than anything, this book validated by long-held belief that everyone is completely nuts . . . especially parents.  While it was pretty funny to read about the nutty things that parents have tried in the name of better behavior/better sleep/better battles with toddlers, I wouldn't recommend it if you're looking for actual help.  But, if you want to feel less alone in the wacky adventures of parenting, this is a good one to borrow from the library where it is free.  

Format:  Paperback Date Started:  May 27, 2019 Date Finished:  June 3, 2019 My mother has this entire series of books which she acquired as my brother and I grew.  The covers of her books, though, are super 80s, and I am jealous.  However, it wasn't until I was teaching school in a former life that I realized how useful these were.  I was having trouble with a 10 year old boy, and I couldn't decide if his behavior was developmentally appropriate or he was just a . . . let's say JERK.  I borrowed Mom's copy of Your Ten-Year-Old and discovered that the kid was just a JERK.  What I did find useful then and what is incredibly useful to me now are the techniques and explanation of what a child is experiencing emotionally and mentally.  It's incredibly helpful to have reassurance that bouts of being a JERK are normal for a two year old, and that it is relatively a short amount of time in this phase.  This book is also unintentional...

Format:  Kindle Date Started:  April 4, 2019 Date Finished:  April 12, 2019 A self-professed Anglophile whose life plan was, in fact, stolen by one Ms. Meghan Markle, I will read just about anything concerning the British Royals.  Heck, I check Hello Magazine everyday.  Even for me, this one was a slog. I made it to "Glimpse #60" before Margaret became altogether too much.  In giving the reader a series of vignettes loosely stitched together to tell her story, the full range of Margaret's snobbery, rudeness, and oftentimes cruelty became too much for me.  I'd like to think that Margaret thought she was being amusing or clever or witty, but, to me, she just read as if she just enjoyed being a brat well into her old age. 

Format:  Kindle Date Started:  April 7, 2019 Date Finished:  April 8, 2019 As a recent joiner of the Reese Witherspoon Book Club bandwagon, I thought it would only be fair to give her memoir/style guide/cookbook a read.  Other than one section on hot rollers and another on the perfection that is the movie "Steel Magnolias," I wish I hadn't.  The book read like an expensive version of Paula Deen and/or down home-style Goop.  She didn't cover any new territory on Southern cuisine or style, and what I had hoped to read about - how she puts together outfits, more about her experiences while filming "Walk The Line, and her grandmother's life story - were just not there.