This picture book addresses the pandemic that we all were a part of in 2020-2021, yet I thought parts of this book were rather bleak and I just didn't like this book as much as I wanted to. I did enjoy the illustrations, as the pages were filled with a lot of detail and situations that many individuals will always remember. There were a multitude of individuals in different walks and stages of life which is especially important to include in this book and the author has done a wonderful job doing so in this book. It seemed that every individual was included in this book, from the essential worker, to the parent, to the grandparent, to the elderly, and the young child, they were all represented inside this book somewhere. The author even included wildlife. No one was overlooked.

As I read this book, I had a feeling of loss and emptiness. The world had changed drastically with this virus, outside and inside. When the author tried to shed some light onto this subject, it wasn't what I expected. Her words were of no comfort to me. I saw individuals who have been boxed off inside their homes, individuals who were trying to comfort those who live in the same household, individuals who wore masks over their faces as they made their way now into a quiet world (according to the illustrations), the world seemed like a sad isolated place. What about all the hope, happiness, and love that went on inside, during the pandemic? I missed this.

Joe is a Boston cop who learns he has Huntington's Disease, a hereditary disease that can be passed on to his children. This is how they deal with it.

I enjoyed this story. While the disease is serious, there is humor here as well. Joe and Rosie, his wife, do their best to raise their children to be responsible adults but there are bumps along the way. The family works together to learn about this disease and the aftermath of it. The kids do their best to help but they have to live their lives and make decisions made more difficult by Huntington's. I really like Katie, their youngest. She seems more involved than the rest of the kids.

Joe also thinks back on his mother and realizes what he was told and what he believed about her were not true and he has to reorganize his thoughts about her. His memories come as he works out his truth about her.

Skipp Sudduth does a fantastic job narrating this book. I felt like I was there in that home and family. I want to get more of his narrations. I also want to read more of Lisa Genova. She makes you feel that you are part of the story.

As a short story collection set in the current times of staying at home, this book oddly tries so hard to avoid mentioning the coronavirus. It talks about a global health emergency and physical distancing but skirts around to avoid saying the actual reason behind the quarantine in which the characters find themselves. The first story is straight humor and Scott Aiello as the narrator does a great job. The second one is a bit of an odd thriller, but the narrator speaks so slowly I had to speed it up. The third story is more on the light side for a suspense/thriller and the narrator is okay. All in all not bad for a free audio original, but I've listened to more memorable ones.

This was one of the audible monthly free listens.  I listened to this at work while binning and while I would love to say I couldn't focus on it because of the job, that's not the case.  It was a fun-ish listen; the stories had some comedy, and intrigue that made me laugh or gasp, but it was nothing to write home about.

I feel as though it was a good effort and the stories were decent, but I could only manage 3-stars.  The stories all take place during the "current global situation" and I can appreciate the thought behind it.  A little something to make you giggle during quarantine, or something the spike your heart rate.  I get the intentions behind it, and I applaud the authors and editors, as well as the narrators.  I just didn't love it.  It was not quite distracting enough.

But it's a quick listen with comedy, quarantined mobsters, estranged brothers stuck together in their childhood home, and a woman who is certain one neighbor murdered his b=husband and is slowly disposing of the body in pastry boxes every day. So it's worth a listen, especially if you're an audible member.