The Self Illusion

So, the book basically takes a stab at explaining how the brain develops the sense of self and identity. How do we come by the “I” that is so pivotal to our existence? Hood breaks down how the brain develops, how we socialize, how society has developed and how humans differ from other animals, to name a few concepts. It’s pretty interesting. He references other studies and, when applicable, gives examples from his own life. The mention of his family makes the author seem personal and, I think, makes this book a little easier read than it otherwise would be. It’s shorter than it looks, when you exclude the credits and references at the end, but still took a little brain power for me to get through.

Bruce argues that there is no “I.” Rather, the sense of self is a product of all the processes that occur in our brains as well as influences by our surroundings and people in it. In fact, some of the studies that have shown just how much we can be influenced by other factors, rather than the internalize sense of self, is pretty astounding. It also clearly exemplifies why the sense of an unchanging self is, to put it bluntly, bologna.

Hood talks about some of the very famous studies from the 60s and 70s, like the one by Solomon Asch, so not everything in this book was new, even though the basic concept was foreign to me. I found myself nodding along as I read, understanding his points but simply shocked at how much I believed in my own self only to realize that my brain has been painting a picture to fill in the holes left by its processes and other influences, much like our eyes do with optical illusions.

Some people might not like the implication that our lack of control equals a lack of free will but I think the author did a nice job of explaining that no matter what science says, sometimes the way society works and humans think or act, doesn’t quite follow the plan. On the other hand, it’s nice to be able to distance ourselves from our selves sometimes, too.

Of particular interest to me, was the chapter on how the Internet is changing our senses of identity, not just the way we communicate or live. It’s obvious — and it’s obvious to see that Bruce is excited about this — that the technology we are readily accepting is having a much more profound affect on us than most people will ever realize.

This isn’t the type of book that I’d recommend to everyone. However, it is the type of book that I’d recommend to anyone who wanted to learn more about identities and how the brain works. The Self Illusion: How the Social Brain Creates Identity a good refresher of neuropsychology at the very least. Anyone who works or studies in this field will have a more educated opinion, I’m sure. I found it fascinating nonetheless.

40 Days to Better Living -- Anxiety

I recently discovered a website that allows bloggers, reviewers and other folks to read copies of books. I was approved for a lot of books. This expands my to-read exponentially, which is both good and bad considering that I am in the middle of a book that I can’t get into. I figured something that could potentially help with anxiety would be good so I requested 40 Days to Better Living: Anxiety.

This book is split up into six sections, each beginning with a story of a person who has struggled with anxiety. The rest of each section is then a workbook, dedicated to the daily activitis that the author believes will help deal with anxiety. The sections walk you through morning, daytime and evening rituals to help you cope with anxiety. Those activities are all split into categories such as medical, work, emotional and nutritional. It’s nice to see such a broad approach to anxiety and suggestions for exercise or changing your diet to help anxiety. Because it is a workbook that you’re literally supposed to write in, I felt it a bit disappointing as a digital copy.

Each day, you’re intended to perform small activities, like listing loved ones who will help you with anxiety troubles,  switching up routine or taking a walk. The suggestions are easy enough to complete, for the most part, and I like the “baby steps” approach. The categories become a little more challenging. For example, the movement category suggests adding 2000 step to your daily routine at week 6 and, I assume, you’re supposed to keep this up. Taking life one-day-at-a-time is usually beneficial if you have anxiety and t However, this book will not be helpful for all for a couple reasons.

Journaling receives heavy focus, whether pen and paper or on the computer. I like to write and  I have a lot to say and I understand why this is a suggestion. However, not everyone will feel the same about it and they may find the focus to be overwhelming.

Secondly, faith/God are heavy influences here. The workbook is full of quotes from the Bible and suggestions and there is a lot of passages about how the struggle of anxiety relates to God or worship and how God can help you through it. It’s not that you can’t ignore this if you’re not religious but it’s unlikely that an atheist would pick up this book in the first place because of it. Thus, any benefit it may have is limited to the group of people who believe God can help them overcome anxiety — at least, in part. Now, I won’t say this isn’t the case because religion can be just one part of your life that is a boon when you’re trying to slay the beast that is anxiety. Still, the general advice in this book can apply to most people and it’s a shame the religion is so heavy.

Ultimately, I think there’s good things to be read here. Someone who likes structure, writing and religion may find it helps ease their anxiety. Others could pick and choose from the activities to find those that ease the mind but, then again, having to do so isn’t exactly something that would help with anxiety, anyway. Because so much of the book is intended for activities, it doesn’t have that much in terms of content. In fact, this is a hands-on workbook and not one that you should expect to actually read. If you’re still interested after this closing paragraph, then it’s the book for you. I’m still looking for something that better pertains to me and my anxiety.

