Admittedly, I didn't know who Cary Tennis was until I read his bio in the back of the book. I think he was before my time. (When people were writing into magazines and newspaper columns, I was alive but just not old enough to be aware of or reading them) But I am baffled as to how THIS MANY people continued to write to Cary when his advice and answers were mind-boggling and so painstakingly off-the-mark that I couldn't even keep up with his nonsensical rambling. There were times where he was rude in this response. There were other times where he didn't even answer the question. And there were the few times where what needed to be said was so obvious that he'd be jobless had he not answered the way he should have (ex: leave the prostitute and go back to your wife and never mention this to anyone, ever!)

The stories written to Cary, told by others were very captivating and interesting (and also sad and depressing). But those stories were the real stars of this book. Cary's responses, well, you either find them comical, cringeworthy, or simply not worth reading.

All-in-all, this is a good "in between" book. When you read something heavy and are about to move onto your next heavy read, but just need a quick book in between to shake things up. This is a real page-turner.

I have been a fan of advice columns since I was a child, reading Miss Manners, Dear Abby, and Ann Landers faithfully every day. I had never heard of Cary Tennis prior to seeing his ebook, Strange Relationships, a collection of his online Since You Asked columns. The 59 letters from readers are answered by the author, with each letter having its own chapter in the book.

The subject of the letters is love and relationships, be it familial, friendship, and/or romantic. The author responds to each letter with a long explanation and backstory, gently guiding the letter-writer to an empathetic solution. Whereas the newspaper columnists of old had restricted word counts, Tennis is able to write as much as he wants. I found his advice to be both helpful and compassionate, and the book overall to be simultaneously entertaining and enlightening.

I received an Advance Review Copy (ARC) from NetGalley and Book Whisperer for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I didn’t finish this book, which appears to be a compilation of the author’s advice columns. After reading about 25% of it, I became very bored and asked myself why I was reading it. While some of the relationship dilemmas were indeed strange, there were not enough strange ones to hold my interest.

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher.

The content of "Strange Relationships: There's No Such Thing As Normal" is just what the title says, The problem is that each entry is more of an essay: very long. So is the subsequent advice. It becomes laborious and tedious to read. The questions and answers could have been written as an advice column, less than half the space. That would have made for an interesting read.

I appreciate Cary Tennis’ empathy in his advice, but I don’t think it’s enough to keep the reader engaged.

I received an EARC of this book from Netgalley and the Book whisperer and had no preconceived notions or even anything about the author. Cary Tennis is an advice columnist for Salon magazine and the book is made of letters and his answers, mainly about relationships.
People certainly get themselves into strange relationships, hence the title. Cary answers with honesty and never denigrates the questioner, which I consider a major feat. If I had answered some of these questions, I don't think I could be quite so kind.
It was interesting reading a book I might never have picked myself, which is a reason I am in 10 bookclubs and belong to Netgalley. Sometimes I am quite surprised by how much I like a book that others do not, but also I frequently do not like books others rave about. That is also why I like to read reviews on Goodreads and hope that my reviews help others.

Insights into it her people's relationships and the questions they have about them. I was intrigued by the stories shared in this book! Some caught my attention more than others but overall I'm glad I gave this one a try. Thanks to NetGallet for the ARC.