Sam Reviews "My Drunk Holidays! How to Savor and Celebrate the Year" by Hannah Hart

I love Hannah, and I was very curious to see how she wrote this book.  I still strongly prefer her memoir writing.  Some things in this book, like in My Drunk Kitchen, feels forced. Also, whole Hannah admittedly speaks with a skepticism, this book has a strong mood-dampening underlier.  While it tries to be fun a whimsical it sometimes comes off as doomsday. I still value her contribution and intend to support her, this book was not as light and fun to read as the first, and not nearly as heartfelt as Buffering.


"To all our siblings, who taught us how to celebrate, Savor, and survive."

"Trust has to be tested.  That's how you know it's more than words."

"Ah!  'All things come to those who wait' -
"(I say these words to make me glad).
"But something answers soft and sad -
"They come, but often come too late!"
-Lady Mary Montgomerie Currie

"I always thought that 'holding a grudge' implied some intention of vengeance.  Retaliation.  My response is so much more passive than that. ...  The thought simply being 'Ah, you have betrayed me.  I suppose now I'll have to...never trust you again.'"

"People don't just have affairs.  Affairs are symptoms of dysfunction within a relationship. If you can avoid dysfunction, then you can avoid affairs."

"Conflict Resolution:
"Take turns listening to each other's experience without comment.
"Make room in your emotional experience to see it from their perspective.
"Say things like, 'I can see why you'd feel that way.' Show compassion for their experience.
"Stay connected with your body. If you feel it tensing, take a deep breath and stay focused on the conversation at hand.
"If you're getting too hot under the collar, take a 10-minute break and reset. Write down what it is you want them to hear. What is your goal for the conversation? What do you want them to know?
"Make a plan for next time an issue like this comes up.
"Kiss and make up."

"Time will pass quickly and casually, like a pickpocket taking all your best intentions."

 

Sam Reviews "Me & Emma" by Elizabeth Flock

"Momma doesn't like to think about things too hard.  I wish I could be more like that.  Seems like all I do is think on things and pretty soon they're worn out in my mind."

"I got handed lemons, too, y'know, but I learned how to make lemonade with them.  No one ever told me I had to add sugar but that's life for you.  It ain't sweet."

"Some days are talking-to-Momma days, some days aren't."

"My head bounces against the counter on its way down, which makes it a little harder not to cry.  But I don't. Cry. That'd be the kiss of death with Momma."

"'I hate you, you little savage. You hear me? I hate you. I hate the way you look, I hate the way you walk, I hate everything about you....'
"I know Momma doesn't mean this. She's just mad and when Momma gets mad she has trouble with her mouth - it won't stop moving, is what the trouble is."

"You know a man can work on his carving his whole life and not git any better at it.  Other things, well, you git better at 'em if you do 'em over an over again through the years. Not wood. You can stay just as bad a carver as you were the day you were born if that's the way it's s'posed to be."

"Answer a question with a question and everyone wins."

"You've never settled into life. You want life to be better to you but it ain't like that.  Not for folks like us.  Life's hard. That's the way it is."

"[She] pulls her case out, settling it on the mattress. It lies there with an open mouth ready to gobble up their lives and sprit it them away from here."

"Sometimes little sisters don't think things through, so it's up to big sisters to help them with that."