Tea With A Bookworm

Saturday, October 19, 2019

HORROR STORIES by Liz Phair

HORROR STORIES by Liz Phair

(Review to follow)

(ARC)

Autobiography

Memoir

Paperback, 272 pages

ISBN-13: 978-0525511989

Publisher: Random House

Release Date: October 8th, 2019

THE VIEW FROM APARTMENT FOUR: ON LOVING AND LEAVING NEW YORKby Skip Rozin

THE VIEW FROM APARTMENT FOUR: ON LOVING AND LEAVING NEW YORK
by Skip Rozin

✯✯✯ Review by Astrid Galactic

The View From Apartment Four: On Loving and Leaving New York by Skip Rozin is a pleasant enough book, especially if a piece of your heart has a place in NYC; however, it's not as New York centric as its title would lead one to believe. Yes, it centers around the author's time as a tenet in this specific apartment in NYC, but the reader ends up feeling as though they missed a bit of the city during his autobiographical storytelling as he tells more about his life during those years rather than a lifetime's worth of explorations and nuances of the heart and soul of NYC. There certainly is some of that but not as much as one might hope for.

We get to know exactly where the apartment is and the feel of its place within the building and neighborhood. We also get a little bit of an idea of some of the other residents within the building. We also get to know more about Skip, his desires and frustrations of becoming a writer in NYC. Eventually, a wife and kids enter the picture which has its own drama. The apartment has its part to play in the story but less and less of it actually involves NYC as the story is told. Still important but getting lost along the way.

The pieces I liked best were when I got the feeling that I just happened to meet Skip in some NYC café where we struck up a conversation with each other and I learned that he was a writer with things to say. Once we drained our coffee cups, we decided to move on to get a drink in some local watering hole where he continues to regale me with stories of his quest to have his stories published while writing in his uptown apartment. Strolling along, peeking in shop windows and discussing tidbits about some of the buildings and areas we pass by, we reach the subway to go our separate ways and thank each other for a wonderful evening of many in the city that never sleeps. That flavor of NYC is what sometimes made this an enjoyable read. Unfortunately, there weren't enough of these. Maybe it was the title that had me expecting more.

The one section I could have done without was when he elaborated on being a sports writer. Of course, I don't care for sports, so that left me cold, but it left me feeling that it didn't really belong. At least, not as detailed as it was.

As mentioned, it was an enjoyable enough book but not quite the thrill that I was hoping for.

Thanks to NetGalley for an advance copy of this book for a fair and honest review.

(NetGalley ARC/eBook)

Autobiography

Memoir

Paperback, 376 pages

ISBN-13: 978-1733156301

Publisher: 77 Street Press

Release Date: August 27th, 2019

THE OTHER'S GOLD by Elizabeth Ames

THE OTHER'S GOLD by Elizabeth Ames

✯✯✯ Review by Astrid Galactic

Elizabeth Ames is a decent enough writer who understands the constructs of a good story but, in my opinion, loses it when it comes to her characters. In The Other's Gold, these four college roommates, who become lifelong friends, were a bunch of drama queens who had a penchant for pushing boundaries to the extreme. The whole book reeked of borderline personality affective disorder. By the time I finished the book, I realized that I really didn't like most of them and I found it unbelievable that all four of them stuck together over the years through thick and thin.

Often I felt that they would take an issue that was questionable and take it to the most extreme of awfulness which eventually ended up destroying others' lives. I kept thinking that was the point of the book and would be realized later in the reading but it never really got there. It just got more personalized towards the women who all suffered from some sort of psychological dysfunction that always became the nucleus of the entire group. Or maybe I just got lost as I lost interest about 3/4ths of the way through the book. I did hit the wall for a bit and had to stop reading for a few days. Thought it was my tired eyes, but when I went back, I realized that I just wanted to run away and escape these crazy loons and their over the top drama.

The other thing that disturbed me was that no matter how good any of the males were, I felt that they were, at very best, regarded as being a lesser species to any females. Personally, I find that very offensive. There were other issues that I felt were being pushed within this book that annoyed me but I'll let them go for now for fear of going off on a diatribe.

The writing was sensitive and the pacing was good. Ames knows how to write what could be an interesting story. It's evident in her work. For the most part, it's the characters that need to be worked on and their reason for being within the book that need to be refined. Also, if she has an underlying story to tell, she needs to be much clearer. There were concepts there that I sensed were trying to come through but so hidden and confused that I'm not sure if I was forcing the book to make more sense than it did or if Ames just didn't clarify her ideas as clearly as she should have.

