Book Review -- "I'm Glad My Mom Died" by Jennette McCurdy

5 stars to "I'm Glad My Mom Died" by Jennette McCurdy.

When my son was younger, he watched iCarly, and my favorite character was Sam, played by the author, Jennette McCurdy. When I saw this book at the book store, the title stopped me dead in my tracks. I have a complicated, ugly relationship with my mother, so I somewhat guiltily added this book to my to-read list.

Jenette's mother is a mess, and she had no trouble passing this messiness to her daughter. Child actors have a reputation for having a rough time of it, and being pushed to act to fulfill a mother's wish is a recipe for eventual disaster. Add to that a horrific relationship with food and the subsequent eating disorders, which I definitely resonated with, and good lord but I felt for this girl.

Jennette McCurdy is funny and wry and even though the subject matter is weighty and often complicated, I appreciated the strength of her relating her journey.

Book Review -- "The Book Eaters" by Sunyi Dean

 

4.5 stars

Strange and creepy and so creative. There are people who live by eating books, and people who live by eating minds, and both methods allow the "eater" to absorb all the knowledge of the book or the person. You would think this would be a cool superpower, but there are of course complications. Book eaters can't write, like at all, not even their names, and if a mind eater eats a book eater (instead of a human, which is where the creepy comes in) they can go mad by the sheer amount of knowledge they've just taken in.

There were touches of Ransom Riggs' hollowgasts (those tongues!) and a lot like The Handmaid's Tale (women are a rare commodity, forced into marriages and pregnancies) and it was all in all a great weird read with some excellent food for thought (um..). 

4.5 stars because I was lost a little too long in the beginning of the book but was worth waiting it out.

What are you reading?

xo Lori 

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New Year's Resolution - Book Edition

This new year I've made the resolution to not buy any more books. I have so many books on my Kindle and book holds at the library and stacks of real paper books in my house that it's getting out of hand. I plan to trade with friends and family, too, which will be a fun way of connecting. I did get a 6-month subscription to the Book of the Month Club for Christmas (thankyouthankyou) so that will help my shopping bug, and there's the library, too, which gets underutilized. 

At any rate, this is a doable resolution,  I think. Have you made any New Year's resolutions?