Day: September 3, 2018

Random Thoughts

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I have to wonder what it would be like if my mom and dad were both still here and in good health.  I miss them daily and I am sure they’d have the answers for me, just like they did when I was a kid.

I can hear my daddy’s voice who on a number of occasions told me “You’ll be okay Chili, no harm done, it could have been worse” And supposedly the experts say you shouldn’t say that to a depressed person.  Saying things could be worse minimizes her feelings.  The whole gunshot to the chest or gunshot to the leg debate.  Both hurt like hell but one is more likely to kill you.  Degrees of sympathy.  Let me have some whine and cheese over my champagne problems.  Which really aren’t all that bubbly.

How about instead we have empathy all around?

Ugh I am waxing philosophical today.  NOTHING is really good or bad is it?  Everything just IS what it is until it isn’t!  I have B and we are figuring things out.  Put that in your proverbial peace pipe and smoke it.  Now, now I tell myself.  No need to get feisty.

As always, more to come.

J-Dub’s Review of We Were Mothers: A Novel by Katie Sise

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This book was my free selection for September.  Told in short alternating chapters by the central women characters of the story, this book had a very familiar pattern.  Almost like every book I am reading these days.  Makes we wonder about originality.  Or does this formula just work so let’s all copy it?

Any Who.  This one is a bit different in that the story takes place over a weekend.  Makes for a very fast pace.  And you’d think there’d be no character development because of this pace but surprisingly there are a lot of details.  Perhaps written as clichés, they are all people one can relate too.  Without giving too much away, we have secrets kept for years, infidelity, abuse, teenage angst set against twins birthday party in an idyllic suburb and the aftermath of a seemingly random day.

When the secrets are spilled there is proof yet again that one can never really know what anyone else is capable of doing for self preservation.  We all have our limits and lines we might cross.  Would you lie for someone?  How about steal?  Or kill?

The ending was a bit unbelievable.  Seems like more people should have gone to jail. But in fiction anything is possible.  Not sure I’d read it again.  The story was interesting enough to have kept my attention until the end though.  I give this book 4 out of 5 stars.

As always, more to come.

J-Dub’s Review of Stray: Memoir of a Runaway by Tanya Marquardt

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Happy #free96 – double of #free48!  I call it that because I took the Friday before the Labor day holiday as a vacation day.  I read and lounged and read some more.  I finished three books in four days.  The first one reviewed here.

Up next is Stray: Memoir of a Runaway by Tanya Marquardt.  Now as you all know, my reviews are typically nebulous and vague.  Hey is that an oxymoron?  Nope!  The more vague, the more I lack specific description expanding until it is nebulous.  Like clouds floating away and hard to pin down. Ha!  All I know is I will not ruin an ending like I did with We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver. One of my first reviews on Amazon.  I am surprised, they did not delete it but oh well.

ANy Who!  IMO, you cannot rate a memoir.  Too personal and who am I to judge her life?  Now how the story is written maybe but content, uh no way.  For this one all I have to say is the poor girl experienced some horrific stuff.  I was shocked and saddened.  The story had no closure though.  It just ended with her starting her real life which sounds like she rebounded famously and is doing very well for herself.

I am glad the Kindle book was a free selection of the month for August.  I would have been upset to pay for the pleasure (or not) of reading it.  Not my fave and no recommendation.

As always, more to come.