I have been singing the praises of The Guncle by Steven Rowley to almost every single person that I've spoken to recently. YA'LL. When it was sold to me as a book that embodied the hilarious campiness of Leslie Jordan you know I was sold immediately. And it did not disappoint. This book follows Patrick who has recently found himself in the unenviable position of being the caregiver for his niece and nephew as they navigate the grief of losing their mother. (I don't want to give more details because I want your reading experience to be as pristine and surprising as mine was.) There are so many fantastic elements to this book that I hardly know where to begin. Patrick is a fantastic character in his own right with an acerbic wit, Guncle Rules for living your best life, and a healthy dash of flash and flair. Ugh I desperately want to be Patrick's BFF. And then there's Maisie and Grant who have been believably written as YouTube obsessed kids who are handling this monumental life change with varying degrees of success. (I am so sick of authors writing kids who are either saccharine sweet or heinous monsters when in reality most kids are a delightful mixture of the two.) Between the three of them, they are doing their utmost to get over the first hurdles of being without this pivotal person in their lives (for Patrick it's his sister-in-law and best friend rolled into one) while also getting to properly know each other. It is EXCELLENT. Please listen to me and give this book a try because I truly think you won't regret it. 10/10
PS Bonus points for the neighbors who live next door to Patrick who I also want to befriend.
What I'm currently reading: The Novel Cure from Abandonment to Zestlessness: 751 Books to Cure What Ails You by Ella Berthoud & Susan Elderkin
**If you're interested in buying any of these books or any books really, you can click here. This will re-direct you to AbeBooks which is a site I use all of the time to find used books at an excellent price. A lot of the time I don't even pay for shipping! Full disclosure: I will receive a commission on all sales made through this link. You will not be charged anything additional for my commission. I wouldn't recommend a site that I didn't use and you are under no obligation to purchase anything. :-) **
