Tag: nonfiction

adult, Humor, Memoir, three star book

Modern Romance Review

Courtney/Enchanted.to.Read.You
  • Title: Modern Romance
  • Author: Aziz Ansari
  • Publisher: Penguin Press
  • Publish Date: June 16, 2015
  • Book Form: Audiobook
  • Pages: 279
  • Genre: Nonfiction, Humor
  • Dates Read: Dec 3- Dec 5
  • Rating: ★★★.5

A hilarious, thoughtful, and in-depth exploration of the pleasures and perils of modern romance from one of this generation’s sharpest comedic voices …

… For years, Aziz Ansari has been aiming his comic insight at modern romance, but for Modern Romance, the book, he decided he needed to take things to another level. He teamed up with NYU sociologist Eric Klinenberg and designed a massive research project, including hundreds of interviews and focus groups conducted everywhere from Tokyo to Buenos Aires to Wichita. They analyzed behavioral data and surveys and created their own online research forum on Reddit, which drew thousands of messages. They enlisted the world’s leading social scientists, including Andrew Cherlin, Eli Finkel, Helen Fisher, Sheena Iyengar, Barry Schwartz, Sherry Turkle, and Robb Willer. The result is unlike any social science or humor book we’ve seen before.

In Modern Romance, Ansari combines his irreverent humor with cutting-edge social science to give us an unforgettable tour of our new romantic world.

– Goodreads

Modern Romance was a club read over in Book Battle this month. I was so excited this was chosen because I had been wanting to read it. Plus I love nonfic books narrated by celebrity authors, so this was perfect for me! (Those are really the only audiobooks I can get into.)

This book was not what I expected. Part of that is on me. I didn’t read the synopsis. I saw a comedian wrote a book called Modern Romance and I just assumed it was going to be funny story after funny story of his dating life. While that is part of it, it is mostly a book about his investigation into ‘modern romance’ and what makes finding that special someone so hard these days.

Now, don’t get me wrong. It was interesting. I loved seeing how technology played a part in how people date now. One part that really resonated with me was how people are so quick to leave during the ‘companionship’ stage of love. That stage where the fire is gone. Maybe you have kids, a 9-5, car note, mortgage, and more stress than ever before. Instead of leaning to your partner and trying to make it work, we look for the next best thing to get us out of our slumps. I’ve seen it happen time and time again, and it’s nice to see some science behind that!

This book really makes you look at your love life during today’s time to see what you could improve on. A few times I was like, ‘ouch. I did that while dating.’ So sorry to all my exes. I was probably a terrible girlfriend rofl.

So, Modern Love got 3.5 stars from me. I couldn’t get over my disappointment over this book not being what I expected. And like, it isn’t a bad book! It was interesting. If you read the print book there’s graphs and stuff. It just wasn’t what I wanted and the disappointment is all on me.

Until next time…

ARC, Four Star Book, Memoir

Toil & Trouble ARC Review

Courtney/Enchanted.to.Read.You

“Here’s a partial list of things I don’t believe in: God. The Devil. Heaven. Hell. Bigfoot. Ancient Aliens. Past lives. Life after death. Vampires. Zombies. Reiki. Homeopathy. Rolfing. Reflexology. Note that ‘witches’ and ‘witchcraft’ are absent from this list. The thing is, I wouldn’t believe in them, and I would privately ridicule any idiot who did, except for one thing: I am a witch.”

For as long as Augusten Burroughs could remember, he knew things he shouldn’t have known. He manifested things that shouldn’t have come to pass. And he told exactly no one about this, save one person: his mother. His mother reassured him that it was all perfectly normal, that he was descended from a long line of witches, going back to the days of the early American colonies. And that this family tree was filled with witches. It was a bond that he and his mother shared–until the day she left him in the care of her psychiatrist to be raised in his family (but that’s a whole other story). After that, Augusten was on his own. On his own to navigate the world of this tricky power; on his own to either use or misuse this gift.

From the hilarious to the terrifying, Toil & Trouble is a chronicle of one man’s journey to understand himself, to reconcile the powers he can wield with things with which he is helpless. There are very few things that are coincidences, as you will learn in Toil & Trouble. Ghosts are real, trees can want to kill you, beavers are the spawn of Satan, houses are alive, and in the end, love is the most powerful magic of all.

– Goodreads

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I love reading about Augusten’s life. I’ve been a fan since Running with Scissors and this new novel did not disappoint.

Thanks, giphy!

What I liked:

As I said, I’ve loved Augusten for a while now. His life is so interesting, but I guess it’s always interesting when someone other than you is facing grief and trauma. Not all of Augusten’s life has been sad, but he’s seen some shit.

I loved getting to learn about him being a witch, the way he can just know when things are going to happen, the spells he casts. He takes you through what it’s like to be an actual witch. It’s super interesting.

The story goes present to past and back again. We get to learn about him learning he’s a witch, the people who taught him how to harness his abilities. We get to see the present day life of he and his spouse, Christopher. We get to see how he uses his powers now. Honestly, I’m a little bit jealous.

What I didn’t like:

Nothing! This book was just as good as his past ones.

Would I recommend?

Yes! This is a perfect book for Halloween. Its such a fast read that pulls you in. I loved it!

Until next time…