Ninety Days: A Memoir of Recovery

This story is always read and sometimes grim. There’s a darkness to Bill’s struggle that can be discomforting to some. At some points, I knew he was going to relapse but I hoped against hope that he wouldn’t. Even as he described the urges of addiction, which I’ve never felt, there was something so human about him. There were thoughts and feelings that I could identify with, wholly.

Ultimately, we see Bill grow and mature as a person, but perhaps not as much as you’d see in fiction. His life had hit rock-bottom and, as is always manages to, worked its way back up to Bill’s surprise. The book ends with a bit of a moral, as Clegg explains how he learned his sobriety depends on being surrounded by other addicts who have been through the same fight, who will always be going through that fight. Although he addresses the readers who are possibly experiencing the same struggle, I think is comes off as a bit preachy and mis-guided. I would not recommend this to any recovering addict, as it would almost certainly drive them back to their drug of choice. This is the kind of book that triggers. The end would have been fine if the author had simply wrapped up with memoir with the fact that he learned he needed other recovering addicts, and let it at that.

Clegg’s style of writing is quick and approachable, so that the book never feels tedious. This is impressive, considering the subject. It was definitely a book that I enjoyed reading, and one that is easy enough to read while you’re waiting. It doesn’t require too much concentration. In fact, if you want an engaging and epic story, this might not be the one for you.

While Ninety Days: A Memoir of Recovery wasn’t a perfect book, it was definitely a nice change of pace from what I normally read.

Ghostbusters Volume 1

Although the cover of Ghostbusters volume 1 features the likeness of Ray and the crew, the style of art is much “cuter” and less realistic. This is, perhaps, a comic book that is better left to the kids because of it. That isn’t to say that adult readers and long-time fans of the Ghostbusters stories won’t enjoy it as Peter and Ray and the rest chase after a new ghost. However, I just like my comic books more mature or darker.

The guys discover the newest haunting from what appears to b a delivery boy. His uncle has run into some supernatural trouble and the Ghostbusters are on their way to investigate, only to show up as the building see that it bleeds slime. It doesn’t take a genius to guess which hungry, famous ghost is responsible for the carnage: Slimer. As usual, clean-up involves a big mess and the city is worried about the spending on insurance and other issues because of Ghostbusters. Although the guys beat the ghost, the issue ends with the formation of the Paranormal Contracts Oversight Commission, a group that I am sure will be a pain in the behind’s of the Ghostbusters and, apparently, other paranormal groups that are ridding New York City of Ghosts.

It’s a short read and it’s very well in the vein of the movies. As I read along, it was difficult not to hear Dan Aykroyd or Bill Murray voicing their characters in my head. I bet you’ll have the same experience, if you love the movies as much as I do. The plot is leading the way for other, new stories and I think the series has potential. In fact, I don’t think the pilot issue needed to use Slimer. I think the original gang is good enough and it could have ventured into more varied territory. However, I understand why the authors – Erik Burkham, Dan Schoening, and Luis Delgado — and publishing company would want to stay close to the source material to attract old fans.

I especially enjoyed the fan-art at the end of the boo. It was awesome to see how others portray Ghostbusters and their fandom. The extras sometimes make the product. I hope to see what else happens to and because of the Ghostbusters and I think a lot of readers could enjoy it but I don’t think this comic book is ideal for me.

The Worldwide Dessert Contest

The Worldwide Dessert Contestis a fantastic book for elementary school kids and young middle schoolers. As an adult, I found this book to be a light read that was entertaining and distracting. I did tend to pick it apart as adults tend to do with books meant for a younger audience, but it was still enjoyable.

The plot follows Johnny Applefeller, a nice young man who loves to make apple desserts and enter them into the yearly contest in Appleton. To his stupefaction, his desserts start out nice but always turn into something else, like a pancake turning into a giant trampoline. No one understands why, and he never wins the competition. Johnny, his faithful sidekick and a groundskeeper for the contest who knows that Johnny has heart head off to find help from someone who can surely help them win the contest this next year around. Meanwhile, a particularly surly judge who always gets the rotten end of Johnny’s concoctions is always trying to ban him from the contest, and other contests prove to have a lot less heart.

