Practical Magic is one of my favorite movies of all time. I love the music, the love story, and above all, the aunts. If Dianne Weist and Stockard Channing were to show up at my door, right this moment, wearing looney hats and torn stockings, I would follow them to the ends of the earth, no questions asked. I happened across the novel that Practical Magic was based on, and knew I had to read it. Usually I don’t like to read a book after […]
The Harm in Asking by Sara Barron
Sara Barron is really not afraid of embarrassing the hell out of herself for the sake of a good story. Unlike the Olivia Munn memoir I just finished, in which Munn constantly has this tone of “Oh, I’m such a dork, such a loser, ha ha ha” which makes her seem desperate to be laughed with, not at, Barron simply lets you laugh without coaching it to make herself seem better. After all, there’s an entire chapter in this book devoted to her horrific flatulence, […]
If I Stay by Gayle Forman
I liked this more than I expected to, which isn’t saying much since I had some pretty low expectations going in (my sister’s recommendation was basically, “it’s not bad but the ending is stupid”–she was right). “All I can think about is how fucked up it would be for your life to end here, now. I mean I know that your life if fucked up no matter what now, forever. And I’m not dumb enough to think that I can undo that, that anyone can. […]
The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova
I alternated between really liking this book and being very annoyed by it. I think if it had been one or two hundred pages shorter, I would have liked it a bit more. But with the hardcover clocking in at almost 600 pages, it didn’t have enough story to justify the length, which led to lots of filler to drag through. “He can’t really love anyone, you know, and in the end such people are always alone, no matter how much other people once loved them.” […]
How Did You Get This Number by Sloane Crosley
This collection of essays by Sloane Crosley begins with a spur-of-the-moment trip she takes to Portugal, and how incredibly lonely she was there (until she meets some clowns, of course). From there, we move on to her life in New York City and bad relationships and other trials in her life (a bear-infested wedding, for one). It’s well written, but just a couple of days later I really can’t recall much of it. It made a very slight impression on me. I did like this line, however: “Time grabs you […]
People Are Unappealing: Even Me by Sara Barron
I thought I had read Sara Barron before, but I guess I’m mixing her up with someone. Possibly Sloane Crosley. Or Sara Benincasa. I’ve read a lot of humorous memoirs written by funny women this year, courtesy of my sister’s bookshelf and Barnes & Noble addiction, and I think this was one of the better ones written by someone I’ve never heard of before. Sara Barron’s memoir runs a pretty familiar comedy route: weird parents, awkward upbringing, a move to New York full of bad decisions […]
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 127
- 128
- 129
- 130
- 131
- …
- 149
- Next Page »