Sprinkle Glitter On My Grave

Jill Kargman cracks me up. Just uncontrollable laugh out loud! Sometimes laughing at myself, or quietly while staring at those around me. She says all the things people think and rarely say to others. With humor, sharp wit and unbelievable observance skills, Jill shares her views about her life, family, her childhood and the silly things people do every day while trying to play the part they have deemed for themselves in this show we call life. This book is styled in very short chapters that are easy, quick and enjoyable reads. Perfect for traveling or hanging out on a relaxing Sunday. If you are a fan of Odd Mom Out you will absolutely hear Jill’s voice telling you these stories and anecdotes as if she were your friend whispering on the phone while the kids are asleep. For me Sprinkle Glitter On My Grave has that Seinfeld flair, you either get it or you don’t. Jill Kargman is the ultimate girl next door and I am pretty sure if that was the case we would have been great friends. Highly recommend this fabulous entertaining read!

Leave Me

Maribeth Klein: 44 yrs old, magazine editor, mom of 4 yr old twins, with a wonderful husband and fabulous busy New York City life. Indigestion. Not indigestion. Stress. Not stress. Heart attack. Maribeth has a heart attack. So now this smart, feisty, funny woman has to get her life back. But nothing feels the same and her walls are closing in. Why isn’t anyone taking care of her? Why is everyone and everything sucking the breath right out of her? Maribeth wants her life back. She does what maybe some women fantasize about, maybe only some admit to fantasizing about. She runs away. As Maribeth, this complex character created by amazing author Gayle Forman, reflects on her life both past and present she clearly sees the good, the bad and the ugly. The hideous scar down her chest reminds her every day of the imperfect body she now inhabits. Leave Me takes the reader on a journey, like a fly on the wall, watching Maribeth search for her best self, her true self. Possibly one she has not seen in a long time. If you could go back and see a film of your life which parts would you appreciate and what would force you to cringe? This novel was unputdownable. I loved the characters, and Ms. Forman’s poetic soft voice tells a simple, honest, heartbreaking story. I have liked quite a few of Gayle Forman’s novels and I highly recommend this fantastic new read.

Break in Case of Emergency

Jen and her husband Jim are a thirty something couple living in a nondescript part of Brooklyn. Jim is a school teacher and Jen an unrealized artist who just started a new job at a bizarre nonprofit called LIFt. She has been there a month and cannot seem to figure out what exactly her job description is or what her superiors want from her. She is the organized type that craves feedback and they answer all her questions with questions and a very large smile. Throw in the mix that Jen and Jim are secretly working on “the project” of getting pregnant and Jen's best friends from college landed into more successful waters with a seemingly endless supply of funds. As Jen navigates the struggle to have a baby, pay the bills, be a good friend and figure out what she is supposed to be accomplishing at work, her world slowly begins to unravel. I loved the NYC young struggle, think The Devil Meets Prada. I thoroughly enjoyed the satire and ridiculous jargon of the nonprofit she works for that produces nothing, accomplishes nothing and helps no one. The very cool, witty writing of author Jessica Winter kept me hanging on. Funny as a satire of the philanthropy world, the art world and a young marriage trying to find their footing. A lot of truth in the deeper meaning behind Jen’s real and imagined problems. Recommend this enjoyable read.

The Couple Next Door

Anne and Marco Conti leave their baby sleeping while they go to a small birthday dinner party next door at their friend’s home. Cora is fast asleep, the baby monitor by her side. She generally sleeps through the night and they are a mere 20 feet away. They check on her every half hour. Between 12:30 and 1:30 she disappears. Did the flirtatious hostess that distracted Marco outside have something to do with it? Were Anne’s very wealthy parents being targeted through their only grandchild? Did a random stranger break into their home? From the very beginning what seemed like a random motiveless crime becomes a complicated twist of deceptive characters and a myriad of secrets and lies. It sounds like a great who done it. Unfortunately, the characters were outlandish, unlikeable and exaggerated figures. They spoke in robotic choppy conversation and I could not wait to be finished. Sorry, reader friends, I love a good psycho figure out thriller – think Gone Girl, Girl on the Train, The Widow - but this one does not make the list.