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Girl Walks into a Bar . . .: Comedy Calamities, Dating Disasters, and a Midlife Miracle

Rachel Dratch

7.0 (2 Ratings) Rate It

Book

In this side-splitting memoir, the former Saturday Night Live star recounts the hilarious adventures...

Crusoe, the Celebrity Dachshund

Ryan Beauchesne

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What?! You've never heard of Crusoe the Celebrity Dachshund?! You must be living under a rock! Or at...

Fine Art Tips with Lori McNee: Painting Techniques and Professional Advice

Lori McNee

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Lessons of a lifetime. 24 modern-day masters share secrets to their success. Since 2009, thousands...

Incandescence

Greg Egan

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A million years from now, the galaxy is divided between the vast, cooperative meta-civilisation...

Christine A. (965 KP) rated Good Neighbors in Books

May 13, 2021

Good Neighbors

Sarah Langan | 2021 | Thriller

9.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Rating

I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book so I could give an honest review. The opinions are entirely my own, and any quotes are taken from the ARC and may be different in the final published copy.

Good Neighbors by Sarah Langan is a difficult book to review in 200 words. There is so much I want to mention but need to limit myself. My review can be summed up in three words "read this book."

Maple Street is a perfect place to raise a family. The neighbors interact with each other as an extended family. They gather for barbeques, help each other, and look out for each other's children.

The new family is different. Arlo, a has-been rock star. Gertie, a beautiful ex-pageant queen. Julie, an intelligent preteen who curses like a sailor. Larry, an autistic boy who, along with his family, does not fit with the Maple Street image. The queen bee, Rhea, takes the family under her wing, and everyone welcomes them into the fold.

After a booze-fueled night, Rhea overshares to Gertie, which starts the Maple Street implosion.

Good Neighbors is a twisted story that takes its time to grow like the heat in summer. I recently read an ok writer cannot mess up a great plot while a great author will take a great plot and make it even better. Langan's writing and the great plot make for an excellent, well-written book.

This 200-word review was published on Philomathinphila.com.

Kudos

Ian Anderson recommended Pocket Full of Kryptonite by Spin Doctors in Music (curated)

"It was 1991/2 when the Spin Doctors had their relatively brief moment of huge fame, and their first album went triple platinum. I actually first saw them on The David Letterman Show in the early days of that, and was intrigued by the bouncy, very New York, educated and musicianly sound of the band, who were clearly great players. They were very much a product of that era when very good, very musically aware, very elegant musicians got together to make very direct rock music in a way that sounded so fresh and unlike the other stuff that was going on. They were musos, not a bunch of kids in a garage. They were guys who really knew about time signatures, rhythms and arrangements and had great ability with their instruments. And the singer, Chris Barron, brought a freshness in delivery that worked extremely well on The David Letterman Show and in the few videos they did at the time. I actually went to see them live in the UK and I met them, at the Wolverhampton Civic Hall or somewhere. The guitar player was a very charming guy, a bit of a fan and very pleased I came to the gig and went backstage to say hi, whereas the bass player and drummer gave me the cold shoulder, as if I was from a previous generation, like an earlier episode of Star Trek. For basically a three-piece with a singer they made a very cohesive noise."

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