Review of Finding My Giggle

[Steinkar]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Finding My Giggle" by Melinda J. Kelly.]

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4 out of 5 stars

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In Finding My Giggle, Melinda J. Kelly presents readers with a melancholy, unnamed narrator who finally decides to take small but purposeful steps to climb out of her rut. She recognizes that she has let her house become messy and cluttered due to inattention. Starting in the kitchen, she discovers ingredients that she had bought but never put to use, so she decides to make a recipe from her past. She makes her way through the dining room and into the bathroom, which she finds “filled with lotions and potions.” As she cleans and organizes, she gets a renewed sense of purpose as she looks forward to adding a Friday evening bubble bath to her schedule. Eventually, she moves on to her living room and discovers it is filled with many things she didn’t need or want. She did the same decluttering in her closet, admitting that she had fallen into a “shades of black, fashionless” rut. With higher spirits, she convinces herself to get out more. She has coffee with her nephew and lunch with a colleague—which gives her a better overall attitude toward her job. She arranges a dinner party and even buys a new red dress. In the middle of her party filled with the friends and family she loves, she realizes her “giggle” has been there all the time… just waiting for her to find it.

This is a lovely little book that centers on a serious problem: personal unhappiness. I like that the narrator goes unnamed; this makes the book and its theme more universal. I also like that Kelly decided to put her advice into lighthearted fiction, rather than a more direct self-help book, but she also added a list of other useful ideas at the end of the book. Readers can get the idea of “baby steps” from the narrator, but if those specific ideas don’t intrigue, there are lots of others to try to find a purpose and a distraction from their angst. Finally, the illustrations add a sense of whimsy to the book.

The only flaw in the book is the awkward formatting. There are spacing errors throughout the book: blank lines in the middle of sentences, empty spaces around illustrations, and random items in a list that run together. All of these distract from the message of the book.

I rate this book 4 out of 5 stars. Although the formatting is awkward, I believe the book accomplishes what Kelly set out to do: help readers find a way out of their own unhappiness to “find their giggle” again.

There is nothing offensive in this book that would negate young people from reading it. But its theme points more to the problems of adults rather than kids.

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Finding My Giggle
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[Louis Donald]

I love how the narrator’s journey towards finding joy is built on small, manageable steps. The idea of decluttering both physically and mentally really resonates with me. While the formatting issues are a bit of a turnoff, I’d still consider reading it to see how the practical tips fit into the story.