WIN IT!!!

Leave a comment on this entry, and you could win a copy of The Woman Who Is Always Tan And Has a Flat Stomach: And Other Annoying People! Winner will be selected at 12 midnight March 3.  Don’t miss our interview with Lisa and Lauren!

Lauren Anderson and Lisa Perry have written the ultimate book to help imperfect parents feel normal – The Woman Who Is Always Tan And Has a Flat Stomach: And Other Annoying People. Have you ever felt like the only woman who doesn’t knit? Have you ever wanted to thwack your husband on the head for obsessive video camera use? Have you ever felt intimidated by the homes that are decorated for every holiday? Have you ever needed an antidote to the Martha Stewart factor in suburbia? Don’t worry – The Woman Who Is Always Tan And Has a Flat Stomach: And Other Annoying People is here for you!

But wait, there’s more! Lisa Perry and Lauren Anderson have taken written snapshots of those people, the ones that make you feel inadequate and irate, all at once. Realizing that you aren’t alone in those feelings is one of the first steps toward acceptance of your imperfect self. Laughing at caricatures of “perfect” people, and even caricatures of ourselves can help you get through the dark, dull winter days. I could see myself on both sides – as the caricatured person and as the imperfect person, and I laughed equally hard at both.

Each annoying person is given their own short (2-5 page) chapter in which we see the imperfect author vs the annoying person. The caricatures are beautifully written – they stay within the bounds of humor, but with a bit of an edge. The book includes chapters about:

• The Husband Who Either Asks for Inane Instructions or Else Gives Inane Instructions
• The Woman Who Has Her Christmas Cards, Shopping, and Decorating Done Before Thanksgiving
• The Perfect Soccer Mom Who Knows All the International Rules of Soccer
• The Wine Connoisseur Woman Whose Wine Rests More than I Do
• The Woman Who Cleans Out the Refrigerator Every Thursday Whether It Smells or Not
• The Infomercial Couple Who Start Every Sentence with “But Wait! There’s More!”
• The Husband Who Doesn’t Notice When His Wife Redecorates the Living and Dining Rooms

There’s nothing quite like a book that contemplates polygamy as a solution for a stressful holiday season! (One wife to make the cookies, one for shopping, one for writing the cards, one for decorating…) I can understand why Lauren Allison and Lisa Perry self-published The Woman Who Is Always Tan in 2005, it needed to be out in the world. In their introduction they thank their “perfect” friends, “Without you, our self-esteem would never have plummeted and we never would have written about our many inadequacies.” These women have a flair for bringing humor to parenting and self-esteem issues, and an ability to help the reader laugh at herself and rejoice in her imperfect self.

This book was so much fun, and if laughter counts as exercise, I giggled away several pounds! Anyone who needs a laugh should pick up a copy of The Woman Who Is Always Tan And Has a Flat Stomach: And Other Annoying People. Carry it with you so it can perk you up on days when you’re down. It’s a nice, thin book that’s easy to carry, with short chapters that can perk you up in moments. Be sure to buy copies of The Woman Who Is Always Tan for your other mom friends – they will thank you!  Don’t miss our interview with Lisa and Lauren!

Don’t forget to comment on this entry, and try to win a copy of The Woman Who Is Always Tan! Leave your comment before March 3 for an opportunity to win!

This book was received from the publisher for review

Beet is the newest novel by bestselling author Roger Rosenblatt. Beet is a (fictional) small, elite liberal arts college located about 40 minutes north of Boston. It and the small town with whom it shares a name were founded by a pig farmer, so the theme and mascot for both is a pig. Of course, the school mascot is named Latin the pig… The college’s endowment has gone missing, and the faculty is going back and forth between attacking each other and trying to find a set of courses that will save the college.

Professor Peace Porterfield is one of the professors you love to have – he’s excited about teaching, and loves helping students learn. When he is named to the committee who is supposed to save the college, he takes his new work just as seriously. Not everyone agrees with his desire to save the now-desititute Beet, so he and his committee become targets for radical students protesting the college, the head of the trustees who seems determined to close the college, as well as the president of Beet. Even Peace’s wife Livi is tired of living North of Boston, where her skills as a hand surgeon aren’t well utilized. So why is Peace Porterfield so determined to help Beet fly, when everyone else is determined to close the college, including its president?

Rosenblatt pulls us into the storyline quickly – anyone who attended a liberal arts college in the Northeast will identify with the situation and the quirky characters immediately. If you’ve lived in the area 40 minutes North of Boston, you’ll be glad to know that Rosenblatt mixes the fictional town and college of Beet with the real towns and colleges in the area. If you’ve ever read a book about the angst of college life, you’ll love the satire in this book – the protesters aren’t sure what they are protesting against, one of the most integral students is considering being a suicide bomber as he tries to major in Homeland Security, and the college administration really is as crooked as most people assume it to be.

In Beet, Rosenblatt’s writing is outstanding, causing me to laugh regularly (surprising the other passengers on the train). I’ve never read a book with so many quotes I needed to write down immediately…

• When Latin the pig is loose, “I don’t think he was going to devour you. In any case, it would have been the first time treyf ate a Jew.”
• One character has “hair the color of mixed nuts”
• Another has “a voice like dessicated fruit”
• A third looks like “an enlarged alter boy”
• The president’s “face had the folds of a Shar-pei”

While the satirical humor of Beet may not appeal to everyone, it should be on the “must read” list for anyone who graduated from a small college in the northeast and needs several smile and some guffaws. The plot and characters are well-developed, Rosenblatt walks the line between creating caricatures at whom he wishes to poke fun, and creating characters with depth that you can easily visualize.

I felt transported by Beet, back into the world I left 15 years ago when I graduated from college. It had that “inside joke” feel, but the reader was in on the joke, laughing. The mysterious loss of the endowment is a driving plot point, but it is the characters and the sharp writing that keep you turning page after page. I highly recommend picking up a copy of Beet – you won’t regret it!

This book was received from the publisher for review