Spare

 Book 12 of my 2023 Reading Challenge

read from 1/19 - 1/31

Spare

by Prince Harry

My Opinion

4 stars

This isn't a review of fact-checking or deep diving into the details of the book because that's not my interest and there is a lot of content out there already for readers looking for that information. I will say that it's human nature, especially with trauma, to lose some accuracy about timing or details and it's frustrating to see people use inconsistencies as a reason to dismiss the entire book and/or invalidate his feelings.

I'm an avid watcher of the Royal Family but as an American, I don't have any exposure to U.K. tabloids and don't really seek it out.  My interest is more in the history of past generations, how different individuals handled their roles, and how the institution has remained a viable thing (and if that will continue in the future).  I'm interested in the current generation and events - I watched all the footage of the weddings, funerals, interviews, etc. - but don't have a "side" I'm on.  I'm really sad that William and Harry don't have each other for support but I'm happy for the progress they each appear to have made individually in their engagement with their wives and children.

Now that I've made that general statement, on to how I felt about the book...

 The short chapters that jump in and out both make a long book pass by very quickly and also adds to the feelings of memory gaps or hazes he mentions experiencing multiple times.  I could feel his pain and while I bet the audiobook is good, I think it would be too much for me to hear his voice read these words.

Sometimes I forget just how long the history is until a reference like the carriage the Queen rode in for her Jubilee was built before the American Revolution; not only is it still around but has been maintained well enough to continue to be used.

The line about flashes from photographers being the last thing his mother saw hit me hard.  I sat and reflected on that for awhile.

He told his story as he felt it but he also maintained a level of respect.  He didn't name many people and even though he said he didn't believe it, he did give his brother credit for saying he just wanted him to be happy in one of their last meetings.

Everything My Mother Taught Me

 Book 11 of my 2023 Reading Challenge

read on January 30

Everything My Mother Taught Me

by Alice Hoffman

My Opinion

5 stars

This short story is part of the Inheritance collection available through Amazon Prime reading.  It centers around Adeline and what occurs when she and her widowed mother move to an island for a job in a lighthouse.  I'm glad I didn't read the description ahead of time because even the vague plot points would've affected what I was anticipating; I had no idea what was going to happen.

It was engrossing.  It had great pacing and the author was able to convey a lot of feelings in a short amount of time.

A Heart That Works

 Book 10 of my 2023 Reading Challenge

read from 1/20 - 1/29

A Heart That Works

by Rob Delaney

Summary (via Goodreads)

In 2016, Rob Delaney’s one-year-old son, Henry, was diagnosed with a brain tumor. The family had moved from Los Angeles to London with their two young boys when Rob’s wife was pregnant with Henry, their third. The move was an adventure that would bind them even more tightly together as they navigated the novelty of London, the culture clashes, and the funhouse experience of Rob’s fame—thanks to his role as co-creator and co-star of the hit series Catastrophe. Henry’s illness was a cataclysm that changed everything about their lives. Amid the hospital routine, surgeries, and brutal treatments, they found a newfound community of nurses, aides, caregivers, and fellow parents contending with the unthinkable. Two years later, Henry died, and his family watched their world fall away to reveal the things that matter most. 

A Heart That Works is Delaney’s intimate, unflinching, and fiercely funny exploration of what happened – from the harrowing illness to the vivid, bodily impact of grief and the blind, furious rage that followed, through to the forceful, unstoppable love that remains. In the madness of his grief, Delaney grapples with the fragile miracle of life, the mysteries of death, and the question of purpose for those left behind. 

Delaney’s memoir—profound, painful, full of emotion, and bracingly honest—offers solace to those who have faced devastation and shows us how grace may appear even in the darkest times.

My Opinion

4 stars

I read this aloud with my husband and through his tears when we finished he said he gets to pick the book next time.  This was a tough read but in a good way - it was unflinching and honest.

This felt more like a book that the author needed to write than a book that needed an audience.  There is an audience for the book and its praise is well-earned but Delaney wrote like he needed to purge and we as the readers just happened to be here to witness it.  I'm glad we were able to witness it.

