Customer Reviews

The Pulpwood Queen's Tiara-Wearing, Book-Sharing Guide to Life

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Kathy Patrick is a national treasure. She is a tireless promoter of literacy and her love of books comes through loud and clear in this wonderful book. Kathy tells her story in a refreshingly candid style. The book is filled with her favorite lists of books- an invaluable guide for book clubs and serious readers. I enjoyed reading about the road trips the Pulpwood Queens took, and I enjoyed learning more about Jefferson, Texas (Kathy's hometown). Kathy doesn't take herself too seriously, but don't sell this lady short. She knows books, and more importantly, she puts her money where her mouth is. Her passion for literature and life come shining through in this book. Thank you Kathy for all you do for readers and writers. I'm proud to be an honorary Timber Guy. Highly recommended!

What a wonderful reading experience! Kathy takes you so many places with such vigor and energy! Whether or not you were raised in the midwest in the 1960's, you can relate to the childhood stories. But that's such a small part of the overall experience. For anyone who can use the inspiration to get over whatever life has dealt and live your passion. She gives us true and vivid life to the saying, "when life hands you lemons.... make margarita's!!!" Kathy's writing is a thoroughly entertaining tribute to promoting literacy, imagination and fun for fun's sake. Read it wearing your tiara and share it with your best girlfriend. It's worth it.

A wild Yee-haa of a read. Laughs galore, I enjoyed both the humor and the humanity on every page. So whether you have big hair, short hair, or no hair you'll love this book!

I loved every word of this book. I did not want it to end. Kathy Patrick writes as if she if in the room with you having a conversation. She is the ultimate girlfriend, the guru of readers and a fantastic author. I thoroughly enjoyed the book lists!! Most of all, I enjoyed the honesty of Kathy Patrick. She tells it like it is. She is a wise and personable woman. I like the way she has learned her lessons in life and the sweetness of her. But, through it all, Kathy Patrick is a powerful woman. In my opinion, this is a must read. She knows how to live and enjoy life - and she takes her friends along for the ride!!!

With a heart that's even bigger than her "go to town" hair and a story that will make you laugh until you cry, Kathy Patrick reminds us that we're never to old to achieve our dreams--or play dress up. Part memoir, part reading guide (with some deliciously decadent Pulpwood Queen recipes tossed in for good measure), this is an honest, heartwarming and inspirational read.

There is no denying that Kathy L. Patrick is a huge champion of literacy and an individual who believes in enjoying life to the fullest, as evidenced by her contagious enthusiasm to share her flat-out joy of reading. She has certainly done more than her share to open the world of books to hundreds, nee, thousands of individuals across the country. And she hasn't done it by going halfway, either. In my opinion, Kathy L. Patrick has almost single-handedly started to reverse a frightening trend in this country (that of giving up on books in favor of computers) by making reading fun again. The fact that she is responsible for starting a book club that reaches both adults and children and fills them with a desire to read is a testament to her drive and determination.

Like so many other children of her generation who became addicted to books as a way to escape from an uncomfortable or dysfunctional home life, Ms. Patrick goes into great, painful detail of her upbringing - most of which I felt was completely unnecessary to the story. Since I was expecting a book extolling the virtues and exploits of a radically different and fun book club, I was not at all prepared for the excruciating details of what went on behind the closed doors of her childhood home. These particular passages made me extremely uncomfortable and embarrassed, especially for her mother. I realize that Kathy says, in the acknowledgments as an aside to her family, "I had to tell my story. This was not a choice for me but a calling. I love you all and hope you will understand that telling my story has brought me full circle." Even so, that didn't adequately prepare me for the tell-all story that was about to unfold.

So, while this book contains a lot of helpful hints on how to start and run a successful book club, numerous suggested titles with a small synopsis for each, as well as a lot of fun and poignant anecdotes about the Pulpwood Queens, it made me a bit queasy with TMI re: Kathy Patrick's personal life. The book would have been much more enjoyable without that information.

Carol Ann Hopkins, written 1/2008

One part memoir, one part inspirational how-to-be-happy-and-do-unto-others-as..., I flew through this book in a few short sittings and enjoyed every minute of it. She may be a "small-town girl from Kansas," but Kathy Patrick clearly comes with a great big ol' heart. Whether she is describing the antics of the tiara-wearing Pulpwood Queens as they grew from six to the whole, big, nationwide phenomenon they've become, remembering her childhood and her relationship with her parents with stark truth measured by humor, or - the most moving chapter for me - detailing the day she fixed the hair of her dear friend Joyce in preparation for Joyce's own funeral, Kathy's humanity and compassion shines through. And to top it all off: great quotes on friendship, literature and life; wonderful reading lists; and recipes for East Texas Martinis and Great-Grandma Chisolm's Green Tomato Pie.

A Queen is a woman who understands that the story of our lives is ours to create. The Queen of My Self: Stepping Into Sovereignty in Midlife We can design our own roles and ideals, compose the scripts, and author the sagas of our own futures and that of the environment around us. While we cannot necessarily control the circumstances and influences that present themselves to us in the course of living, we can choose how we will respond to them when they do arise. Kathy Patrick is a Queen after my own heart. This book will inspire you to become Queens, too.

The Pulpwood Queens' Tiara-Wearing, Book-Sharing Guide to Life
Kathy L. Patrick
Grand Central, Jan 2008, $13.99
ISBN: 9780446695428

Born and raised in Kansas, Kathy Patrick became a licensed cosmetologist and soon a book publisher's representative. When she lost her position in the publishing industry due to downsizing, she decided to combine her two experiences. Kathy opened Beauty and the Book, which likes its title implies combined a salon with a bookstore. With the encouragement of her customers who debated the merits of books they read, Kathy soon created The Pulpwood Queens of East Texas reading group that took their literature seriously, but the meetings as a time to let down one's hair (hard to do wearing a tiara).

Her well written autobiography is a terrific inspiration as she has become one of the diehards trying to get people literate and reading as Ms. Patrick believes this is a way to bring the world to anyone as well as a means to making strong friendships. The tiara wearing sisterhood anecdotes make this "Guide to Life" worth reading as these ladies will inspire the audience to join clubs.

Harriet Klausner

Having known Kathy for several years I always felt that our time spent together was not enough. Now she's captured the essence of her spirit in pages that I can keep with me always. She is certainly a force of nature and it's always good. She has the biggest heart and biggest passion for reading of anyone I know. What she's accomplished for returning adults and children back to reading is phenomenal. I'm sure this book was a labor of love that was both painful and joyful for her to write. I'm glad to have had the opportunity to share in that joy and pain by reading her inspiring words.