Auidobook Review: You Can't Drink All Day If You Don't Start Drinking in the Morning

You Can't Drink All Day If You Don't Start in the Morning by Celia Rivenbark is laugh out loud funny! This is the first book I have read (ok listened to) of hers (she has several and a weekly column) and I enjoyed her sassy, southern humor as she shared her commentary on "eco-geeks", "fitness mommies" and "clay mates". I especially loved her theory on why southern women are such aggressive drivers - they are raised to constantly defer to others and suppress their real feelings ( Bless her heart) but when they get behind the wheel they can hold back no longer and in the safety of their own car they inflict their wrath on fellow drivers. Of course, she is Southern so she can get away with this commentary!

Here is a sample of the essays from the audiobook:

• Why Miss North Carolina is too nice to hate
• How Gwyneth Paltrow wants to improve your pathetic life
• Sex every night for a year? How do you wrap that?
• Get yer Wassail on: It’s carolin’ time
• Airlines serving up one hot mess

Rivenbark's snarky humor is unrelenting at times and she seems to rant about just about everything. What I really liked, however, is that she also shared a more personal, softer side in an essay about her father and her thoughts on caring for him while he suffered from dementia and ultimately passed away. Her touching reminiscences and reflections on her father's life and what he meant to her were a refreshing turn in this otherwise funny, sarcastic book.

I chose to listen to this as opposed to read it because I find that enjoy listening to comedy on my walk to and from work - it puts a smile on my face (since I live in NYC, the fact that I am laughing out loud as I walk the streets alarms no one!) Although the essays were very funny and kept me entertained as I walked, the author's reading seemed a little stilted at time. Unlike David Sedaris whose books I feel are best when listened to, I wonder if this book lost a little in the audio. When the narrator/author is stilted, I find it distracts from the content.

Other than this minor criticism, I have only great things to say about this book - it will keep you laughing and taking comfort in the fact that you are not the only one that thinks Gwenyth Paltrow has no right telling you how to live you best life!