My Boring Life

I so enjoyed this book. This was a sweet coming of age story about a girl after her freshman year of college, but it was about much more, as it touched on Vietnam, as well as finding your identity and being true to yourself. I enjoy historical fiction; however, I don't either find or tend to read those set in the 60s / 70s and it was a nice change of pace.

My Boring Life, is a cultural calamity in which the main character is forced to return from a hip flower child culture at college in NYC to Oregon to help with her brother who has just returned from the Vietnam War. She soon realizes that this may be more of a change than she expected as she may need to become a major caregiver and supported for her brother.

•○● BOOK REVIEW ●○•

👩‍🦰My Boring Life👩‍🦰 by Kerry Chaput is a fun, light read, but serious when it needs to be.

🤝First, I want to thank Net Galley and the author for allowing me the opportunity to read an advanced copy of My Boring Life. It was a fabulous read!

📚 My Boring Life is about 19 year old Gavenia who strikes out on her own, leaving her hometown of Boring, Oregon (yes, that's a real town in USA) to chase her dreams of becoming a writer in New York. But Gavenia soon comes to realize that she's a failure at writing, a failure at making friends, and a failure at life in general. She's always been the book nerd outcast who would rather be reading or studying than having a life of her own. When her brother Jack comes home from the Vietnam War with PTSD, Gavenia abandons her dream and comes home to be with her brother. While at home, we see Gavenia's family in all its loving Mancunium-American dysfunction. The cultural differences are laugh out loud funny! We also see Gavenia's childhood group of geriatric best friends, also known as the Death Brigade. Gavenia finally finds love in another nerdy outcast friend, but their relationship is one hilarious mishap after another. She is in for one hell of a summer as she learns to overcome her fears, and overcome herself.

✍My thoughts: This book had me laughing out loud more times than I could count! But despite the many, many, MANY laugh out loud moments, it didn't take away from the seriousness of Jack's PTSD. The interactions between Gavenia and her 22 year old, war-torn brother had me ugly crying over and over again. Despite the cultural differences between Manchester and America, the love that this family has for each other is real and raw, and makes you want to go love on your own mom, dad, and siblings. I really connected to Gavenia as an introvert book nerd myself who also chose to stay in my room reading and studying for most of my high school years. Overall, this was a great read, and I give it ☆☆☆☆/5 stars.

I really enjoyed this book! It's fresh, charming, funny, and edgy with characters who are full of heart and well... character.

It's 1969 and Gavenia Platt is returning home for the summer from her disastrous first year in the writing program at Barnard College, unhappy and uninspired. Wishing her first year away from her hometown of Boring, Oregon had been different, Gavenia is coming home to her often inappropriate British parents, a big sister hell bent on protesting until she sees true change, and a brother who just returned from the Vietnam war with an amputated leg and extreme PTSD. Hoping to find herself and her voice as a writer over the summer, Gavenia is in for a lot of more than the Boring life she expects while being home.

This was such a fun read! It's a coming of age story that is relatable yet uniquely innovative. Author Kerry Chaput is an excellent writer, and has a very strong voice in her storytelling. I found myself laughing, crying (twice) and thinking deeply about my own aspirations while reading this book. I connected to a lot of what our main character Gavenia was going through, even though our situations in life are entirely different. Chaput does an excellent job of creating the atmosphere of the town of Boring as well as the summer of '69. The Vietnam war, Civil Rights movement, Equal Rights movement, free love and hippie culture are all touched upon in this novel, and I think they are handled excellently and really add a great sense of realism to the story. I would probably categorize this as a historical coming of age novel (is that a thing?)

The strong suit in this book for me, were the characters. Chaput really gave them all such distinct personalities, and they are all extremely well developed and explored really well. I felt all the character's presence within the story was utilized well, and was justified. Which is something I greatly appreciate in a novel that has so many characters. I especially found the ladies of the Death Brigade (the group of senior citizen women Gavenia meets for breakfast every Saturday at a local diner) to be extremely compelling!

I would recommend this book to readers who are looking to get lost in a book that makes you smile, laugh, and think about what it truly means to live. Thank you to French Press Publishing and Netgalley for giving me an advanced copy.

I adore British dry wit, and My Boring Life doesn't disappoint. This book is full of laughs, heart and a cast of wildly different and difficult characters navigating some serious issues. Gavenia thinks she doesn't fit anywhere. Not in NY where her aspirations of becoming a writer bomb. Not at home in Oregon with her ducks out of water Mancunian family that say the most inappropriate things.
Chaput brings the 1960s, Vietnam and hippie culture to life through the eyes of Gavenia brilliantly.

I read this book in a span of 2-3 days because it was so easy to get into. Set in the late 1960s, it talks about the struggles of a girl named Gavenia who bonds more with old ladies than girls her own age. With her loving family that includes a brother suffering from PTSD and a sister who's an activist, our protagonist feels lost somehow. She's also doing bad at her course and on the verge of getting out of the same, but her brother's faith in her instills a new sense of determination in her and she decides to give it her all. Will she succeed?
The book is beautifully written and vividly narrated. The characters are easy to relate to and brutally honest. The quirks of a British family in America should be your go-to read if you're looking for a good laugh on a sunny day.

Finding Out That Life Is Tough
What a powerful novel! It is humorous and fascinating. As we watch facets of a young woman's life come into focus, we begin to see the issues that America is just beginning to see in 1968. The most serious parts of the book sneak up from behind, smack us in the heartstrings, and get dealt with. Awesome job on this novel! I received this ARC book for free from Net Galley and this is my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and French Press Publishing for the chance to read an early copy of this book!

This is a coming-of-age story set in 1969. Our heroine comes home from New York after her first year of college, trying not to let her parents find out that she's on the verge of failing out of her program, while her brother comes home from Vietnam minus a limb, her activist sister attends protests, and her completely whacky parents continue to live like they're in Manchester, England, not Boring, Oregon.

This book is stuffed full of colorful characters and silly humor, which contrasts with some of the very serious events in the book, particularly the brother's struggle with PTSD. It was a little over-the-top for me but ultimately a nice read. The synopsis gives you a pretty good sense of the plot, though it leaves out the cute love stories which were my favorite parts.

The book is a fabulous read on so many levels. The author has tackled several social issues- some were prevalent in the 60s and some that persist. In a lot of ways, the book depicts how much farther we have come as a community. In the book, Gavenia attends Barnard College because Columbia does not accept women. In the book, Barnard is constantly referred to as a "consolation prize." It is hard to believe that Columbia College first admitted women in the fall of 1983, after a decade of failed negotiations with Barnard College, the all-female institution affiliated with the university, to merge the two schools.

The book touches on various important topics such as discrimination and victimization of cross-dressers, racism, and the impact of war on soldiers and their families. Gavenia's family is Mancunian, and the book wonderfully explores the emotions/thoughts first-generation immigrants grapple with. It beautifully depicts how immigrants hold onto their homeland in multiple ways and try to imbibe a similar upbringing in their children.

The book is funny, edgy, and eccentric. While it is not a page-turner (I don't think it was written with that motive), it engages the reader on multiple levels. A subtle exploration of social issues, a beautiful depiction of emotions, and a strong storyline are the book's strengths. It is a coming of age historical fiction done right.