Author: Kristin Newman
Publisher: Three Rivers Press
Year: 2014
Audio Publisher: Tantor Media
Audio Year: 2014
Audio Length: 7:15:14
Genre: Memoir
Age: Adult 18+ (There is ALOT of sex in this book like an over the top amount so if you are not 18 or older I would not recommend this book for you)
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Let me start this review by saying that this review will be very different from most of my others...you have been warned! I will also preface this review by saying that if you live your life like this more power too you. I however would never do the things described in this book. I am also going to be very motherly in saying that you should not be doing these things because there is a lot of risk. If you choose to do them please be safe at all times.
I stumbled across this book while looking at travel blogs. I had a moment where I was looking at places to travel when you are single & broke. Apparently normal people go on vacation when they have vacation time, I don't know what this is like because I've never done it. So while looking at singles cruises, beaches, & places you can be half naked...none of which I would EVER do...I came across a list of travel books. This one was near the top as one of the best so I was intrigued about what one does while single & looking to travel. This book sounded hilarious & the title really caught my attention so I decided to order it on ILL since none of my county libraries had it. It reminded me of Sex in the City which is one of my all time favorite shows.
This is the description of the book from Amazon: Kristin Newman spent much of her twenties and thirties buying dresses to wear to her friends' weddings and baby showers. Not ready to settle down and in need of an escape from her fast-paced job as a sitcom writer, Kristin instead traveled the world, often alone, for several weeks each year. In addition to falling madly in love with the planet, Kristin fell for many attractive locals, men who could provide the emotional connection she wanted without costing her the freedom she desperately needed.
Kristin introduces readers to the Israeli bartenders, Finnish poker players, sexy Bedouins, and Argentinean priests who helped her transform into "Kristin-Adjacent" on the road–a slower, softer, and, yes, sluttier version of herself at home. Equal parts laugh-out-loud storytelling, candid reflection, and wanderlust-inspiring travel tales, What I Was Doing While You Were Breeding is a compelling debut that will have readers rushing to renew their passports.
That description sounds awesome right!?
Let me just say that it was not the fun, funny, single girl adventure book you would think from the title & description. I also was able to find it on audio & listened to some of it as well. The writer is the narrator for the audio which I think made it funnier than it actually was because she was retelling from her own experience. Kristin at several times says that she doesn't want to slut shame herself or anyone else & she does not do that during the book. She acts slutty & is proud while the people around her settle down & have families which I feel was the point of her living her life & also turning her story into a book.
Overall this book had it's funny moments. But after 5 chapters of the same cycle over & over I got tired of it & skipped to the end. This book did not make me feel empowered to be a single woman who can travel & have fun on her own. I will continue to go to movies by myself & enjoy take out & netflix & hope I can have a cat one day. The book made me very worried for the writer & concerned about her health & well being. I know that there are people out there who do this, I have run into several of them in my life. But that being said I am not like these people & I never want to be. Let me explain why...
Kristin Newman is a writer, she has written for several very popular shows like That 70's Show & How I Met Your Mother. She has made good money & has turned her career into a raging success, obviously evident by the fact that she got a book deal. Throughout her life she has had several serious relationships.Most of these relationships are ended because the men that she has been with for years decide she is worthy enough to marry & start lives with. Kristin always says no because she is afraid of true commitment & babies & families, etc. When she is young & 20 something I can understand that. That is something every 20 something person faces in their life. But as she gets older the same pattern continues. So after these break ups Kristin travels to foreign countries all over the world mostly with her friends but also by herself. While on these trips she does a small amount of sight seeing then the for lack of a better term "young, slutty, reckless" behavior begins. She does travel to literally all over the world & to some pretty amazing places like New Zealand & Paris, I am jealous of her because she has the time & money to travel.
Now let me say that another reason I was drawn to this book is because Kristin reminds me of me a little bit. She doesn't believe in God or organized religion, she doesn't want to be married or have a kid "right now" but if it never happened she might be ok with that, but overall she is just living day to day & she can worry about it later. She also feels like society pressures her into thinking she needs those things to be a good & successful person...which is complete BS. So that part of the story is relateable on many levels for me & I'm sure some of you out there.
But....and there is a but to the story...
Just because you are young & pretty & successful etc.does not mean you should travel to foreign countries to get drunk & have sex with random strangers. It does not mean you should buy drugs & go on benders for weeks at a time. It does not mean having sex in public or with multiple partners at once. I could go on......I will say that I don't think behavior like that is acceptable in the US or at any time really no matter how old or young or pretty or fat or broke or rich or ANYTHING you are or are not. Kristin also says many times in the book that she has family issues & she thinks that could be the cause of her thoughts & behavior. That too I don't think is a real excuse but let's just go with it.
So after 5 chapters of love, breakup, travel, & sex cycles I got tired of all the crazy "adventures" & decided to skip to the end of the story to see what the outcome of all that was. The thing that really made me stop reading was her trip to the Dominican Republic where she gets hurt really bad & has to have surgery. She has the surgery & stays there to recover & ends up sleeping with someone while on crutches with a cast/wrapping on her foot....SERIOUSLY!!!!???? Luckily in the end she does meet a very nice guy who has 2 kids from a previous marriage.They love each other & decide to move in together & be a family. At the time this book was written 4 years ago they were not married & that is ok. I am very happy for them all to have found each other & "settled down". Kristin says that she knows there was some scary & less than flattering moments in her life & she is a little embarrassed that her family is reading about them. But she doesn't regret it & you should live your life the way you want to. I also agree with that. I know I have made some not great decisions in my life, especially when it comes to dating. But I would never use that to justify going on a drug/drunken bender & have sex with dozens of random strangers in any country at any time of life.
Overall the book was not bad I just thought it would be different from what it was. I would not recommend it to someone as a "travel book". In the end I'm ok with reading it but I am a little disappointed it turned out to be so...I don't even know what other word to use besides slutty. It was funny but not funny enough to outweigh the sluttyness in the end.
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