If it weren't for the fact that I'm committed to finishing a book once its started, I would not have seen the last word. From the beginning, I had so many hopes for this book because it was evident that Ames has a wonderful writing style, but as the characters broke down and fell apart, so too did the story as a whole. Don't get me wrong, I love reading about dysfunctional people. It just didn't work here, maybe because they were so annoying as well as there just didn't seem to be a ulterior purpose for telling us their stories. The book seemed a little to me like a broken necklace that held a few nice beads. Parts that could be laced together to make a beautiful work of art just broke apart and got lost without a real purpose of existing together other than that they had been roommates.

(ARC)

Fiction

Paperback, 496 pages

ISBN-13: 978-0593152317

Publisher: Random House

Release Date: August 17th, 2019

Tuesday, September 10, 2019

SAVING BUDDY: THE HEARTWARMING STORY OF A VERY SPECIAL RESCUE by Nicola Owst

SAVING BUDDY: THE HEARTWARMING STORY OF A VERY SPECIAL RESCUE by Nicola Owst

✯✯✯✯ Review by Astrid Galactic

If you've looked around lately, you'll have noticed that this world has gone to the dogs. There are dogs everywhere! On the beach, up and down the sidewalks, alongside you at dog-friendly restaurants, memes, dog prints, YouTube, commercials... you name it. You'll also find plenty of books on dogs. Why? Because we love them so much. One of those newer books is Saving Buddy: The heartwarming story of a very special rescue by Nicola Owst.

One rainy English day, Nicola was out on a mission to pick up a horse rescue from a farm where quality of life was not one of the owner's goals. Seeing the disgustingly deplorable conditions of a couple of the animals, they ended up going home with two horses and one caged, feces covered, very abused Staffordshire Bull Terrier on the verge of taking his last breath. This tore Nicola's heart apart. She didn't ask, she just took the poor little boy who turned around and stole her heart.

As with any animal rescue book, it's loaded with parts that will make you cry. You'll get most of your crying over with in the front of the book as Nicola talks about how she found Buddy, or Buddy Boy, and how badly he was abused. But as the book continues, you'll also find yourself weeping tears of joy as the story tells of healing and triumphs along the way. Not just for Buddy but also Nicola as she too was inadvertently rescued by Buddy after her own personal turmoils.

Nicola's early life is a true Cinderella story complete with finding her prince with the prince being Buddy Boy. Actually, she found two as she eventually meets Jon, her husband, who is one of the good ones. Although, there was no glass slipper which was probably a good thing because Buddy probably would have just chewed it up. When Nicola was still just a young girl, her mother passed away leaving her under the care of her father who had become a broken man who quickly married the woman who would play the role of Nicola's literal wicked step-mother. Those tales of neglect and abuse too will wet your eyes.

Fortunately for Nicola, she had a good network of others in her life who would eventually step in and help her along the way. Once she was just old enough to move along, she moved out and started to establish herself as an independent young woman. She still worked at the stable but also found other work to pay the bills. This was also when Buddy found a permanent place in Nicola's life. This is a tale of the true love of two partners saving the lives of each other through thick and thin.

Buddy is still with Nicola and her family but slowing down as we all do with age. You'll read of their interactions at dog shows, various medical scares with both Buddy and Nicola, vacations with friends of both the two and four legged variety, and trips scaling mountains, as well as how Buddy was involved with Nicola making peace with her broken father. There's also plenty of information regarding animal rescue missions and some basic information on how you too can get involved.

As sad as some of this book is, it was still a delight to read with many of its endearing stories and Buddy anecdotes. By the end, I found that I was ready to leave the book, though I found it to be the perfect length. All had been told and it almost started to get a little too much with the many dog shows and details involving rescue organizations. All good but any more would have ventured into the preachy zone.

The world may have gone to the dogs but those best friends of ours are often who save us. No, they can't save the whole world but every saving connection is one dog step closer to saving each other. The story of Buddy Boy and Nicola is just one of those tales.

Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of the eBook in exchange for a fair and honest review.

(ARC eBook)

Non-Fiction

Memoirs

Hardcover, 304 pages

ISBN-13: 978-1912624669

Publisher: Mirror Books

Expected Release Date: September 12th, 2019 (eBook);

December 12th, 2019 (Hardcover)

Friday, September 6, 2019

GRETCHEN: A THRILLER by Shannon Kirk

GRETCHEN: A THRILLER by Shannon Kirk

✯✯✯✯ Review by Astrid Galactic

Living a life on the run often makes for an interesting premise for a novel. Gretchen: A Thriller by Shannon Kirk is such a novel that is packed with back history as to why one is on the run as well as where the run leads a character. This run takes 15 year old Lucy (as she's most often called in this story) around the country by her mother in an attempt to elude Lucy's father whom is claimed to want to take her off to a foreign country where women have no rights, where Lucy would be in great danger.

