Member Reviews
Nancy Harrison is running for the Senate from New York and this race is close. She has two grown children. Her son Nick was her assistant but now is teaching at Columbia. Her daughter, Greta, seems to be at loose ends. About a year ago, she suddenly distanced herself from her family, broke up with her fiance and moved out of a great apartment. Now she is living in a room with strange roommates and working at an Apple store.
Then Greta falls in love with a man she meets online. Unfortunately, he is a French right wing radical who is filled with prejudice and looking to become famous by spouting horrendous diatribes on YouTube. Greta heads to Paris and the next the family sees of her, she is throwing a champagne bottle through a glass window of one of the finest restaurants in Paris. The video goes viral and Nancy's prospects of winning are looking slimmer. She sends Nick to Paris to bring Greta home. Will he succeed?
Grant Ginder is an American novelist whose life is very similar to Nick's. He has woven a tale of family relationships and secrets that will have the reader enthralled. Although Greta seems to have gone off the tracks, the reader will discover what made her change so dramatically and what happens to her as the book progresses. Nick starts a relationship with an FBI agent and thinks about moving away to get some distance from his family and their constant crises. The tone of the book is actually light and the reader will find it easy to read. I listened to this novel and the narrator had the perfect voice for the story. This book is recommended for readers interested in family relationships.
Let's Not Do This Again
🌟🌟🌟🌟
What I loved:
-- Witty, irreverent sense of humor which makes for a great audiobook.
-- Plot and pacing.
-- Sassy political family full of drama-rama (adult siblings Nick and Greta) and their mom (Congresswoman Nancy Harrison whos running for Senator of NY)
-- Narration by Susannah Jones (such impeccable delivery.
What I didn't love:
-- Sorta unbelievable toward the end when the thing happens that likey inspired the title.
Special thanks to Macmillan Audio for the advanced listener copy of this book. This is my first book by Ginder and it won't be my last!
Such a fantastic ride! Like Veep meets Scandal — I loved this family and their drama and would have kept reading if this book was 500 pages of more drama. Why is it fictional and that I cannot go watch this broadway play!? I will buy and read anything by Grant Ginder now!
With each passing day, Americans seem to grow more politically divided than ever. Gone are the days of reaching across the aisle. Coming together for a common good is all but finished. No, these days the division is the point of it all. American politics has devolved into a tic for tac system that thrives on outrage at the actions of the other side. Yes, that outrage is often warranted, but it leaves the political system broken nonetheless. It is inevitable that this disconnect would make its way into our personal lives. I know many family members whom I don't see eye to eye with. It is this political/personal conflict that drives the action in author Grant Ginder's latest novel Let's Not Do That Again.
Nancy Harriman is running for the US Senate. She's a career politician who has spent years in the public spotlight. She began her illustrious political life as the wife of a US congressman. After his sudden and untimely death, an incident that she continues to claim she had absolutely nothing to do with, Nancy inherited his seat. Now she's risking the comfort of that House of Representative position by going for broke and running for a coveted Senate seat. Winning would bring a much-needed majority to her liberal party and mark a pinnacle in her already groundbreaking career. Late in the campaign cycle, what looked like a sure-fire win is starting to look less certain. Her opponent is gaining traction and is leaving Nancy and her advisers scrambling to make up ground. With so much on the line, Nancy can't afford any missteps.
Nick and Greta Harriman have strict instructions not to screw things up. They're used to it at this point. As the grown children of a US Congresswoman, they know they have to toe the line. Nick has always had a great relationship with his mother. He's a literature professor who is currently working on a musical based upon the life of Joan Didion. Being the gay son of a liberal politician has only helped prove his mother's passion for the social issues that her constituents care about. Greta has been less politically useful. She's smart and beautiful, but completely unmotivated to achieve anything. She spends her days working as a salesperson at the local Apple Store, perfectly content with doing nothing more. It comes as a shock to both Nick and Nancy when they see video footage out of Paris of an extremist protestor throwing a bottle of champaign into a bistro window. It isn't just the violent passion of the protest that goes against everything Nancy politically stands for, but the fact that the woman in question is none other than Greta! Nancy sends Nick to Paris to sort things out by saving his mother's campaign and his sister before it is too late.
