Customer Reviews

The Last Time I Was Me

5 star:		(52)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

Jeanne Stewart has been working 60 to 80 hours a week hocking products for an advertising firm in Chicago. Alcohol and a boyfriend she names "Slick Dick" seem to balm the effects, but one day when "Dick" is caught cheating(with several women) and she can't lie about the merit of one more useless commodity, she rages out. Coating Slick Dick's condoms with peanut oil,(of which he is allergic) she escapes to Portland, Oregon to find solace with her brother, Charlie, and family. But on a drunken binge she decides to stop in Weltana, OR about 100 miles short of her goal. Here she meets a myriad of elcectic characters that aid her in finding a new start. She buys a dilapidated wreck of home and hires a Mexican family fleeing from a migrant farm to reconstruct it. Meantime she lives in a boarding house with germ phobic Rosvita, dines at an Opera Pancake House, and runs naked by the river at night. Hilarious moments ensue as well as sadder ones in Weltana, but Jeanne begins to heal. Don't find Jeanne a pathetic, soft spoken soul.....contraire, she is a FIRECRACKER with a mouth that explodes a bit too often.

Mandated into an eclectic anger management class(due to the condom incident) she befriends another set of dynamic folks who take her under their broken wings. Going to work for her brother Charlie to re-elect the governor, Jeanne creates more messes than a cow with diarrhea. But through it all she is spitfires her way to redemption.

Cathy Lamb has to have a most incredible sense of fun, yet she never just leaves it at humor. She knows how to write emotion. She also knows how to compose a story that keeps you flowing along so entrenched in her characters you wouldn't dare put down the book.

I am truly excited about this new author. Having read and loved "Julia's Chocolates" her first endeavor, I look with great anticipation for her next book.

I work in a bookstore, and when a customer called to ask whether we had Cathy Lamb's first book, she Would. Not. Stop. talking about how much she enjoyed The Last Time I Was Me. As the line of customers approaching my register grew, the woman on the phone nearly pleaded for me to read this book. "You'll LOVE it!" She carried on for so long that I finally conceded. Sheesh.

Despite my best intentions to *Not* enjoy a book I initially dismissed as probable Chick Lit, this is one of the most entertaining and enjoyable reads I've come across in a long while. The protagonist, Jeanne, is a woman you'd want to move in, become your Best Friend, enjoy a good mutual nervous breakdown, then be there to back you up when you find yourself in a tight spot. She, as well as the rest of Lamb's characters, are boldly drawn in bright, colorful splashes of high and true color. Yet they are amazingly warm and down to earth. That balance is not an easy task for a writer to accomplish. And because the characters are true-to-life, you'll find that they'll make you laugh, cringe, wince, and smile between squeezing out a tear or two.

I wish I knew who that anonymous phone customer was. I'd thank her for the recommendation. My only problem is that I now sound a whole lot like she did. And here, despite all of my best intentions, I find myself writing a review so that I can recommend it to You.

Just don't blame me if you love it too.

Go ahead and order her "Julia's Chocolate" (first book) because by the time you finish the first 100 pages you'll want it waiting for you to pick up next. So well developed, characters that you'll wish you could be just like, characters you'll really relate to, you'll laugh and cry, you'll stop to think, you'll learn about yourself, you'll see the movie going through your head as you read, descriptions are amazing -not too long - not too short, why you can smell things as you read for goodness sakes. This is a book that a thinking man would enjoy so my husband gets it next. I won't loan this one out. Literally one of the very best, in my top 10 for sure, written books I've read in a long while. And the way she repeats is such an intelligent way to anchor the readers...makes me wonder if she attended NLP classes. The title evokes an interesting sound from people when you say it...how many of us know "The Last Time I Was Me"?

I LOVED this book! Parts of it were heart-wrenching; parts were laugh out loud funny! The hilarious parts reminded me of some of the funnier Stephanie Plum scenes and commentary. I liked all the different characters and the anger management class descriptions were priceless.

All in all, a great read - very entertaining1

Cathy Lamb's strength as a writer is her ability to create a wonderful cast of colorful, eccentric characters in her stories. The Last Time I Was Me is the story of Jeanne Stewart, a successful career woman who suffers a nervous breakdown over the loss of her mother to cancer and the discovery that her live-in boyfriend is an unscrupulous Lothario. Facing assault charges for retaliating against her boyfriend, Jeanne moves to Weltana, OR, to rebuild her life while taking court-ordered anger management classes. The people she befriends in town and in her anger management class will keep you highly entertained.

This is the first book in a LONG time that had me staying up all hours because I could not put it down. You will be hooked from the first page and will stay hooked throughout. Plus there is a pay off at the end with a trial that had me laughing out loud - the type of belly laugh you usually only do in a dark movie theater!!
What can you be assured of in choosing this book?
A strong INTELLIGENT female character with human flaws, but an amazing capacity to love.
Varied side characters each with their own back story.
A romance that isn't Harlequin; it is believable and moving, ok, and really HOT!
Be prepared for tears, but know you will also experience joy.
Many advance notices - I like how the character tells you what is going to happen, but then goes back to explain what came before that.
Bad guys that really get their due.
Siblings that care for each other - would like a brother like Charlie.
I am going back to read Cathy Lamb's first book.

Cathy Lamb has the ability to take some very tough subjects, bring them to life, and though you might start out sad you end up laughing out loud. I love how the bad guys really get it and in such fun and quirky styles. You will have a hard time putting this one down once you start.

I am an avid reader but am rarely moved to share a review. This book moved me. The plot is richly woven as are the characters. Emotions run the gamut and like several other reviewers, I had laugh out loud moments. I also had momemts where I was moved by the truly human and heartfelt way this author writes about anger, fear and the desire for revenge. A very complex, extremely well written book with such well fleshed out characters I wanted to move to that small Oregon town and become their friend.

This book should come with a warning label!
Do not read in public! All the baristas will stare at you with one hand on the phone poised and ready to call 9-1-1 as you snort, howl with laughter, and cry. You'll try to stop, it won't help! You'll discreetly dab your eyes and cover your mouth.... all to no avail.

Do not start this book before bed! I know, just a few pages to unwind. The next thing you know it will be 2:35 in the morning and you will be covering your mouth with the pillow to keep from waking the kids/hubbie and stifle the gut-busting and raucous laughter.

Do not under any circumstances exact revenge on allergic boyfriends with creative uses of a glue gun! Never mind-forget this rule. He had it coming.

This is a great book with a cast of characters you will wish lived in your town. Narrator and main character Jeanne Stewart, is a warm, lovable, believable, sassy woman who thinks and talks like many of us wish we could or if we are really lucky...do.

My mom recommended this book to me and was raving about how good it was to the point that I almost felt like it couldn't live up to the hype. Then I read it and it was SO GREAT. This book is about a woman, Jeanne Stewart, who has a number of bad things happen in her life over a long period of time. She continues to repress her emotions and anger about those things until ultimately she snaps and has a bit of a nervous breakdown (in a hilarious way). The book is about how she begins to put her life back together. Although there are some painful issues that are addressed by the author, she does so in a way that is incredibly humorous and poignant. In the wake of her breakdown, Jeanne is required to attend an anger management class. The scenes of the class are some of the funniest scenes I have read in a book in years and years. In fact, there are many scenes in this book that had me laughing hysterically out loud, even while riding the metro to work. I wish that I was as quick-witted and hilarious as Jeanne is in the book. I would recommend this book to anyone that loves to read and likes books with great character development and humor.