sonia_reppe's reviews
1293 reviews

Click here to read my review.

http://www.bookpleasures.com/Lore2/idx/0/3637/article/Out_of_the_Frying_Pan.html

2.5 stars. I would've really liked this book ten or more years ago, when I was about 20, 21 years old. At times this book was really romance-novelish. The leading man was so devoted in his love and aching with it the whole time. "He loved her for being so beautiful, and he hated her for it. He loved how she put shiny stuff on her lips for him, and he also reviled her for it. He wanted to run after her and grab her up before she could take another step." Yeah. There was some weak writing but there was some good writing. (The first chapter is excellent; it's what drew me in). The two sisters, Riley and Alice, got on my nerves. Is it really that big a deal that Alice starts to date their long-time friend, Paul? Riley doesn't like him in that way, so...? Things got complicated; Alice's behavior made me feel like, 'why is she doing that?' Still, their motives and decisions were explained enough so that I could shrug off my doubt and go: okay, I guess I can believe that. And the nostalgic parts about leaving childhood behind felt authentic. I feel like this is too long a review for a dramatically romantisized pulpy story like this, YET it succeeded in manipulating my emotions enough so that I give this 3 (2.5) stars. Some good parts: "His body felt sore and nice as they stretched and rose and resumed their walk west, toward home. He reached for her hand. They had nowhere to be, nothing to do, no one waiting for them. The sand stretched out for miles in front of them, but the emptiness that felt like loneliness yesterday felt different today. It was the same beach, the same ocean, the same sun. The same shirt and pants. The same girl walking alongside him. And yet somehow different."

The writing has flair, but there's so much dramatic overstatement that I thought it was ridiculous. Bourdain loves to be profane while describing his "adventures" in the cut-throat (as he presents it) business of food. The whole book is like lockerroom exaggeration. And I don't mean he talks about girls. There are no girl characters in this testosterone-heavy memoir; maybe that's why I was losing interest. (His wife gets a skimpy mention at the end). He just presents his world as gritty and sordid and says he likes it that way. There's the occasional nice phrase when he's describing food but not enough of these for me to give it a three star rating.

4 stars because the last sentence was kinda weak. There could've been a better choice.

This memoir has potty humor that even women will enjoy. I don’t want to give anything away, so let’s just say that Kevin Nealon, celebrity comedian, shows us his vulnerable side as he recounts the time his girlfriend/future wife came to his aid in the bathroom. The result is a story that is hilarious and surprisingly touching.
Kevin Nealon’s entire memoir is funny in a goofy and zany way. (I even read it twice and laughed just as hard the second time through). The content circles around growing older, facing the fears of fatherhood, and pregnancy sympathy pains—all told through a ludicrous and neurotic point of view. Sometimes you don’t know he’s setting you up for a joke until you’re laughing out loud, delighted to be caught off-guard. The pace and timing has the mark of a talented professional, and the callbacks to former situations or jokes are placed perfectly. Overall, this book is the delightful baby of a first-rate humorist.
You might recognize Nealon from his current Showtime series, Weeds, and as a former cast member of Saturday Night Live (Pumping Up With Hans and Franz). Good-looking in an average, unostentatious way, Nealon gives off the impression of being just-a-regular-guy, a persona that he perpetuates in his book, playing down the glamorous aspects of his life (despite being married to a Hollywood actress) and playing up his dopiness. Just look on the book’s cover, where a disheveled, pajama-clad Kevin wears the same expression you might find on a lost puppy dog.
To read the rest of my review, click here
http://www.bookpleasures.com/Lore2/idx/0/3683/article/_Yes_Youre_Pregnant_But_What_About_Me.html

This starts off depressing...but I really got into it and I liked the end. Here's a quote:
"But Lee was right. Tommy had something. And even when he was all gross from the pizza place and stoned and driving me home from Safeway after Stacy didn't show, there was a part of me that remembered how it felt when he chose me: that first time he told me I was pretty, that first time I kissed him. I remembered, too, how it felt when I finally realized it wasn't a game and it wasn't something I was watching on TV. It was something real happening between two real people. Me, I felt real; feeling real feelings, saying real words."

This barely kept my interest. It's about Canadian Welfare Moms (They call welfare "the Dole," like in England); kind of depressing but not as bleak as A Complicated Kindness by same author, which I didn't even finish reading. The protagonist in this book is stupid, which bored me. She's purposely written as not intelligent, as are most of the other welfare moms in the book. Don't get me wrong—I love stereotypes, but I would've preferred a protagonist who was savvy and intelligent and rose above her circumstances. I guess you could say she had good intentions, but not really, because her motives were selfish. The title is very misleading. Nothing lucky really happens. The "luck" refers to a phrase her mom used to say.

From Chapter 3: "The last time I drove along the Rock River I was twenty-two years old and I had just graduated from college up in Minnesota. I drove all night with all my clothes and books and records in the back seat and trunk of my Mustang from Duluth down to Half Moon, not because I was in such a big hurry to see the farm or my mother or father, but because I had the romantic notion that it would be wonderful to be driving along the Rock River when the sun came up. It was wonderful. The dew was so heavy that every leaf and blade and spider web was encased in silver or gold, the grasses and weeds were lush, and the Rock was wide and placid and thick and brown, bounded in mud, closer to the element of earth than of sky. I drove slowly along route 2 with the windows down feeling the thick air pass over my face, wanting to remember every dazzling plant and slant of light."

I read this right after I had Lindsey—the best time to read this funny, spiritual, poignant memoir of a new mom.

Four stars because I couldn't put this book down, but not five because the sections in Louisa's point of view were soapy and melodramatic. The Louisa sections kept my interest, but her characterization wasn't as in-depth as Emily, the protagonist whom the book follows. This character, Emily, drives the story. Emily is passionate about music, and talented. She becomes something of a rock star. This is believable because her music is written about in a believable way. The author either has a knowledge of music or did her homework. And I loved her relationship with her dad. Emily kept messing up but she kept learning from her mistakes, and she stayed loyal to/returned to the good things in her life: her dad, her music, her best friend.
This book has great momentum, and I had sympathy for Emily from the beginning since she was momless, but I really became endeared to her when she and her friend dressed up like Rizzo and Frenchy for Halloween. That scene was so cute.