It Could Be Worse, You Could Be Me by Ariel Leve

Hello, hello!

Nice to see you!  Welcome to Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers!  If today is your first first, welcome...I hope you enjoy!  If you are a regular here, you are definitely appreciated and held in high regards.  So, what do we have to talk about today?  Well, besides the two fun contests currently running (check the right hand sidebar for details) and the upcoming Got Books? Event (yep, right sidebar once again), we've got a humorous taste of the pie we call life delivered to you first class and steaming hot.  (okay, so that was a bit awkward, but you catch my drift....I hope ...*gulp*)  Let's jump right into it then....today's book of choice is...

It Could Be Worse, You Could Be Me

by

Ariel Leve

A snarky look at everyday situations in life where the author questions.....what if? What if the worst happened that you imagined....what if it didn't all work out for the best.... Perhaps it would be better to expect it not to and then be happily surprised when it did...or not. While there are many fun stories that will have you chuckling, guffawing, or at the very least smirking through your day, there were two in particular I'd like to draw attention to.  Why?  Well, because I can!  Just kidding...no really, I'm kidding!  Reason is they struck me at the time I was reading them....not physically upside the head or anything, but enough so that it felt like a watered down version of it.

First up....a recollection entitled 'Giving In' (pg 170 for those of you that have the book or would like to look it up later....best to be prepared....hehe).  In this short tale, Ms. Leve talks about our (well technically her friends but I bet most of you will feel a connection to this...) attachment to our mobile devices.  Blackberry's, iPhones, cell phones, the works...we all desire and almost require them at our disposal just to make it through the day.  This time her friend Sophie...LOSES her Blackberry!  (No fainting, there's a happy end to this story....well, sorta.) She becomes depressed and oh-woe-is-me about the fact that she may have to be without her phone for FIVE DAYS until her new phone would arrive.  Luckily for her nerves and her friends sanity, two days is all it took to get that replacement but the agony this situation created just goes to show how 'Johnny Mnemonic' we are when it comes to technology at our finger tips (in other words, if we could have them implanted to make sure they never strayed from out side, we probably would).

Story number two....it's actually more of the punch line to this next one that spoke to me since it's actually a phrase I use (sparingly...okay, not really...).  The section is called 'Not a Fan'...the story, 'Local Travel'.  Now, this little ditty is merely about her travel exploits and the discovery that her passport is full while her visits to those in neighboring areas remains slim to none.  It is all summed up nice and tidy with "I told him I am not a fan of road trips.".  This may not seem like the most earth shattering revelation, but think about it...this is a phrase that can go many miles.  You're not actually saying you strongly dislike something or someone even, you're simply saying you're not a madly-in-love-with-it-must-talk-about-it-at-all-costs kind of person on the topic.  Much more appealing and certainly less negative, don't you agree? 

So, would I recommend this book for you?  If you like looking at life through someone else's eyes and discovering there IS in fact a laugh to be had sometimes even if it's not staring you in the face...YES, yes I do.  If you'd prefer to stay in the corner and be left alone while pondering your most recent trip to the grocery store....YES, I still you have a shot at connecting to these stories (no, seriously!).  If you just think I sound like a raving fool for the last three paragraphs and can't wait til I stop the questioning here....okay, so don't actually tell me that, just smile nod and be all the wiser about this fun look at the world we see everyday.

Special thanks to Erica at Harper Perennial for the review copy. (THANKS!)  For more information on this title and many more, be sure to visit their website, blog, or follow along on Twitter!  For more information on the comings and goings of the author, check out her site (love the opening page...gotta see it for the effect alone).

Until next time....happy reading!