my (not so) storybook life :: a book review

liz wrote a book!  and it is just as smart and funny as her blog mabel's house.  i mean, have you been over there?  she just has a gift with words.  the kind of gal who makes a story ten times more interesting than i ever could.  a gift, i tell you.

Fresh, funny, and poignant, My (not so) Storybook Life is old-fashioned humor mashed with literary spoofery. Elizabeth thinks of herself and her husband, Matt, as a modern day Lucy and Ricky Ricardo. Together they’ve endured paint-color mishaps, sewage disasters, pest infestations, and a schnauzer that poops at tornado sirens. It was hardly the domestic perfection a young Liz imagined while reading Anne of Green Gables and Pride and Prejudice. Could it be that these literary stalwarts had led her astray?

Liz tells the story of her own path to happiness, along the way seeking revenge on her literary heroes: Jo March has to cope with a soul-sucking job, Elizabeth Bennett shepherds a Duggar-size brood of kids, and Anne Shirley deals with a penny-pinching husband. But every comedy is balanced by tragedy. Angela was one of Liz’s closest friends, a kindred spirit who at age of 33 was diagnosed with cancer. Before Angela, Liz was discontent. But it was the journey she took with this friend that made her realize that her house and its decorations and plumbing and dirty-clothes-covered Man Cave were not burdens to be tweaked and perfected, but blessings to be thankful for.

i was honored to receive a copy of my (not so) storybook life and spent a lovely afternoon absorbed in this tale of friendship and faith.  each chapter had me chuckling over the modern spin on some of our favorite heroines - gilbert moves anne to a ranch subdivision!!!  as a classic book junkie, these were terribly amusing.

there were so many gems in these pages. . .

• the little bit on english majors, their job prospects and bruised (and beaten) egos?  my newly graduated brother is living that in full force while he works as a local barrista.  yes, i called my mom and read her that paragraph.
• the descriptions of falsely named paint colors?  good to know i am not the only one.
• the sleeping with the enemy scenes?  laugh out loud funny.  yes.  and a little painful to imagine. :)

but liz also had me all weepy as she struggled through her end of watching a dear friend battle cancer.  it is real and raw.  it is obvious that her life was changed by angela.

the best part of the book has to be the final pages.  she gets it.  contentment and joy have nothing to do with perfection.  they are found in Him alone.

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this would make an excellent friend-sister-self gift this upcoming holiday season.   
click here to purchase my (not so) storybook life.

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