At first when I got this book, I was certain it was going to be like Smashed: The memoir of an Alcoholic. But this book, was so much more and such a better read.

Though the book sometimes felt like it lacked flow to it, the style of writing was engaging and real. Her voice is hard to miss and you feel like laughing and crying through subsequent parts of the book. The ending seemed almost anti-climatic but it was as if she knew that, and wanted to give her readers a happy ending even though there wasn’t really one.

Here’s a brief synopsis:

“Everything I Never Wanted to Be by Dina Kucera is the true story of a family’s battle with alcoholism and drug addiction. Dina’s grandparents were alcoholics, her father was an alcoholic, she is an alcoholic and pill addict, and all three of her daughters struggle with alcohol and drug addiction–including her youngest daughter, who started using heroin at age fourteen. Dina’s household also includes her husband and his unemployed identical twin; a mother who has Parkinson’s Disease; a grandson who has cerebral palsy; and other people who drift in and out of the household depending on their employment situation or rehab status. On top of all that, Dina is trying to make it as a stand-up comic and author so she can quit her crumby job as a grocery store clerk. Through it all, Dina does her best to hold her family together, keep her faith, and maintain her sense of humor. As you might imagine, a story filled with alcoholics and drug addicts includes a number of horrific events. But in the end, Everything I Never Wanted to Be is an uplifting story that contains valuable lessons for parents and teens alike, and a strong message about the need to address the epidemic of teen drug addiction in our nation. It’s a book that can change behavior and save lives–and make you laugh along the way.”

In a way, it was almost refreshing to read a memoir that doesn’t try to be some holier-than-thou tale of heartache/loss/achievement that’s better or worse than everything. else. the reader. could ever handle. Dina is so real, and her heartache with her heroine addict daughter is real, and when she talks about how much she hates her job, you can’t help but think about jobs you’ve had that you hated and tried to grin and bear it when all you wanted to do was punch your supervisor.

I really enjoyed this book, if you like memoirs, that aren’t from over privileged brats who think that their life story deserves a book (I’m looking at you Meghan McCain and Miley Cyrus), you’ll enjoy this. Just be warned, it’s not sugar coated and kind of makes you realize that everyone has problems, and sometimes? Everyone has a story, and sometimes, it’s not a pretty one or a very happy one. But maybe we need to read these kinds of stories to keep us grounded and appreciative of what we have. I know I certainly needed it.

Check out Dina’s blog here. Also, if you want to pick up a copy for yourself you can get 30% off Dina’s book at www.everythinginever.com by entering coupon code “Dina” at checkout. Want to check out other reviews of Everything I never Wanted to Be over at TLC Book tours!

{FTC disclosure: I did receive this book for free however, all views are my own.}

I’m a huge fan of chick lit. One of my all-time favorites was “The Nanny Diaries” and I even loved the movie (speaking of, should add to netflix for kicks)

So I was THRILLED when I got an email from Engelman & Co asking me to review a copy of the Nanny Returns, and immediately jumped at the opportunity. Unfortunately, my reading was a littl slow in December so it took me about a month to get through a bunch of library books.

But! Once I dived in, it was hard to pry the book away from my hands (setting me into a TWO book lead from Hubs in our 50 book challenge of 2010)

In Nanny Returns, it’s almost ten years later, and Nan has just come back from abroad with her husband—H.H., now known just as Ryan. Mrs. X was a scary lady, but now Nan can be one too: she’s thirty-three, confident and successful, speaks three languages, and runs her own business … but when Grayer, now sixteen and more messed-up than ever, makes a drunken late-night visit to her apartment, Nan is sucked right back into the world of power, wealth, and dysfunction of the Upper East Side.

Awash with guilt for “abandoning” Grayer after the Xes kicked her out of their life when he was still a little boy, Nan agrees to do a simple favor for her grown-up charge and his smart, sweet little brother, Stilton. But the Xes are in the middle of a brutal, high-profile divorce; Mr. X is consumed by money troubles and his new actress fiancée, and Mrs. X is M.I.A. and possibly faking cancer for sympathy—and soon “one little favor” snowballs into an ever-more-bizarre series of events as Nan fights to make sure that someone is taking care of Grayer and Stilton … and to win back her beloved Grayer’s fractured trust.

Meanwhile, the rest of Nan’s life starts nose-diving like the economy. Ryan is working out of the country and practically unreachable, but still putting unexpected pressure on Nan to “start a family” of their own. Their “fixer-upper” house in Harlem is infested with toxic mold and other costly little renovation surprises. And, most of all, Nan’s experiences with the first major client in her consulting business—the Board of the ultra-elite Jarndyce prep school—are turning out to be sickeningly familiar: the Board is just as unreasonable and demanding as the UES parents she used to nanny for. Teachers—and Nan—are the new hired help, picking up where the nannies left off in the war for the well-being of the children of privilege.

Just as fresh, biting, and funny as The Nanny Diaries, but with the extra heart and wisdom of a few years’ experience, NANNY RETURNS brings both heroine and readers back to the exotic world of the Upper East Side—a community where appearances are everything, friendships can dissolve with the disappearance of a bank account, and children are often the casualties in the war between wealth and family.

Once I read that summary, I was all kinds of stoked to get into it.

I liked it. I did. Nan’s character, however, I found to be more annoying than in the first book – I kept wishing for her to grow a backbone. To just…say no for once. I found Grayer to be a feisty, over-privileged brat – like Chuck Bass but WORSE! The story itself picked up well from the first book which is always a plus especially when it’s been so long since the first one. Most sequels, if I’m correct, don’t take so long to come out – hell, I didn’t even know they were WRITING a sequel (I’ve loved all of their books that I’ve read – Dedication, Nanny Diaries, Citizen Girl and thanks to amazon, i found another to add to my list to read: The Real Real…I’m intrigued!) but this one was an easy read, an okay read but not a super, great OMG-I’m-going-to-send-it-to-all-my-pals read.

End Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars. {i wanted to give it a 5 but while the writing was great, the story was just…I dunno…missing something}

{Disclaimer: I did receive this book for free from the publisher, however, I was not paid for my review. These thoughts are strictly my own and have not been influenced by any outside sources}