Bookish Thursday - Party Like It's 2044 by Joni B. Cole

Yep, I am winding up the year with a couple of book reviews for WOW-Women on Writing! (There's a giveaway for the book there!)

But first the business...

Book Summary

 

Author Joni B. Cole worries that Vlad the Impaler may be a distant cousin. She feuds with a dead medium. She thinks (or overthinks) about insulting birthday cards, power trips, and the real reasons writers hate Amazon. And she wishes, really wishes, all those well-meaning people would stop talking about Guatemala. At once irreverent and thought provoking, Cole offers a joy ride through this collection of eclectic essays that lands smack on the sweet spot between soul searching and social commentary, between humor and heft. Writes author and national book reviewer Joan Frank, “Here is a voice giving us a welcome break: vibrant, provocative, funny and flavorful...Cole’s deep and generous thinking makes room and fresh air: worth breathing deeply.”

 

Publisher: University of New Mexico Press

ISBN-10: 0826365566

ISBN-13: 978-0826365569

Print length: 240 pages

 

Purchase a copy of Party Like It’s 2044 on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Thrift Books, and Bookshop.org. You can also add this to your GoodReads reading list.

 

About the Author

 

Joni B. Cole is a writing instructor and author of seven books, including the acclaimed new essay collection Party Like It’s 2044, described by scholar and humorist Gina Barreca as, “Fabulously readable and thoroughly engaging, it is Cole’s voice that makes her stories sing. Whether she’s leading us into laughter, or holding our hand through dazzling moments of emotional recognition, Cole takes writing seriously while taking herself lightly, and thereby illuminating the world with these memorable essays.”  

 

Joni also has authored two books for writers: Good Naked: How to Write More, Write Better, and Be Happier (listed as one of the "Best Books for Writers" by Poets & Writers magazine); and Toxic Feedback: Helping Writers Survive and Thrive (“strongly recommended” for students and teachers by Library Journal). Nominated for a US Fellowship Award and Pushcart Prize, she created the three-volume “This Day” series that shares a day in the life of hundreds of women across America (“fascinating and eye-opening,” Publisher's Weekly). 

 

For twenty-five years, Joni has taught online and in-person creative writing to adults through her own Writer's Center in White River Junction, Vermont, as well as at academic programs and conferences around the country. She lives in Vermont and has two daughters. For more info, email jonibethcole@gmail.com. Or visit: jonibcole.com or thewriterscenterwrj.com.

Now for my opinion!

First off, the author and I would either best best friends or the greatest of enemies, we think so much alike! Every time I read an essay it was 'yes, that's me too!'

Her take on spirit animals (I have, by the way, the bear as my totem animal - it's basically time to hibernate for the year) was right on. And the whole 'grandpa robe' thing - as I sit here in my favorite sweats and t-shirt. Both of which I have been known to just wear to bed and keep going in the next day. 

But I have to say, one of my favorite essays was 'Testing Negative'. No it's not about covid. But rather positive versus negative thoughts and how events are retained in my, and her, mind. Don't ask Foxy about the whole 'sausage' incident, even after all these years. I can repeat the whole thing practically verbatim. 

Party Like It's 2044 is a terrific book to pick up and read and then put it down after an essay or two to savor, or ponder, however it effects you. A great read for those few minutes before turning out the light for the evening. 

Don't take my word for it, and to also to enter the giveaway, check out the other reviews!