Let's Not Do That Again sees Grant Ginder write a novel that wears many hats. It is at times a searing political satire in the same vein as Veep or Parks and Recreation. Ginder relishes in showing political ineptitude, cynicism, and all-around disfunction. He dares to show the farcical side of politics, a piece of the puzzle that is easy to forget about amongst the more serious and often damning revelations that have come out of our government in recent years. At other times, Ginder draws from the rich tradition of tightly wound political thrillers. Beneath the humor of his novel is the story of an intricate political campaign and the people working for and against it. To me, the book is at its best when it wears the hat of intimate family drama. Ginder's characters each stand on their own as fully thought out people. The relationships between mother and children, siblings, and young adults dating each other help to drive the action of the novel while grounding it in reality. In the deft hands of Grand Ginder, these elements come together to form a novel that is humorous, timely, and deeply affecting. Let's Not Do That Again is a novel for this time, of this time, and a book that will ultimately stand the test of time.
Thanks to the publisher for providing me with a copy of this novel to review!
“Justice always comes first.”
Grant Ginder is one of the funniest writers alive. I read and reviewed Honestly, We Meant Well when it came out in 2019, and I knew then that I’d read whatever he wrote from that time on. Is Let’s Not Do That Again as funny? No, friend, it’s even funnier.
My thanks go to Net Galley, MacMillan audio, and Henry Holt for the review copies. This book is for sale now.
Nancy Harriman is running for Senate in New York City, with the assistance of her loyal son, Nick, and hindrance from her rebellious daughter, Greta. She’s focused; she’s determined. And that’s a good thing, because her daughter is focused on ruining Nancy’s life.
Parents don’t always know what their children get up to online; this is doubly true when there’s only one parent, and she’s busy running for the public office her late husband used to hold. And so Nancy doesn’t know that Greta is in league with the devil, till Greta has obtained an ungodly sum of travel money from her grandmother, and has flown to Paris to be with him.
With Greta is Paris, one thing leads to another and in a breathtakingly short amount of time, the wicked little Frenchman has manipulated her into causing destruction on a level that makes international news. Nick, the good son, is sent across the Atlantic to retrieve his sister, who appears penitent, but isn’t.
From there things spiral further out of control, and it’s hard to imagine just how this story will play out, but when I see where Ginder takes it, I bow in awe.
I am fortunate enough to have received both the digital and audio versions of this delightful spoof. Susannah Jones is such a skilled narrator that at times, I forget that there’s only one person telling the story. On the other hand, there’s some creative, very funny spelling peppered into the narrative that you’ll miss out on if you don’t see the text. All told, I’d say it’s a toss-up. Go with whichever mode makes you happiest.
Highly recommended, especially if you lean a little to the left.
This book was a pure delight, and it had so much going for it. It was political but also had moments of being a thriller. And yet, at its heart, it's a story about a family and all the issues thrown at them.
Single mother Nancy Harrison is running for Senate, and she's done everything in her power to secure her win, but her grown children are throwing a couple of big monkey wrenches into her plans. Nick, who previously worked for Nancy, is sick of politics and is unsuccessfully attempting to write a musical about the life of Joan Didion. Younger sister Greta has all the marks of being successful until she's making headlines by throwing a champagne bottle through a bistro window with extremists in Paris.
This novel is a lot of fun, and I really enjoyed the realistic, sharp dialogue throughout. It's quirky, but it knows how to pull on your heartstrings too. The narrator also did an excellent job in relaying the trials and tribulations of this family.
Thank you NetGalley for a copy of Let's Not Do That Again.
This book was fun and I really enjoyed it!
So much of what I love, wrapped up in a single book.
Is Grant Ginder a mind reader? A magician? I don't think so, but LET'S NOT DO THAT AGAIN was absolutely written for me. I sort of suspected that when I first saw the cover and the synopsis and hoo boy, am I grateful not to have been disappointed.
