Book Review - I've Got Sand In All The Wrong Places

One of the best parts of being a librarian are some of the perks I’ve discovered along the way. As a long time bookseller (close to 16 years; shameless plug – I owe my education and my career path to Barnes & Noble. More of that another time, but BN – seriously? Thank you.) I was familiar with ARCs – Advanced Reader Copies – of books. I’ve been gifted with a few from some of my favorite authors – Jodi Picoult, Dean Koontz, Claire Cook, not to mention many others. I’ve even got an original ARC of a little known book by Stephenie Meyer called Twilight – maybe you've heard of it, by chance? As I dropped back my hours bookselling to fulfill my new full-time career, I found less and less chances to obtain ARC treasures. Until I read about Net Galley one day. Net Galley is an opportunity for me to read ARC e-versions of many upcoming books for free. The “cost” is in order to keep on being gifted with free ebooks, I need to write a (hopefully favorable) review online and share it – through Amazon, GoodReads, blogging, websites, etc. At first it was just great fun – I started requesting and receiving many books. Some were really good, others, not so much. But I also discovered the more I read and reviewed the more perks came at me. Like auto-approval from certain publishers. Again, at first, it was just from publishers who really just wanted to get their books circulating. But one day a major publisher put me on their auto-approved list and more choices opened up to me, and a few more publishers added auto-approval to my profile. Recently I saw a book advertised that looked like a good read from St. Martin’s Press; ”I’ve got Sand in All the Wrong Places” by Lisa Scottoline and Francesca Serritella, a dynamic mother and daughter writing team. I’ve read a few of Lisa’s books but was essentially clueless about the weekly column she and her daughter write. I’ve become an instant fan.

"I’ve Got Sand in All the Wrong Places" is one of the best books I have read in a while. I loved it from the first page and found myself laughing out loud throughout the whole thing. As adult women in the 21^st century, we all essentially have the same cares and concerns about life and living – growing older, dealing with curve-balls, both big and small. Lisa and Francesca offer light-hearted words of wisdom, and their down-to-earth wit prove that life can be taken much too seriously.

There is one chapter with a more serious note; Francesca shares the story of a brutal physical attack. Her vivacious nature allow her to share that story and her ongoing recovery as a victim of a terrible crime. It’s a healing process, and although Francesca and her mother are not certain she will continue to live life as guileless as before her attack, she perseveres and forges on, sharing her story and not allowing herself to fall prey to becoming a cowering victim of fate. I found this inspiring, and I also found (past that chapter) her outlook on life wonderfully refreshing. She continues to move on. That is what this book is about; moving on each day. As women we can either give in to calamitous doom, or we pull on our big-girl panties and continue on with forward momentum. I say Good for you, Lisa and Francesca. Thank you so much for the gift of this wonderful book!

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26114256-i-ve-got-sand-in-all-the-wrong-places