A Few Quotes from the Book

"In between Henry's birth and his death was, of course, his life. That was my favourite part."

"I'm not exactly in the sunset of my life life, but I have definitely eaten lunch."

The Best American Short Stories 2020

 Book 9 of my 2023 Reading Challenge

read from 1/16 - 1/22

The Best American Short Stories 2020

by various authors

My Opinion

3 stars

The stories chosen were published between January 2019 and January 2020 but even though the stories themselves didn't reflect it, the foreword and introduction from late 2020 talk about short stories in the context of the pandemic.  I agree with them and have mentioned it in previous reviews - I found myself reading many more short stories than usual because I didn't have the emotional bandwidth for a full novel.  It is also sad to read the optimism of "2020 will be known as the year of the pandemic" because we didn't expect the divisiveness and how long everything has lasted.

My favorite was The Nine-Tailed Fox Explains.

Godmother Tea

I felt like there was something below the surface of this story but I couldn't find it, making it feel longer than it was.  Not a bad story, just not for me.

The Apartment

That was unexpected.  I definitely would've bet on him as well.

A Faithful but Melancholy Account of Several Barbarities Lately Committed

I wanted more of a resolution after journeying through that whole story.

Sibling Rivalry

Even though the title didn't really fit the material this was a good story with a fascinating concept.  I would read a full book about this new world, there is a lot of potential there.

The Nanny

Kayla was impulsive and a tough character to get a read on but that's the point.

Halloween

It ended abruptly but I'm also glad it ended before Jules went to the party because I wouldn't have been able to handle the secondhand embarrassment.  She was written as a teen in love so well it made me cringe.

Something Street

Absorbing and sad.

This is Pleasure

This was a tough story to read because the characters were so understandable even when wrong.  It covered the grey areas of power dynamics and times shifting really well.

In the Event

It felt like madness yet also inevitable.  Hard to tell what was real and what was imagined.

The Children

The story passed very quickly.  I wasn't really invested because characters were introduced, big resolutions were wrapped up in a sentence or two, and then the story moved on.

Rubberdust

That story was tough to read because I could feel it so clearly.  It made me sad and sweaty.

It's Not You

The story is foggy just like the character's memory.  It reminds me of talking to a tipsy person where the sentences are jumpy but you can make a coherent thought out of them if you focus.

Liberte

Reading about her in the third person instead of first adds to the detachment the character is feeling with her life.  

Howl Palace

It made me sad that she didn't seem to have anything to show for her life as she was reflecting on it.

The Nine-Tailed Fox Explains

My favorite, this had a great story arc and good length.

The Hands of Dirty Children

This story was really vivid and emotional.

Octopus VII

That didn't go the way I expected but I'm happy about it.

Enlightenment

I was so nervous reading this because I thought the story was going in a different direction.  The ending kind of petered out but that felt like a good thing since there wasn't the drama I expected to happen.

Kennedy

Yikes, that was intense.  I roller coastered through many feelings about Kennedy but I mainly felt sorry for him.

The Special World

I was absorbed in that story.

The Light We Carry

 Book 8 of my 2023 Reading Challenge

read from January 13 - 19

The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times

by Michelle Obama

Summary (via Goodreads)

There may be no tidy solutions or pithy answers to life's big challenges, but Michelle Obama believes that we can all locate and lean on a set of tools to help us better navigate change and remain steady within flux. In The Light We Carry, she opens a frank and honest dialogue with readers, considering the questions many of us wrestle with: How do we build enduring and honest relationships? How can we discover strength and community inside our differences? What tools do we use to address feelings of self-doubt or helplessness? What do we do when it all starts to feel like too much?

