The Liars Club & Cherry

The Liars Club & Cherry by Mary Karr

These memoirs cover the time from Karr's earliest memories through her teen years. Living in a Gulf town in Texas with a mentally unstable mother, and an increasingly distant father left her with a very unique childhood. The Liars Club takes us until she's about 12 years old. I found it much better than Cherry, simply because a lot more happened. Cherry is about her teen years which were filled with drug use to try and escape her circumstances. Mary Karr is worth spending some time with.

To Be Mona

To Be Mona, Kelly Easton (YA)

To be Mona is a slim book about high school teens trying to find themselves in their senior year. Sage, wants to be Mona, the "popular" girl. But as so often happens, she often finds that getting what you want isn't what it's cracked up to be. Sage has an unstable mother who ends up being diagnosed with bipolar disorder. It's a relief for Sage to find an answer to her mothers mood swings. The book offers great references for people with bipolar & those who love them. The book does a good job of bringing up the subject of a mentally unstable parent, while still focusing on all the trouble high school can bring.

A Field Guide To The British: The Anglo Files

A Field Guide to the British: The Anglo Files, Sarah Lyall

I was really excited about this book. Lyall is an American expat married to a Brit. She touches on all of the British cliches. Bad teeth, bad news reporting, their painful modesty & the oddity of the Royals. When I say she touches on these things I was wrong, she give a million examples of each. I actually quit reading this book. I almost never quit a book once I'm past a certain point, but this just got too boring. It's 260 pages. It would be a great, fun read at about 130!

Triple Shot Betty's In Love

Triple Shot Betty's In Love, Jody Gerhman (YA)

The follow up to Triple Shot Betty's really steers away from the things that turned me off of the last book a little bit. This time Gerhman stays away from the teenage drinking and focuses on the love lives of the teen girls. A fun follow up.

Learning Joy From Dogs Without Collars

Learning Joy from Dogs Without Collars, Lauralee Summer

This short blurb about this book would be "homeless to Harvard." Lauralee's upbringing offered her few choices, but she made her way to the hallowed halls of Harvard. It's a great story, but something about Summer just didn't make me really get emotionally invested in the story. Still worth reading.

Assisted Loving: Tales Of Double Dating With My Dad

Assisted Loving: Tales of Double Dating With My Dad, Bob Morris

This is a story about Morris trying to understand why his recently widowed father needs to jump back in the dating pool so quickly after his wifes death. I didn't end up liking Bob Morris too much, he comes across as quite self absorbed, although he admits as much in the book. Something that bothered me is that he often describes how handsome his 80-something father is, yet put a very unflattering photo of him on the cover. I think Morris still has some passive aggressive issues to work out!

Bringing Home The Birkin

Bringing Home the Birkin, Michael Tonello

A fun book about Tonello's move to Barcelona & suddenly finding himself jobless. He starts a lucrative business finding the elusive Birkin bags & reselling them online. Not a bad read, but gets a little old by the end. Bonus cute points for the book design, the paper part is small & comes off leaving the book looking like an orange croc Birkin bag.

Dirty Laundry

Dirty Laundry, Daniel Ehrenhaft (YA)

A cute mystery about a teen celebrity going undercover at a "last chance" boarding school. The characters were fun & I didn't know what was going to happen next. Worth reading.