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The Mom of the Year

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Book Club Says Yes, Please!

By 38 Comments

Didn't you know? Reading books is COOL! Snatch up a cozy read and hop in with our online book club. We're thrilled you're here!For those of you that have been reading with Carrie from Normal Level of Crazy and me through this online book club: WE LOVE YOU. Trying to make a go of anything new in this blogging world is can be tricky, but we’re going to keep up with this because, quite simply, we love reading. Also, most sincerely, we love you, readers.

After our last post, one woman told me how grateful she was to have someone else to read with, even if she never actually met them. She too is a book fan, but her young kids prevent her from the magic trick of leaving her house. Yet she still wanted to know someone else was reading the same book she was–and thinking about it and caring what she thought.

Being the sap that I am about connecting with others, I teared up when she shared this with me. And then I felt reaffirmed that this book club was a smart idea. I love my books. I can’t always go out like a normal person to talk about them face-to-face, but being able to read with all of you is a blessing.

So thanks for humoring us, friends–we are genuinely thrilled that you are here!

And make sure to leave a comment below to win a copy of our pick for this month!

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All that gushiness aside, our pick for last month was Yes, Please by Amy Poehler. This is hard review for me to write because I LOVE AMY POEHLER. But I was not a fan of this book.

As we noshed on chips and margaritas, I worked hard to put my thoughts into words so I could explain them to Carrie, but it’s tricky. My concept of Poehler is that she is sweet, genuine, very smart and wonderfully sarcastically funny.  I simply could not get this image to savvy up with the voice in her book, which to me came across as cocky and even foolish at times. All quotes and input from other people featured in the book served to confirm my original notion of her, but her voice itself confused me. Did anyone else feel this way??

My admiration of her was also disillusioned by some of the book’s content. It was disjointed and confusing. For example, on one page Poehler both noted the damage drugs can wreck on a family, only to then seemingly praise drugs for their redeeming qualities. The flow felt bizarre  and off to me.

Perhaps my feelings about the book mostly stem from my difficultly relating to Poehler. For while we have children the same age, our day-to-days are wildly different. Usually inability to relate to the people I read about does not color my opinions of books, but I think in this case, it did.

There were some very cool things about the book, though. Carrie noted her appreciation for Poehler’s recognition of the difficulty of book-writing, and I whole-heartedly agree. Poehler’s honesty about this was not only refreshing, but inspiring for those of us aspiring to write while feeling overwhelmed by the reality of actually producing a book.

I also delighted in the photos and excerpts that were included throughout the book. These served not only to break up text and provide levity but reinforced my original affection for Amy Poehler.

While I didn’t love this book, I remain a tremendous fan of Poehler’s work in general. I don’t think all authors are meant to write books, and this is fine. We need people to write amazing content for television so we can roll on the floor in laughter after we stash those kiddos in bed 😉

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After hearing WONDERFUL things about Jodi Picoult’s Leaving Time, we decided to cozy in for the holiday month with one of our all-time favorite authors. Please join us and read along this month–we will look forward to chatting about it with you the first Friday of January!

And if you’d like to win a copy of Leaving Time, just tell us in your comment below. One winner, age 18 or above, living in the continental U.S. will be randomly selected from the comments left below before 12/12/14 at 5am EST.

Here is the summary for Leaving Time from Amazon, along with the link to buy the book:

Jodi Picoult’s Leaving Time weaves elephant behavior into a search for a missing mother. The connection isn’t as odd as it might sound at first, and Picoult has written another page-turning novel, even as it focuses on motherhood, loss, and grief. Teenager Jenna Metcalf was just three years old when her mother disappeared from an elephant sanctuary. Ten years later, she takes up the search for her mother, Alice, by studying Alice’s decade-old journals on grieving elephants. The research itself is fascinating, the hints about Alice’s disappearance are compelling; but Jenna cannot find her mother on her own. By enlisting the help of a formerly famous—now infamous—psychic, as well as a down-and-out private detective whose career went south during the botched investigation of Alice’s disappearance, Jenna forms a sort of new family to help her in her quest. As the facts begin to come together—described in alternating chapters by Jenna, the psychic, the private detective, and Alice’s journals—it all heads toward a thrilling conclusion. And, yes, there is a big twist at the end. – Chris Schluep

Looking forward to reading with YOU, friends! Happy cozy holiday reading!

WE LOVE our books! Hop in with us every first Friday to talk about what we're reading and share your thoughts--we want to hear from YOU!

 

First image credit: depositphotos.com, image ID:30508017, copyright:massonforstock

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Meredith

Meredith blogs at The Mom of the Year, where she dedicatedly earns her title one epic parenting fail at a time, offering quick, relatable laughs for fellow parents and all their empathizers. She has been part of several best-selling anthologies, featured on prominent sites such as Huffington Post, In the Powder Room and BlogHer, and loves her role as the Executive VP/Operations Manager of The BlogU Conference. When she's not breaking up fights over Legos and juice boxes, she remains fully committed to sharing a less serious look at the world of parenting.
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Comments

  2. Courtney says

    I was expecting to laugh with Yes Please, especially since it won Goodread’s comedy category. I found it well written, and I could Amy Poehler talking to me through her words, but it was not funny. I was hoping for something light, and it was heavier than expected. Overall, I’d encourage others to read it if they like her, but I probably won’t read it again, which is hard for me to say.

    Reply

  4. TheNotsoSuperMom says

    Holy cow! How is the time rolling by so quickly!?!? I LOVE LOVE LOVE this idea but I can’t seem to get with the program! And the book before this one was my IRL book club’s pick. I haven’t been able to make it to those meetings recently, but I thought at least I wouldn’t feel left out and could converse about it if I ran into anyone and I could STILL be pay off this discussion! Alas, this Fall/Winter season is kicking my butt! How to get it together soon! I love Jodi Picoult too. It seems we read one of her books at least once a year in our club. Looking forward to getting on board with this!

    Reply

    • Meredith says

      Do not beat yourself up! This whole life gig is crazy–especially this time of year! Hop in with us if you can–we’d love to have you, but we get it!

      Reply

  5. thedoseofreality says

    Off to order it right now! I loved knowing as I was reading Yes Please that this post would be coming and I could see what others thought of it, too! So, I honestly did love it, but I can definitely, definitely see how some people would not. I personally feel like if you have read Bossypants, then you might be expecting something similar, which obviously this was not like that at all. I think what I liked most about Amy’s book is that I feel like she is a seriously good girlfriend who champions women, and I am all about that. I came away from it wanting to still be her friend, but I may not be cool enough for her. Tina, on the other hand, I still feel like we could be BFFs. Off to share this post!-Ashley

    Reply

    • Meredith says

      Yes! I was totally expecting this to be like Tina’s book (we are also BFFs, I’m sure), but it was NOT. Saw an ad for Amy and Tina’s Golden Globes appearance last night, and couldn’t help thinking I was crushing more on Tina now!

      Reply

  14. Donna Shaw says

    I’ve read other books by Jodi and look forward to reading this book. I’ve seen stories on TV on elephant behavior and am very touched by their sensitivity. This book sounds as though the story would really appeal to me and my book club. I love the opportunity of possibly winning this book.

    Reply

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