Michelle Obama offers readers a series of fresh stories and insightful reflections on change, challenge, and power, including her belief that when we light up for others, we can illuminate the richness and potential of the world around us, discovering deeper truths and new pathways for progress. Drawing from her experiences as a mother, daughter, spouse, friend, and First Lady, she shares the habits and principles she has developed to successfully adapt to change and overcome various obstacles--the earned wisdom that helps her continue to "become." She details her most valuable practices, like "starting kind," "going high," and assembling a "kitchen table" of trusted friends and mentors. With trademark humor, candor, and compassion, she also explores issues connected to race, gender, and visibility, encouraging readers to work through fear, find strength in community, and live with boldness.

My Opinion

4 stars

I'm reminded how safe I felt when the Obamas were in the White House.  They didn't pretend to have all the answers but I trusted their statements and judgement.  I also appreciate the foundation they have in their family and themselves.

It's empowering to read a book by a woman who is so grounded in herself.  She has a powerful husband and supports him but is also powerful in her own right.  Yet she's also vulnerable...reading the litany of criticisms she sometimes feels about herself when she looks in the mirror was surprising.

My mom has MS so I really resonated with the beginning of the book when she talked about the family's vigilance in observing obstacles.  We also make adaptations that are so second nature at this point we forget others don't have to think about the things we do when making plans.

I also took a moment to reflect on Ketanji Brown Jackson's point about activism.  There's a hidden cost to having to fight for your rights that I hadn't considered; it takes mental and physical time away from other activities (in her example, studying or extracurriculars in college because of protesting a Confederate flag), yet another way the gap between the majority and minority remains wide.

Stories Found in my Rearview Mirror

Book 7 of my 2023 Reading Challenge

read from September 2022 - 1/18

Stories Found in my Rearview Mirror

by Floyd Gardner

Summary (via the book jacket)

In this personal memoir, Gardner remembers Iowa in the 1940s and 1950s and relates those recollections. Sometimes funny - sometimes sad - but always heartwarming, the stories take older Iowans back to a time and place that causes them to pause and they, too, recall incidents from their past. For younger readers this book provides a look at Iowa's history, when it was a different place with different values. But the stories don't end in mid-twentieth century. Readers travel with Floyd into the 21st Century for a look at retirement as he and his wife travel the country in an RV.

My Opinion

3 stars

I chose this book from the "Iowa" section of the library as something my husband and I could read together.  Although most of his 'Iowa" stories are about his hometown of Ossian, I found out randomly through a friend's Facebook post that he currently lives in the same town we do.  He is still active and writing; I've seen his Facebook posts shared by multiple friends recently, especially speaking against our governor's current push for public funds for private school vouchers.

My husband grew up on a farm and even though he's much younger than the author, certain aspects of farm life remain the same (plus he works for John Deere) so he had a lot of familiarity with the stories.  The author also had many experiences not related to farm life as he was in the military and trying out different careers so we never knew what was coming next; he seems to have lived a million different lives in all his travels.

It was a good book to read together a few stories at a time and I'm sure this book is an absolute treasure for his family because of the memories he's shared.  Some of the stories may be a little too "I guess you had to be there" for a general audience but overall we really enjoyed winding through his life. 

If He Had Been With Me

 Book 6 of my 2023 Reading Challenge

read from 1/11 - 1/16

If He Had Been With Me

by Laura Nowlin

Summary (via the book jacket)

Autumn and Finn used to be inseparable. But then something changed. Or they changed. Now, they do their best to ignore each other.

Autumn has her boyfriend, Jamie, and her close-knit group of friends. Finn has become that boy at school, the one everyone wants to be around.

That still doesn't stop the way Autumn feels every time she and Finn cross paths, and the growing, nagging thought that maybe things could have been different. Maybe they should be together.

And as time passes, Autumn realizes she might not get another chance to make things right before it's too late.

My Opinion

4 stars

I would've read this book faster but I had to put it away for a little bit because it was coincidentally too close to another book I was reading at the same time and I was getting them confused.

It was a switch to have characters be embarrassed they used to be popular or explaining why they know the "cool" kids.  It was also unusual to have so much time pass by, especially since there were hardly any changes in romantic pairings or friendship groups.  The book itself felt long because of the time covered but the pages passed quickly because of short chapters.

