“Are John and I really on our fourth dog together?” I had to laugh. And shudder. I have been with my husband long enough to have had six dogs–and a rabbit. Again and again, Mary Laura Philpott had me laughing and shuddering in recognition.

Phlipott writes about being alive, the wonder and dread of being a mother, the joy of life and the recognition of one’s mortality. It’s a hard world. Is it even safe to send our children out into it? We can’t protect them. And we look into the mirror and see our own aging. “I am obsessed with death because I am in love with life,” Philpott writes; “I grieve in advance of loss.”

This struck too close to home. I am looking at 70 in a few months. I have already lived longer than my mother, her twin brothers, my grandfathers, my great-grandparents, and a cousin. I have to live forever, to be there for our son. How do I use the years that are left? We can’t save everyone, Philpott writes, but we can shelter each other in love. It’s the only bomb shelter we have.

I received a free egalley from the publisher through NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased.

Get a cup of coffee, get comfy and lend Mary your ear. In her endearing and painfully honest voice, she explains her biggest fear, especially as a parent: loss, pain, heartache, and the growing pains of her most cherished possessions, her children.
Filled with rationales felt by all mothers, but expressed in an unapologetic way, Mary bares her soul and quietly asks you to be as honest in return. Snarky at times, at others sadly sincere, this is a book you’ll hold close long after you finish.
Sincere thanks to Atria Books for an ARC in exchange for my honest review. The publishing date is April 12, 2022.

Mary Laura Philpott knows how to write a compelling story. I haven't read her previous work but now am interested in reading it after this. She weaves the story effortlessly & in such an interesting way. This one particularly hit close to home as I am around the same age as her & am getting ready for my first born child to graduate high school. I could have highlighted most of this book due to those circumstances. Highly recommend reading this. book even if you aren't at this stage as it is a great read.
Thanks to the publisher & NetGalley for advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

This was the first book I've read from this author and I loved it! I related to so much of it from the worry and anxiety, to the growing kids, and the fact you just can't stop time no matter how much you want it to slow down. There were laugh out loud funny moments in the book and the writing style was effortless and at times I felt I was reading fiction!

I have already added her other books to my list and hope to read them soon!

Thank you to Atria Books and Netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I'll read anything Mary Laura writes. I enjoyed this one even more than I Miss You When I Blink. I already can't wait for her next collection!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the free e-copy.

As someone who is prone to worry, I can relate to Bomb Shelter, a collection of essays detailing all the complexities that life gives us. Mary Laura Philpott's writing is effortless and to say that she's a keen observer of life is an understatement.

Initially I thought that the essays seem disjointed, but I came to see that they're not. All have a common theme -- life is complex, uncertain, but also something to be savored and cherished. Bomb Shelter is a book to be read slowly and carefully -- a true gem.

Thank you to Atria Books and #NetGalley for the electronic ARC of Bomb Shelter.

Even though I'm not a mother, I'm a person with anxiety, and can relate to Mary Laura Philpott in a lot of ways. I particularly enjoyed the start and end of this collection. This book sought to prove we can live with both anxiety and optimism and it does just that.

"There will always be bombs, and we will never be able to save everyone we care about. To know that and to try anyway is to be fully alive. The closest thing to shelter we can offer one another is love, as deep and wide and in as many forms as we can give it."

What a big-hearted book. Mary Laura Philpott navigates us through her life in essays about emotionally jarring moments in her life: the death of friends and families, realizations that things weren't always the way they seemed, the joy of new beginnings. Like most memoirs/essays I've read, I loved the feeling of friendship, of being told a silly or poignant story by someone you're getting to know. That's prevalent here especially with all of Philpott's joy and optimism for life and people.

This book is well-written and I read it quickly but as someone younger, without children and no want for them, I think I had a hard time connecting to all of the pieces of this memoir. It drew me in instead by making me think of my mom and my grandma and the people in my life who have mothered me. The best way I connected to Philpott was her discussion over and over again of anxiety about life and the people she loves.

I really enjoyed the bright mixed with the sad here and I would recommend to anyone who enjoys memoirs/essays! The essays are often short enough that they grab you without dragging and a lot of them made me laugh and almost cry.

Thank you to Atria and NetGalley for my ARC!

Genre: memoir, essays
Pub date: 4/12/22
In one sentence: Mary Laura Philpott is a worrier - how will she cope when crisis comes to her front door?

Like MLP, I am a worrier. I'm not a mother, but I enjoy reading about how mothers deal with every issue under the sun, large and small. This book balances humor and seriousness so well, and I loved the openness with which MLP discusses her life and family. Frank the Turtle is an inspiration, and so is MLP. The story is told in a few arcs of related essays - I enjoyed this structure because it was easy to pick up the book and read in chunks as my schedule permitted.

If you love memoirs, this is a great one to grab! Of course, you should also read I Miss You When I Blink. I think book clubs would enjoy this one!

