I thought this was going to be a story about how books helped "save" Zibby during times of turmoil in her life. That wasn't the case. She'd write about a difficult time and would sprinkle in the titles of the books she'd read at the time. So was it the act of keeping distracted by reading that helped her out? She never really said. I know that's true for me.
Owens has lived a very entitled life and while she did express appreciation for all that she is, I found it irritating that her podcast and other essays are framed as "Moms Don't Have Time to..."™️ What does she really know about the struggle that moms who don't come from rich parents... or don't have a good education allowing them to have many choices... or don't have full-time help... or don't have a mother with her own full-time help living nearby... or... I can go on and on.
I also understand that Owens wishes to maintain the privacy of her ex-husband and her children, but it's like her four kids came to be through immaculate conception. She briefly noted, while talking about a difficult time, that "in the meantime I'd gotten married" but no mention after that of her marrriage. At all. Then, all of a sudden she's lusting after her tennis pro. It took a while for me to understand that she was no longer married. She also only briefly mentioned the agony of shared custody. Clearly, though, her ex-husband (or someone) had the kids quite regularly and for longer than a quick overnight since she and her new husband, Kyle, were able to jet off to Los Angeles or Europe or wherever it was they were jetting off to.
I was a single mother. I know what that's like. Yet my single mother story was nothing like hers. And I truly didn't have time to read for the time period when I was working full-time, going to school at night, and doing most of the parenting on my own. After that, once I started reading again, I was the person friends would come to when they wanted book recommendations. I was still working full-time, still doing the bulk of parenting on my own, and no way would I have had time to become an influencer. Not that that was really a thing in the late 90s.
Her losses were pretty tragic and that's why I hold back on criticizing the book too much. I can't even imagine walking in her shoes as she lost friend after friend to tragic deaths. At one point, shortly after she lost a very close friend on 9/11, she drafted a novel about losing a friend on 9/11. An agent told her it was too soon for people to read novels about 9/11. Couldn't she switch up the story so her friend died in a car crash? Because I am a person who tries to make sense of things through reading, I would have appreciated a 9/11 book shortly after 9/11. I'm sorry she never wrote that book.
What I did like was Owens conversational tone. No doubt it works quite well for essays and on her podcast. I also enjoyed reading about Owens experience with Weight Watchers.
I only gave this memoir 2 stars on Goodreads. I think had I not had the preconceived notion that I was going to learn about what type of books helped her through different types of crises, if I didn't think she omitted personal information that might have helped give me context, I might have enjoyed the book a little bit more.
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