Once graduation hit I couldn't put it down.  My heart hurts but I'm also happy things progressed the way they did.

Only the Pretty Lies

Book 5 of my 2023 Reading Challenge

read from 1/9 - 1/13

Only the Pretty Lies

by Rebekah Crane

Summary (via Goodreads)

Convention doesn’t carry much weight in Alder Creek. It doesn’t in Amoris Westmore’s family either. Daughter of a massage therapist and a pothead artist, inheritor of her grandmother’s vinyl collection, and blissfully entering her senior year in high school, Amoris never wants to leave her progressive hometown. Why should she?

Everything changes when Jamison Rush moves in next door. Jamison was Amoris’s first crush, and their last goodbye still stings. But Jamison stirs more than bittersweet memories. One of the few Black students in Alder Creek, Jamison sees Amoris’s idyllic town through different eyes. He encourages Amoris to look a little closer, too. When Jamison discovers a racist mural at Alder Creek High, Amoris’s worldview is turned upside down.

Now Amoris must decide where she stands and whom she stands by, threatening her love for the boy who stole her heart years ago. Maybe Alder Creek isn’t the town Amoris thinks it is. She’s certainly no longer the girl she used to be.

My Opinion

2 stars 

This was not the book for me.  It would've been a fairly standard teen coming-of-age story but there were also heavy topics, especially concerning race, shoehorned in.  It reminded me of a "very special episode" of a Disney show or family sitcom.  It veered so drastically from one extreme to the other and there wasn't a lot of explaining or investment in how it all happened or reflection on the really big changes that occurred.

One thing I did really like was Amoris's description of herself as a "cover song" when she realized she's been living everyone else's traditions and not discovering who she actually is.

Wild and Crazy Guys

Book 4 of my 2023 Reading Challenge

read from January 3 - 10

Wild and Crazy Guys

by Nick de Semlyen

Summary (via the book jacket)

Wild and Crazy Guys opens in 1978 with Chevy Chase and Bill Murray taking bad-tempered swings at each other backstage at Saturday Night Live, and closes twenty-one years later with the two doing a skit in the same venue, poking fun at each other - their illustrious careers, their triumphs, and their pratfalls. In between, Nick de Semlyen takes us on a trip through the tumultuous 1980s, going behind the scenes of Caddyshack, The Blues Brothers, Ghostbusters, Beverly Hills Cop, National Lampoon's Vacation, and dozens of other movies.

Chronicling the larger-than-life off-screen antics of Bill Murray, Eddie Murphy, Chevy Chase, Steve Martin, John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, John Candy, and Rick Moranis, this insightful and entertaining book has drugs, sex, fistfights, webbed toes, and Murray being pushed into a swimming pool by Hunter S. Thompson while tied to a lawn chair. What's not to like?

Based on candid interviews with many of the stars themselves, as well as those in their immediate orbit, including directors John Landis, Carl Reiner, and Amy Heckerling, Wild and Crazy Guys is a fantastic insider account of the friendships, feuds, triumphs, and disasters experienced by these iconic funnymen. Hilarious and revealing, it is both a hidden history of the most fertile period ever for screen comedy and a celebration of some of the most popular films of all time.

My Opinion

4 stars

On a personal note, this book is one I absolutely would've talked about and passed on to my dad.  He's the reason I have such familiarity with these actors and movies, especially the "Vacation" movies.

If you have an interest in the material this book will not disappoint.  Looking at his 'Notes' section, the author interviewed multiple people for the purpose of this book plus quite a bit of information is pulled from earlier sources.  Interestingly, even some of the quotes from earlier sources are generated by the author from past interviews he's done with celebrities for the magazine Empire.    The author has an obvious interest in the research and material but he also isn't kissing anyone's butts about the flops.  To quote a line from the book, "Not all of their material has aged well, and some of it wasn't even funny at the time".

