Review: Home Is Where the Wine Is

Summary: Balding, Paunchy, Twice-Divorced, Unemployed Male Seeks Independently Wealthy Supermodel for No-Strings-Attached fun. Nonsmokers only.

She's Back, and edgier than ever. In her debut narrative, Drunk, Divorced, & Covered in Cat Hair, blogger extraordinaire Laurie Perry, aka 'Crazy Aunt Purl,' gave women everywhere a hilarious yet heartfelt glimpse into her misadventures as a recent divorcee with a herd of cats, a slight wine and Cheetos problem, and scores of unfinished and uneven knitting projects.

Now, in her second installment, she's no longer drunk-dialing her ex. She is well on her way to divorce recovery and has embraced a new-found philosophy: To make the best out of the 'extra odd bits'—both in knitting and in life. Discovering how she accomplishes this will make you laugh and cry as she navigates new territory, from dating in a weird, wired world to vacationing solo for the first time. On the cusp of the big four-O, she ventures to the most exotic, foreign locations—the gym, a therapist's office, a self-tanning emporium— on a search for enlightenment and happiness in— where else?—downtown Los Angeles.

• Island Beach Bag
• Lonely Hearts Personal Massager Cozy
• Wineglass Flip-Flop Coaster
• Quick Knit Date-Night Bag
• Brain Freeze Ice Cream Cozy
• Super-Easy Beret . . . and more!

Over a dozen knitting recipes included with photos! -- Health Communications, Inc.

I am very hesitant to pick up books like CRAZY AUNT PURL'S HOME IS WHERE THE WINE IS: Making the Most of What You've Got One Stitch (and Cocktail!) at a Time by Laurie Perry. While I enjoy reading memoirs and humorous essays, I find that (and this is going to sound terrible) I don't always like the author. Sometimes, I can't take the snarkiness or condescending attitude. Other times, I just don't think the writer is all that funny. However, that wasn't the case at all with HOME IS WHERE THE WINE IS. I really enjoyed the book and especially Laurie Perry's hilarious voice!

The real key to this book is Laurie Perry! Make no mistake, she is an absolutely hoot and you can't help but laugh when you read her descriptions of her life. But Ms. Perry is also honest (sometimes brutally so) and I have to respect her for being so open with her readers. While I don't have all that much in common with Ms. Perry, I still really liked her and related to her heartfelt confessions. The way she "talks" to the reader through this book seems just like a conversation between friends. However, I think what impressed me the most about Ms. Perry is her ability to laugh at herself!

HOME IS WHERE THE WINE IS details Ms. Perry's efforts to tackle her New Year's Resolutions. Each one of her resolutions is covered in a different chapter with titles like "Resolution #2: Take an Adventurous Trip - Passports, Pocketbooks, and Pants" and "Resolution #4: Go on a Real Live Date - Summer Lovin' Had Me a Blast" (they are a few addendum chapters to this one!) Ms. Perry describes taking a trip to Italy all by herself as well as some of her experiences of dating after her divorce. She also talks about expanding her basic knitting projects and beginning an exercise routine! I think basing the book on her attempts to complete her resolutions was a terrific (and very creative) approach to telling her story.

HOME IS WHERE THE WINE IS is Ms. Perry's second book -- her first is titled CRAZY AUNT PURL'S DRUNK, DIVORCED AND COVERED IN CAT HAIR. I haven't read this book, nor was I even familiar with Crazy Aunt Purl before reading HOME IS WHERE THE WINE IS. But since that I enjoyed this book so much, I have since started visiting her very funny blog. In fact, I wouldn't mind reading her first book now either.

One of my favorite parts of this book were all of the references to knitting and yarn. Since I absolutely loved the cute and easy patterns (with pictures) in the back of the book, I knew I just had to try one. I decided to make the crocheted flip flop wine coaster -- it can also work as a drink identifier. It only took a few minutes to whip up, and I think it turned out to be pretty cute. I can't wait to make an entire set!


Thanks to the publisher and TLC Book Tours for providing a review copy of this book. If you'd like more information about the book tour for HOME IS WHERE THE WINE IS, you can click here.