"Wacky on the Junk" by Kathy Varner is a fun and entertaining book that will leave you in stitches. The author's humor is quirky and unique, making for a fresh and enjoyable read. The writing style is engaging and easy to follow, and the characters are lovable and memorable. Whether you're looking for a lighthearted escape or just a good laugh, "Wacky on the Junk" is the perfect choice. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a good time.

Thanks to #NetGalley for this book.

A funny yet poignant book of her life growing up. Her life was wacky and she got the title from a David Letterman "man on the street" answer.

I laughed and I cried and sometimes on the same page. She grew up in a family of 3 sisters and 1 brother. Her oldest sister died of breast cancer when she was only 48; her father died 11 days later. She also lost her only brother also.

It was an up and down book with her drug use, her crazy job as a paralegal and her marriages at 21 and then again. I think she was married 3x. I'm glad she finally had a happy life with Wayne and her 3 children.

The ebook ended so abruptly and have no idea why it ended like that. All of a sudden it went to bibliography and references? That was a little strange. It was an ARC so maybe there was more in the print version.

Kathy describes herself as a sensitive and emotional soul. In this charming memoir she recounts her childhood - where she couldn't sit still, where she was raised on sugary treats and found comfort in food from the cruel taunts she endured at school. To discovering music, and drugs and friendships that made her feel less alone. Her loves and losses and her journey into discovering the link between nutrition and health, both mental and physical. A quick, easy and feel good read.

What an intimate look at Kathy Varner - the wacky title suits. And is not lost on the drug use in the book. But the title is actually from something David Letterman said on tv that stuck in Kathy's memory. Drugs do not define the story of Kathy.

From a rebellious teen to all the complications of being an adult - relationships, having kids, parents growing old and going to work everyday. We all have these experiences in common, but Kathy's seem to be just that bit more out there and challenging from my own. That is why I found the book interesting and I was sad when it ended. I feel I had got to know Kathy quote well.

The final pages seemed to come out of left field - it tells us about diet changes and how taking magnesium helps you with stress. Because I take Magnesium myself, I found this interesting but other people might wonder why this is in the book. Is it some sort of manual for life?

A short but thought provoking book - made me think about my circumstances and makes me grateful that Kathy shared hers.

Thanks to NetGalley, Belle Isle Books and Kathy Varner for the chance to read this book.

This is a memoir of an ordinary person, navigating the ups and downs of life. The title is from something David Letterman would say on tv that stuck with the author. The whole book seems a bit disjointed, perhaps reflecting the 'wacky' of the title. Kathy Varner describes herself as a 53 year old wife, mother and paralegal. The book has a conversational tone, easy to read and to engage with. In the words of the author it is 'the voice of someone who often feels like a foreigner airdropped onto the island of life - with no survival tools'. As readers we take a meandering journey through Varner's life, jumping back and forward here and there.

I have to admit that the main feeling I got from this was the author's general dissatisfaction with life. This is not a particularly positive book to read (not that every book has to be brimming with positivity). At times I really felt for the author, at others I felt a little annoyed at the complaining.

The book starts in Varner's childhood, with the normal childhood anxieties., as well as weight problems, a hyper childhood and poor social skills, which the author blames partly on food. We get taken on a journey through weird therapists, sexual assault (mentioned and moved on from in text very quickly), an early marriage, a marriage breakdown, radio pranks, parents with dementia, a hard job with child abuse cases, a second marriage, and family deaths. Some of these stories are sad, some are funny, some are just downright weird. Music also winds through the story, as something important to both Varner and her family members.

Varner describes self medicating with drugs through her teens, and as someone with limited experience of illicit drug taking, I did find these descriptions quite interesting.

Up until the end, the book is a pretty typical memoir, even if it is a little all over the place. However, the end feels like a completely different book. Varner starts talking about the science of the gut microbiome, and the effects of food on behaviour. This does link back to the beginning with the mention of food as a cause for problems but the writing style feels different and it still feels kind of tacked on to the end.

Overall, this is a fairly interesting, and pretty quick, book to read.

Wacky on the Junk is a quirky quick memoir. Varner keeps the chapters short. She doesn't offer a comprehensive history, merely snort snippets of her life. She had a colorful childhood and was a typical teenager of the 1970s and 1980s. In a short interval she loses several members of her family. She attributes alot of her health issues to her bad diet and radically changes it. I was disappointed in the ending due to its abruptness. I was left asking is this it? At times the delivery was disjointed and choppy.

I enjoy reading life stories. They give us a view into a different kind of normal. In Wacky on the Junk, Kathy Varner shares the many pieces of a life that added up to make her the adult she is today. She reminisces with us, looking into that rear view mirror, then stepping on the gas to prove that life is what you make it.

I normally quite enjoy reading memoirs of ordinary people with ordinary stories, provided there is some angle or at least it is beautifully written. This was neither, but I still found it quite entertaing to read about a somewhat dishevelled life.

