Review: Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology (Audio)

TITLE: Trouble Maker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology
AUTHOR: Leah Remini
NARRATOR: Leah Remini
PUBLISHER: Random House Audio
FORMAT: Audio Book
LENGTH: 7 hrs 12 mins
SOURCE: Bought
MY RATING: 

SUMMARY (From Goodreads): Leah Remini has never been the type to hold her tongue. That willingness to speak her mind, stand her ground, and rattle the occasional cage has enabled this tough-talking girl from Brooklyn to forge an enduring and successful career in Hollywood. But being a troublemaker has come at a cost.

That was never more evident than in 2013, when Remini loudly and publicly broke with the Church of Scientology. Now, in this frank, funny, poignant memoir, the former King of Queens star opens up about that experience for the first time, revealing the in-depth details of her painful split with the church and its controversial practices.

MY THOUGHTS: Before I picked up this book, I only knew of Leah Remini from her show King of Queens. I didn't even know that she had previously been a Scientologist, but I love listening to autobiographies especially when they are on social culture. I think Leah did a great job at the narration of her book - I always enjoy biographies more when they are narrated by the author themselves because they are able to emphasize parts they feel are important. Although, since I know nothing about Scientology, because of her New York accent, I thought through the whole book she was saying "Ella Rach" instead of  "L. R. H."

The book itself was enjoyable. I feel like Leah described her experiences really well and she did a good job of explaining why she left the Scientology religion while still being fairly respectful. I really enjoyed listening to her and I'l have to check out her reality television show sometime soon because I think it would be fun to get a glimpse inside her life as it is now.

Let's Pretend This Never Happened Review

TITLE: Let's Pretend This Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir
AUTHOR: Jenny Lawson
NARRATOR: Jenny Lawson
PUBLISHER: Penguin Audio
PUBLICATION DATE: 4/17/2012
FORMAT: Audiobook
LENGTH: 8 hours 41 minutes
SOURCE: Bought
MY RATING: 

COYER SCAVENGER HUNT #45: READ A BOOK BASED ON TRUE EVENTS - 3 POINTS

SUMMARY (FROM GOODREADS): When Jenny Lawson was little, all she ever wanted was to fit in. That dream was cut short by her fantastically unbalanced father (a professional taxidermist who created dead-animal hand puppets) and a childhood of wearing winter shoes made out of used bread sacks. It did, however, open up an opportunity for Lawson to find the humor in the strange shame spiral that is her life, and we are all the better for it.

Lawson's long-suffering husband and sweet daughter are the perfect comedic foils to her absurdities, and help her to uncover the surprising discovery that the most terribly human moments--the ones we want to pretend never happened--are the very same moments that make us the people we are today.

Let's Pretend This Never Happened is a poignantly disturbing, yet darkly hysterical tome for every intellectual misfit who thought they were the only ones to think the things that Lawson dares to say out loud. Like laughing at a funeral, this book is both irreverent and impossible to hold back once you get started. 

MY THOUGHTS: I loved this book so much! I had never heard of Jenny Lawson before, but this had good reviews so I thought I'd pick it up on Audible. I'm so glad that I did. It's hard to find the words to describe this book. It's just funny. This book was incredibly hilarious. I was listening to quite a bit of this while I was at work and I was biting my cheeks to stop myself from laughing out loud. I highly enjoyed every moment of this book.

I also loved the more serious moments. In chapter 25, Lawson talks about her anxiety and her husband being well-meaning, but just not understanding. I can completely relate to that. I feel like she took the thoughts right out of my head.

COVER: After reading the book, I can see that the cover is perfect for it!

Cat Daddy Review (Audio)

TITLE: Cat Daddy: What the World's Most Incorrigible Cat Taught Me About Life, Love and Coming Clean
AUTHOR: Jackson Galaxy & Joel Derfner
NARRATOR: Jackson Galaxy
PUBLISHER: Tantor Media
PUBLICATION DATE: 5/10/2012
FORMAT: Audio
LENGTH: 6 hours 24 minutes
SOURCE: Bought
MY RATING: 

COYER SCAVENGER HUNT #55: READ A BOOK FEATURING AN ANIMAL PROMINENTLY IN THE STORY - 4 POINTS

SUMMARY (FROM GOODREADS): Cat behaviorist and star of Animal Planet's hit television show My Cat from Hell, Jackson Galaxy, a.k.a. "Cat Daddy," isn't what you might expect for a cat expert (as the New York Times noted, with his goatee and tattoos he "looks like a Hell's Angel"). Yet Galaxy's ability to connect with even the most troubled felines--not to mention the stressed-out humans living in their wake--is awe-inspiring. In this book, Galaxy tells the poignant story of his thirteen-year relationship with a petite gray-and-white short-haired cat named Benny, and gives singular advice for living with, caring for, and loving the feline in your home.

