I love this style of book and Philpott’s introspective and conversational tone was compelling. Even though I can’t relate to most of her experiences, I found myself immersed in her anxiety experiences. ( )

I related to so much of this book. Mary Laura nails it on so many topics. I especially liked her enthusiasm for life (and happiness) and her perspective on death and worries. Frank the turtle also stole my heart. ( )

Bomb Shelter: Love, Time, and Other Explosives by Mary Laura Philpott is a series of essays form a “lifelong worrier.” My reaction to the essays varies, depending on which of the situations and emotions resonate with my own experiences. Some I find myself laughing along with and nodding my head. Some I find myself skimming because they are not relevant to me or the experiences like the pandemic are too close to my own reality for me to want to read about as yet.

Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2023/05/bomb-shelter-love-time-and-other.html

Reviewed for NetGalley. ( )

Bomb Shelter is a part memoir, part small essays about the author’s life and her ability to take a piece of everyday activity and think critically about it. I enjoyed her insight about turtles, turkey dinners and teenagers. I think the chapters that deal with her son’s very scary realization of epilepsy are so real, and heartbreaking as you journey with her through such a frightening unknown. Her other chapters fill in the gaps in between and they are much more light hearted and funny. There are chapters of laugh out loud humor but also tough realizations of growing up, unexpected diagnosis, and the darkness that Covid lockdown brought. She writes in a way that feels like you are chatting with your other mom friend out on the playground, very effortless. I also just loved her wisdom and ability to find meaning in absolutely everything, and to read her insights on everyday objects was a treat. If i could improve on the book would be to hone her chapters to the most profound and insightful ones, some of the chapters felt a bit random and part of a mixed bag, so while I enjoyed all of her stories they just didn’t gel with the rest of the book as well as the chapters that were connected either to her son, or to her family dynamic.

I overall enjoyed reading this and being apart of her world for a bit. ( )

I expected to like this more than I did. What a disappointment. The premise sounds good – essays that examine the overlap of the absurd and the profound in everyday life. The writing style is often humorous and frequently sarcastic. At first I found it entertaining....but then it became too much whining and negativity. The book begins when Mary Philpott, the author and mother of two, describes her teenage son’s out-of-the-blue epileptic episode. As a lifelong worrier, this episode is one she didn’t see coming. The fact that it surprised her is probably more traumatic than the actual incident because she claims she has always kept an eye out for danger. Most of the book is Philpott imagining catastrophes that could befall anyone and then blowing these imagined tragedies and crises out of all proportion.

One or two essays would have been entertaining. But an entire book imagining the worst is just too depressing. And it also made me sad that she has no faith in God or anything other than her (proven) ineffective magical thinking that if she worries enough about something, she can prevent it from happening.

I found her explanation of why she is obsessed with death to be embarrassingly flimsy and revealing of mental instability. “I am obsessed with death because I am in love with life. I grieve in advance of loss – losses that will definitely happen, along with some that may not – because I recognize that what I have is so good. I don’t mean to muck up the beauty of now with my tears about later, but I can’t help it. I’m sad because I’m so happy.”

So how to rate this? When read a few at a time the essays are 4 and 5 stars. But as a whole book it becomes a 2 star overload of anxiety, negativity, and pessimism that even entertaining, skillful writing can’t overcome. ( )