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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
I had such high hopes - what a great title. It's a title that I might have used for my own memoir. But I can only give it 2 stars. "It was OK."
And perhaps that was my problem with this book. I've lived my own version of a single-woman-traveling-and-having-adventures-of-all-sorts life, so this wasn't exactly a titillating story. Just a long accounting/brag about her travels and her relationship mistakes. It had some high points and held my interest for about the first 100 pages, and then it was just more and more of the same. Until, naturally, it reached the logical conclusion that yes - of course - all of this was naturally leading to a husband and two kids. Because where else could it possibly be leading??
Full disclosure: I received a free copy of this ARC from Random House.
And perhaps that was my problem with this book. I've lived my own version of a single-woman-traveling-and-having-adventures-of-all-sorts life, so this wasn't exactly a titillating story. Just a long accounting/brag about her travels and her relationship mistakes. It had some high points and held my interest for about the first 100 pages, and then it was just more and more of the same. Until, naturally, it reached the logical conclusion that yes - of course - all of this was naturally leading to a husband and two kids. Because where else could it possibly be leading??
Full disclosure: I received a free copy of this ARC from Random House.
Drawing from the same well of humor that provides lines for shows such as How I Met Your Mother, Kristin Newman brings her international travel stories to the page in What I Was Doing while You Were Breeding. After several failed relationships, Newman sets out on many trips between show writing season and pursues short-term flings with whatever local men are available — or not — in the places she visits, which she calls “vacationships.”
Read the full review here.
Read the full review here.
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
About 100 pages too long. Definitely a product of the time and environment (2010s Hollywood), but overall this was a funny book that I enjoyed reading.
I really enjoyed this book! It was a quick read. Newman has a quick wit and easy writing style. I enjoyed reading about all of her adventures and it definitely gave me a bit of the travel bug. She is very honest about being a single woman in her thirties and the struggle between searching for love and appreciating time with yourself
The title and cover drew me in. I mean, who doesn't want to read a travel memoir (and actually travel) rather than procreate?
I'll be honest. I found this book lacking in the travel memoir department. Yes, Newman listed all the places she went to as a confident single-woman, but I heard more about her sexual exploits than the places she visited themselves.
Don't get me wrong. I still enjoyed it. You have all the fun you want. It just wasn't what I expected. I wanted more female empowerment and finding yourself while traveling alone, which I got but not enough. Sometimes it felt like she just kept trying to reassure herself that it was okay to be single well into your 30s, over and over again. Again, that's fine and good to hear but I wanted more about her travel-specific adventures.
Overall, I did enjoy her narration and it made me want to pack my bags and take off on a solo trip. Damn you, grad school. I blame you for my inability to afford this dream.
I'll be honest. I found this book lacking in the travel memoir department. Yes, Newman listed all the places she went to as a confident single-woman, but I heard more about her sexual exploits than the places she visited themselves.
Don't get me wrong. I still enjoyed it. You have all the fun you want. It just wasn't what I expected. I wanted more female empowerment and finding yourself while traveling alone, which I got but not enough. Sometimes it felt like she just kept trying to reassure herself that it was okay to be single well into your 30s, over and over again. Again, that's fine and good to hear but I wanted more about her travel-specific adventures.
Overall, I did enjoy her narration and it made me want to pack my bags and take off on a solo trip. Damn you, grad school. I blame you for my inability to afford this dream.
One of my all time favourite books. It wasn't an inspirational "go see the world alone" book or "don't get married" book- it was simply witty, funny, entertaining and completely relatable. Many books that talk about travel are written by one of two extremes of people: dirt poor and somehow couch-surfing their way along or wanting to be perceived as poor but in reality trips were paid for by family etc. Kristin is a typical middle class woman when she begins her travels and fun. I admire her hard work throughout- though it's not a large part of her story- and her desire for fun and whimsy.
I received this book free for an honest review.
The thing is, I really expected to like this. I'm unmarried (though not single), have no children, and I love to travel. I thought it would be funny and that it would be more about being independent, that the author would at least be an interesting person.
She's pretty much not any of those things or at least she doesn't come across that way in her book. Instead it's just a long account of self indulgence and sex with lots of men in other countries while she complains about being single at home. I don't actually care how many men she had sex with, that isn't my beef with this book. That alone doesn't make someone interesting enough for me to want to read about them. And the biggest thing for me is that it wasn't funny, which for a comedy writer is kind of a let down. Made for a fairly boring read.
The saddest thing is that I'm sure there are plenty of women out there who could have done a book like this justice. Just not her, I guess.
Edited to add: and what the hell is with the need to disparage people who made different life choices by using the word "breeding" in the title rather than "having children"?
The thing is, I really expected to like this. I'm unmarried (though not single), have no children, and I love to travel. I thought it would be funny and that it would be more about being independent, that the author would at least be an interesting person.
She's pretty much not any of those things or at least she doesn't come across that way in her book. Instead it's just a long account of self indulgence and sex with lots of men in other countries while she complains about being single at home. I don't actually care how many men she had sex with, that isn't my beef with this book. That alone doesn't make someone interesting enough for me to want to read about them. And the biggest thing for me is that it wasn't funny, which for a comedy writer is kind of a let down. Made for a fairly boring read.
The saddest thing is that I'm sure there are plenty of women out there who could have done a book like this justice. Just not her, I guess.
Edited to add: and what the hell is with the need to disparage people who made different life choices by using the word "breeding" in the title rather than "having children"?
adventurous
funny
fast-paced