Thank you to Atria Books for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I'm a fan of Philpott's essays when they appear in publications so it's no surprise that I appreciated reading her work in memoir form with a longer arc to follow. I can relate to Philpott's worries as a mom and many of the other topics she addresses, too. Her writing is warm and relatable. Thank you to netgalley.com for the early copy. I will be grabbing the print version when it's out!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC. I enjoyed this collection of short personal essays from Mary Laura Philpott. This was my first book I've read of hers. Her stories were relatable and funny. If you like essay type books, you'll want to pick this up.

Thank you to the publisher for an egalley of this book prior to it's release. I can't remember where or how I learned about Mary Laura Philpott but if you dabble in the world of bookish podcasts and bookstagram as I do, you know who she is. I very enjoyed her first essay collection, I Miss You When I Blink and was excited to read this one. She didn't disappoint in her sophomore collection. She has a few common threads running through the book which I enjoyed. She writes well - she's the friend you can imagine having. She's a hoot on Instagram too! I highly recommend this book - even if you're not a fan of essays, this is worth the read. Thank you again for allowing me to read it!

I want Mary Laura Philpott to be my neighbor. I want to know Frank and laugh at the same NextDoor animal posts. I had the pleasure of meeting Mary Laura at a Reader Retreat and essentially fell in love. Who you meet in person is who you meet in the pages and that person is a delight. Bomb Shelter is a balance of humor and humility. One page you laugh and the next tears well up in your eyes. I will order ANYTHING she writes for as long as I stay.

Yep, this is it. This is exactly the stage of life I’m in and reading it from Philpott’s perspective made me FEEL SEEN!

It’s just in the last year that I can see the light at the end of the tunnel of parenthood as we generally think of it. I can still remember those early years with my babies when high school, eighteen, and college all seemed so far away that it was unfathomable. But when my son turned 16 and got his driver’s license, it’s like I ran straight into a brick wall. He’s rarely home now - he’s home late from sports practice and when he’s not doing that or in school, he’s out running around with friends.

I have 4 more years before my youngest leaves and makes my husband and I “empty nesters”. There’s a part of me that feels some excitement at reclaiming our lives, but there is also a deep-seated sadness at knowing this stage of our lives will be over. I’m sure there’s great things about college-aged kids too, but I want to cherish these last few years and suck all the goodness (even if totally chaotic) out of them that I can.

I am ALL IN with my kids; in fact, I recently turned down a perfect-for-me job opportunity because I cannot fathom preserving my time and energy for my kids. In four short years, I’ll have all the time in the world to do my own thing, but for now, bring on all the school activities, sports events, and mundane taxi driving.

I just couldn't get in to this book. The style of writing was not conducive to keeping my interest. I would not recommend this book to anyone.

I loved I Miss You When I Blink so I was so excited to get a copy of Bomb Shelter. I am not normally big on short stories, but the way Mary Laura Philpott writes just keeps me turning pages. I laughed, I cried, and I sent about a thousand dm’s to @Marylauraphilpott while reading. Page 50 absolutely gutted me and brought back all the feels of that line from I Miss You When I Blink. I also died laughing at how they got their dog to start eating. overall this book was an absolute gem that I highly recommend you preorder a copy of before it comes out on April 12th!

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC.

This was my first Mary Philpot novel. I was skeptical when it said essays, however it felt like they flowed together beautifully to make a very pleasant story. I loved the turtle references throughout the chapters. I felt like the author was a good friend that I enjoyed spending time with.

I will happily recommend this book to many people.

Nothing better than waking up early on the weekend when it is still dark, the sound of the wind blowing like crazy and I can read Mary Laura Philpott’s new book, Bomb Shelter. Her essays feel less like reading but more like a long deep conversation with a close friend where you each say to one another, "I get it." She writes- "What an utterly bonkers premise. Me, an adult, supposedly capable of caring for so much and so many. What a ludicrous miracle that I had kept these boats afloat, these people alive. But here we all were, just fine. Somehow, I was holding it together. "All you need is love," the old song went, and I guessed that was true. Love everyone hard enough, and they will be okay.!" But she shares and we all know, that is not always the case. What I love so much is she too wakes up each day ready to shine her best with love and wit for all in her circles and we fortunate readers are lucky to be a part of them. Thank you @marylauraphilpott & @atriabooks

This is a slim collection of personal essays written with an incredibly relatable voice. Reading these essays often felt like chatting with an old friend. Her inner fears, anxieties, and worries are laid bare on the page and she gives insight into how she handles living with them. Her topics are heavy but handled with grace and care.

I found reading these essays to be thought-provoking, joyful, and satisfying. Having read her previous collection, I found myself enjoying this one just as much if not more!

I liked Philpott's previous book so much more than this one, so I was disappointed. The essays seemed pretty disjointed and I didn't feel the common theme throughout like I did with I Miss You When I Blink. It was just rather disappointing.