Lucy has been on this run for her life for most of her life. Her mother never allows her to make friends, stand out, get too familiar with anyone or develop any sort of a normal lifestyle of her own because of her mother's intense paranoia which we don't learn the reasons for until well into the book. Once we do, the two are already deeply involved in yet another very weird circumstance that has other life threatening implications. By this time, Lucy has had it with not being able to settle down and make a friend that she refers to as a Jenny. In their latest rental, Lucy rebels and insists they stay in what originally seems to be an idyllic location in New Hampshire. A place to settle and put down some roots.

One of the appealing reasons that Lucy finds in this place is that the landlord has a daughter, Gretchen, about the same age as Lucy. Both girls are desperate for friendship but it soon becomes evident that Gretchen is the much more needy one. Things get weird between the two rather early on and Lucy realizes that she must set boundaries as she continues to catch Gretchen sneaking up on her during Lucy's private moments. The girl, Gretchen Sabin, is just weird and doesn't seem to have any sort of understanding of how to be a friend, when to give space and how to properly react during various interactions. Gretchen is obsessed with puzzles and is very intelligent, yet there's clearly something else very disturbing about her. She has an extreme obsession about human bones, death and Dante's Inferno. Her puzzles, most of which she made herself, all contain these subjects and are framed throughout the equally strange house on the hill that she lives in with her concert pianist father. He's an oddball himself and very doting towards his daughter.

When Lucy attends a dinner at Gretchen's house, the book takes a turn towards the creepy side. That was when Lucy gets to see how odd the house is as well as seeing this personal museum of Gretchen's bone puzzles. To be honest, this was when I totally expected to find out at some point later in the book that Gretchen and her father Jerry were cannibals and that all the bacon they fed her was made from long pig. Nope. It certainly would have fit though.

As the story develops further, we get to meet all sorts of other characters, some whom are from Lucy's mother's past and eventually play a strong role within the rest of the story. Others are newer people who come into their present lives and play important parts but it's mostly those from the past who have the strongest impact. The most important character from the past is Laura who was a close friend to Lucy's mother for years at a camp the two attended as they were growing up.

Things get somewhat convoluted as the story unfolds and, at first, seems to tell several different stories at a time. Of course, they all merge together once everything is revealed. My biggest problem with the book is that I felt that, after all was said and done, there were still too many loose strings. There was an awfully lot left out about the Sabin family and what made them tick in such a psychotic way. Oh, there's a history there and some of it is revealed but so much of the connection to the characters we got to meet was just so vague. In fact, some of it made no sense as to why they treated certain family members the way they did. A little reasoning would have gone a long way with the storytelling. It just seemed that so much was left out.

Outside of the story itself, I really loved the author's voice. The way she tells the story, especially while telling it through Lucy's eyes. There's a certain realness and down to earthiness that I could relate to. I especially loved how she'd take a few extra words to get particular about some song, color, or item to set a scene that was otherwise unimportant to the story. These little descriptors helped to paint a picture of their environment and told us of pieces of her personality. The way Lucy spoke, or thought in her mind, made her come off as a likable person with a good sense of humor despite all the adversity foisted her way.

Despite some of its holes, I found that I liked the book. It's definitely a real page-turner and kept my interest from beginning to end.

(ARC/eBook)

Fiction

Psychological Thriller

Paperback, 363 pages

ISBN-13: 978-1542041348

Publisher: Thomas & Mercer

Release Date: July 23, 2019

Saturday, August 24, 2019

CILKA'S JOURNEY: A NOVEL by Heather Morris

CILKA'S JOURNEY: A NOVEL by Heather Morris

✯✯✯✯ Review by Astrid Galactic

Way up in the Arctic Circle there is a Siberian gulag that goes by the name of Vorkuta Gulag. This was the home of Cilka Klein for 10 long miserable years of her life. Not by choice but as a prisoner of the Soviet Russians at the end of World War ll. We know Cilka from the novel The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris, which chronicled the love story of Lale Sokolov and his wife Gita. All three were prisoners at Auschwitz-Birkenau during the Nazi's reign of terror. In this sequel, Cilka's Journey, we follow Cilka as she is unfairly punished yet again for crimes that were nothing but trumped up charges that sent her off to a grueling and inhumane work camp, better known as a concentration camp.

