This book was witty, unique, and totally delightful. Cox found the perfect balance of whimsey and feeling to make this novel a very unexpected but enjoyable read. ⠀⠀
⠀⠀The humor of this book was so great. It made me laugh so often and unexpectedly.⠀⠀
2. I loved that the town centered around a pencil factory and the photography stores owned by Ruth were built into the shape of a fox. ⠀⠀
3. Noah and Frankie were adorable. ⠀⠀
4. Ruth. She broke my heart and made it smile all at the same time. ⠀⠀
⠀⠀

The vibes of this blurb made me think of Kayla Rae Whitaker's The Animators, but this was a witty and unexpected coming-of-age novel in a different vein.

I Keep My Worries in My Teeth had such a promising start, but I ended up not loving the more serious sides of the story, simply because that wasn't really what I was looking for from this book. The book begins with a bit of an absurd premise, which led me to believe the whole thing would be a witty, ironic romp: The three main characters are almost characters in their quirkiness, (like, Ester's literal job is chewing on pencils) until a fire destroys their way of life at the pencil factory. From there, the book reads more like a Liane Moriarty, but without suspense, which isn't really my jam. I was looking for something totally different and less like mainstream adult fiction. But, I'm sure this book will find a loyal readership from others who love that type of book!

There’s no denying it, this book is downright wacky but once you accept that this book is an absolute delight. Quirkier than quirky characters with a town centred around a pencil factory. There’s Esther the pencil factory’s official mouth feel tester with severe anxiety and a fetish that extends to biting a variety of inanimate objects to help calm her down. Then a tragic fire that destroys said factory and you get a recipe for a crazy, weird and wonderful story full of wit and oddities, there are so many absurd moments that it would be hard to forget this story in a hurry. Maybe this will be a little too weird for some tastes but I really enjoyed the absurdity of the characters and situations. If you like your books with a witty bite and a different point of view you will love this!

A very interesting novel. I wanted to read I KEEP MY WORRIES IN MY TEETH after reading a book list by Anna Cox in Electric Lit.

The story follows the perspective of three women—Esther Spark, Ruth Stanhope and Frankie Rosenblum— whose lives are disrupted after an explosion at Juliet Pencil Factory in a small Ohio Town in 1979. Esther, a woman in her late thirties, works at the factory as a "MouthFeel Tester," and is also in charge of the "Bite Wall of Fame (for fifteen years). Her dentist tells her she has the gums of an eighty year old. But she loves her job and keeps worries between her teeth. Her job involves biting pencils and submitting detailed reports about the pencils' strength, taste, mouthfeel, and grading them from 1 (bad) to 8 (excellent). The Bite wall of fame houses chewed pencils in glass cases — pencils chewed by Marilyn Monroe, first lady Jacqueline Kennedy, Henry Kissinger etc. When she loses her job because of the explosion, she takes to chewing on other things —wooden hangers, toilet plungers — to ease her mind. Ruth, a widow, is still mourning the loss of her husband. She runs Vixen Photography (three stores, one being opposite Juliet's Pencil Factory which was opened thirty years ago). She tries to repair past while repairing old, damaged, sun stained photographs. And in doing so she believes she is modifying or comforting the past. Frankie is Juliet's, of Juliet Pencil Factory fame, teenage daughter. The factory explosion leads to her losing her voice. She is funny, witty, in a boy's club, and hoping to hook up with Noah. But losing her voice, combined with a protective mother, changes things. She notices that the nurses behave differently when her mother is around. Her mom does not approve of the TV show she loves but the nurses watch it and fill her up with the details.

Esther is worrying about never finding love. Ruth is mourning the loss of her love. Frankie is hoping her fist love will be wonderful. This was an enjoyable read and I loved Esther the best. It was interesting to see how the factory played a role in these women's lives, directly or indirectly. The book was a promising read and a unique experience.

Though I enjoyed this book a bit, I could never figure out what it was trying to do and that bothered me.

The characters are likable enough, the plot isn't completely boring but in the end nothing stands out in my opinion. Though a book can exist merely to escape into for a few hours, I personally prefer my escapist reads to be fantasy.

Also : is there really someone being paid to chew pencils and see how they feel? I can believe it but it was still really weird to read about, and even more when the woman started to chew other things than pencils... I felt second-hand embarrassment in one particular scene and honestly could have done without that.

Thank you to NetGalley and Little A for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I tried very hard to finish this book. I found it very dull and couldn't keep my interest. It just wasn't for me.