When Benny arrived in his life, Galaxy was a down-and-out rock musician with not too much  more going on than a part-time job at an animal shelter and a drug problem. Benny's previous owner brought the cat to the shelter in a cardboard box to give him up. Benny had seen better days--his pelvis had just been shattered by the wheels of a car--and his owner insisted he'd been "unbondable" from day one. Nothing could have been further from the truth.

An inspiring account of two broken beings who fixed each other, Cat Daddy is laced throughout with Galaxy's amazing "Cat Whisperer" advice for understanding what cats need most from us in order to live happier, healthier lives.

MY THOUGHTS: I thought this would be a good book, but I had no idea how good of a book it would actually be. I am a huge fan of the show My Cat From Hell, so when I was at the library and I saw that this was a book, I knew I had to get it. Soon after, audible had a deal on this book, and I scooped it up. I love when writers narrate their own books because they can put emphasis on certain words or phrases that they want to stand out. Jackson does a great job with that in his book. I can hear in his tone of voice when he is angry or excited, etc. and it makes me feel those things right along with him.

I went through quite a lot of emotions in this book. I am an animal lover and have had my fair share of pets in the past, the present and most likely will have in the future. Therefore, I can put myself in Jackson's shoes during some parts of this book. I don't know what it's like to be addicted to drugs, but I do know what it's like to love an animal, and I could feel the love that Jackson has for his cat Benny. There was a chapter of this book that was particularly hard for me to listen to which made me tear up and feel quite emotional (I happened to be driving in the car at the time of course!). But being able to connect to something on that level just makes it better for me.

If you are already a fan of Jackson Galaxy, or you love animals, this is a book for you.

Room Review (Audiobook)

Goodreads

TITLE: Room

AUTHOR: Emma Donoghue

READ BY: Michal Friedman, Ellen Archer, Robert Petkoff, Suzanne Toren

PUBLISHER: AudioGo

PUBLICATION DATE: 11/1/2010

LENGTH: 10 hours, 45 minutes

SOURCE: Library

MY RATING: 

SUMMARY (FROM GOODREADS): To 5-year-old Jack, Room is the entire world. It is where he was born and grew up; it's where he lives with his Ma as they learn and read and eat and sleep and play. At night, his Ma shuts him safely in the wardrobe, where he is meant to be asleep when Old Nick visits.

Room is home to Jack, but to Ma, it is the prison where Old Nick has held her captive for 7 years. Through determination, ingenuity, and fierce motherly love, Ma has created a life for Jack. But she knows it's not enough--not for her or for him.

Told entirely in the language of the energetic, pragmatic 5-year-old Jack, Room is a celebration of resilience and the limitless bond between parent and child, a brilliantly executed novel about what it means to journey from one world to another.

OVERALL IMPRESSION: This book was just wow. I've wanted to read it for a while, but I recently started getting into audiobooks and saw that this was available at my library so I decided to give it a try. The thing about this book that makes it so haunting is the narrator playing Jack. He really sounds like a 5-year-old boy, which really helped get me into the feeling of the story. Throughout the whole story, Jack is so innocent. He doesn't understand that his life is not normal. It's so heartbreaking to see how he interprets things.

The story is so horrific, but at the same time feels like something that could actually happen - in other words, the writing is really believable.

The audiobook comes with an extra PDF file that is basically a bunch of drawings done by "Jack" of the room that they are held captive in. It really puts it into perspective just how tiny the room is.

**SPOILERS**

I love that we get to see Jack's interaction with the world after his escape. It's interesting to see how he handles everything for the first time. These things that we deal with on a daily basis but that he's never encountered before.

**END SPOILERS**

CHARACTERS: I love Jack's character. He's so believable and so innocent. I feel like he is just a typical kid. He got on my nerves a few times just like any other kid would, but then you think about everything that he is dealing with and it breaks your heart.

COVER: I like the cover. It's nice and plain and I like how they used what looks like paints to write out the title as if Jack had painted it.