A badass woman running for Senate (NY). Family drama and satire (and jokes! "at the behest of his mother Nick had made not one but both Cuomo brothers cry"). NYC, Paris, and a quick scene in Buffalo. People wanting to change the world for the better. Women who take charge and know how to get things done.
Even if those things don't reel you in like they do me, I'd rec this one based on its good dialogue and sheer fun factor.
I greatly enjoyed the narration by Susannah Jones. I think she was well cast for this particular novel, and her narration was easy to understand.
4.5 stars rounded up!
Okay wait, this book took a turn I was not expecting! Safe to say I really liked it, but it’s hard to categorize this one. When I posted my reading updates for this book on my Instagram Story, I had a lot of people messaging me wanting to know how it was or what it was about.
My answer: it’s political like VEEP yet has a family drama but is also kind of a thriller and very funny.
I mean, how would you categorize it!?
There were SO many elements and characters of this book that don’t make sense by themselves, but they make sense all together? I think that’s why it was so great and to be honest, a good representation of families. Yes, it’s a book about politics, but it’s also about the politics of families.
It’s a quirky book that made me laugh out loud and I think it’s the first book in a while I had no idea what my expectations would be, but I smiled ear to ear when I finished.
Content warnings: emotional abuse, murder, manipulation, fascism
Big thank you to Henry Holt Co for the ARC!
The end of this novel really took a turn I wasn't expecting and it made the whole book worth it. It's a messy family story, always a favorite, and ends up a...well, saying anything would be a spoiler.
I was ready for this book to take me on a journey and I just didn’t know how much of a journey it would be. Yes, we are swept across the globe to Paris and then back again, but we are also swept up in emotion, taken for a wild ride and feel betrayal again and again.
The Harrisons are at the center of this story: Nancy is at the tail-end of a senate campaign while her daughter, Greta, is trying to make a mess of things and her son, Nick, is trying to clean it up. And just when you think that you can get comfortable and things are safe…oh boy, they just aren’t.
I had a lot of fun trying to figure out where the story would go next or how it would end. I have to admit the ending was a little too tidy for my liking, but then again I’m not sure if I would have enjoyed it as much overall if it hadn’t been wrapped up in a bow.
TW: death of a parent, cheating, abuse, murder, fascist ideas, gaslighting
A light, enjoyable read about family and forgiveness with a side of politics.
This reminds me a little of Fredrick Backman’s work. This isn’t quite as funny (at least in the absurdist sense), but the vibe is similar and the relationships between flawed but lovable characters is front and center.
The story droops a bit in the middle, but the beginning and ending are delightful, and I loved the central characters. This is a great read for when you need something not too heavy that moves well but is still smart enough to keep you interested and engaged.
The audiobook version is worth a listen. The narrator is expressive but moderated, reading smoothly and evenly, and it’s a story that lends itself well to the format.
This was fun and funny.
Review copy provided by publisher.
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This was a good story. It felt a bit slow for me when I read the physical story, and I wanted to see if I would enjoy it more through audio. I thought the narrator did a great job with the story, but I still found it to be a bit slow. I enjoyed the characters still, but I was looking for more to really happen.
Pros: Annie Jones (of The Bookshelf and From the Front Porch) gave this book five stars. I trust her judgment, so I requested this book as soon as it was added on NetGalley. I was also encouraged by the comparisons to Veep and Nothing to See Here. I think the comparisons are accurate with all having storylines that are a bit ridiculous/absurd (in a good way)!
This book was very readable with short chapters and interesting characters. The timeline jumps around a bit, but it is not difficult to follow. The settings of New York City and Paris were very vivid. The plot took some turns I was not expecting, and I enjoyed the story about family and politics.
I had the opportunity to read the ebook and audiobook versions of this book through NetGalley, and I thought it was great in both format. I wouldn't suggest one over the other--I think it's whichever format the reader prefers or can get first.
Cons: The book dragged a bit in the middle, but that is a very minor con.
Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for the opportunity to listen to this book.
I've shared this review on Goodreads and Storygraph.