My Miserable, Lonely Lesbian Pregnancy by Andrea Askowitz - A Pre-Publication Review (3 / 5 Stars)

My Miserable, Lonely, Lesbian Pregnancy is author, Andrea Askowitz’s brutally honest memoir recounting the months she spent trying to get pregnant, actually pregnant, and as a new mother. As can be easily discerned from the title, Andrea did not enjoy being pregnant and she makes no effort to sugarcoat her experience. Askowitz is frank and extremely open in describing the messy and oftentimes unpleasant experiences involved with pregnancy and child birth.

What makes My Miserable, Lonely, Lesbian Pregnancy work as a memoir is the balance that Askowitz manages to maintain between candid description of her opinions and admission that those opinions might have been skewed by her own gloom. Askowitz pulls no punches in describing her bitter disappoint with her friends, her ex-girlfriend, and her family; however, her harsh judgments are tempered by her acknowledgment that her estimations were not always fair and that she was a big pain in the neck. Askowitz’s ability to call herself out on her own issues makes her endearing and likeable.

Askowitz’s ability to be so unguarded in her writing oftentimes results in uproarious hilarity. Her recounting of her arguments and passive-aggressive altercations with her therapist will leave readers in stitches. She is candid, annoying, funny, loving, infuriating, and a whole host of other contradicting descriptions that make a person complicated and interesting.

Overall, this is a thoroughly enjoyable memoir that lifts the curtain on the rosy, glowing pregnancy façade that is usually presented to reveal the difficult, hard, and ugly side of pregnancy.

I do, however, feel a responsibility to future readers to mention that this might not be the book for those who consider themselves exceptionally squeamish, prudish, or easily offended.

ON SALE IN STORES & ONLINE MAY 1, 2008

Indecision by Benjamin Kunkel (0 / 5 Stars)

Indecision is about an unmotivated man named Dwight living in New York City. Dwight is in his late twenties and is stuck in a dead-end job and a dead-end life. Part of Dwight's problem is the pervasive indecision that, in Dwight's opinion, plagues his generation. As a solution to this problem, a pharmaceutical company develops a pill that cures the patient of his inability to make decisions. The pill taker will always know exactly what he or she wants at any given moment. That is as far as I got. I could not finish even half of this pedantic and obnoxious novel.

The premise gave this book so much potential. Too bad Kunkel squandered it with his need to impress and show off. Instead of attempting to write an engaging and interesting book, Kunkel used the writing of Indecision as an exercise in vanity. Every sentence seems to scream, "See how smart I am?!" The sentences and paragraphs are convoluted and annoying; the narrator’s voice insufferable.

Everyone knew “that guy” in either high school or college who felt his superior mental acuity gave him the right to condescend to everyone around him; who thought his putdowns were witty and amusing (even if only to himself); who read and quoted philosophers; and whose sarcastic vitriol was really shielding his own issues. Well both Dwight and his creator, Benjamin Kunkel, are “that guy”.

If only there was a pill that could make me forget this book!

BRINGING HOME THE BIRKIN ON SALE

Bringing Home the Birkin: My Life in Hot Pursuit of the World's Most Coveted Handbag by Michael Tonello is on Sale Today!!!

Click Here to Read My Previously Posted Review

Check out http://www.bringinghomethebirkin.com/ & Enter to Win a Birkin Bag!

If you live in the Miami Area, Michael Tonello will be at Books and Books in Coral Gables on May 2, 2008 at 8 pm

It's YOU - NOT You're Books!

I recently picked up an issue of the New York Times Book Review that I hadn't yet had time to read when I came across this essay titled "It's not You, It's Your Books" by Rachel Donadio. In the article, Rachel makes the argument that two people with drastically different tastes in literature can never be together as a couple.

That gave me pause because my husband, Adam, and I are even more polarly opposite - he doesn't even like novels! Gasp! My husband is an extremely intelligent man with varied interests - reading novels just isn't one of them.

So, you might be wondering, "how can a self-confessed bibliophile - one who keeps a bo0k blog for christ's sake - be married to a man who would rather do yard work than read a novel?" "Easy", I would answer. To me, reading is a sigularly solitary pursuit. Adam and I enjoy dinners at nice restaurants, going jogging together, having drinks with our friends, traveling, etc.
Adam is smart in ways that I am not and devotes his television watching time to programs such as documentaries explaining religion's impact on the global economy while I am in the other room watching the exploits of Heidi and Spencer on The Hills.

I actually believe that our opposites are what make our domestic routine work. For example, we spend most of our evenings together in the same room, cuddled on the couch - he watches one his many documentaries and I lay with my head in his lap devouring my latest book. This way we aren't in opposite rooms watching different programs and I reap the benefit of him passing on everything he has gleaned from his television shows without actually having to - yawn -watch them!

It's HIM, not his books!

I would love to hear what other's opinions are on this subject. Look on the right-hand column and vote!