As with TToA, Cilka was a real person but the book is loosely based on her life with many liberties taken to create a fictionalized account. A few stories from the lives of others were woven into the story as well as inspirations from the imagination of the author. From what I could tell, Cilka's Journey contains much more fiction than the previous book, in part, because Morris was able to actually meet and compare notes with the real Lale Sokolov whereas the same opportunities were not available for Cilka's story. With that said, Morris did extensive research as to what life was like at Vorkuta for those who spent time there, from the prisoners to the trusties and also some of the employees. Many of the various physical living conditions were laced into the story detailing what everyday life was like as well as how the social groupings created a network of caste systems, often utilizing fear for their own survival tactics.

Cilka, a Slovakian Jew, arrives at Vorkuta straight out of Auschwitz-Birkenau and is housed with 19 other women she must share a cold, flimsy hut with. The others are there for a variety or perceived crimes against the Russian government but Cilka is the only one with previous concentration camp experience. She fears the others will hold this against her, especially regarding what she had to do in order not to be killed, so she tries her best to keep that information to herself. As the ladies do their best to survive from day to day, we get to know a few of the characters whom Cilka develops bonds with. Then there are the "husbands" who often come and visit them. In other words, men who have the run of the place and rape them. This creates its own strange psychological environment amongst the group.

During the day, all of the prisoners must work outside in harsh conditions with little protection. One of the jobs the women are forced to do is to transfer heavy buckets of coal from place to place. Early on, after Josie, a woman Cilka has befriended, has an accident, Cilka manages to obtain a job working in the gulag's hospital. Not only is this job less labor intensive but it provides Cilka with more warmth and food. She takes to this job rather well and it leads to a new passion for Cilka as well as sets the tone for one of the central paths in the story. It also presents different dynamics for Cilka in regards to her relationship with the other ladies in the hut. She knows this and is very cautious for fear of retaliation because she is aware of the jealousy that some of the others might hold against her. Cilka is proactive and makes sure she uses it to their advantage just as much as her own by smuggling food and other items to help make life a little easier for her hut mates.

Ten years slowly go by and Cilka gradually works her way around the grounds learning who she can trust and who she needs to avoid and what she must do just to get by. She also learns much more about nursing and broadens her range within the hospital. Throughout Cilka's Journey, we feel her anguish, her fears, her struggles and even her joys as we get to know what life was like in that faraway land where life is taken one difficult day at a time.

This is a book that I very much liked but have one little issue with. I've always had a problem with books and movies that tend to make the protagonist the constant hero, saint, savior, most loved, and the best at everything. It always comes off like a high school story in Fantasyland. While I knew going into the book that it is Historical Fiction, I wanted to believe everything along the way, yet I couldn't help but not buy into some of what was being presented because of the extreme idealization of the character. This is the one area where I feel that the story manages to make Cilka's story less real and I did not want to think that any of the real parts were not true to life. Because it was based on a real woman's journey into Hell and back, I wanted to know exactly which parts were true and what was enhanced for the sake of a coherent story. In some ways, this was somewhat of a fairy tale; albeit, one that included lots of pain and suffering along the way. Never the less, it was well worth reading.

As a sequel to The Tattooist of Auschwitz, there are several references in the book that provide a much richer story for those who have read the previous book. One can still read Cilka's Journey and appreciate it for what it has to offer but I would very much suggest that one do what I did by getting a copy of the first book before you take your journey with Cilka. Not only will you read about how Nazi concentration camps compare to the Russian gulags but you will have a much better understanding of where Cilka came from and what her mindset was like once she arrives at her second stop along the way of her horrendous journey through her young, tortured life from one Hellhole to another.

(eBook)

Thanks to NetGalley for an advance copy of the eBook for a fair and honest review.

*This is the sequel to the book THE TATTOOIST OF AUSCHWITZ by Heather Morris.

(Click here for review.)

