I don't normally read essay collections but I decided to give I miss you When I blink a go last year based on all the hype and really enjoyed it so I wanted to read this one as well. While this is a group of essays I found enough of a thread of theming between the stories to read more memoir than essay to me. There is something about Philpott's writing that I found completely relatable. As a wife, as a mother, as a friend, she writes about her love of her family and success but still has to deal with the anxiety of it all and how we have to deal with the big and small things all at the same time. I find myself feeling like I am having a conversation with an old friend while reading her work. She makes me laugh, cry, and feel all the things that come with trying to do it all for my family while constantly feeling successful and simultaneously feeling like I am failing.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an e-ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

As a lover of memoirs, while this one was good, it fell a little short for me.

A collection of essays, Mary shares stories from her life with us. I think it just felt disjointed in the format presented.

I loved this book and apparently Prince Harry does, too, as indicated by this week's People Magazine. Love for children and letting go is highlighted and appealed to me as a parent. The writing is strong and on point. I loved the interactions with her family and how she dealt with a medical scare with her son. Her Covid episode was realistic and she brings Nashville to life. Life is not easy and Philpott let's the reader know that's okay, love anyway.

Copy provided by the publisher and NetGalley

Mary Laura Philpott has once again left me with all the feels. While reading Bomb Shelter, I alternated between laughing and crying, so definitely keep your tissues handy. Philpott is so adept at capturing the mixed emotions that come with watching your children grow and the pain and uncertainty you experience when your child is faced with a life-altering diagnosis. There is so much to relate to in these essays, especially if you're a champion worrier (know oneself). Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the digital ARC.

This was a lovely, cohesive collection of essays. While the youngsters in the decade prior to my own could definitely appreciate this, I feel like the perspective I’ve gained the past ten years really added to my enjoyment of these stories. I’m not quite middle age (am I?!), but Philpott’s voice really resonated. She’s highly empathic, which I can also relate to, and deals with anxiety, catastrophizing, and overthinking. (Check, check, and check!) I was laughing out loud at her essay on meditation– I feel like I could have written it myself.

As a mom of a child with a chronic health condition, I also really related to her thoughts and feelings about her son’s health/diagnosis in the book. There’s this overwhelming feeling of helplessness, wanting to simultaneously keep them in a bubble but also wanting them to experience everything to the fullest.

She laces heavier topics with levity, thoughtfulness, humor, and love. I love her juxtaposition on topics like loneliness and loss with gratitude and hope, and how those feelings can coexist. She infuses optimism into the pages without being excruciatingly sanguine. I love that the stories felt like smaller pieces of the bigger puzzle and connected in both big and small ways. It felt like such a cozy and comforting read.

If you’re an anxiety-ridden, empathic mom, these stories will make you feel so seen! Even if you’re one or none of those things, I think the essays will be worth your time. I highlighted so many passages, and have already been recommending this book to so many people! Thanks so much to Atria books for a digital review copy via NetGalley.

I loved Bomb Shelter. I’ve realized that I read different books for different purposes - sometimes to learn from someone living a very different life, sometimes to laugh, to cry, to feel scared at a safe remove, to swoon over new love.

Reading essay collections like Bomb Shelter or These Precious Days by Ann Patchett are like sitting up late at night with a close friend and getting to the heart of the matter. It’s that moment of connection when you recognize someone else shares some of your same fears and dreams. I highly recommend the audiobook. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the free ebook to review.

This book was a bit of a departure for me as I have been trying to read more memoirs. I enjoyed it, though I am unable to identify with her concerns as a parent. I did love the full-circle Frank moment.

Thank you to Atria and NetGalley for an e-arc for review.

3.5 stars rounded to 4.

Some of the essays were great, and others were just ok. I think I went in expecting that they would be more independent, but there was definitely common themes in them or building story, so I struggled because at times it felt like an essay book and at other times like chapters.
I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is the second book by Mary Laura Philpott I have attempted to read and the second book by her I've ended up DNFing. I'm not sure exactly why I can't get into her writing, but perhaps it has something to do with the slower pacing at the beginning of her books. I think, for me, Philpott is just not the right writer.

This is a masterpiece!!!

I adored "I miss you when I blink," so I snatched up an opportunity to read this new set of essays.

It was not a disappointment in any way! Mary Laura Philpott is just a word artist. The way she weaves her stories just allows me to transcend into her world. This is rare, and so very beautiful.

This set of essays should not be missed by any! There is so much to gain from reading this piece of art!!!

Thank you so much to the publisher for the opportunity to read this one!

Thanks to the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Admittedly, I don't always love books of essays, particularly when I'm not already familiar with the author, so that definitely impacted my reading a bit. There were some really memorable and moving stories that, as a fellow anxious person, I could really relate to. But others left me thinking "okay, so....?" which, again, is more due to me and my reading preferences than the anything to do with the writing. Overall, I think those that have enjoyed the author's previous work, or who gravitate towards this kind of writing will get a lot out of this collection of essays.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the eARC of Mary Laura Philpott’s latest work, Bomb Shelter.
I enjoyed her last book, I Miss You When I Blink, but this one connected with me to perfection. I found a series of stories that told their own individual tales but were also interwoven to create a collection based on themes that we all experience. I completely connected with her stories of anxiety and lessening control in your children’s lives, as well as the medical issues that they have dealt with as a family. An aspect of parenthood that she mentions also struck me on the day of my first child’s birth. I distinctly recall thinking of how beautiful this child was and imagining the next 18 years and instantly coming to the conclusion that someday they will leave me. Intellectually you know as a parent that this is the general idea for shepherding your children into young adulthood, but that doesn’t change the emotional toll attached to these life changes. The other thing that I have been surprised by is that having children leave for university or work is exciting for them but the toll it takes is on the family dynamic as well. It is an odd phenomenon when the makeup of the family changes.
I love how personal these stories were to her family and yet completely relatable to other families. I have so many family things in common with her as a writer, it makes me appreciate the thoughts that she has about the events that she and her family have experienced. She has a strong voice in her work and the stories come across as thoughtful and real as well as humorous at many points. There were times that I genuinely laughed out loud because I have either experienced the same situation or thought the same thing or even simply enjoyed her take on a common situation.
This is a wonderful follow-up collection to her prior book and I can’t recommend it strongly enough! These essays will stick with me and I would say to her, Keep doing you! Highly entertaining and definitely recommend picking this one up!