This book is positioned in the *Where'd You Go, Bernadette?* genre. Focusing on three women who are affected when a town's pencil factory explodes, this is what many reviewers would call quirky. It definitely has its quirks: Ruth, a photography shop owner, tries to heal the town by taking in objects that represent people's losses. Esther, who tests the tastes of the pencils at the factory, tries to find replacement things to bite while the factory is being rebuilt, but, unable to cope with life outside of the role-playing she engages in as part of her job, causes trauma instead. Frankie, the factory owner's daughter, is badly hurt in the explosion, but finds ways of communicating with those she loves most. While these women could be interpreted as brave or in the process of coming to terms with their own selves, their lives and thoughts revolve mostly around the men who they think define them, or should be part of their lives. Ruth mourns her husband, killed in a car accident, and cannot move on from his death, even as townspeople move on from their traumas. Esther's uncontrollable desire to bite and her self-inflicted neediness for a male partner ends in gore; Frankie romanticizes her immature boyfriend to the point that she decides that sleeping with him is her most important priority as she recovers. It was painful to watch them accept these actions and be unable to cope in better ways. The writing is colorful and imaginative, but the overarching issues are a problem for me. Finally, the end of the book felt rushed and truncated. There was no sense of completeness in finishing it, no reward for the reader.

I was not able to finish this book. I just couldn't get into it and it wasn't something that kept my attention unfortunately- just not my type of book.

**Thank you to the author and publisher for providing an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.**

There are few things I know more about than worries. Having grappled with my own anxiety for most of my life, I know a thing or two about where I keep mine—though I preferentially roll them around in my body like a boulder. Esther keeps her worries in her teeth, and her teeth are very persistent. Unfortunately, all worries seem to be.

I KEEP MY WORRIES IN MY TEETH is a unique experience, sending us through quirky humor and painfully poignant observational prose. The story unfolds from the perspective of three women—Frankie, Esther, and Ruth—each at different stages of life and experience. Their lives are irrevocably disrupted after an explosion at Juliet Pencil Factory in a small Ohio Town in 1979. Esther, who works at the factory as a "MouthFeel Tester," bites pencils and submits detailed reports about the pencils' strength and taste, even to the point of creating custom pencils suited for specific people or specific jobs. This job is perfect for her because the worries in her teeth demand material to chew! Frankie is Juliet's, of Juliet Pencil Factory fame, teenage daughter. She is funny and quick and uses humor to deflect and get attention before the factory explosion leaves her voiceless. Ruth, a widow, still mourning the loss of her husband, runs Vixen Photography complete with camera obscura where you can see the world upside down as it truly is.

Each of their stories is filled with humor, but there is an anguish present as well. Each woman is navigating the pain of finding themselves in a new situation, situations that make them uncomfortable or change their lives completely. And each woman has to learn how to see their lives from a different perspective.

"Nothing is more important than how a person looks; I don't mean how they appear, I mean how they see the world."

Throughout Ruth's narrative, there is a recurring theme expressed through the language of photography that speaks to the way that one looks at the world around them. She describes photography as an art of looking from different perspectives and literally uses photography to transform peoples' pasts to force a shift in the way an entire town looks at their piles of regrets. Ultimately, that is also what Frankie must do to learn how to have a voice with no voice. Or what Esther must do to learn how to tame her manic molars when navigating a life filled with ill-fitting expectations outside of the one place that had made her feel safe. And it is undoubtedly what Ruth must do when she realizes through looking at a whole town's hurts that she hadn't ever really looked at her own.

"In a short life, photographs are a fraction of a second that everyone mistakes for the unwavering, time-tested truth. Photography captures life, and photography reflects life, but photography isn't life, because life is motion and photographs are moribund. People in pictures don't die, but not being dead isn't the same as being alive."

I loved so many things about this novel—from the humor which was so often quite thoughtful, to the moments of reflection in the narrative. I loved the relationship between Frankie and Esther (the hole punch!), and I loved Ruth's steady observations. I found Frankie to be sweet and strong. Her experiences of being young and voiceless (as so many of us felt acutely, figuratively) and finding love in a person who hears her even though she can't speak were relatable and nostalgic. I enjoyed how each of these women was exploring love and relationships from different ends (more perspective play): Frankie experiencing her first love, Ruth surviving after losing a profound love, and Esther seeking love and worrying that she will never find it. It was deeply human and so felt familiar and relatable. And, really, this book is short and a quick read. It occupied as much space as it needed to.

