read for Popsugar 2019 Reading Challenge: A book by an author whose first and last names start with the same letter

I love the podcast My Favorite Murder so much, that there was no world in which I wouldn't enjoy this book. This book isn't about true crime, but just about Karen and Georgia telling us about their lives. They cover the good, the bad, and the ugly by being completely open with their audience about their drug addictions, anxiety, depression, eating disorders, and all the other fucked up stuff that they've managed to survive and thrive in spite of. Karen and Georgia's delightful conversational, nothing's held back, vibe shines clear and through in this book. Fans of the podcast will love this, but if you're not so much into true crime, it's a great book about two women coming into their adulthood and incredible success, and how much they stumbled and fell along the way.

Because of my love of the podcast, I had to get this on audiobook. Six and a half uninterrupted hours of Karen and Georgia talking with me? Sign me up! And their narration was great (as well as some surprise moments from Paul Giamatti, which I don't know why or how, but I'm into it). It's also the source of my biggest annoyance with this book: the live recordings.

Look (listen), live recordings of podcasts are not good (unless it's a show that is always recorded live ala Wait Wait Don't Tell Me). I mean they aren't bad! It's exciting that my favorite podcasters are able to go on tour and perform. I went to a live show of MFM and had so much fun! And I understand why podcasters share those episodes. It's gracious to let the rest of us be included in something we couldn't attend, and I completely understand having a live episode up to give themselves a break. Understandable! But that doesn't change the fact that these episodes aren't good. Podcasts are a deeply intimate experience. You have voices chatting to you while you comute, cook, run errands, etc. You develop a personal attachment that hearing a live audience giving feedback ruins! And live shows do have visual elements that the listener will never get to be a part of. Live episodes can make you feel somewhat excluded.

This book had about three or four sections that were recorded before a live audience. I cannot understand this decision by the producers of the audiobook. Sure MFM has great success with their tours and it's a shout out to the dedicated audience. But I don't want to have to laugh or cry or 'awwwww' at the same time as an audience. I want uninterrupted time with the narrators. I wnt to feel like they're talking only to me, even though we all know millions of others are listening. And while Karen and Georgia are great in front of a crowd, these live readings did not add anything to the audiobook performance. Yes, Karen cracked with emotion at one point, and I felt for her, but her reading could have been the same in a booth.

Okay I had a lot of built up feelings about live recordings...

Look (listen), in spite of my one beef with this book, I absolutely enjoyed my time listening. I know it's a book I'll go back to and relisten to certain sections (Georgia's Top 10 Therapy Revelations is a great chapter in particular). I still highly, highly recommend this book, especially the audiobook because these ladies have such a fun personality that jumps off the page and they're wonderful to listen to.

Also, this book is the true official confirmation that I am a Georgia (without the adolescent meth addiction).