3.5 Perfect bathtub book!

I absolutely love Laurie Notaro! I have read 4 of her books now and really enjoyed them all. She has a crazy, quirky sense of humor that I can really relate to. She takes the mundane and blows it out of portion in ways a lot of think about but don't say or do. My favorite chapter in Housebroken was about her reading that "Tidy Life" book - laugh out loud funny. Although, from one Italian to another, I will have to debate her on a true Italian "gravy" recipe - why would you add a can of tomato SAUCE to your own homemade sauce recipe? - but I love that she carries on her Nana's tradition. I highly recommend this fun book when you need a light read.

I've read some heavy books, and some not-so-well-received books. Time for a book that can make me laugh!

Sometimes I get worried when I hear how funny an author is, or how amazing their books are. I don't have the best track record of liking books or authors that the general population thinks is amazing. I have numerous friends who adore David Sedaris, but I do not get his sense of humor. I am a big Jen Lancaster fan, and I have heard over and over how I should give Laurie Notaro a try, as they are similar. Those who recommended her swore up and down I would laugh. I don't know why I waited so long, but after years of hearing it, I gave in and tried Housebroken.

This was exactly what I needed - I laughed multiple times throughout the book. Each chapter was a new short story, and so it was easy to digest the small stories throughout my day, which helped me finish the book in one day.

Each story pertains to some part of Notaro's life - we start out with a story about her family and how she became somewhat of a hoarder. We move onto a story about her garage sale (which had me rolling). Stories of her dad joining Facebook, new neighbors moving in and discovering rats (which I had happen at an old house I used to live in - yuck!), discovering a butcher doesn't know how to do math, and hoarding dress supplies much in the same way I hoard writing notebooks.

One story was even topical, unbeknownst to Notaro, as she told a tale of her husband eating very expired food found in their pantry from her hoarding food in case of a pandemic. That's right folks. This book is current, even thought it was published in 2016!

While this book is a standalone (meaning you can read it without reading any other Notaro books), I do wish that I was able to read her books in order. With reading Jen Lancaster from the beginning in order, I can see how you can grow with the narrator and get to know them and their family. You then begin to get a sense that you are friends with the author, but not in that weird, creepy, stalker fashion.

I really enjoyed this, and with school just around the corner, I need any and all laughs I can get. Fans of Jen Lancaster, sarcasm and autobiographical tales - give this one a try!

I received this ARC from the publishers via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is the first book I have read by Laurie Notaro, and I was so glad I read it because she is absolutely hysterical. I laughed out loud more times than I can count. In Housebroken, Notaro covers a variety of issues women deal with today and also covers things like preparing for an apocalypse, Facebook, and living in Eugene, Oregon (which I am now dying to visit after all of her funny stories). She would make such an interesting friend or neighbor. My favorite essays were where her father unfriended her on Facebook, the one where she was deciding who to name to her Apocalypse Survival team, and the Waffle House essay where she describes taking her nephews to learn about all cross sections of humanity. Notaro also writes a fair amount on cooking and includes some wonderful Italian recipes. I definitely recommend this book. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

My nonfiction pick for November. I didn't love this as much as I thought I would. I did audio, and I didn't care for Notaro's narration. I think it would have been better with a professional narrator. As for the content, it just wasn't that funny to me. Laurie often came across as a real jerk! I just didn't find her abrasive personality funny at all.

Great book! I have two Masters degrees and each time I get one Laurie's writing gets better. I'm seriously thinking of getting my PhD because then Laurie will probably win a Pulitzer....or the Nobel! Sadly for Laurie, I'm old and my brain cells are starting to wither, so another degree is unlikely. But really, this book is just as good as all her previous ones, if not better. Laurie has absolutely no problem with telling humiliating stories about herself for the sake of mankind. For a long time, I've wished Laurie was my friend, because I know we'd totally be BFFs (she even "liked" one of my statuses on Facebook a couple years ago!), but after reading about the kind of houseguest she is, she'll have to be one those rare BFFs that you can't take anywhere overnight or host in your home for the weekend. But I'm sure she'll be cool with that, because we'll have so much fun doing other stuff! So read this book, or do what I did, and listen to it. It's narrated by Laurie herself, so it's almost like she's telling you the stories herself!