I can't believe Dan Aykroyd's update didn't include Tommy Boy!  Also, I've never heard of Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid but it sounds like something I'd like.

Murder Mayhem

Book 3 of my 2023 Reading Challenge

read from 12/29 - 1/9

Murder Mayhem

by various authors

Summary (via the book jacket)

A chilling selection of original and classic short stories, packed full of monsters, psychopaths, and high body counts. Tales of death and destruction from such classic authors as H.P. Lovecraft, William Hope Hodgson, Ambrose Bierce, Edgar Allan Poe, Franz Kafka, Bram Stoker, and many more, are cast alongside stories by exciting new hardcore crime writers.

My Opinion

4 stars

I love the art and look of this series so I've picked them up as I see them at Half Price Books and this is the second one I've read.  I was caught off guard by some of the stories continuing online as I read Bodies in the Library last year and wasn't a fan.  Now that I know this is something the series does I decided to look ahead of time so I could mark any stories that weren't complete in this book.  To my pleasant surprise, all of these stories appear to be self-contained and I shouldn't have to go to their website at all.

There are 9 original stories and 36 previously published, the earliest from 1819.

My top 3 stories were Drive Safe, Redux,  and The First Seven Deaths of Mildred Orly.

The Wendigo Goes Home

It's morbid to say but when the character referenced not having "young meat" in awhile since medical advancements have taken away the diseases of the early 1900's, I knew this was written pre-pandemic (which it was - 2016).

The story was short and to the point with an unexpected ending.

The Death of Halpin Frayser

I could tell it was an older story (1891) because it was very wordy and exclamation points followed all the surprises.  Because of the wordiness it felt very dense for a short story and even though it was explained, I didn't fully get what the mystery even was let alone how it was solved.

The Moonlit Road

Before reading: Uh oh, this story is by the same author that wrote the last one.  Will I like this one more?

After reading: Nope.  Still very wordy and while this one was clearer for me, I still wasn't interested.

The Rector of Veilbye

That took a minute to settle into because there were a lot of characters for a short story but once the crime occurred I was invested and did not expect the ending.

Funeral

I love the line, "I don't think he always cared what he said as long as he was the one saying it..."

That story gripped me from beginning to end.

Into the Blue

That was a really good length because I didn't want to spend any more time in the narrator's head and running commentary of jumbled thoughts.

Dr. Hyde, Detective, and the White Pillars Murder

The clues were all laid out in front of the reader and, like the novice detective, I missed them as well.  The nature of the short story meant more things were 'told' than 'shown' but all in all it wasn't bad.  I would read more of Brandon and Weir working together.

The Traveller's Story of a Terribly Strange Bed

When it began with a 'Prologue' I could tell it was going to be on the longer end of a short story.  The pages passed very quickly once the traveller's story began and it was excellent but the prologue explaining how the narrator came to be listening to the story was too wordy and unnecessary.

Who Killed Zebedee?

This story and the one previous were both by Wilkie Collins, an author during the mid-to-late 1800's.  I also remember reading him in Bodies in the Library so I may look him up and see if he has any other writings.

I really liked this story.  Although the concern about virtue would be less, this scenario about a woman scorned could've played out today as well.

The Trial for Murder

The story wasn't bad but it was clear where it was going very early on so I was waiting for everyone to catch up and the ending to be revealed.

The Problem of Dead Wood Hall

That was really long, both for a short story and for the plot.  It took a long time to get where it was going and the payoff wasn't worth it.  

Mr. Happy Head

It was very unsettling inside the narrator's head.  Very creepy.

The Brazilian Cat

Excellent story from start to finish.  It was nice to read a story by Arthur Conan Doyle that didn't have Sherlock Holmes in it.

Nineteen Sixty-Five Ford Falcon

A great story as long as you ignore the coincidences that move the story along.

"Mama Said"

This story had a good start but just as I was finding its rhythm it ended really abruptly.  It was too short.

Six Aspects of Cath Baduma

It was an interesting story but didn't really fit this theme of murder mysteries.  Good premise for more stories though.

