I absolutely love listening to @tompapa or reading #TomPapa. He is a comedian full of funny stories and hilarious observations! I loved the stories in a previous book as well called #youredoingGreatandotherReasonstoStayAlive. A lot of stories make me laugh out loud in reminiscence since my life mostly has been Philly and the Jersey Shore and Tom Papa is from NJ. Aside from reminiscing, his chapters and advice to children about finding a small space in your home that the big people can’t get into, about how all kids want to get away from their parents and that’s the REAL reason we don’t let them work for money, and his uncanny way of taking everyday situations illustrates to us how ALIKE we all are. In a world and society bent on isolating and polarizing, along comes Tom Papa reminding us of just how much of life is a Shared Experience, and that also, give yourself a break - we all screw up! For these reasons Tom Papa doesn’t just make me smile, reminisce, and laugh out loud, but he makes my heart feel warm and fuzzy towards our shared humanity, and that’s just PRICELESS!!! Many thanks to the author, @netgalley, and @macmillan.audio for allowing me an audio arc of this book! I highly recommend this book or audio. (Reading him in print will also emit some belly laughs) so check this out asap!!! #wereallinThisTogether

I really enjoyed these essays from one of the best comedians around, Tom Papa. He was funny and relatable, and I laughed a lot.

I love Tom Papa on WWDTM, so when I got the chance to read his new book before it came out I jumped on it, but this book felt repetitive a lot of the times. Before I start complaining, let me start with the things that I did like:

Positives - Having recently moved to New Jersey, myself, I absolutely loved reading this and knowing exactly the place that he was talking about. Like when he said he bought his first car in Paterson, or when he talks about going to the beach in NJ. In fact, some of the Italian restaurants he mentions, I added to my list of "places I want to go" (hey maybe I'll see Tom Papa in real life!). He definitely captures the Italian influence in New Jersey and there's some essays that deserve a five star on their own, like "a wise ancestor called grandpa", "why we marry", and "finding religion".

But, and here comes the - Negatives - I think there's at least three essays about de-cluttering your house, at least 2 about cars, a lot about vacations with family. In sum, it felt like this was variation on the same themes (maybe this would be a better title).

Overall, I think this book works as a collection of essays sometimes funny, sometimes bittersweet, sometimes a bit unhygienic (IF THE JACKET SMELLS LIKE IT TRAVELLED A LOT WASH IT). I guess, I just wanted to it be a bit more concise.

Thanks NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book!