Hi!  I have some book reviews for you.  I'm not going to talk about anything but a few books.  I'm not even going to tell you what I'm not specifically going to talk about.  I need a little break, how about you?  Here are my recent finished books:

Dad Is Fat by Jim Gaffigan
I love Jim Gaffigan, and the more of him I read and see, the more I like him.  He's just laugh out loud funny - not trying to push the envelope, not trying to get some sort of shock-value laugh - just hilarious.  He tells the kinds of jokes you can repeat to your kids or your grandma but are still legit funny.  This is the first of his books that I have read, and focuses on his role as a dad and his relationships with his kids.  Plus, at the time of his writing of this book, he was living with his wife and five kids in a two-bedroom New York City apartment, which is just mind-boggling to me.  Fun read.  Really good for right now.

Followers by Megan Angelo
This book toggles back and forth between a modern-day plotline and one thirty years in the future.  The actual plot was fairly decent I suppose, but more enjoyable was the take on our society's current fascination with online notoriety and what that might look like in the future.  We might have people who live their entire lives online (practically the case already, I feel) and we might have those who have had enough and are ready to disconnect.  This book explores what that might look like and throws a story on top of it.  Too bad that the story doesn't have more likable characters and a little more oomph, then it would be an amazing book.  As is, I found it to be interesting but overall just okay.

The Actor's Life: A Survival Guide by Jenna Fischer
A former aspiring actor myself, and a big fan of The Office (before it got kinda crappy), I opted to make this my phone-book when it was for sale on Kindle last week.   I was pleasantly surprised with how great it was!  Lots of great information about the industry, as well as some fun insider scoop from The Office (although I also just started the Office Ladies podcast, which is nothing BUT insider scoop so that's fun!).  Jenna is just awesome!  She really worked her butt off to get where she is, and how she describes that overall process for working actors helped me feel a lot better about switching up my life plan when I was in my early 20's.  I'm glad she didn't, though!  Awesome book, highly recommend.

Accidents of Marriage by Randy Susan Meyers
Husband has anger issues.  His crappy driving puts wife in coma.  Does wife forgive him when she comes out of a coma?  Does he sleep with his intern while she's laid up in the hospital?
Also, they have kids, and the 14 year old daughter sometimes acts like she's 8 and sometimes acts like she's 20.  Although, as I type that, does sound about right.  But while I was reading the book just came off as inconsistencies.  
The author does a good job with the complexities of this particular husband and wife, but I will have forgotten everything about this book by next week.  I've read ten others like it.  And, too, do people really experience comas that much?  Seems like a common theme.  

Honestly what I've been reading about most here lately is news about the virus.  I'm not panicking by any means, but I've also been loading up on diapers and formulas and such just in case all of the sudden we can't leave our house.  You know, the bookworm's dream - so long as everyone is okay.  Trust me, if we get quarantined - I've got PLENTY to read!  Plus Jaxon's butt will stay dry, so win-win.

​At any rate, here's what I've been reading!

Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
Moderately oddball plot aside, this is a great book about race relations with surprisingly layered characters.  This was a fun and thought-provoking page turner that I would recommend for when you want something lighter but meaningful.  

Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly
I broke two rules with this book.  I read a book with "Girl" in the title AND I abandoned a book.  I got to 32% and then put it down.  I made it through a lot of depressing and awful stuff and then another group of folks was headed to a concentration camp and, well, I just didn’t want to venture down that road any further.  While I do read to learn and explore, I also read to relax at the end of a long day and right now, I don’t want to do my relaxing at a concentration camp.  But trust me, I’ve logged some serious World War 2 hours through the years, as it’s an enormously popular setting for historical fiction.  

Westering Women by Sandra Dallas
This was our Book Club book, so I won’t delve too deeply.  I will say that it’s a lovely read, aside from all of the death and disaster you might expect from a group of people traveling on foot from Chicago to California.  It illustrated that women can do most anything men can do, but in case the reader was unable to connect those dots for themselves, various characters made proclamations of this theme every few pages.   Still, an enjoyable story!

The New Me by Halle Butler
​Super well written book about a woman who is spiraling in and out of at least depression – not sure what else.  To be honest, it rubbed off on me a little bit (also, I need some sun and maybe the stock market to not crash and maybe not a pandemic creating havoc) and so I’m now reading a Jim Gaffigan book just to cure the book hangover.  However!  This was just funny and weird and pointless.  It’s not disturbing or sad.  Just really odd.  But it was a quick read, so for some of you it might be worth it just to be like, what the heck was THAT?  Just be sure to have something uplifting on hand.   P.S. Plus she hops on the Amtrak and stops off in Bloomington-Normal for a bit, which made me smile.

What are you reading?  I've got my Gaffigan book going on my Kindle and am working through my library hold, Followers by Megan Angelo.  I'm also reading a lot about hand-washing and pandemics throughout history.  Don't panic but.... maybe go get some extra toilet paper before it's all sold out.