If I were to venture into criticisms, I do have a small one—while I felt that the book wrapped up satisfyingly, Esther's final scenes were a bit truncated. I don't need to have all the particulars of a narrative spelled out for me. Still, the pacing suddenly shifted, so I felt whisked through a profound and rather violent (accidentally) end, and it left me with a bit of whiplash. Ultimately, Esther is the character behind the title, and she felt the least prominent to me in the end, which I found to be curious.

Small quibbles for exceptional stories and anything else that was distracting can be explained by nature of being an uncorrected proof (mostly grammatical). Cox is a talented storyteller, and I have zero qualms recommending her charming debut.

It’s a brave writer who flirts too blatantly with quirk. It can very easily turn into the literary equivalent of some of Wes Anderson’s films: brilliantly imaginative but, in the final analysis, annoying, like the nervous guy on a first date who can’t stop the jokes and one liners tumbling from his mouth. Anna Cox’s debut novel not only doesn’t do this, it doesn’t do it triumphantly.

In the small town of Lead, Ohio, the Juliet Pencils Factory is the main employer. When a catastrophic fire temporarily closes the factory in the early pages of the novel, three of the town’s inhabitants are thrown off course.

Ruth owns the town’s photography company. My business is looking at your business. She is grieving for her husband, who died far too early, and for her idyllic marriage. Frankie is the daughter of the eponymous Juliet, caught in the fire due to being at her mom’s work on a vocation day (Girls! Do Work! – it’s 1979). She is critically injured when a stray pencil spikes her throat, leaving her speechless for much of the book. Esther, a marvellous creation, literally keeps her worries in her teeth – Tooth 1: Black ice and banana peels in front of bear traps; Tooth 2: Having a baby; Tooth 3: Not having a baby, Tooth 4: Dying… Some of my teeth are reserved for long-term worries like nuclear annhiliation. She processes everything with them, and has fortuitously landed her dream job at Juliet Pencils: Mouth Feel Tester. (Did you know that of all the things women put in their mouths, pencils are the number two most popular?). Naturally, the burning down of the pencil factory is not good news for her, either.

Ruth launches a campaign to repair memories, by which she means repairing old photos. The townsfolk of Lead, however, are a more literal bunch. They besiege the shop with their husband’s shirts, stained with a lipstick that isn’t theirs, a dictionary. It’s the things I’ve said. I want to take them back… I’ve underlined all the words. There’s a nod to Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind here.
This is a wonderful book, fresh and inventive, and the best debut I’ve read in a long time. It thoroughly deserves to get a full head of marketing and publicity steam behind it, reach a wide audience, and do well.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Unfortunately this was a DNF for me. I tried to get into it, and liked the first few pages, but once I kept reading, it couldn't keep my interest, and I no longer cared about anything that was happening.

2/5 stars only because it wasn't so bad to the point it was offensive, just not interesting at all.

What an unusual and wonderful read this is! Cox has created three memorable characters- and a town- in this terrific debut about, of all things, the aftereffects of an explosion at a pencil factory. Who knew there were (are?) people who bite them for a living? I enjoyed this far more than I expected and wished that it was longer. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A very good read.

A mix of poignant, funny and emotional. It will stay with you long after you're done. The characters are awesome and you find yourself cheering them on as they stumble to rediscover who they are and find their voice. Obviously you can see how much I enjoyed this book and so will you. Happy reading!

This book was witty, unique, and totally delightful. Cox found the perfect balance of whimsey and feeling to make this novel a very unexpected but enjoyable read.

In the city of Lead, the majority of townspeople find employment at the Juliet Pencil Factory. After an accident causes the factory to burn down, the novel follows three women, Ruth, Esther, and Frankie, as they each deal with how their lives change from this single disaster and the best way to move on.

I loved how each of the women brought something unique to the plot line when reading this story. Ruth provides feelings of grief as she moves past losing her husband and running her Vixen Photography stores. Esther experiences extreme anxiety which literally manifests itself into biting anything and everything. Frankie, our teenage lead, deals with moving on with her life after the explosion at the factory leaves her without a voice. Somehow Cox manages to include a variety of serious topics while still keeping the writing humorous but respectful.

The setting for this book was probably one of my favorite parts. I loved that the whole town was centered around the pencil factory which, might I add, makes some very unique pencils. It was also cute to think about Ruth’s photography shops literally being built in the shape of a fox. Setting helps make a story and Cox did a wonderful job with that.

