Mixed feelings

         When I first started writing book reviews for public consumption, I received quite of a bit of criticism over the use of my personal anecdotes.  At no point did I entertain the idea of leaving my own personal life out of my book reviews because my life and my experiences (both in the long and short term) affect how I will respond and interact with a book.  My likes and dislikes will be different from everybody else’s, so I decided that it’s relevant to keep doing to reviews the way I had always done them.  My brother and I, despite having the exact same upbringing (not exactly the same I suppose, my parents always liked him more), enjoy very different types of literature.  He scoffs at popular fiction, primarily reading non-fiction or what I call “pretentious” fiction.  I’ll read anything, but I tend to enjoy story-driven work, which frequently excludes non-fiction.  However, every now and then a non-fiction sneaks in as one I thoroughly enjoy.  I mention my personal revelations in my book reviews, but Cheryl Strayed based many of her responses in this book on her own experiences. 

            I had not previously read Cheryl Strayed.  I know she wrote a book that seemed to change Reese Witherspoon’s life, but I had not sought her work out.  This one showed up on Reese’s book club list in November of 2022, long after I had started using the celebrity book clubs as a jumping off point for my book reviews, which means this was on my TBR list.  I primarily read ebooks that I get from my library, so I have to place a hold and wait patiently for my turn in the queue.  I finally got this one in March of 2023, and ironically, I was reading it when I managed to get Covid-19 for the first time since the pandemic began.  I had no clue what I was getting into when I started.  I fully expected a coming-of-age type of novel, so discovering that it was a collection of some of her favorites from the advice column she wrote shocked me.  Who knew she wrote an advice column?

            The letters in this book were some of the most well-written requests for advice that I could have ever imagined.  It wasn’t until I was about halfway through that my fever-riddled brain put two-and-two together and recognized that she wrote for a literary website, catering to writers.  Obvs the letters were going to be composed within a millimeter of perfection.  These weren’t flippant questions either, these were full-blown, my life is in crisis, pleas for help.  I would assume “Sugar” also received less strenuous letter, but this book contained some pretty hefty subject matter.  Strayed’s responses were mind-blowing, especially coming from somebody without no prior experience in this arena.  I would assume a psychologist would likely be the ideal candidate for an advice columnist, but it appears as though a woman with life experiences and a talent using words is also ideal.  Her responses were personal, honest (sometimes brutally), and poignant.  She was truly good at writing her advice column, and I’m pretty thankful she decided to gather some of her favorites in this book. 

            Here’s the thing though: I WANT UPDATES!  I’m fully invested in a few of these situations, and I want to know how things worked out.  Make it happen Cheryl Strayed.