Audiobook Review: The New Single by Tamsen Fadal
The New Single: Finding, Fixing and Falling Back in Love With Yourself After a Break-Up or Divorce
Author: Tamsen Fadal
Narrator: Tamsen Fadal
Published: June 30, 2015
Audiobook: 7 hours 5 minutes
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Listened To: November 25-28, 2024
Jessica’s Rating: 4 stars
Book Description:
Starting over doesn’t have to be so hard.
After the shock of a relationship change it can be tough to get out of bed in the morning, much less be at your best. But it doesn’t have to be that way. With a realistic and proven game plan to help you get where you want to be, The New Single is the essential roadmap to surviving the split-up and starting over, ninety days at a time:
– Embracing the person you are today
– Radiating confidence
– Taking better care of yourself inside and out, from career and finances, to home, health, and fitness
– Avoiding toxic patterns and dangerous missteps
Tamsen Fadal is empathetic and incisive about relationships and breakups: she learned many of the lessons in The New Single the hard way. Now, with candor and humor, she’s sharing her secrets, stories, and sometimes painful lessons.
Jessica’s Review:
This is going to be a bit of a personal review for me.
I never would have pictured that 2024 went the way that it did: My husband telling me something on January 6, 2024 that turned my life upside down. Couples counseling didn’t work and I realized the marriage was over. Being devastated, I had to start over and with the help of some great friends, I did. I found the apartment that God had meant for me (which is its own short story) and took two of the three cats (apartments only let you have two pets otherwise I would have taken all three). I have started over with my new chapter and I think I am doing pretty good: Yes, I still have times of sadness and I know that will continue, but I am getting better.
I discovered Tamsen Fadal in 2024 talking about her book coming out in 2025: How to Menopause: Take Charge of Your Health, Reclaim Your Life, and Feel Even Better than Before along with her documentary The M Factor: Shredding the Silence on Menopause that is out now and I have watched it. I am of ‘that age’ where I am beginning to experience peri-menopause symptoms, so I look forward to her upcoming book and learning what every woman goes through in their life.
I came across The New Single for free in my Audible account and it is also narrated by Fadal, so I decided to listen to it and it did help me! Everything mentioned in self-help books will not apply to every reader, which includes this one: Everyone is different and goes through their own life changes. This book is geared towards women who have gone through a breakup of a long-term serious relationship or a divorce, and a lot of it seemed geared for me. I didn’t have children with my ex-husband, so I did skip over the parts where children are mentioned.
Fadal’s book was written after her divorce and in some ways I identified with her. Her book is meant to help the reader/listener after their particular life change occurs and to empower themselves and learn to love themselves again as they start over. There were good tips and suggestions given to the reader.
This is a great self-help book for those who will need it. And if I could give Fadal a hug I would!
This review is posting on my site a little more than a month after I wrote it. It is posting on January 6, 2025, which is one year from when my now ex-husband told me “I love you, but I’m not in love with you” on January 6, 2024. I’ve come so far from that life changing day and looking forward to what happens next! If you are going through a hard time like I did, I know it doesn’t feel like it, but it really WILL get better! You will survive it and come out better in the end! It’s a new chapter for you like it was for me.
Audiobook Review: I Need a Lifeguard Everywhere but the Pool
I need a Lifeguard Everywhere but the Pool
Series: The Amazing Adventures of an Ordinary Woman #8
Authors:
Lisa Scottoline
Francesca Serritella
Narrators:
Lisa Scottoline
Francesca Serritella
Published: July 11, 2017
Audiobook: 5 hours 30 minutes
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Listened To: March 12-16, 2024
Jessica’s Rating: 4 stars
Book Description:
The bestselling and “perennially hilarious” mother-daughter team is back with a new collection of stories from their real lives, guaranteed to make you laugh out loud. Join Lisa Scottoline and Francesca Serritella as they regret drunk-shopping online, try smell-dating, and explore the freedom of a hiatus from men – a Guyatus. They offer a fresh and funny take on the triumphs and facepalm moments of modern life, showing that when it comes to navigating the crazy world we live in, you’re always your own best lifeguard.
Jessica’s Review:
This mother/daughter combo just know how to bring on the laughs! And I listened to it at a time when I really needed some giggles. These ladies cover just about everything in these short essays (yes, there are some politics too).
You get to know both women through the essays they write- whether you are already a reader of theirs or this collection of essays is new to you. And they also narrate the audiobook, which makes it even better!
I thought from the cover that this was going to be a book to gear you up for the summer, but holidays and elections are mentioned, so it can really be listened to at any time!
If you are a woman, you need to listen (or read) these books! The titles of the books in this series just shows the humor and honesty these ladies possess.
Bring on more books to the series ladies!
Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Audiobook Review: Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
Author: John Berendt
Narrator: Jeff Woodman
Published: January 13, 1994
Audiobook: 15 Hours 4 minutes
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Listened To: October 5-13, 2023
Jessica’s Rating: 4 stars
Audiobook Description:
Shots rang out in Savannah’s grandest mansion in the misty, early morning hours of May 2, 1981. Was it murder or self-defense? For nearly a decade, the shooting and its aftermath reverberated throughout this city of moss-hung oaks and shaded squares. John Berendt’s narrative reads like a thoroughly engrossing novel, and yet it is a work of nonfiction. Berendt interweaves a first-person account of life in this isolated remnant of the Old South with the unpredictable twists and turns of a landmark murder case.
The story is peopled by a gallery of remarkable characters: the well-bred society ladies of the Married Woman’s Card Club; the turbulent young redneck gigolo; the hapless recluse who owns a bottle of poison so powerful it could kill every man, woman, and child in Savannah; the aging and profane Southern belle who is the “soul of pampered self-absorption”; the uproarious black drag queen; the acerbic and arrogant antiques dealer; the sweet-talking, piano-playing con artist; young blacks dancing the minuet at the black debutante ball; and Minerva, the voodoo priestess who works her magic in the graveyard at midnight. These and other Savannahians act as a Greek chorus, with Berendt revealing the alliances, hostilities, and intrigues that thrive in a town where everyone knows everyone else.
Jessica’s Review:
This book is a case of where truth is stranger than fiction and it happens in the Southern town of Savannah, Georgia! We have an intriguing and colorful cast of characters in 1981 Savannah. It has also become a movie that I saw at least 15 years ago, but when I saw it I don’t think I realized it was a true story!
This is a true crime book that reads like fiction! In actuality the author’s ‘character’ in the book is the only fictional character because in reality he arrived in Savannah during Jim William’s first trial. Yes, I said first trial because he was tried more than once. Berendt really pulls you into this true story with some intimate details that might be TMI for some readers.
Almost any kind of ‘character’ you can think of is in this book: We have a drag queen, a con artist, black debutants, and a voodoo priestess among many more! The narrator Jeff Woodman did a fantastic job portraying some of these real people’s voices. My favorite among this colorful cast was The Lady Chablis. She even wrote a short biography around 200 pages that I plan on borrowing from my library! Kevin Spacey portrayed Jim Williams and they did a fantastic job of making him look like Jim Williams from a picture I found online, even though his acting was apparently not up to Berendt’s standards . I loved that The Lady Chablis played herself!
This one was a book club pick, and I enjoyed the book, it’s such an intriguing real-life tale! I even rewatched the movie after finishing it. It’s a longer one at 2.5 hours and does a good job condensing the story but still getting the whole story. After finishing the book, it has me wanting to go back to Savannah and even tour Mercer house which you can still do today.
I enjoyed this true crime book!
Here is the trailer to the movie:
Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK
The Film: Amazon US