Welcome to Litsy!

I‘m posting one book a day from my massive collection. No description, no reason for why I want to read it (some I‘ve had so long I don‘t even remember why!). Feel free to join in!

#ABookADay2024

Happy Easter to all who celebrate today! 🐣🐰✝️💐 I wanted to post this before going to my in-laws for lunch 😊

#TopReads2024 continues with my March pick🍹🥃🚺🤘 “Girly Drinks” was a fascinating read and I learned SO much! I loved O‘Meara‘s writing style, I read several paragraphs out loud to my husband either because they were interesting or because it was funny. I will definitely check out her other books 👏👏👏

The 3 emojis to describe this book are: ‼️🙄🤣

‼️: Holy cow, did this REALLY happen?! Both in terms of good and bad
🙄: -Sigh- Of course this happened
🤣: O‘Meara writes in such a way that even though I‘m reading a non-fiction book, I am cracking up with her humorous commentary. Probably not a plus for some, but I LOVED it. If you read 1 book during March, which is Women‘s History Month, make it this one 💪

Not what I was expecting. The subtext of the title suggests a history of alcohol and how it brought people together to help create civilization. And there are interesting tidbits of information. Like how the drive to brew intoxicating beverages had as much to do with the rise of agriculture as food. But it‘s less about history and more about the science of alcohol and its effects. Science that often reads like a school textbook.

This book sat on my shelf for ages. I had the mistaken impression it was a man's grim journey of alcoholism. I could not have been more wrong. This memoir cover his father's abandonment, his mother's courage, his family - a cast of odd and scary characters - and Uncle Charley, a bartender at a very special bar, who takes him under his wing at a very young age and introduces him to men who care for him over the years. (continued...)

This book has a lot of (often repetitive & overlapping) history to fill in the time period when the cocktail was in fashion. A better read is A History of the World in 6 Glasses, which worked better to show the influence of six specific beverages on Western history and society.

The most helpful chapters are the last 2: A Thumbnail Guide to Rum & When It‘s Cocktail Time. Overall, disappointing. But at least it‘s off my shelf!

Book 4 for #20in4

Last book finished before camping is over. I don‘t find this book super heart wrenching, but I do think it‘s so brave when people tell their stories. My husband is 10 years sober and I never stop reading these stories, it helps me understand his journey better.

1. I love a good sour, gose, or pool-side beer (think bud light lime, sorry-not-sorry 😆), but lately I‘ve been inspired to try to make Mai tais! I had a plan to track down the “best” of them in Honolulu, and now I‘m obsessed with recreating my fave.

2. Outside! I got a swinging seat/nest set up under our oak and I can spend hours in it. Need a good way to Mai tai there, tho…. 🍹

Thanks for the fun memories! #twofortuesday

If I wanted to be charitable, I could say that what this book lacks in depth, it makes up for in breadth, and that O'Meara is a very engaging writer. The latter is true, and the former kind of is, too. All of known history, or rather the parts involving women and alcohol, are covered. Unfortunately, it's so wide a topic that the analysis is shallow or missing altogether. O'Meara isn't a historian, and this book is much too glossy for my taste.

Pretty disappointed that when it comes to the Prohibition era, O'Meara glosses over or straight up ignore some real issues that lead to women being one of the strongest supporters of alcohol prohibition. Domestic violence is mentioned (barely), husbands drinking up the entire food and housing budget isn't even mentioned. Unfortunately "alcohol is awesome" seems to be her only thesis.