#BombShelter #NetGalley #AtriaBooks

Memoirs are not usually my cup of tea, but Philpott changed that with this laugh-out-loud, completely relatable group of essays depicting...life. To say she was telling the story of my life would be an understatement. I am the quintessential worrywart mom to my two children. As they were growing up, I was always on the lookout for the what-ifs. Philpott nailed it on the head. The writing made me feel like I was talking to my best friend, hashing out everything that I was worried about and then laughing and crying in the next breath. This was very enjoyable. Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for the eARC. 4 stars!

I really enjoy like collections, and this was definitely an enjoyable read, even if I couldn't identify with the essays involving motherhood due to not being a parent. However, I could identify with the topics of worry/anxiety, grief, loss, and feelings about chronic illness. Overall, I would recommend, however, those who are parents might get more out of it given the common thread of parenthood.

Hi, hello, worry-wart mother here!

Working at a children’s hospital where I consistently see families' worst case scenarios come to life certainly does not help my plight as an anxious mom.

Enter BOMB SHELTER, the essay collection that felt like an encouraging hug from a fellow anxiety-prone mother a few seasons ahead of me.

Mary Laura Philpott recounts her experiences of walking through a scary and unpredictable health challenge with her son. She also reflects on broader topics of what we can control as parents, her own childhood, and life and death but does so with heart and humor.

I appreciate that the essays didn’t offer specific advice or self-help. Rather, by sharing her experiences Philpott offered me solidarity in my future journey of motherhood. Even though I’m still in the baby/toddler season of parenthood I still resonated deeply with Mary’s words.

RATING: 4/5
PUB DATE: April 12, 2022

A big thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for an electronic of this collection in exchange for an honest review.

Review will be posted to www.instagram.com/kellyhook.readsbooks on 4/18/22

Mary Laura Philpott just ~speaks~ to me in her latest book, Bomb Shelter. She’s a worrier by nature, and after a brush with death, must cope with the increasingly-present existential fear that she’ll lose the life she’s built and the people she loves. This book is an exploration of that fear and how she learned to live with it.

Like MLP, I’m anxiety prone and full of existential dread - the fear caused by loving life too much, loving others too hard, and caring too deeply. The feeling of being so grateful and blessed and content with your life that you are emotionally paralyzed by fear of losing it. In fact, I nearly DNFed this book because I related to it so deeply and didn’t want to hear MLP (or anyone) voice such fears out loud. I’m so glad I stuck with it though - there’s such relief in knowing I’m not alone. And of course, MLP rounds out her collection of essays with a message of hope and resilience that I sorely needed!

Side note on the structure/format of the book: I love how this collection of essays contains such variety - from the mundane to the momentous, from imposter syndrome to unabashed pride, from cheerful present to anxious future. It features friends, family, acquaintances, doctors, non-domesticated reptilian pets. It held my attention and kept my mood even, despite the heavy underlying theme.

Highly recommend for fans of her last book and/or worriers who want to know they’re not alone - just make sure you’re in the right headspace.

Thanks to Atria Books and NetGalley for the gifted copy!

The author writes in an easy-going style that feels like she's having a conversation with the reader. I don't have children so couldn't relate to her feelings with her son - but that doesn't mean they didn't touch me. I could feel her anxiety and fear.

I liked some of the essays more than others - some of them felt like filler. I especially enjoyed the story of Frank the turtle and could easily imagine him. A smart move to feature him on the cover of the book!

The writings of Mary Philpott hit so close to home. In these book of essays she talks about motherhood, chronic illness and her inner feelings. I am very much like Mary, mother of a teenagers, a lifelong worrier and have just started to see the optimism and bright side vs worrying about what will come next.

I am in love with Mary’s writings, and am looking forward to read all of her books.

Thank you atria books and NetGalley for the gifted galley that released on April 12, 2022 and was one of the BOTM April Add-On!

I loved Mary's other book of essays, I Miss You When I Blink, so I've been anxiously waiting the arrival of Bomb Shelter. While Mary's life is at a very different stage than mine, I still found so much of her newest book relatable. I highlighted so many passages related to worrying, grief, and the speed at which life moves.

Much of the book is also about her children growing up and moving out, and since I am in my early thirties and childless, this wasn't as relatable to me, but her writing still moved me. I imagine that those with kids, especially kids about to leave for college, would greatly enjoy this book.

I absolutely adored this book. I felt for the first time like someone knew what it was like to live inside my brain. I flew through this book in three days, and while some of it felt a little too close to home, I couldn't put it down. I highly recommend for anyone looking for a realistic read that doesn't bog you down.