The only reason this book was a 4 star and not 5 star read for me was because Esther was a little too far in left field for my taste and her story line was not very believable. While I could connect with Frankie and Ruth, each time the story was from Esther’s perspective I just felt confused.

If you love a book that gives you plenty of “what just happened?” sort of moments mixed with humor and quirky characters all while still maintaining the integrity of the plot, this book is a must read for you!

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and Little A in exchange for my honest review.

I KEEP MY WORRIES IN MY TEETH was an unexpected delight. A debut by Anna Cox, a photographer and professor, the novel is supremely quirky, sharp, and heartfelt. Set in Ohio in 1979, we follow three women who are impacted by the local pencil factory exploding. The stories weave in and out, and the novel’s themes of love, perseverance, and finding one’s voice (literally and figuratively) was such a delight.

Frankie, a 16 year old girl who gets horribly injured during the explosion at her mom’s factory, was my favorite story. I almost wish the whole book was about her, but Esther and Ruth are fantastic characters to follow as well. I just can’t over how fresh and fun Cox’s writing is. Quirky is almost too simple of a word - I really recommend this unique and special book.

3.5 stars

TW: Grief, death of a spouse, hospitalization, major community trauma, alcoholism, allusion to suicide, eating disorder and life threatening injuring

Following the lives of three women, Esther, Ruth and Frankie as all of their lives are changed by an accidental explosion in the local pencil factory. Frankie is the daughter of the owner, and get terribly injured in the explosion, leaving her hospitalized and without a voice. Esther is the companies quality tester for mouthfeel, compulsively feeding into her teeth’s constant need for ‘work’, and Ruth the owner of a photography shop, with a camera obscura, copping with the grief of losing her husband.

I really enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it if you like weird and quiet books. It is definitely the kind of book that swallows you into its atmosphere and you can get lost in it for hours. The sort of uncanny feel it creates in the stories of Ruth and Esther, was to me the main joy of the narrative. That feeling that you are at the edge of reality.

However, this was only a 3.5 star for me because of two factors. First, I felt like both of Esther’s and Ruth’s stories could have been a whole novel on it self, and the fact that Frankie story was mixed between the two only threw me off the narrative. Frankie was a great character but her age difference compared to the other women, and also the fact that she lacked the mysterious uncanny that surrounded the other main characters just made it feel like her story did not belong along side the others.

Second, I felt like the second half fell flat. SPOILERS AHEAD. Once Esther’s story stopped being about her, and her compulsive bitting, and about her obsession with her neighbor I lost a lot of interest in her. Same thing with Ruth, who to me held the best written chapters. Her story line dealing with memory and grief became overwhelmed with the whole ‘past fixing/memory fixing’ enterprise, and I think we lose a lot of the narrative arc of her dealing with grief, because she is so focused on other people’s grief.

I would still highly recommend this book, it is well written with some profoundly moving passages, if you are interested I would advise you to check it out.

"I Keep My Worries in My Teeth" as a title alone had me intrigued when I first read about it in one of my library's trade journals; Cox has definitely created a quirky novel that centers around a pencil factory and those who own, work, and are affected by it daily. Throughout the novel, readers hear from three female perspectives: teenage Frankie, whose mother owns the pencil factory, Emma, a young woman who bites pencils (ahem quality control) at the factory, and Ruth, who owns several camera stores in town and is well-connected to the locals. This fairly short story touches on love, grief, and suffering in unexpected ways.

This one just wasn't for me. I found the characters to be really bizarre. I was sort of interested in the plot up to a point, then I really lost interest. Esther's chewing and biting issues were just too weird for me. Her teeth are definitely their own character. But the writing was excellent.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book.

Thank you to the author, Little A Publishing and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

It's been a long time since I read a book this clever and quirky. Not all of it resonated with me, but some parts really hit me in the gut, in a good way. The story is told from three different POVs, with very distinct voices: Frankie, the teenage daughter of the owner of the pencil factory (which dominates the town's economy), Ruth, the owner of the Vixen photo studio, and Esther, the character that gives the book its title. Esther is the only one of the three that I really could not get into or understand - but her anxious voice came across very clearly. Both of the others, I loved and got very invested in. Yes, it's a small-town world out of another time: The book is set in the late 1970s, but some of the things that happen are inexplicable and wonderful. Loss, grief, memories and new beginnings are the themes that are explored, very gently and very poignantly - and sometimes very funny. I look forward to reading more from this author!