Review: Gravel on the Side of the Road by Kris Radish

Gravel on the Side of the Road

by Kris Radish

Publisher: SparkPress

Pages: 240

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  A woman who worries about carrying a .38 special in her purse, nearly drowns in a desert canyon, flies into the war in Bosnia, dances with the FBI, tells Geraldo he shouldn’t put guests in hotel rooms with rats and spends time with murderers, has more than a few stories to tell.

Gravel on the Side of the Road-True Stories From a Broad Who Has Been There is a daring and revealing adventure itself.

Beloved novelist Kris Radish returns to her non-fiction beginnings with her first, but not last, book of autobiographical essays. Her writing career has spanned four decades and has included award winning newspaper work, magazine features, a national syndicated column, eleven books and enough stories and adventures to fill up many more.

Radish’s talent for telling it like it is, sharing the wit and wisdom of a life lived mostly on her own terms and her keen sense of humor are highlighted in these stories- some of them old- some of them new, but all of them a glimpse into worlds many never dare to enter. This author always lives in a world where nothing is sacred but the sweet emotions of the heart.

Kris is definitely a broad who has been there.


Kritters Thoughts:  A non fiction collection of short stories from Kris Radish's life as a mother, journalist and adventurer.  Her job as a journalist has taken her all over the place and these stories are from those travels, her childhood and her personal life. 

Kris Radish has an interesting life and the stories of her life were very interesting.  I loved the juxtaposition of her being a mom and the personal stories to the professional ones where she is interacting with mothers who are in prison for various reasons.  The content of her stories were entertaining. 

The lack of chronology is probably the biggest thing that made me not fall in love with this book.  I didn't love that her stories jumped all over the place; I didn't see a flow or reason as to their order and I wanted to find it so bad.  As a random collection of short stories, it was fine, but it wasn't completely for me.



Rating: enjoyable, but didn't leave me wanting more


Ebook 2014 Challenge: 44 out of 100

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Booksparks PR.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.