This book is full of a lot of fun rhymes and wordplay, which I do enjoy. I thought that perhaps it was a bit confusing as to where the plot was going. The beginning almost seemed like a short story that was stand-alone. Once I understood where the plot was going, I did enjoy it more. However, I thought there were some loopholes that were never quite explained. For instance, why did Applefeller’s desserts change into other things? There is a bit toward the end that might have explained that well enough to others, though.

I received a new multimedia edition, which is pretty neat. Many of the existing songs and rhymes have been put to music that has been recorded, and some new songs have been developed, too. Throughout the book, there are clickable images which lead to Web pages that show the lyrics and the songs are playable via embedded YouTube players. I like the idea but, I also think that it could have been executed a little better.

There’s some fun illustrations as well, which break up this short chapter book. I would love to give The Worldwide Dessert Contest as a gift to my sister in a few years. I can guarantee she would enjoy it. Any child or younger sibling would, really.

The multimedia edition will only exist as long as those pages remain on the server, so there is the possibility that it will break in the future. It also looks a little sloppy, and the YouTube videos just show a cover image of the book. I’m pretty sure that you can embed without showing video, and this would be a better solution for just playing the music. However, the best solution would be to come up with some sort of book that includes embedded media players. This may not yer be possible with how Kindle and other programs handle digital books, but it should be. Finally, the book cover doesn’t even make mention of it being a digital edition, so readers might not realize that those images are clickable and take the reader to a Web page. If the publisher wanted to continue with this method, those images should be unique for each song and more clearly illustrate what they are and do.

While the idea of a multimedia edition is clever, the execution falls a little short. This is still enjoyable as a plain ol’ (digital) book, however.

Essentially, this is a thesaurus of idioms and expressions. As a writer, I frequently search for ways to vary my words and phrases and this type of tool is useful. Reza Mashayekhi wrote this book with non-English speakers in mind. If you’ve ever watched NCIS, you’ve seen Ziva’s character struggle with expressions that Americans use and that happens in real life, too. In fact, we use so many expressions that aren’t literal that we’re not even aware of it. This book was eye opening in that way; I started looking at expressions that I regularly use and realized that so many of them weren’t literal and, because of that, could be confusing to my readers. On the other hand, if you’re learning English or transitioning to an environment with native English speakers, this can help you to better understand what they’re saying and blend in.

This book is self published but it doesn’t feel cheap. The front cover uses an illiustration that appears like someone has torn it back to reveal some expressions in different fonts. The back includes an anecdote from the author about English idioms, what the book includes, information about the author and recommendations from others. You wouldn’t necessarily be able to tell that that it’s self-published and it wouldn’t be out of place in a reference section.

The format is basic but works very well for the content. Mashayekhi has arranged over 2,000 expressions in alphabetical order by the full sentence. Thus, the first few pages contain sentences that start with “a” as in “a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.”  To the right of the idiom is the definition and, when applicable, an example of usage. Reza also includes notes about expressions with the same meaning that may not be included with the book and similar expressions which are included.

One thing I found particularly useful was the inclusion of similar idioms in other languages or from other cultures. It really impressed upon me how universal some ideas are even if they’re packaged differently.

If you’re looking for a specific idiom, you can check out the index for common words. If you even wanted to use an idiom that revolves around specific ideas, you could do the same.

English Idioms And Expressions For Everyone would be useful to a variety of people: students, teachers, professionals, tourists, immigrants, writers, bloggers and anyone who simply wants to communicate more effectively or learn more about English. It would make a great gift and there’s really not a whole lot of room for improvement because it’s already excellent.

Hilarious collection of odd behaviors that are surprisingly endemic among humankind.
Cheerfully embraces bizarre little habits that help us cope.
–Midwest Book Review

Judy Reiser’s concept of collecting the foibles of Everyman is not only unique, but genius.
She invented the category. You will find yourself in her book, and when you do you will laugh out loud.
–Ed Clancy, Radio Broadcaster

Judy Reiser has collected gem-like examples.
–The New York Times Book Review

Everybody has them. Reiser got grown people to think about it and to tell her about it.
–The Washington Post

Great stress reliever. Gotta have just for the laughs. Would LOVE to have been on that book’s research team!
–Karla Skinner, amazon.com

Admit It, You're Crazy! Quirks, Idiosyncrasies & Irrational Behavior (Review and Giveaway)

And since I like all things weird, I thought I’d give it a look-through. The author, Judy Reiser, was kind enough to offer me a copy for review as well as one for giveaway, which you can enter at the end of the post.