The House Among the Laurels

Writing out dialogue in a Scottish accent is hard to follow and I really had to focus.  For example, one sentence was, "Thin, he an' this with him, shtarted in an' mhurdered thim wan an' all as they slep."

The story was fine.  I don't know why all the dogs had to die but I'm glad there was a full explanation of the haunting at the end.

The Thing Invisible

There wasn't a payoff with the story.  The writing was good but it took so much time building up only to sum things up in a few paragraphs (and even if the ending had been longer I didn't like it anyway).

I didn't know the same author wrote this and the previous story until after I'd read both.  I would not have guessed because they had two completely different styles and settings.

Freedom is Not Free

That was a great story.  Although some stretching was done to get all the pertinent info to the police, the twist and ending was unexpected and excellent.

Mademoiselle  de Scuderi

There are so many characters and since they're French each character has 4 or 5 parts to their name which also makes them all sound similar.  Plus it's 38 pages of small print and I was lost by page 3.  No thank you.  I really struggled to finish this one.

How to Build a Mass-Murderer

That was an excellent story.  I didn't know where it was going and I do wonder if there will be a genetic component to predicting serial killers in the future.

I loved the line, "My parents used childbirth as an alternative to marriage counseling..." to describe an unhappy marriage producing many children.

Pigeons from Hell

I didn't notice right away because I was very invested in the story but my husband was watching a show and the spooky music accompanying it really added to my experience.  It was a good length with an unexpected ending.

The Two-Out-Of Three Rule

The bones of the story were good but I couldn't suspend my disbelief that nobody would either notice what was going on with Kyle or be suspicious enough after the fact to not stay in contact with Elaina.

The Well

It was pretty predictable based on the title and the structure but it was still a good story.

In the Penal Colony

This was very clearly a Kafka story.  The last page or so seemed out of place (basically, once they switched locations) but all in all it was visceral and kept my attention.

Getting Shot in the Face Still Stings

This story wasn't bad but I didn't see the point of it.  It felt like it ended just as things were getting started.

The Return of Imray

I feel like I've read that one before (and it's very possible since it's an old one by Rudyard Kipling).  It was fine but the confession happening unprompted and immediately is an easy out for the story.

Less than Katherine

Even though it was clear from the beginning what was going on it was still creepy.

Shared Losses

That was the perfect length with no extra filler.  At first I thought the clerk was the person the narrator was referring to but then I was able to get reoriented and it was a shock.

The Hound

As I was reading I was wondering how the character was able to narrate everything when I assumed he was going to die; having this be a final letter before he gives in to the madness was a good solution.

From Beyond

This had the classic "The End...Or Is It?" final sentence.  There was a lot going on for a short story but it was fine.

Drive Safe

That was gripping.  My favorite so far.

In the Dark

It ended with a whimper instead of a bang but the story itself was good.

The Cask of Amontillado

If I haven't read this story before I've definitely heard of it.  It was a good story but by jumping right in there was no suggestion of his motivation to do such a drastic thing.

The Azure Ring

The title gave away the method but not the person.  It was an interesting story.

Redux

Another top for me.  That story was unlike anything I've read before.  The main character caught on in appropriate increments and she died the perfect number of times (what a weird thing to say) before flipping the script and ending the story.

The First Seven Deaths of Mildred Orly

Incredibly creepy but also sad.  Another top contender.

Markheim

This was confusing.  I understood the basic plot but all the extra dialogue and fighting turned out to be completely unnecessary when he immediately confessed.

The Dualitists

I didn't like that one at all.  It was gruesome just to be gruesome and I don't mind if the culprits escape through some sort of cleverness but this was unjust and ridiculous.

The Burial of the Rats

This story was by the same author as the previous one and I feel similarly about it.  With nothing happening at the end, it seemed unnecessary.  While the story was happening I was interested and it had good action but wrapping it up the way he did made it all for nothing.