Historical Fiction*

Hardcover, 352 pages

ISBN-13: 978-1250265708

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Expected Release Date: October 1st, 2019

*Loosely based on a real life person

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

THE TATTOOIST OF AUSCHWITZ: A NOVEL by Heather Morris

THE TATTOOIST OF AUSCHWITZ: A NOVEL by Heather Morris

✯✯✯✯✯ Review by Astrid Galactic

We know that countless of millions of people were murdered and slaughtered during World War ll by the Nazis. There were those who died in the battles, bludgeoned on the streets as dissidents, euthanized because they were Jews, unhealthy, criminals, Gypsies, homosexuals, Free-thinkers, Modern artists or thought to be a threat, for any number of reasons, to the Nazi way of life. Or maybe an unsuspecting person just happened to cross the path of a psychotic Nazi soldier having a bad day and he decided to take his anger out on that person, all for the sport of it all.

It's well known that the Holocaust is one of the more horrifying events within the history of mankind. With the magnitude of those who suffered under this regime or lost their lives because of it, it's easy to lose sight of each and every one of these people as individuals. The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris is one of those stories that attempts to allow us to meet a few of those individuals and learn about how they suffered and managed to survive the totally inhumane tortures of their imprisonment at Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camps while, at the same time, finding love.

Though categorized as Historical Fiction, The Tattooist of Auschwitz is based on the life of Ludwig (Lale) Sokolov whom, as a Slovakian Jew, was hauled off to Auschwitz where he met and fell in love with Gita. (I'll not include her last name because of it's importance of such within the story.) The book is as much a love story as it is one of retelling the daily indignities and tortures of the camp's occupants.

Because of Lale's ability to speak several different languages, he held a little bit of a protective status amongst the Nazis making him an asset for their purposes. This was why they immediately gave him the job of Tattooist, or Tätowierer in the German language. You learn early on that you do what they command you to do or it means immediate death. Lale understood this and even used his position to his advantage, often even to the advantage of the prisoners whom he made a point of smuggling food for and other life sustaining items. This is also a story of humanity as much as a story of inhumanity.

As painful as they are, yes, it's true, we must keep the memories of these horrors alive. They are lessons that we all can hopefully learn in order to avoid such tragedies in our future. But we must also remember that this was a massive collection of individuals, all with their own purpose and life stories, many cut short well before their time. Lale and Gita were two of the lucky ones; that is, if you can find luck in their misfortune as is sometimes discussed within the book. You will find yourself experiencing several different emotions, some at the same time, while reading this book. And, of course, it's advisable to keep a box of tissues by your side because you are bound to need a few while sadness overtakes your senses and even shed a tear of joy as you revel in Lale's and Gita's everlasting love. Lale and Gita are only two of many but two well worth getting to know. This is their story.

* Here is a review of Cilka's Journey, the sequel, courtesy of Netgalley.

(Click Here For Review)

Historical Fiction
Biography*

Hardcover, 288 pages

ISBN-13: 978-0062870674

Publisher: Harper

Release Date: September 4th, 2018

*Catalogued as Fiction but based on the true story of Ludwig (Lale) Sokolov.

MOON WATER: A NOVEL by Pam Webber

MOON WATER: A NOVEL by Pam Webber

✯✯✯✯ Review by Astrid Galactic

Moon Water by Pam Webber is a book that I found slow to take to but once the tension got revved up, it hit with the full impact of a heavy storm. There were several different storylines going on all at once that brewed up altogether and were laced within each other. Once it finally got going, it just didn't stop.

The story takes place in central Virginia along the Appalachian mountains in 1969. It's loosely based on the real life historic hurricane that hit the area on August 19, 1969 which devastated the entire area and took many lives. All through the book, we see the main characters come upon several omens warning of this, but ones they don't quite initially understand. Several of the characters are Monacan Indians who have a high respect for nature and it's messages.

Meanwhile, Nettie, the protagonist of the story, is preparing for her Christian baptism. She's quite the spunky one who is full of fire and integrity which often gets her into trouble that isn't rightfully hers to begin with. Her best friend Win is a Monacan Indian whom, at the same time, is being prepared to take over for her grandmother, Nibi, as the local tribe's Medicine Woman. At the same time, Nettie receives much of this same training. We often see various similarities and lessons crossing both cultures as the girls go through their rites of passage during their undertakings.

Part of Nettie's and Win's initiations into the Monacan tradition is to each create their own dreamcatcher. This itself is a venture that very few Boy Scouts could ever begin to tackle. A trip to your local crafts dealer doesn't cut it. The girls must take some very serious trips up to the mountain tops, through caves and along rivers just to find very specific items to be incorporated into their dreamcatchers. This part of the story alone is interesting just for the pursuits through nature and its descriptions.