Ms. Reiser begins with an introduction, explaining how she interviewed two-thousand people and compiled the real-life anecdotes into this anthology. She gives a few examples of odd behaviors that you will find in her book but the intro is short and soon you’re off to the first section which is all about people’s strange bathroom habits.

Each anecdote is told either by the person with the strange habit or by someone who knows them. The book then lists the ages, genders and jobs of the persons involved. I guess this is to explain that we all do strange things but I don’t find the ages and careers to be all that interesting or helping. I stopped reading that after the first few sections.

Occasionally, the anecdotes will take a more interview format as Judy asks the survey-taker a question to clarify but.. more often than not, the question is “Why do you do that?” and the answer is “I don’t know.” Or, if the story is being told by someone who knows someone who does something, Judy Reiser might add a “I checked with this person, it’s true.” Either way, this doesn’t add much to the book at all and I could do without it.

Actually, what I want to see is more editorial content. I want to know why the author choose the categories she did — Looney Tales, Funny Money, Assorted Nuts, Night Shtick, Clothes Encounters of the Strange Kind, The Howard Hughes Syndrome and Now I’ve Heard Everything! — and perhaps delve a little deeper into the psychology of these people. A short intro to each chapter would easily explain her reasoning. Furthermore, I’d love to read about the author’s own “Quirks, Idiosyncrasies & Irrational Behavior.” It would really be a charming addition to this book.

Unfortunately, as is, this is more a series of lists that seem better suited to the Internet on a site like Cracked.com. It makes for a rather lackluster book and I’d have been fairly disappointed to have purchased the full copy. It’s not that there’s not some entertaining bits but it’s certainly not laugh-out-loud funny and it gets repetitious at times.

However, let me highlight some interesting tidbits.

MY COLLEAGUE THINKS it’s a waste of time to balance her checkbook, so what she does is to mentally carry the sum in her head. She does that for about six months. At the end of six months, she closes the account and goes to another bank and opens up a new account. Eventually everything works out and she finds out how much money she has.

RETIRED EDUCATOR, MALE, 59 HIS FRIEND: EDUCATOR, 50

The money section was especially interesting because it’s ridiculous how much people waste money and how classist people are. The privilege that some experience is beyond my ability to imagine and almost makes me angry. It’s an eye-opening look into how others live.

I also find it interesting that some of these apparently odd behaviors are things I do. Like the following:

ONE DAY I needed to get my makeup out of the bathroom while my husband was in there taking a shower. I reached in to get my makeup bag, being careful not to let the steam out or the cold air in. Out of the corner of my eye I glanced toward the shower—we have clear sliding glass doors—and noticed my husband using his two hands to squeegee his body semidry. He was working his way down his body from his head. The water was turned off at this point. I asked him, “What are you doing?” And he said, “Oh, nuthin.” I said, “Are you squeegeeing your body with your hands to get all the water off?” He goes, “So?” I was amazed.

RADIO TALK SHOW HOST, FEMALE, 34 HER HUSBAND: AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER, 34

I didn’t know that was so weird. It makes toweling off more efficient.. but, hey, at least I’m not the woman who blow dries her feet or puts on all her make-up before getting into the shower. I seriously don’t understand that one. It’s food for thought, at least, even if the book layout could use some work.

Giveaway

If you’d like to read Admit It, You’re Crazy! Quirks, Idiosyncrasies & Irrational Behavior  for yourself, I am able to give away one copy in either PDF format, so you can read it on your computer, or Kindle digital version which is compatible with Kindle for computer, Android and the Kindle itself. To enter, leave a comment for each entry type below. Giveaway will close on November 1st.

• Tell me one quirk or idiosyncrasy you have that might make it into a book like this–Mandatory
• Follow me on Twitter–@anaesthetic
• Add a link to a blog post about this giveaway (must include a link to the direct post)
• Like this post on Facebook
• Add this post to StumbleUpon or Digg
• A link to a Twitter post about this giveaway (once per day) such as:Admit It, You’re Crazy! Quirks, Idiosyncrasies & Irrational Behavior book #giveaway at Reviews by Cole http://reviewsbycole.com Ends 11/1 OR you can use the handy Twitter button on the left.
• Follow Judy Reiser on Twitter.

Now, I hadn’t heard of it and hadn’t even really paid attention to the synopsis when I began it but it’s summed up pretty easily. In a post-apocalyptic word, North America has become the country known as Panem. Panem now consists of twelve districts, some of which are barely ghettos, after the strict government crushed a rebellion and desecrated the former thirteenth district. Each year, the central government holds a drawing for one boy and girl fom each district and transports the pairs to a constructed game arena where the participants must fight to the death.

