How To Talk Minnesotan

About The Book:  Based in part on material written for "A Prairie Home Companion", How to Talk Minnesotan will help visitors to Minnesota keep from sticking out like sore thumbs when they don't know the difference between "not too bad a deal" and "a heckuva deal". Illustrated with line drawings.

About the Author:  A one-time radio script writer, Howard Mohr has become known as the man who translated Minnesotan for the rest of the world.  Early in his career, Mohr wrote for Prairie Home Companion, creating fake radio ads and listener favorites such as Raw Bits. But he's best known as the author of the bestselling book How to Talk Minnesotan. It's a book that when made into a video version won a regional Emmy in Chicago. He even adapted it into a stage musical which received a long-time run at playhouses in the region. Mohr is a graduate of Abilene Christian University and lives with his family on a southwestern Minnesota prairie.

My Thoughts About The Book: I am an avid Garrison Keillor and Prairie Home Companion fan and when I agreed to review this book I was hoping for someone who was like Garrison Keillor.  I  was disappointed.  The book was similar to the dryness of Prairie Home Companion but lacked the full bodied stories Keille shares each week with his radio audience.  I found a lot of familiar Minnisotan idioms absent from the book.   As a high school teacher I did love his lesson format with a few conversation tips and then examples.  I also liked the pronunciation notes.  The Power f the Negative lesson was one of my favorite lessons.  It is amazing how confusing expressing negatives can be.....in Minnesota.  Hotdish was a new concept for me when I visited Minnesota.  I assumed it was casserole (southern rendition)...but found it was a bit different....quite a bit.  Even though the book was not quite what I thought it would be it was an entertaining read and full of wonderful homilies from Minnesota. 

Disclaimer:  I was given this book from Net Galley and the Penguin Publishing Group for a fair and honest review.  The views expressed are my own. 

The Parenting Guide For the Rest of Us!

About The Book:  Sh*tty Momis the ultimate parenting guide, written by four moms who have seen it all. As hilarious as it is universal, each chapter presents a common parenting scenario with advice on how to get through it in the easiest and most efficient way possible. With chapters such as "How to Sleep Until 9 A.M. Every Weekend" and "When Seeing an Infant Triggers a Mental Illness That Makes You Want to Have Another Baby," as well as a Sh*tty Mom quiz, this is a must-have, laugh-out-loud funny book for the sh*tty parent in all of us.

About The Authors:  Laurie Kilmartin is an Emmy-nominated writer for CONAN on TBS, and, as a stand-up comedian, has appeared on CONAN, Last Comic Standing, Jimmy Kimmel Live, and Comedy Central. She lives in Los Angeles with her son. Karen Molineis a journalist and author who has written more than two dozen nonfiction books, as well as two novels. Karen and her son live in New York City. Alicia Ybarbo is a four-time Emmy award-winning producer. She has worked on NBC's TODAY show since 2000. She lives in New York City with her husband and two children. Three-time Emmy award-winning producer Mary Ann Zoellner has worked at NBC news for 16 years. She lives in New York City with her husband and two daughters.

My Thoughts About The Book:  I have to admit that I was less than thrilled about the title of the book.  I believed myself to be a good parent....but had to admit that babies and children do not come with an instruction manual.  It was because of that that I chose to review this book.  It was hilarious!  It was a humorous group of anecdotes at how to survive life with a baby in the house.  The preliminary quiz brought tears to my eyes.    One of the questions was, "if your kid does have a 100 degree fever do you debate keeping him at home.  I was laughing uncontrollable at that moment.  I had a child who thought of every illness under the sun to come home from school and one day I told the teacher, "don't call me unless she has a fever of 105 and is writhing in the floor in convulsions."  The teacher did not appreciate my sarcasm.  I thought I was a scream.  This book was my kind of book.

Disclaimer: I received this book from the Net Galley Publishing Groups in an exchange for a fair and honest review.