There are several interesting characters within the story who also add extra levels of intrigue, peril or just part of a plain old good love story. From the beginning of the book, Andy is in love with Nettie but Nettie doesn't know if she can offer him the same level of commitment. Then there are the two boys from California who come and stay with their grandmother and become friends with the two girls. We also meet several other town folk who have their own charm and are part of other interwoven stories. Like many small Mayberry-like towns, once there, you get to know almost everyone and their place within the community, and this story is a bit like that. They all interact and add their own dynamics to the whole story, very much like the different parts of the dreamcatchers.

When the storm hits, we too are stuck right in the center of the storm and feel its impact. There's much sadness afterwards, especially since we've gotten to know some of the people and the town itself that we've grown fond of. But it's not all bad. Webber then treats us with several positive outcomes and another little story works itself out towards the end.

This is an interesting book that will hook you if you are patient enough to allow yourself to keep reading early on. Personally, I found the first couple chapters a bit lightweight, but once the tension started; well before the storm, I might add; everything started to put itself together in ways that sucked you in for the rest of the ride. The entire task and adventure alone of creating the dreamcatchers was cause enough to read on but there were other parts of the story that too will grab your interest. Well worth the time it takes you to read a novel and learn a few things along the way. Ideal for young adults but of interest to all adults, especially women.

Thanks to Netgalley for an advance eBook copy in exchange for a fair and honest review.

(ARC eBook)

Fiction
Historical Fiction
Paperback, 280 pages
ISBN-13: 978-1631526756
Publisher: She Writes Press
Release Date: August 20th, 2019

Netgalley
Goodreads
Amazon

Monday, August 19, 2019

NEVER EAT STINK BAIT: LESSONS LEARNED FROM THE CREEK BANK by Bryan Mellage

NEVER EAT STINK BAIT: LESSONS LEARNED FROM THE CREEK BANK by Bryan Mellage

✯✯✯✯ Review by Astrid Galactic

Why did I bother to read Bryan Mellage's book? Fishing isn't one of my favorite past times. The book is listed under the Sports genre. I hate sports! It's not an appealing title, except, look at that title. Never Eat Stink Bait: Lessons Learned from the Creek Bank. How can you not be drawn to something like that? At least, wonder about it. My love for the bizarre and good humor drew me to this book like a catfish getting a good whiff of a well cured batch of stink bait. I didn't really know what I was getting myself into but it turned out that I loved every word in this crazy little book.

Bryan writes about his love for fishing in his own little corner of Southeast Nebraska along the Missouri River. Okay, wait a minute now. This isn't your typical Field and Stream type reporting that would have you running out the door if fishing isn't your sort of lifestyle. Oh, no! This is real, down home storytelling that keeps you captivated from beginning to end and still wanting more.

When I find myself fully immersed in a book, I tend to start visualizing the whole thing in my head as a movie. In this case, throughout the entire book I could hear Wilford Brimley, or some other old country codger type, narrating this story. You know, that grandfather you loved, or wished you had, who filled you full of a lifetime of fish tales and other stories to last you well into your own personal elder years.

But then, only a few chapters in, the script takes a whole new turn, at least, in my twisted head. It took on a tone of a Mike Judge cartoon, ala King of the Hill but with more cow bell. Oh, yes, it's that crazy. Driving along the roads of Southeast Nebraska can be a bit of an adventure and not always one you were hoping for. Roads, apparently, aren't always a priority for those controlling the budget at City Hall. Not for the faint of heart, especially after a good soaking rain. Throw Bryan's good friend and brother-in-law, Gar-Bob, into the mix and things get even crazier. After their pick-up truck veers off the road down the riverbank, it's up to the boys to find a way to get back up on the road again. Let's say, for me, it was reminiscent of Werner Herzog's filming of Fitzcarraldo. More importantly, the documentary about the filming of the movie, Burden of Dreams; albeit, much less daunting, but daunting none the less.

Mellage then goes on to regale us with tales about Christmas shopping as he compares it to a fishing or hunting expedition. Here's where he learns a thing or two from his wife, whom he refers to as the Redhead, and sister, Gar-Bob's wife. We also read about the acquisition of his first vehicle, the art of the zinger, how to pick a good wife and yes, even how to make your own batch of stink bait. There's more but best you sit by your own river (or virtual river) and read them all for yourself. It's a fairly fast, easy and definitely enjoyable read. Happy fishing!

Thanks to Netgalley for the copy of the eBook in exchange for a fair and honest review.

(eBook)

Biography

Humor

Paperback, 156 pages

ISBN-13: 978-1733230612

Publisher: Flat Fish Publishing LLC

Release Date: July 12th, 2019

Netgalley