Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Spending the Holidays With People I'd Like to Punch in the Throat - Review

Spending the Holidays with People I Want to Punch in the Throat: Yuletide Yahoos, Ho Ho Humblebraggers, and other Seasonal Scourges by Jen Mann
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Source: NetGalley
Description:  From the popular, hysterical, and award winning blogger Jen of People I Want to Punch in the Throat.com comes the next destined to-be holiday classic!  You'll want to make room on your bookshelf next to A Christmas Carol and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer for Spending the Holidays with People I Want to Punch in the Throat.  So, grab a cup of hot cocoa, sit back and enjoy Jen's latest collection of humorous rants dissecting the "most wonderful time of the year." (from Goodreads)

Genre: Nonfiction/humor

Why I Picked This Book:  I've been following Jen's blog for a long time and I really enjoyed her previous book.

My Impression:  I've made no secret that I was avoiding Christmas books until after the Halloween but after all the spookiness and murder of my Halloween reads I wasn't necessarily ready to jump into the sweetness and light of the Christmas romances. So I thought this would be a good compromise and I was so right!  I found myself giggling right along with Jen as she discussed holiday decorating,  hiding Christmas presents and then forgetting where she hid them, and the madness of kids changing their mind on their must have gift at the last minute.  I loved the eavesdropping on the humblebraggers and Christmas shopping with her (kidless) cousins and grandmother.  The Christmas letter was hilarious and the talk about Cookie Exchanges and other parties made me glad of my anti-social tendencies!
This book isn't for everyone.  If you don't have kids I'm not sure this would appeal to you.  As well, Jen's language is not what one would call family friendly.
This book was a funny start to the holiday season and perfect for my already frazzled attention span.

Would I Read More of this Series/Author?: Yes!  I always enjoy seeing what Jen has to say.  Even if I don't agree with her she's always entertaining!

Would I Recommend this Book?: I would.  I definitely encourage people to check out her blog - People I Want to Punch in the Throat to give her a try.

14 comments:

  1. This looks funny. There are two sides to the holiday madness (I mean fun) and I might have to check out her blog. Looks like a great way to kick off the holiday season. :)

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  2. This sounds pretty funny... and entertaining! I'm going to check out her blog.

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  3. Oh yeah, I can totally relate to the hiding and losing of gifts and the kids constantly changing their mind ! This book looks like a lot of fun :)

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  4. Hiding and losing gifts is something I know all too well, lol. II haven't read this blogger but the book sounds funny and relatable.

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  5. I might need to listen to this just to prepare for the upcoming holidays with my extended family!

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  6. The title so made me giggle!!! :)

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  7. Sounds like the type of humor that can relieve some of the holiday-related stress. I'm going to take a peek at the blog.

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  8. That title really made me laugh. Good choice.

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  9. I have this to read for the Ho-Ho-Ho Readathon. I am happy you though it was a decent read. :)

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  10. Sounds fun, and I sure identify with hiding presents and then not being able to find them!

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  11. Omigosh, I do that forgetting-where-I-stashed-the-presents thing all the time. Or I did, until I set up a spot to stick them in. Now I only lose them occasionally. . . The Christmas letter is always a challenge: do I bore them with too much detail or go for light and funny (which I'm really, really bad at)? I should take a look at this book, if the library has a copy. :-)

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  12. Sounds like a lot of fun and a good book to break up those overly sweet Christmas reads.

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  13. Glad you could get your laugh on. And probably empathize Christmas having kids.
    I don't have kids but I see parents shopping with them. Or now that I'm working at Chapters for the holiday season I'm sure I will get to see ALL the frazzled parents. I, thank God, will not be in the gift wrapping department but I also can't wait to see that madness.

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