This was a great essay collection. I loved the author’s candid and relatable stories and enjoyed her humor and wit and her storytelling. I really enjoyed the NYC setting and getting a glimpse into life and motherhood in the city. This collection centers around the author befriending an older lady who owns an apartment in her building as they go through the slow and complicated process of buying the apartment from the older lady. It’s about change and moving forward and life in the city. I will definitely read more from this author.

Thanks to NetGalley for the eARC.

I loved Elizabeth Passarella's Big Apple so I grabbed this one up on NetGalley!

This collection of essays is funny and real. She talks parenthood and New York and an apartment saga and just about life. Being from the south, I love how she references her southern roots while giving the reader such a taste of life in her beloved New York. She's so candid about her insecurities, her family, her faith and pretty much everything.

I gave this one ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. I love a great essay collection! I thought this one was a notch above Big Apple. I can't wait to read what she writes next!

Thank you to @nelsonbooks and @netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

I loved this book about moving forward in life and how to do that in a way that preserves memories, but makes it okay to leave things behind both metaphorically and physically.

I absolutely loved this memoir in essays from Elizabeth Passarella. Her voice is so honest, funny and relatable, and her stories of motherhood, marriage and the impossible hunt for the perfect apartment in NYC are so delightful. There is so, so much warmth in her words, and she manages to find humor and levity even in the scariest of situations (a health scare or a global pandemic). I just loved this, and I’m so glad I read it. I think it would really resonate with our customer base at the bookstore!

I love the title. Who hasn’t had an ugly couch. And who hasn’t had to move that ugly couch to numerous places. This is a great collection of relatable stories.

I loved Elizabeth Passarella’s first book, and I was thrilled to see she had already written a second. After reading the description, my heart sank knowing that her father had passed. I loved reading about her relationship with her parents in the first book. Here, she has so gracefully navigated grief, and faith, and the changing of life’s seasons. It felt similar to the tender + bittersweet writing of Kelly Corrigan in The Middle Place. Passarella does a great job marrying humor and honesty.

What a fun read by Elizabeth Passarella . The book is about navigating change in our live. Should she keep the couch from her parents are put it in the trash. Her father recently passed away and she feels connected to the couch and him. Elizabeth helps us see that is is fine to move on and ahead. A great quick read.

I loved Passarella's first book. I didn't even make the connection until about a few chapters in and suddenly I realized it HAD to be the same person who wrote Good Apple. I am not a Christian and normally I would not read anything written by an evangelist Christian, but I would make an exception for Ms. Passerella any day of the week because 1) she's a great writer, 2) she is so funny you WILL laugh out loud, and 3) she's honest about her faith but doesn't demean others.
This book resonated with me and is likely to do so with those readers who have lost a parent, made a move, or tried to figure out their next step in life. And... you'll never forget the couch!

Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of this book. From a Jewish fan.

What do a hoarder's apartment, the best technique for skinning a couch, and losing your child in NYC have in common? You’ll have to pick up IT WAS AN UGLY COUCH ANYWAY: And Other Thoughts on Moving Forward.

Elizabeth Passarella uses a beloved couch long past its prime and an emotional roller coaster of a move into a former hoarder’s apartment as the foundation for this candid essay collection. I love the way she explores the nuances of motherhood, life in NYC and moving forward in the aftermath of grief and change.

Striking the perfect balance of humor and heart, Elizabeth’s words felt like grabbing coffee with a friend in the trenches who is also trying to survive and sometimes thrive too.

As with her debut, GOOD APPLE, Passarella’s words are a love letter to New York City. As someone who has never been (!!) I love the armchair travel and how she simultaneously captures the flaws and beauty of a community she loves.

You’ll laugh. You’ll Cry. You’ll wish you had more time spent in these pages.

READ IF:
The big apple holds a special place in your heart
A hearty laugh or a good cry is in order
You find stories of imperfection and vulnerability relatable

4 fun stars

It Was an Ugly Couch Anyway has many fun, interesting essays about living in New York City and raising a family, ”because parenting, lest you forget, is a contest.” Pasarella’s skills as an experienced journalist shine through. The style is chatty, like friends sharing a funny story together.

Some chapters were not interesting to me, especially the ones about beauty and being a magazine writer. “If I am being honest, I’m starting to get annoyed by it all.” Or the one about childhood memories of a car accident and learning to waterski. IMHO, the chapter on her other-in-law was good, not great, but I enjoyed that Pasarella admits she is not what her MIL imagined either.

I did like when she showed her faith in her essays. “The whole crux of the Christian faith is that we cannot save ourselves. This is meant to be good news, although for people like me, who pride ourselves on being supremely capable, it feels irritating at times.” I would have liked a bit more of this.

The essay on her childhood pets is funny and wise. “When my older two children bring up getting a dog, I remind them that I gave them a baby brother three years ago, and he’s more fun. He can play Jenga….A puppy is too much work for people who are still potty-training humans.” The chapter on public schools and middle school is both wise and funny. All in all, these essays, bound together with a cumbersome title, are a good diversion from the world’s bigger problems.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

To be honest I was expecting something more humorous, like Nora Ephron, and found it more reflection on changes and decide what to do.
It's not my cup of tea

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

🛋️
It Was an Ugly Couch Anyway
Author: Elizabeth Passarella
Source:  NetGalley - Nelson Books
Pub. Date: May 2, 2023