I am stepping away from this book with a desire to make my own cheese. That’s a good book! Also, was not expecting the food porn, so that’s a cherry on top of a mountain of whipped cream (and “macaroni”).

If I have anything critical, I say, the audiobook quality isn’t the greatest: the re-takes were distinctive and a sound booth/wall may have been beneficial. BUT, quality jokes, quality writing, and I just LOVE hearing an author read their own text! Did I mention there are recipes?

Oh, and I also want to start sewing my own dresses. But I may grow bored of that after a week like most other projects. Notaro is a notch more domesticated than me.

I wanted to like this book. The description sounded awesome. But much like many other “humor” writers, this author uses long rants about everyday things that we all deal with and passes them off as funny. I didn’t laugh once while reading this. Many chapters start off talking about one thing, then she gets distracted and goes off on a tangent about something completely different. By the time you get back to what she was originally talking about you have forgotten about what it was. I’ve noticed that many of these writers claim to have some kind of mental health issue. The authors prescription to Ativan along with her fondness of wine are mentioned many times. She seems to think that everyone in the world should change their habits and interests to suit her. Maybe the mouse shit in her shoes is from the fact that her house is apparently a hog sty..... And not because someone in the neighborhood has chickens. Also, if you need to spend more than 2 seconds choosing which food to put in your body, find another grocery store because she needs to stuff her face with ham and frozen waffles NOW! No time to lose!

I couldn’t even finish this book. It’s awful. No wonder her father unfriended her.

ME: How are you, Colleen?
COLLEEN: I had chickens once. They were torn limb from wing by raccoons.
ME: You invited murder into your backyard. I’m sorry, that is not sad. But please remember to make sure you take whatever tortilla chip you touch. You have mouse shit hands. And most likely the hantavirus. Again, please stop touching all the chips.

This book was nothing like I expected. I ordered it for my library and the cover caught my eye when it arrived. Since the cover was a picture of woman covered in flour and the title reads, “Housebroken: Admissions of an Untidy Life” I laughed to myself and picked up it. There have been so many books lately on keeping your house tidy and I just thought this would be more refreshing for who I am as a person. Having not read anything else by Notaro, I was COMPLETELY not prepared for how hilarious she is. Instead of this being some boring book about a person’s boring tale of an untidy house, it’s a bunch of short stories from her life. Most of them related to her having an untidy house, but every single story was so engrossing.

“Laurie? What is this? It’s pink—It’s not pink? What the hell color is it then? Dad says it’s peach. I don’t think it’s peach. You’re crazy, this is peach? Go back upstairs. I’m leaving a message, Jimmy. Anyway, your father found it in your room and we think it may be your underwear. It’s long for underwear, though. It looks like it has legs. At first Dad thought it was a pile of skin. Jimmy, I said go back upstairs. Anyway, it’s here. In case you are missing…skin. Yeah. I don’t really like touching it. Don’t ask me to mail it. I’m not sending underwear through the mail. That’s illegal.”

They jumped around time frame wise and none of the stories flowed together but I actually liked that. Each story was just a small snippet from her life, and all of them had me dying with laughter. You learn about her life in Eugene, Oregon, her hilarious interactions with neighbors and people in general, and her Italian heritage (there are a few recipes in there that I really want to try!). This is a fun, quick read about the untidy-ness of everyday life and I know without a doubt that I will be checking the rest of her books out ASAP.

Don’t waste time on books that suck. You have my absolute permission to abandon a book or movie that is not lighting you on fire.

To bad she gives permission to quit books you don’t like 98% in