The Art of Racing in the Rain

For the past few years I've repeatedly had this book recommended to me. Friends, coworkers, even the occasional book shopper has told me about how this book has taught them so much about love, life, and loss. It's showed them the world through a dogs eyes and they could not wait for me to read it.

Now it's great that all those people found some great big deep meaning to this book, but I honestly hated it. I found it uncomfortable, unfathomable, and a little bit creepy; not a scary creepy but more like there's a guy at the bar breathing a little too close to you creepy.

Okay so The Art of Racing in the Rain is told through the perspective of a dog named Enzo. Here's a quick rundown of his quirks: he's a dog (which he repeatedly reminds us of), he can smell BRAIN CANCER, he mistrusts modern medicine, he loves racing (makes sense given his owner is a race car driver), but he also believes in reincarnation of his soul which he thoroughly believes is going to come back as the greatest race car driver of all time.

Got that?

I can suspend my belief for only so long. But there are parts of this book that left me feeling downright violated. I know that sounds extreme but hear me out first. Eve, the wife of Enzo's owner, has an episode and ends up in the hospital for 3 days and just.....forgets they have a dog. During those 3 days, Enzo begins hallucinating. He's in their daughter's room when he sees a stuffed zebra molesting all of the other toys in the room. He tries to get the zebra to stop but instead the zebra rips open his own seam and begins ripping its stuffing out..... How awkward are those two sentences? Imagine reading that for several pages.

There's several awkward misplaced sex scenes that we're reading from the POV of a dog. The descriptions of moans and breast size and foreplay was completely cringeworthy while reading. 

Now, I do understand what the author was trying to do for....some of the book but it just was not something that I would ever read again, recommend to another human being, or even something I'd want to keep on my bookshelf.

If you want to read a genuine book that captures the voice of a dog more than any other dog book I've read then you should definitely check out Where the Dogs Go by Janell Martin!

Where the Crawdads Sing

Oh my god, I love this book.

This has easily worked it's way into my top 10 favorite books of all time.

Yeah, that's how good it is.

Catherine Danielle Clark.

Kya.

Marsh Girl.

Where the Crawdads Sing follows Kya's story through her tumultuous life, living alone, surviving off the land, and making the marsh her home. At just 6 years old, Kya watched as her mother walked away, abandoning her entire family. By age 10, she waited and waited for her father to drunkenly stumble home, but he never did. Long before she could remember, her siblings left to start their own lives. Soon, it was just Kya. 

Kya is one of the strongest, most resilient characters I've ever met.
 

I think a lot of people who read this probably imagines Kya as a lonely little girl. A girl who had absolutely nothing. A girl who lived on her own because no one wanted to stay with her. But I think the heart of the story lies with Kya making the most of her life in the marsh. She never knew what she was missing out on because she had crafted a life that was literally perfect for her. Yes, it got lonely and she craved human touch and connection; we all do. But she knew that accepting herself for who she was was more important than gaining acceptance from a town who could never understand her way of life.
 

This book is more than just a girl growing up on her own in the marshes of North Carolina.

It speaks to everyone who needs encouragement, empowerment, and empathy.
 

I don't care who you are or what your day to day life is like, but I do know that you need to get a copy of this book immediately and then tell everyone you know all about it.

The Playbook

While I don't condone the behavior found in Barney Stinson's playbook, I found myself chuckling a few times while reading this. In the show, the playbook itself was a pivotal moment in Barney and Robin's relationship. However, my favorite play, The Robin WASN'T EVEN IN THE PLAYBOOK. I was hoping against hope that it would be, I remember crying and yelling and being absolutely astonished with their entire relationship up to the point and even after. But this book isn't about the show so let me get back to The Playbook.

It was a super quick read, not as good as The Bro Code, but it was alright.

Looking for other Neil Patrick Harris books?

Choose Your Own Autobiography

The Bro Code

The Bro Code

I've been re-watching How I Met Your Mother for the past few days.

It's one of my favorite shows around, plus I need something to watch incessantly now that Friends is no longer on Netflix. So when I saw The Bro Code and The Playbook were part of a BOGO sale at 2NC I grabbed them immediately!

Now lets keep in mind, these are parody books based on Neil Patrick Harris's womanizing player of a character, Barney Stinson. Oh, and it was written in 2008 so obviously times have changed and some of the vernacular is outdated.

But this was a quick read; quick like I read it in about an hour. But I enjoyed it and had a great time grilling my husband on the unspoken "Bro Code." He doesn't even watch the show but he was dying as I showed him page after page of little things he does. The only downside to this book was getting past the first few articles that were your stereotypical womanizing sexist behavior that just doesn't fly in this day and age. But once you get past that it's genuinely funny and very true to Barney's character.

Looking for other Neil Patrick Harris books?

Choose Your Own Autobiography
The Playbook

Space Between

I first met Nico through their character Josh on Younger.

So when I saw they were writing a book, I immediately had to have it.

That being said, I had no idea what to expect from Nico's life.

 

Space Between: The Exploration of Love, Sex, and Fluidity.

Nico has always felt like they needed to explore their sexuality and what exactly that would mean for their family, career, and overall well-being. Recently, Nico has decided to use they/them pronouns. Their gender fluidity is constantly moving, adapting, and growing with who they are at any given time. What I found to be an extremely honest explanation for the they/them pronouns (which I wasn't totally sure of how to explain before now) was when they explained that people are multidimensional. We're always juggling more than one character trait at a time but not one trait solely describes us. It seems fitting to refer to Nico as they or them because that's who they feel most comfortable as.

But what I really want to talk about is the dynamic between Nico and their partner Bethany. The love they share for each other is astounding. They have explored every sense of their beings together and have continuously helped each other grow to be the best versions of themselves. They were together through the darkest parts of their addiction, through several relationships (some of which were broken because of their closeness), through experimenting with polyamory, through the rawest forms of love. Their love knows no boundaries.

I was expecting a quick peek into Nico's stardom but instead I got this incredibly raw piece of art that they put their entire heart and soul into. I applaud everything they are doing, from the protests, to the subtle coming outs, to the honesty they share everyday.

 

Looking for other books by Nico Tortorella?

All of It Is You