Sidetracked by R.L. Kenderson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Sidetracked is a story of detours and life lessons that walks the border between common sense and hopelessness. Gabe and Charli get caught in the learning curve and find their true purpose along the way. Kenderson tempts not only the senses she awakens the heart to all the colors of life through the eyes of love.




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My only salvation in stressful times: Creature comforts.  Lots of them.  And BookLikes!

2019 was a hell of a year in virtually every respect, and I don't mean that in a good sense -- I can only hope 2020 will be a LOT better.  BookLikes was my one happy place this year, so thank you all, the whole BookLikes community, for keeping me sane and happy whenever real life was getting a bit overwhelming.

And of course, the boys' love helped as well ...

... and, as I said, creature comforts.  Lots of them.

(Task: How do you stay zen / sane over the holidays or in other stressful periods?)

"BUSYYYYYYY!"

[In my head, this is spoken in the voice of Busy Philipps doing her impression of her mother.  Imagine a suburbs-of-Chicago "mom" voice.]

Before listening to this audiobook, I didn't know much about Busy Philipps beyond enjoying her performances in Freaks and Geeks, Cougar Town, and (too briefly!) The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.

This memoir is honest, touching, and often hilarious.  Its author seems to be having a moment.  It's well deserved, and I hope it goes on as long as Philpps wants it to.

For more reviews, check out my blog: Craft-Cycle

Going into this, I didn't really know much about Busy Philipps. I'm not really a person who avidly follows celebrities' lives, despite how many memoirs I find myself reading. I've seen her in Freaks and Geeksand White Chicks so when I saw the audiobook at the library, I figured it was worth a read. I wasn't really aware of her Instagram fame so it was interesting to hear about that. 

Overall, the book was good. It was way heavier than I was expecting. So many celebrity memoirs are nice and fluffy and kind of gloss over the really dark stuff. This one does not shy away from those times, some of which is hard to hear. I think having Philipps herself reading the audiobook was difficult at times, because she understandably starts breaking up as she reads and you can hear the tears in her voice. This is very powerful, but not always exactly what people are looking for so I think it's good to know going in so people aren't expecting a light read.

Despite the drama and sometimes absolutely horrible events recounted, the book ends on a very positive note. Plus, Philipps does an amazing joke changing her voice and accent for other "characters", which was very entertaining. There is plenty of celebrity name-dropping and drama, but overall I enjoyed the book and thought she made some very good points about parenthood, physical appearance, weight, and relationships. 

I Picked Up This Book Because: I’ve head/seen a lot of buzz about it.

The Story:

Busy is raw and emotional and so open and honest in this book. I cried with her, for her. I cheered for her. I rejoiced in her triumphs and was so angry at her humiliations. Busy is an actress I’ve known about for a while but never followed in any capacity. After reading her book I need to look her up on Instagram.

Honestly I think a lot of younger girls would benefit from her story. Especially her younger years when she first starts to explore sex and relationships. There are so many “oh honey, no!”s. This reminds me (who has no children) how important it is to have these uncomfortable conversations with your teenagers.

The Random Thoughts:



The Score Card:



4 Stars