Laughing IS Conceivable: One Woman's Extremely Funny Peek into the Extremely Unfunny World of Infertility: Lori Shandle-Fox

"This little ebook was written by a humor writer and former stand-up comic while she was in the shoes of her one fertility treatments -- uncertain of the outcome.  It has been downloaded by 1000s of fertility patients and professionals who believe that, even in this overwhelming, emotionally, mentally, financially, & physically draining time in a person's life, laughter really is the best medicine."


***I FINALLY get to post this review!  I originally wrote it on 12/18/17 and now, on 6/7/2019, I am finally allowed to post it!  When I read this book about a year-and-a-half ago, I had no idea I'd have to postpone this review for such a long time.  I picked it up right after we were told that the next step in our fertility process was IVF...and I was devastated.  I felt so broken, so useless, and so lost.  Why was conceiving no problem for so many and yet I was "unworthy"?  I was desperate (as was my husband) to find some way to cope with this all while maintaining the level of privacy I/we wanted to maintain throughout this infertility process.  This book is marketed to women in my situation.  Re-reading my review below, I didn't seem all that impressed.  I think, perhaps, I wasn't in a very receptive place (I was just downright angry and miserable), or maybe it was because I hadn't actually begun my own IVF process yet.  We didn't start prepping until early 2018 for what would turn into 2 IVF egg retrieval cycles.  Recalling what I do about this book, I think I would have appreciated some of it a lot more had I been going through IVF -- I don't know if I would have cracked up like some of the other readers did, but maybe I would have connected on a different level.  The book did do one thing:  it helped me not feel so alone.  I wasn't the only woman suffering through this and I won't be the last.  If you're more of a private person (like myself) and/or you don't have anyone close to you with whom you can share this experience or who can connect with you, then this is a good place to start.  It may help you feel just a little less lost and a little less hopeless.  Here is what I wrote back in 2017:

I’m planning on keeping this review private for the foreseeable future, mostly because reviewing this short book is a very personal revelation.  I picked up a little postcard advertising this book while in the waiting room at my fertility doctor’s office.  My husband and I have been trying to conceive since our wedding 1.5 years ago, but no luck.  I had a surprise PCOS diagnosis 1 year ago and, after countless tests, a surgery, monitoring, and numerous procedures, still no luck.  The last couple of months have been particularly stressful and painful for me and it seems only to be getting worse.  My poor, distraught husband has asked me to speak to someone about our difficulties in the hopes that it would make me feel better – for many reasons, I/we have decided to keep these issues private, if only to save ourselves from having to discuss every individual failure each and every time.  I feel it’s a very private matter and it’s no one else’s business.  Anyway, this book is supposed to be geared toward women in my situation; it’s marketed as having a sense of humor about the whole issue of infertility and all the crap we have to go through just to try to accomplish something our female bodies are supposed to do naturally.  Speaking first-hand, I can say this is a very personal, very raw, very difficult topic.  I was hoping that this book would do exactly what it was intended to do:  add some levity to the very serious and often heartbreaking situation of infertility.

This was a very quick read – much quicker than I thought it would be…I read it in less than 24 hours.  It was easy to read and well-organized.  While I found my mouth twitching at some of the scenarios and I highlighted several very relatable passages, it was not the crack-me-up, laugh-out-loud book I was hoping for.  Reading reviews on Amazon, it seems like the reviews are, for the most part, on very opposite sides of this spectrum.  People either cried from laughing so much, or they found it boring and filled with complaints rather than anything helpful or uplifting.  I am one of the rare middle-gounders.  I can sincerely appreciate what the author was trying to do.  It was reassuring to know I wasn’t alone in this (though I knew I never actually was, it was a way of seeing into someone else’s journey without feeling nosey or having to explain my own issues to put us on equal ground).  I didn’t crack up.  I think the closest I got was a small chuckle.  I think this could have been a much longer book; especially because it seemed like the author underwent a lot of treatment.  I get that it’s her choice to include as many or as few of her experiences as she wants, but I was given the impression that the book, itself, would have been longer.  I think it would have been more “helpful” had it been longer because she could have included more of her trials.  Maybe that’s just me.

Would I recommend this book?  I suppose.  I can see how it might help some women/people going through similar situations.  It does remind you that you're not alone, you're not the only one experiencing these feelings and this pain, but I did not experience the same solace other readers felt.  I say give it a go if you want!  Who knows?  Maybe it'll help you more than it helped me.  Happy reading (and good luck to all)!

House of the Rising Son (Dark-Hunter Series: Prequel): Sherrilyn Kenyon

"The eldest son in a family of three boys, Aricles had no desire to be soldier, even though his fighting skills were among the best in the world.  He was more content on his small Atlantean farm, living a quiet, uneventful life.  But when his brother is determined to don a soldier's uniform, Aricles joins him with a promise to their father to bring his brother home in one piece.  What he never counts on is how much their new lives will forever change them or what the risk of a forbidden love will ultimately cost him."

This was a recent addition to the Dark-Hunter Series and it appears to be intended as a sort of prequel, much like Fantasy Lover.  I was very happy to locate it in a Kindle collection of Kenyon's short stories; it made for a quick purchase while I was on vacation and had just finished re-reading Fantasy Lover.  One of my greatest complaints back when I first began reading Kenyon's works was how difficult it was to track down a lot of the short stories.  Not only did I have to find the anthology, but it was really annoying for a poor student like myself to have to purchase all of these books when, chances are, I would have little to no interest in the other short stories contained in the anthology.  The Dark Bites collection is brilliant!  I can't believe it took until somewhat recently for this to come out!  There was some wonkiness in FantasticFiction.com and where this particular short story fits in, but, like I mentioned, it seems to be a prequel.  Having read it, I am not entirely certain where it stands and how it meshes with the rest of the series.  Chronologically, it is clearly the earliest of the books; other than that, I'm not so sure.  The story started out interesting (even if I am a bit confused about the whole premise behind the necessity of the special task force of warriors from different nations)  I initially liked Bathymaas and her stoic nature.  As I read on, however, I lost a little bit of respect (I don't think this is the right word, but I am going for it) for Ari.  He was too childlike.  I get that he's young and inexperienced on so many levels, but I don't think that's a good enough excuse.  Whereas I liked this childlike naiveté in the early Bathymaas, it was a touch to overdone in Ari.  I just didn't find him up to the same quality of Kenyon's other male leads.  I think my biggest issue with the story was the dialogue; it felt a bit too awkward.  It was formal, but in a stilted way rather than elegant.  It was mixed in with some word choices that were far too modern (i.e. "Sweetie").  I love books that transport me to another world, but the dialogue in this particular story took me out of that escape.  This was probably my least favorite of Kenyon's books.  I'm waiting to see where it fits into the grand scheme...maybe I'll like it more if I can understand/appreciate her character choices.

Fear the Darkness (Dark-Hunter Series, Book Nineteen): Sherrilyn Kenyon

***This is Nick’s short story! As it is an exclusive e-book, there isn’t really a synopsis, sorry! It is available on Sherrilyn Kenoyn’s website at www.sherrilynkenyon.com.***

Short, but tantalizing as well as informative, this short story was a VERY quick read and interesting. It made me really want more. I fell for Nick (as did many other readers) back in Kyrian’s book and I’ve been having a really hard time handling what this guy has been going through and the choices he has made. Like many others, I kind of understood why Nick acted the way he did, but it was still difficult to swallow. This short story, however, gave me the insight I needed to better understand his decisions and motivations. Overall, it was a good short story—shorter than I’m used to—but it was classic Sherrilyn Kenyon. All great.