Book Review: A Walk in the Snark
Rachel Thompson- A Walk in the SnarkFormat: ebook, KindleSynopsis: (from Goodreads) Rachel Thompson, author of A Walk In The Snark, writes non-fiction that makes you laugh and think. Stranded in Orange County, CA (the OC), she’s a redhead in a sea of blondes, who decided to use her voice as a way to differentiate herself from the SUVs and fake boobs that surround her every day. This chick is all real and isn’t afraid to say so.Her Mancode and Chickspeak essays speak volumes about how men and women communicate (or fail to), while her more serious pieces about parenting, work, and lost love will tear at your heart.With her trademark snarky humor and candor, Rachel whisks you into her caffeinated world where she deconstructs common phrases (I’m Fine) and makes up words (Refrigeratoritis) in order to help dudes understand chicks…and vice versa.Review: I'll start by saying, that I 'listened' to this ebook using my (brand new!) Kindle 'text to speech' settings. It was my first experience in using this and luckily, this book was perfect to try. The author has a conversational style of writing that worked really well as an audio.The first few pages seemed to be a bit of disclaimer, reviews and a bit of babble and I was beginning to think it was going to be a bit trashy especially when she started to chat about some of the male and female 'stereotypical' behaviours. Perhaps I couldn't really relate completely to Rachel's description of a man because I am one of those lucky few who have a thoughtful, domesticated boyfriend who actually enjoys cleaning and puts the toilet seat down! And I on the other hand am guilty of not replacing the toilet paper roll! But, in spite of all that I was actually laughing out loud, which is saying a lot when a computerised robot was reading out the jokes!What I found particularly interesting was the topic of Rachel's prior abusive relationship. As I work in a professional role with many women victims of domestic violence I was interested in what she had to say and whether it would be of any use to women who are currently in those situations and reading her book. Fortunately, Rachel seemed to have processed the experience and has some insight into where she was in her life at the time and to reflect back on that time with some level of objectivity.I think this book is a compilation of Rachel's blog posts and so at times it was repetitive and I did get a little bit bored. However, I couldn't just turn the page because I was listening to it while driving to work- so just had to put up with it until she moved on to something new. Rachel talks about relationships, parenting and how men and women differ in their communication styles, needs and wants. I wonder if stay at home mums with kids may relate to Rachel more than what I did? But overall, it was an enjoyable read (listen)- it didn't change my life, but I had a couple of laughs so I am pretty satisfied.
3/5 rating
A Walk in the Snark can be purchased from Amazon