When discussing Best thing since sliced bread by Samantha Renke it was clear some members of the group could resonate with Samantha and her experiences, whilst others couldn’t. Her book is written in the same style as you see from Samantha in interviews an on social media.
Lauren really liked how Samantha tackles subjects like “displaining” and sex. The latter isn’t often discussed publically in the disabled community.
Another group member felt that Samantha was a little guarded in what she wrote about, like there is a lot more that she has chosen to keep to herself. At the end of the book she does however go in to great detail about the sad loss of her father. Everyone agreed that the slowed down pace of this moment provided excellent insight to a tragic moment. Could this detail have been used during other periods of time?
Some found this book an easy read, whilst others struggled a little to really get in to it. Those who struggled felt this may have been because of particular hard times with their own health and will re read it.
Samantha doesn’t play to the court of popular opinion and in doing so is a good role model in choosing your own path. She champions an attitude of taking every opportunity as you don’t know when the next will come your way.
As we had members from different areas of the UK as well as America on the call, some of the language used was regional. This is because Samantha writes as she speaks, which some people like and others prefer a neutral dialect. It was raised that Samantha does at times overuse swear words and talking of sex. If that’s something you don’t want in a book, this isn’t for you,
It is clear that Samantha is very intelligent. This is something that I don’t think she gets enough credit for in the media. I think she wanted to prove this but forcing bits in to the book. This detracted from the memoir style but showed an extra layer of her personality.
The group as a whole thinks some of the information that is shared is very brave. Topics such as wanting children, her relationship with her Mum and how she speaks about fashion. She makes it clear that she wouldn’t want to pass her condition down. Others showed concern about her carrying to full term, but knowing Samantha she would look at this before deciding.
She is very parental toward her cats and we hope that she gets what she wants in the end. There was a strong feeling that whilst this book is now finished, we hope the story continues.
We are eagerly awaiting the next book.
This book scores 7.38 out of 10. Not a very round number, but worth a read and you will learn a lot.