Welcome to Litsy!

Some sober curious reading. I enjoy the essays in this little book. Some are stronger than others, but she‘s so open and honest, I love it.

Thanks for the recommendation @BlameJennyJane !

This was an interesting quick listen. I liked Kristi‘s honesty in her essays. I also liked how most of the essays all had a feminist take. This was read by the author and she was a great narrator.

When I read books like this it always makes me take a second look at my life and my habits. It‘s good to know if a change needs to be made.

#booked2019 - book about addiction
#nonfictionnovember

Dogsitting and enjoying my last weekend before the school year starts. I‘m also guinea pig sitting, so right now I‘ve got two dogs, 2 cats, and the guinea pig. It‘s quite the circus!

This is a big PICK! Coulter‘s essays have a common theme- alcohol- and the madness that came from drinking more than her fair share. When I came across this book it really got me thinking about my own alcohol use. I wouldn‘t consider myself a problem drinker, but really, nothing good comes from it... nothing meaningful... not a damn thing. And it‘s expensive and alcoholism runs rampant in my family. 11 days booze free and counting.

I greedily devoured this book, which although is about quitting the drink is about so much more (being a woman and being ambitious and searching for meaning and recovering from childhood.) It‘s a revelation and I could not recommend it more.

Kristi Coulter takes a hard look at how her alcohol problem (and then getting sober) affects her life in her new memoir.

She does some discussing of how to be a woman is to more or less to feel like you have to be wasted the majority of the time. I vehemently disagree with this, but after listening to the entire book I could see how her life may feel this way.

Overall this was a quick, funny, interesting listen.

Mixed feelings—this wasn‘t really *for me*. Coulter is a fabulous writer and she‘s often quite funny. Other times though, she got on my nerves. She sort of reminded me of a meaner, shamelessly rich Cheryl Strayed.

I still feel like this is an important book. Coulter is asking great questions and reflecting on things we take for granted in liberal, upwardly mobile American society. It may not be for me, but it‘s definitely for someone!

#nowreading a book I heard about on a podcast, after reading a funny and compelling essay by the author a while back.

Coulter's essay collection about what happened in her life when she stopped drinking is raw and heartfelt without being filled with cliches -- and as a bonus, she has a sharp sense of humor. She definitely comes from a place if financial privelege, but she acknowledges that throughout the collection. I appreciated the tone and the examination of the holes that drinking (or any other compulsive behavior) tries to fill in our lives.

"It's maddening how subtle life is. And it's frustrating how much I want to engineer it into drama. There is nothing so absorbing or high stakes or pleasurable, that I won't try to alter my natural response to it. "

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This is one of the rare collections that can change lives and I don‘t say that lightly. Coulter writes frankly about getting sober with essays that detail her life before, during, and after. She writes about becoming a runner, the bullshit women have to deal with, and the human condition in general. The cover caught my attention, but the writing is very good, too. And she‘s funny. I loved it!

Published: 8.7.18

#ARC #NetGalley

Today‘s installment of #monthofmemoirs is a teeny bit of a cheat, this is a collection of personal essays. But so personal, I think they fully count.

https://wellreadneck.wordpress.com/2018/08/12/nothing-good-can-come-from-this-kr...

Essays about Coulter's walk from alcoholic to sober woman. Equally compelling was her chart from single to career woman to married woman, measured by the alcohol she indulged in. Feminism makes a slight play for the brass ring, but Coulter's forthright voice about the ins and outs of the nearest bottle and her place in it garner center stage. Rightfully so.

"Is this the kangaroo?", I asked the waiter. "Or is it something else that's just called kangaroo?". He gave me a blank look. "You know, the way mahi mahi is called dolphin". Another blank look. I guess Germans were not all that up on fish trivia.

Gewurtraminer, 1990. You leave Salzburg for Bern, where you spend an entire weekend reading music magazines in cafes. From one, you learn that Paul Westerberg has quit drinking and feels great. You know you should be happy for him. Instead, you think, We're not the same kind of person anymore, as you drink another glass of wine and are lonely, lonely, lonely.

A memoir told in essay form, this is the non-chronological tale of Coulter‘s life from alcoholic to sober woman. As with most books of essays some were stronger than others, but on a whole Coulter does a great job of making you feel her emotion and understand her journey. Feminism, love, politics, and culture all make an appearance and create for some hard-hitting, and sometimes humorous, stories and anecdotes.

#netgalley #arc #essays #memoir

These essays lean heavily on the author‘s experiences in becoming sober, but it is her keen sense of observation, particularly after she is sober about the world around us that is eye-opening, Her humor hits a sweet-spot for me and I found her essays both entertaining and heartbreaking. #netgalley