One of my new favorite genres would be short stories, essays, and memoirs. Who knew? But It Was An Ugly Couch Anyway by Elizabeth Passarella is a charming story of the fun and foibles of a Southern girl raising a family and a husband (jk) in New York City. Trying to find a bigger home for a family of 5 is a large part of this book, and I loved learning the extent to which folks will go to secure a place in the city for a reasonable price (which, to me, is not so reasonable). Elizabeth is funny and shares great stories about her Dad (I can relate) and his 9-foot sofa that was ugly as homemade sin but so comfortable that no one could take it to the curb. I loved this book, and I look forward to reading more from Elizabeth in the future. Great job with stories that are good-natured and witty. She does share about her faith which I don’t find offensive; in fact, it's life-affirming. Read this sweet book due out tomorrow!  #humor #nonfiction #satire #entertainment #adult #losingkidsintheCity #findingAHome #ElizabethPasserella #ItWasAnUglyCouchAnyway #honest @espassarella #Charming #readThisBook @nelsonbooks @netgalley
🛋️

I received a complimentary copy of this ARC. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own. Thank you to Nelson Books, and the author for the opportunity to read this book. Pub. Date: May 2, 2023.
🛋️

#book #books #bookaddict #booksofinstagram #bookstagram #bookstagramer #bookshelf #booksbooksbooks #readersofinstagram #reader #booklove #bookreader #reader

Many, many thanks to NetGalley and Nelson Books for gifting me a digital ARC of the new book by Elizabeth Passarella - 5 stars!

I was an absolute huge fan of Elizabeth's first collection of essays, Good Apple, focusing mostly on growing up in the south as an evangelical Christian and now living in NYC. Her second book continues along that same vein, probably with less religious themes, but with all the heart and humor from the first. These interconnected stories also feature the family's quest to purchase a larger apartment in their same building.

Elizabeth's writing is so relatable and even though I'm older than she is, I feel like I''m sitting across the table from a best friend drinking a glass of wine and talking about everything - but really talking, not just instagram highlight talking. I loved the story of her dad's couch - I had a relatable ugly couch in my life too that would probably have coordinated well with hers! But of course, it's about more than a couch and that's where Elizabeth's writing shines. It's about all the feelings associated with objects. Plus, there are very few people out there who are completely honest these days - so when Elizabeth writes about her facial hair woes or temporarily losing a child in Times Square, you can't help but relate and laugh along.

I can't recommend her books enough - I'm hoping she's sitting in the library now working on her next one!

I was attracted to the premise of the book about letting go of our parents' things or our own. This is a series of essays and some were okay and some were a bit boring and were hard to stick with. I guess what caught me off guard was the religious undertone that emerged every now and again and I did not realize that this would be a lens through which she would write. It wasn't constant but there was enough that it turned me off. There were moments of interest in the book about being a parent but overall, it was only okay.

Thank you to Netgalley and Nelson Publishing for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

It Was An Ugly Couch Anyway: And Other Thoughts on Moving Forward is a collection of essays that touch on the topics of parenting, aging, and moving forward. This was an interesting read that gives a glimpse into what it’s like to live in Manhattan with young children over the past few years.

I loved seeing Passarella’s struggles (and triumphs) with parenting, as well as her relationships with her parents and in-laws. I appreciated her honesty about certain aspects of aging and motherhood. I loved her perspective on parenting in Manhattan, even though it is entirely different from how she was raised in Memphis. I also loved how she embraces life and doesn’t seem to fear for herself or her kids while living in such a big city.

Perhaps because this is more of an essay collection than it is a memoir, many parts felt unresolved to me. I’m really quite curious to know what she’s going to do with the ugly upholstery she saved!

Going into this read, I knew nothing of Elizabeth Passarella, so I was unaware of her religious leanings. She did a great job incorporating her faith into the book without it being overwhelming, but not knowing this in advance made the first few spiritual references feel out of place.

I also felt this book was less about moving forward and more about hanging on to certain things. Based on the title, I was hoping for something more directed at major life changes, transformations, etc.

Overall, I enjoyed It Was An Ugly Couch Anyway and would recommend it as a quick and interesting glimpse into the life of a mother in Manhattan. Passarella is funny and insightful and honest.

My thanks to Net Galley and Thomas Nelson Publishing. Pub Day 5/2/23

I absolutely loved this memoir of essays by Elizabeth Passarella! She shares the story of her family - her husband and three kids living in a two bedroom apartment in NYC - but wanting to move to a three bedroom apartment. Along the way she shares her childhood growing up in Memphis (oh the humor of her Southern roots!) and life in NYC with 3 young children in a tiny apartment. This intrigued me as a southerner who loves her wide open spaces. Her humor was so relatable, her stories so funny, yet true (I too have lost my kids!), and a book I really didn't want to end. I will look forward to her next book!

This was a funny book. I liked her reminiscing about her dad and the couch. I liked the stories about the couch too.
I like how Passarella talks like she is talking to a friend.
I enjoyed reading this as my dad passed recently and it made me think of fond memories I have with him.

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC.

I laughed, I cried, I loved this book! I will be adding the author’s other collection of short stories to my “to read” list.
Maybe it’s because I’m around the same age, and have recently gone through some similar life events, but I found many of the author’s experiences to be relatable. Those that weren’t were still entertaining and full of hope for moving forward in both big and small ways.

Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for this ARC!

A collection of relatable essays. I had not read any other books by this author but I enjoyed reading this story collection.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I have never read anything by Elizabeth Passarella before but I will be looking for her books now. It Was an Ugly Anyway is filled with essays about Elizabeth’s life in New York but the stories aren’t really about New York. The stories are so much more. They remind us that life is about so much more than what we see. We need to dig deeper. Throughout the shorter essays is one essay that continues about trying to acquire an apartment from an older lady who doesn’t live in the building. I will admit, Elizabeth had more patience than I do.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. Thanks to Elizabeth Passarella, too!