It's the first time I've read Patricia Highsmith, and it did not disappoint. There was so much wonderful, luscious, human description about infatuation and love. There was a point where I thought this was going to veer into a different kind of territory knowing what I do about Highsmith as a writer of thrillers, but now I've read she originally published this under a different name and it's less a thriller and much more a romance. It's wonderful and succinct and I believe I'll re-read this again in the future.

I haven't seen the film yet, but I do hope they kept the ending.

This was such a great audiobook; Amy Poehler is certainly talented and funny and warm, all evident as she reads about her life. There were so many things I latched on to and smiled and laughed out loud to. Definitely the best memoir by a comedian I've read.

I'm definitely going to listen to all future humor memoirs on audiobook. This was a delight with the guest stars and her own narration.

If you happen to pick up this book: brace yourself. It's a raw tale about self-destruction to dull a more violent and deeper pain. It's sometimes sordid but there are moments of heart.

Marie is not a relatable (or as many people are saying "likable") character in terms of her actions, but damn if I didn't feel for her time and again. I get her. I understand. Yet Tierce does not sentimentalize anything, and many readers may be turned off by this. It's brutal and bleak, but life isn't always rosy and it never ties up in a nice bow by the end. Marie figured that out pretty early on in her life.

It took me a bit to get into the rhythm of the structure of the novel, but I got there. The writing is precise and cutting, but it does veer into detail occasionally and feels a little uneven when doing so. Overall, I found this novel fascinating.

A satisfying, light read. The audiobook narration was great. Not a lot to dig into, but the characters are all pretty well-rounded though I questioned some things. There was a great line about how best friends ruin you for relationships, which made me laugh.

My first Emma Straub, someone I've been meaning to read for years. I'll be reading more, for sure.

A quick read about a marriage. I was certainly captivated by the snippet prose and how Offill switches from the first person when things are pretty good to third person as the protagonist tries to deal with problems within her marriage. There was much to relate to, both happy and sad. (Whisper fighting, totally a thing when you have a baby.) A bit depressing, but a marvel as well.

This was a tough, bleak read. And I usually love bleak books. But this is another level of horror. I'm not sure I've read anything more vicious to its main character. It's a hard book to get into; the tone and rhythm of the writing is great but difficult to discern at first how much you should be paying attention. For how short it is, there's a lot to unpack. I respect this book, and I think it's good, but I'm so glad it's over.

I'd been wanting to read this for some time, but never got around to it. I'm not sure that there was a right "time" for me to read this, but I think it may have given me (more) anxiety if I read it while I was pregnant. Yet, perhaps its truths would have prepared me more. It's an honest book about becoming a mother; I have not read a lot like this. It's hilarious, because you have to laugh when your mind and body are in that special time of post-partum crisis. It's a difficult book to recommend because there are just so many opinions and sensitivities surrounding birth and child rearing, but that's part of what the novel attempts to demystify. The main character is not one that everyone will like, but after months of reading pregnancy/motherhood non-fiction/advice books and blogs, this is all I wanted. Someone to tell it straight without all the pretense. She *gets it*.

She also gets female friendships. I was reminded of so many of my own. The women who kind of disappear when you get married or have children not because you don't make time for them but because they think you are too happy for them (as if getting married or having kids means happiness, oyyyy). The necessity of having women around who know what you're going through in birth and after birth. Who understand and can help when everything is very isolated.

I don't know where I'm going with this review. I loved this book, I don't think everyone will, but it's glorious in it's brutal, forthright language. I highlighted practically the entire thing.

For a story about falling in love, that obsessive type of love, it's entirely relatable. The narrator is a writer and I often wondered if this novel was based on something that actually happened (lot of meta references to the book itself and editors and opinions about what she is writing), but then I would think--it's not important, and yes, this actually happens all the time, really. To everyone. And while so much resonated with me (to include the technology and social media namechecks, including Goodreads...but for once were not corny but totally necessary to this sort of contemporary story), there were some new things I came to understand from this lesbian love story. And it reminded me of how damn hard heartbreak can be.

I've loved the tumblr that spawned this book for some time; I usually would add books to my to-read list based on a particularly funny or moving post. This book is a great collection of literary quotes juxtaposed with pop culture screencaps and photos. I also enjoyed the appendix at the end which gave a little insight or "behind the scenes" feel to how the author finds the parallels between each component of her entries.

This started out seeming like a very academic book full of quoted thinkers and diving into philosophy. It was good; it just was reading very slowly. And then Nelson's paragraphs of prose began coming together for me... probably because it became less academic-sounding and more personal. There is a great interweaving of journeys within, and I became entranced.

I love that she meanders (in a good way) from subject to subject, the ties all there, but not fully confident that she knows the 'right' answer or the 'right' way to think about something. She's exploring and changing as she writes, as is everyone in life. Her journey in this book was pretty awe-inspiring to me. It's a very short book but it took me three weeks to read, mostly because sometimes just a half-page of the book sent me into deep reflections of myself, of my point of view, of my...I don't know, existence? I dogeared and underlined so much of this; particularly in the second half. The ending certainly culminated into some emotional reading. Having a baby ten months ago certainly informed much of my emotional response; Nelson aims to share her personal, to make her personal public, and I'm so happy that she did. I can't wait to re-read this as I grow, and perhaps, as this country/society grows and evolves...