Mister Ted

Quick and creepy.  I've seen that concept in movies but I'm not sure I've read it in story form before.  Telling it from the toy's point of view instead of the human's added a different element as well.

Cheese

I was so worried throughout the story and even though I'm not sure why the criminal acted the way he did, I'm really glad it was a happy ending.

Corpses Removed, No Questions Asked

I was along for the ride on the first and second removals but the third and fourth were too much. I either wanted something different to happen or for the story to end sooner.

Following the removal people could be a fun idea for a longer book though.

Lord Arthur Savile's Crime: A Study of Duty

It definitely didn't go the direction I expected.  It was a little long but kept my interest.

Fragments of Me

I really liked that one.

Adulting

Book 2 of my 2023 Reading Challenge

read on January 6

Adulting

by Liz Talley

Summary (via Goodreads)

After another all-night bender, one more failed stint at rehab, and a parole violation, self-destructive actress Chase London has to deal with her demons. She’s been written off as a Hollywood casualty by almost everyone, including her own mother. But handsome superstar Spencer Rome has her back. So does an uncompromising stranger determined to start Chase at square one and help her pull her future into focus. If Chase is willing.

Life coach Olivia Han is devoted to “adulting” boot camp therapy. It’s not just her professional specialty, though—it’s also one way to avoid focusing on building a life of her own. To escape the pressures of Tinseltown, the two women head to Olivia’s cabin in the wilds of Northern California. There they discover a place in need of TLC. As they work together to rehab the once-charming cabin, they create a refuge where Chase can come to terms with her unsettled past, and where Olivia has an unexpected reckoning with her own troubling history.

For two women doing damage control, this is a time for second chances—in life, in finding love, in forgiving family, and in an emerging friendship that might be exactly what each of them needs to heal.

My Opinion

4 stars

I chose this book from Amazon First Reads awhile ago but my insomnia brought it to me today.  I'm in a hotel room with my husband so when I woke up at 4 am and wanted to read, I needed something on my e-reader to avoid turning lights on.  I ended up reading half of the book in about an hour and then finished it by the end of the day.

It was a light read but not what I expected at all.  The situations seem actually plausible and I didn't roll my eyes once.  I liked the characters and their dynamic, especially between the women (not a love triangle to be found!), and the happy endings still fit in their arc.

Working Girls

 Book 1 of my 2023 Reading Challenge

read from January 1 - 2

Working Girls: Trixie and Katya's Guide to Professional Womanhood

by Trixie Mattel and Katya Zamolodchikova

Summary (via Goodreads)

In Working Girls, Trixie and Katya dole out both savvy and satirical advice for every stage of working life, from choosing a career path to sailing into a blissful retirement, in step-by-step guides, quizzes, the world's most bizarre aptitude test, and more. Searching for the perfect interview outfit? Agonizing over how to get that raise? Suspicious that your colleague doesn't really hope their email "finds you well"? Trixie and Katya have got you covered. They also share personal stories from their own remarkable careers and their philosophies on everything from mastering office lingo to getting fired with dignity, all alongside hilarious, gorgeous photos.

My Opinion

4 stars

I'm not going to spend much time on a review because this isn't a book for the casual browser.  If you love Trixie and Katya you already know what you're going to get and for those fans I will say it's really good but I enjoyed their first book more.  If you don't know who Trixie and Katya are this book is not for you - they do not explain themselves or their humor at all.

The pictures are stunning.  I especially love the one of Katya in the maid uniform at the beginning of the book.

I laughed out loud at "Noted - I hate you but I have to listen to you or at least make you feel like I listened to you." from the "Office Lingo" chapter because of a story with my dad.  Many years ago my brother was playing tennis in high school and since the court was in a park it was a good opportunity for all of us to watch - our young kids played on the playground nearby and we could watch both them and tennis.  The mom of a tennis player from the other team came over and told us our kids needed to be quieter and just kept going on and on until my dad looked at her, said "Noted" and walked away.  It became shorthand for when we acknowledge you said something but have no need to retain it or converse further, which is apparently what it means in the office as well.