The Hunger Games follows Katniss, a girl of 17 or so, from district twelve, which happens to be the poorest of all the districts. What time Katniss doesn’t spend in school is dedicated to hunting and gathering outside the district fences to keep her family fed, despite the danger. The young woman steps in to take her younger’s place when she is culled for the games is soon joined by Peeta, a boy with whom she is somewhat familiar. The two head off to the central city where they begin training and are soon fighting for their lives.

Katniss is human and relatable as she struggles with the idea that she will eventually have to kill–or be killed by–a boy who has once shown her kindness as well as the other competitors. We follow her as she doubts her abilities, especially in comparison to others who have been able to train for the games, but proves to be not only a capable but compassionate tribute (the name for the competitors). Because of this, the plot twists and the rules of the game change. Katniss proves to be a game-changer through-out the book, a fact which is not lost on the Capitol which has, until now, used the Hunger Games as a way to keep the districts in line. Although the plot surely cannot end well, the book isn’t so uncomfortable that I wanted to put it down lest I take my own life. Katniss is level-headed and focuses on the here and now, which helps the reader do so as well.

Suzanne Collins keeps the plot of her book ever-moving. I really enjoyed this book and finished it in a time period a little over 24-hours. I spent five hours, give or take, reading it in all. It moves quickly and while you could put it down and walk away for a while, I’m not sure why you would. I’m excited for the next book in the series, as well as the movie.

Collins also throws in some humor to temper the life-or-death seriousness of the plot. This is especially apparent when Katniss speaks or thinks or acts. It is the humor, the compassionate, the self-doubt that brings out the humanity in The Hunger Games and kept me hanging on until the very end. Good on you, Suzanne Collins.

The Medium Next Door

Hope and love really is a theme throughout this book as Maureen talks about her childhood health issues, which she believed led to her special talents in talking to spirits, to the death of loved ones and her work to use her talents to help others. Maureen Hancock describes experiences that, even though they sound incredible, are truly touching. In The Medium Next Door, she discusses how she believes people stay around as spirits, even after their deaths, and they still love and care for us. Several times while reading, I found myself in tears. I’m a sentimental sort, yes, but I’m also quite the cynic. Even if you look at this book as a complete work of fiction, it’s still sentimental.

In terms of incredibility, Maureen comes from an entire family of seemingly super talented individuals, many of whom have psychic abilities. It’s almost a little too much to believe and, as I as reading, I had to wonder if she wasn’t sensationalizing things to sell the book. Yet, Hancock doesn’t come off that way. For all her belief in her abilities, she comes off as your typical soccer Mom. A family kind of gal who has struggled to make time for her family in her hectic schedule and, when I say hectic, I mean I can’t believe she hasn’t had a complete emotional break down from all she does. It’s astounding. She offers free services to families of deceased children, has hosted public events, has appeared on television and done radio shows and runs a non-profit organization on top of being a mother of two boys. As she wrote the book, she was working on getting a television show up and running. I am in awe of her commitment to help others. And this commitment shows through at the end of each chapter, where she gives insights into getting in touch with your intuitive abilities, dealing with anxiety, understanding death and other difficulties we all encounter during life.

As a skeptic, I find it difficult to understand how Maureen seems to have all the experiences and knowledge she has acquired. I just don’t understand how it’s possible but, assuming that the words on the pages are true, she has some sort of talent and it is remarkable and real enough to turn other skeptics. I’m almost convinced. Almost.

You’ll have to read The Medium Next Door to see for yourself and I am happy to announce that one lucky reader will get exactly that chance. This giveaway will remain open for two weeks. To gain entries in that time period, post one comment for each of the following:

• Tell me why you want to win–Mandatory
• Follow me on Twitter–@anaesthetic
• A link to a blog post about this giveaway (must include a link to the direct post)
• Like this post on Facebook
• Add my blog to your Delicious favorites (leave a link to your profile)
• Add this post to StumbleUpon or Digg (leave a comment for each)
• A link to a Twitter post about this giveaway (once per day) such as: Win The Medium Next Door from @anaesthetic. Visit Reviews by Cole to enter the #giveaway: Ends 7/4

Winners must supply me with their mailing address to receive the book. Giveaway is open to residents of the USA, Canada, UK and Australia.

Thanks to Maureen Hancock and her agent for this opportunity!