Enlightenment for Idiots by Anne Cushmant (A Pre-publication Review - 3.5 / 5 Stars)

Enlightenment for Idiots by Anne Cushman follows Amanda, a twenty-nine year old wanna-be yoga instructor who pays the bills by writing instruction manuals for the “For Idiots” series of books (as in Computers for Idiots, etc.). Like many twenty-somethings, Amanda is struggling with the realization that her life doesn’t look or feel anything like she thought it would back when she was younger. She lives in an apartment filled with beat-up furniture; has eccentric hippie roommates; is struggling to make ends meet; and she left her “perfect on paper” fiancé for a rootless photographer named Matt who makes her heart race but after three years says that he doesn’t believe in labels like “girlfriend”.

After Amanda and Matt decide to take a break from their tumultuous relationship, Amanda accepts an assignment in India where she is supposed to find enlightenment and write about it in a book called Enlightenment for Idiots. Amanda discovers more than spirituality and enlightenment in India and her life is forever changed by the monumental and unexpected discovery that she is pregnant.

Cushman’s descriptions of India are so expressive and vivid that I could almost taste the curry, see the Ganges, and smell the crowded streets of New Delhi. Cushman does a superb job of capturing the essence of India and of those who travel there to find spirituality or whatever it is they are looking for. She is masterful at capturing and conveying both the good and the bad aspects of this complicated country and it’s people – both foreign and native.

Cushman also does an exceptional job of developing her characters. This might be due in part to the fact that this novel is most likely a fictional autobiography (Cushman spent time in India writing a guide very similar to the fictional Enlightenment for Idiots). Amanda is a sympathetic and relatable figure to whom most twenty-somethings will be able to identify with. Cushman’s descriptions of Amanda’s relationship and travels through India with her friend Devi Das are touching, entertaining and humorous; as is her portrayal of Amanda’s relationship with her mother-hen-like friend, Lisa.

My only criticism of this book is that it is a bit too long. Cushman could have pared down the book by about 100 pages. I got the impression that Cushman was so moved by her own real-life travels in India that she didn’t want to leave anything out in her fictional re-telling of her adventure.

Overall, Enlightenment for Idiots is a well-written and entertaining book which highlights the joys of finding your own path and playing the hand you’re dealt with grace and acceptance that nothing is or will be perfect or the way you thought it would be. Instead of finding enlightenment, Amanda finds her true self and knowledge that acceptance of yourself and the way things are is the only true way to find nirvana.

The Big Over Easy: A Nursery Crime by Jasper Fforde (4.5 / 5 Stars)

The Big Over Easy is a tongue-in-cheek detective novel featuring Detective Jack Spratt who investigates cases for the Nursery Crime Division (NCD) in the town of Reading. After losing his case against the Three Little Pigs for the death of the Big Bad Wolf, Jack Spratt begins investigating the suspicious death of Humpty Dumpty. However, Spratt must first jump over many hurdles including the threat of the eradication of the NCD by the police force; his arch nemesis, superstar Detective Friedland Chymes; his partner Detective Mary Mary might be in collusion with Chymes; and the fact that in this world where books mean everything, none of his cases get much mention in “True Crime” or Amazing Crime Stories”.

Fforde’s writing is deft, humorous, witty, and intelligent. His wordplay is nothing short of genius. The novel is fast-paced, amusing, and engaging. As is the case with all of Jasper Fforde’s books, this novel is truly written for the book and word lover.

As funny and entertaining as The Big Over Easy is, it also manages to capture the uniquely 21st Century problem of the public’s need for constant news entertainment created by the mass media. In the land of Reading, police investigations are constantly compromised in order to make for a better story; a detective’s true worth is not his or her ability to solve cases but how much he or she can publish and whether or not he is a member of the Detective Guild; and superstar detective, Friedland Chymes, shouts the very Donald Trump-esque catch phrase, “The Case is Closed!” after every press conference.

Rowdy in Paris by Tim Sandlin (3.5 / 5 Stars)

Tim Sandlin’s fictional cowboy, Rowdy Talbot, is a conundrum of dichotomies. He is crass and honorable; sensitive and tough; sad, and funny.

In ‘Rowdy in Paris’, Rowdy Talbot’s adventure starts with a ménage a trios with two French graduate students after he wins the local rodeo bull riding contest. Rowdy wakes up the next morning to find both the girls and his prized championship belt buckle missing. Being that the buckle was the only thing that Rowdy has ever won and the fact that he feels like it is the only thing that will impress his young son, Rowdy is fit to be tied! He takes off for Paris in pursuit of his beloved buckle. Rowdy finds that things in Paris are a bit different then they are in Wyoming! For one, coffee is served in “shot glasses” and payment is required for use of “the john”. Rowdy’s flummoxed surprise with everything French is hilarious.

While attempting to recover his buckle, Rowdy uncovers a plot to sabotage McDonald’s and with the help of an ex-CIA agent hired by Starbucks (who wants to make sure that they don’t suffer the same fate as McDonald’s), Rowdy sets off to protect all that is American in France.

During the course of his adventure Rowdy gets into his fair share of bar brawls, falls in love, spies on a courtesan (who might also work for the CIA) on behalf of her husband, even begins to appreciate French espresso!

“Rowdy in Paris” is heartwarming and funny. Sandlin perfectly captures the cowboy mentality and delivers an unusual story filled with laughs.