It was a quick, quirky read, I enjoyed the tone more than the writing or her life story itself, and it is all about how life choices as well as the food and nutrients we choose to eat, impact on our daily lives.

With a bit of leading and direction from a good editor, this could have been a great book..

Thanks to Netgalley, who let me read it in exchange for an honest opinion about it..

This was a quirky book that’s a first effort and a memoir. Kathy Varner recounts her somewhat rebellious life after becoming a teen and older and trying out some things for herself. It’s a quick read but not always straightforward. It came across as just odd and sad much of the time, although there are often reasons for it. Even her work is depressing, although necessary and at times rewarding. An easy, yet offbeat book some will blow off while others will enjoy it. I think it may grow on us with a bit of time and afterthought. Advance electronic review copy was provided by NetGalley, author Kathy Varner, and Belle Isle Books.

“Wacky on the Junk” is a memoir that feels more like someone sharing a series of anecdotes from key points in their life (or perhaps a series of journal entries), than a detailed beginning-to-end life story. Much of what is shared is interesting, and - depending on your own life experiences- much is potentially relatable.
Ultimately it doesn’t feel like it adds up to an overall tale with a purpose though. I kept thinking, why these specific events and not others? What is the overall idea the author wants to get across? And I suppose that leads to the question of whether a memoir has to have a purpose beyond, “This is me”. Because maybe it doesn’t. I can’t really bring myself to say, “Your unorthodox life requires a more orthodox narrative structure”. You know?
I like the casual nature of how the book’s events unfold, and I like much of what the author shares. It takes a lot to bare one’s self to the world, and I respect and admire that.
Ultimately, for me the book didn’t completely work, but was interesting enough for me to want to keep an eye out for more from this author.
I received a free Advanced Reading Copy Of this book from Netgally, in exchange for an honest review.

Quick read, but bore me for the most part.
Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this memoir.
Fond it hard to relate,

This wasn't bad but l can't honestly say this was good either.

This was okay, weird, disconnected. Hard to keep the reader interested.

Not what I expected.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this memoir. All opinions are my own. This is my honest review.

This was a bit of a meandering memoir, with some amusing anecdotes. I guess from the title I was expecting something a little different but it was a quick read and not bad way to pass the time. I wish there had been a little more focus or point.

Not for me - sorry. I couldn't get into this book at all. It may be because the subject matter was too close. By this I mean this could be the most brilliant book in the world, but I just can't read it.

This is an unusual sort of memoir because not much happens in it. It's not exactly badly written but none of the anecdotes are particularly well fleshed out so they seem kind of pointless. It's not funny and not overly interesting so I definitely wouldn't recommend it.

This story is about as wacky as the title suggests. I must admit, I did enjoy the tone. There's no info (yet) on this author, but it's clear this isn't her first rodeo.

The thing is, the entire time I was reading, I was like, 'but what's the point of this story?' It's just a breezy stroll through someone's life, from infancy to the death of siblings and parents. But even the darker aspects are narrated in such a way the tone remains light throughout.

The end of the story goes into diet, and the effect gluten and dairy products have on lives and the benefits of taking magnesium supplements.

What I deduce from that is this story is a summary of how life choices (food included) impact on our daily lives.

3.5 stars rounded down for the references to Trump. I don't give a fly-F how authors want to colour it, but please, just don't!

Copy received via NetGalley

Enjoyable and a quick read but like others not sure what I was reading or what the point was. I could certainly relate to a lot as it took me down memory lane but it seemed to be all over the place. Thanks to netgalley for the free download.

What did I just read??!! The book was so disconnected, it didn't make sense.

Thanks to publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book. While I got the book for free,it had no bearing on the rating I gave it.

The tone of this book was very enjoyable and might have merited 4 stars, but although I read it in a couple hours and it didn't bore me or anything, I simply don't get what this book is about. I expected it to be about drug abuse. Instead, it's just a woman's life story with her doing some drugs as a teen in the first 50 pages or so. Then she goes on to work, have children and lose her elder family members. The last ten pages or so are incredibly puzzling - it starts going on about diet changes and how taking magnesium helps you feel better. What..? What was this book about..?

As a memoir it's nice though, so I'll give it 3 stars anyway. But I'm not sure what I just read.

I thank the publisher for giving me a free copy of the ebook in exchange to my honest review. This has not affected my opinion.

I liked the author's story. I thought that it was a bit short and needed more detail. FOr instance, describing what her sister, Cindy, looked like. Did the author and older sister have a good relationship?
I felt that the book was an ode to psychodelic drugs. Yet, there was so much more to the story.
I cried when the authors dad died and was outraged when the authors mom was raped! (how dare the administrator ask if her mom enjoyed it!?!)
I feel that this is a basic outline that needs more flushing out!