Here, Home, Hope

The book opens in the summer as our main character, Kelly, is missing the two sons who are away at camp. She has been a stay-at-home mom for over a decade and is considering what she wants to do with her life. She is depressed, she tells us (the book is written in first person, present tense) and doesn’t know why. Everything is great. Great, great, great. Through-out the book, Kelly keeps telling us how great everything is, yet she doesn’t like her life.

Okay, so she takes on a few projects, like helping her friend’s teenage daughter who has anorexia and assisting another friend in staging a house for sale, to keep her busy and fulfill her desire to do more now that her kids are older and out of the house for the summer. In addition to this, Kelly writes up post-it notes as little reminders of the things she needs to do in order to become happier and achieve her new goals. These notes include tid-bits such as “stop comparing myself to others.” These become a list of things to change or, as Kelly calls them in her too-eager-to-be-hip style “T2C.”

There’s no outright problem with the premise. In fact, the mid-life crisis has made for many a great story. The issue is, this just isn’t a great story. Rouda writes in a very abrupt and short way that completely glazes over the significant parts of the story and makes it very difficult to feel for the characters, even the one who is telling the story. While Kelly tries so hard to express how good her marriage is, the reader just never sees anything to indicate this. Sure, she shares some meals with her husband but she completely neglects to tell him that she’s seeing a therapist and has been diagnosed with depression. That is not a great marriage. That does not exemplify strength of a relationship. Kelly’s conversations with her husband are short and too scripted to feel real. Scripted really isn’t even the right word, when I think of it. They’re more like filler. All the conversations Kelly has with anyone in this book really seem that way. I’ve never met anyone who talks like that. The people are all completely devoid of real, believable emotion. The anger, the love, the sadness, even the sex is only briefly touched on, leaving the reader wanting more.

To add to the incredibility of the story, everything just falls right into place for Kelly. She decides to start a business and, somehow, is able to make $15,000 of her first project, make an appearance on television, set-up a website (with no apparent experience in doing so) and book a 600-person party all before the business is actually started. Super realistic, huh?

As I read Here, Home, Hope, I couldn’t help but become resentful and angry at the self indulgent attitude of the main character. If real people act like this, they should be ashamed of themselves. The first half of the book is entirely full of name-dropping (clothes brands, hotels, business, et cetera) in a self-loathing, entitled sort of way. It’s almost impossible not to want to smack Kelly across the face, especially with her sense of entitlement and because she takes everything for granted (drop a couple hundred on new clothes and you husband only briefly mentions that, hey, the economy isn’t doing so well..), if you’ve ever had to deal with real problems. And this is amidst all of the real problems that are affecting her friends and peers (don’t fret! Those peers also manage to deal with their issues without any realistic emotions or actions). It’s not that I don’t understand depression.. because I do. It’s not rational and I get that but Kaira Rouda doesn’t seem to understand that you need to emphasize how depression works if you don’t want your readers to hate your whiny little bitch of a main character. You can’t just mention that your character is suddenly taking medicine and only briefly touch on whether or not it works once.

Depression aside, I loathe Kelly for more reasons than that. For example, toward the second half of the book, there are a few chapters where we find Kelly being a ridiculous bitch to everyone she knows and no one ever seems to step up and ream her a new one. Granted, there’s a lot of stress going on at this point but it almost comes out of nowhere. If she’s feeling so happy, why is she acting like a teenager? Suddenly, she stops doing this and everything wraps up perfectly at the end of the book, except, I’m not really sure what the main conflict was nor why Rouda decided to end the story where she did (it’s one of those “this is the ending?!” moments) nor if I should really even care.

Now, I recognize that it’s hard for me to completely understand the feelings of a middle-aged house wise from suburbia and perhaps the protagonist just reminds me a little bit too much of my former mother-in-law (who can really identify with someone who’s weight-obsessed and cannot stand the idea of putting on the summer six pounds but who can blow $200+ on an emergency hair job?) but the author’s brusque style of writing simply lacks depth. It plays out in the conversations, the plot and the thoughts and interactions of all characters, resulting in an unbelievable blandness. I’ve read many books that should have been much harder to believe than Here, Home, Hope yet became completely immersed in them. I literally found myself reading every word in every conversation with the same tone because Rouda cannot write creatively or descriptively. The book comes off as the work of a complete amateur who also has issues with tense.

The only positive I can take from this is that at least it was a quick read. I finished it in three or four sittings and, by the end, I just wanted to put the damned thing down and never think about it again.

After I post this review, I hope I won’t have to.

I can say, with utmost authority, that the cover is the best thing about this book.

Thanks to One2One Network for this opportunity!