My (not so) Storybook Life - Harrell (Owen)

Title: My (not so) Storybook Life: A Tale of Friendship and Faith

Author: Elizabeth Harrell (Owen)

Published: Genre: Memoir
Rating:
4/5- Great. Push it on your friends and family.

Book Source: Purchased
 
Recommended if you like: Memoir, comedy, classics

What Its About:  

On the search for domestic bliss, Liz Owen discovered that all is not as it seems. Her picture perfect life with her perfect husband, in their perfect home, never quite materializes. Sharing that reality with some of the ladies of beloved classics, she writes alternative scenes to Anne of Green Gables, Gone with the Wind, and Pride and Prejudice, among others.

These often hilarious snippets lead into sometimes funny,  sometimes heartbreaking, always entertaining stories about her own struggles to find happiness, including a mediocre job who's best feature is her coworker become bestfreiend, a foreboding that something is bound to go wrong with her newly purchased home (a premonition that came true, though she may have blown it a bit out of proportion), her struggles with choosing paint colors (spoiler: she chooses not to chose), and a dog who poops during tornado warnings. Through all this humor runs the tragic story of Owen's dear friend Angela's battle with cancer, the ultimate reminder that reality is a bitch. It takes this heartbreaking battle to make Owen realize that life is much more meaningful than paint chips and a clean house and happiness is sometimes right under your nose.

The Bottom Line: 

Another reader puts it much better than I could:

"This is a memoir for the rest of us, who go to work, deal with cranky pets, quirky spouses, and dream of having kitchen floors that don't ripple underfoot. It is funny, clever, touching, and--notwithstanding the "storybook" title--very real." ~Juli Kinrich


Elizabeth Harrell (Owen) has a fresh and fun writing style that is as touching as it is entertaining.  This memoir is wonderful and creative and worth a read for any woman living a life, any life. 

Harrell is a fellow blogger who can currently be found at http://elizabeth-harrell.com/. Previously, she wrote the well known and loved mabelshouse.blogspot.com/.