Bark at the Ghouls

“Just because they think you’re crazy it doesn’t mean you’re nuts. Put that on my gravestone.”

Lots of books claim to be funny and they are not. This book is funny. It is so funny. I was never bored and only vaguely annoyed at a few things but it mostly made me happy to be listening to it. This won’t be much of a review because I just enjoyed it. I didn’t take any notes and there isn’t much here to dissect.

In all honesty, this book could’ve gone either way for me. What most people find “hilarious” or “rip-roaring” (what’s that mean, anyway?), I find annoying or boring. My humor, I guess, runs more to the snarky and the sarcastic but it has to be done just right. There really isn’t any pleasing me which is why I usually read horror. It rarely tries to make me laugh (with the exception of Jeff Strand who is full of excellent snark).  This book is also loaded with excellent snark. You might hate it. Don’t blame me. My tastes are weird. I’ll own that.

My kids are no longer in grade school but when they were the whole PTA/class mom thing was something I avoided at all costs. Nothing against those who volunteer their time but it wasn’t for me.  I wasn’t up for volunteering unless I was forced to and I also wasn’t up to dealing with the cliques and back-biting that comes with that sort of thing. Don’t even ask me about being a dance mom . . .  Ugh, so glad those days are behind me. Anyway, so why did I pick up a book called “Class Mom” which is so obviously about all of those things?

I haven’t a clue but I’m glad I did.

Jen is an ex-groupie who gave birth to two daughters who are now in college. She’s unsure who their dad(s) are but she doesn’t really care. Might be that lead singer from INXS. Might not be. It matters not now that she’s settled down and married to a lovely man who loves her snark and all. They had a boy named Max and he’s now in kindergarten and even though she’s the “most marinated” of the group of young parents, she volunteers to do the whole class mom routine all over again. She starts off the year by sending off a hilariously snarky and inappropriate email to the parents telling them what she expects of them throughout the year. She pisses off several of them but who cares? She’s been through this before and she doesn’t seem to care too much about making friends with all of them.

I love her attitude even if she sometimes goes too far for a laugh. The book continues in this vein, insulting the parents and learning their weaknesses and it was amusing. I’ll admit that this humor isn’t for everyone. You kind of have to take a Joe Lansdale approach to the humor and know that everyone and everything is a target and there are moments that aren’t at all politically correct.  She is offensive and clueless about it and she does put off people because of it. Be warned.

The one thing that I did not enjoy was a plot bit that goes on for eons where she starts texting one of the dads who is also an old high school crush she dubs “Such A Fox”. She was a foolish woman, no doubt,  but this made her come across as pretty dumb, if you ask me.

There isn’t really a plot here. She makes friends, she makes enemies, she pisses many people off, has that stupid flirt-mance and tries to figure out why Max’s sexy young teacher keeps disappearing. It’s light and fluffy and worth a listen if you can shrug off the insulting humor moments.

I listened to audio which was narrated by the author who stumbles a bit here and there but mostly does a fantastic job.