Sad Desk Salad

Feb 07, 2013 Andrea rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, chick-lit, roman-a-clef, read-in-2013

This sort-of roman à clef is about Alex Lyons, a 25 year old New Yorker who blogs for Chick Habit, a snarky women’s website that closely resembled the real-life Jezebel.com (where Jessica Grose previously worked). The book spans roughly 4 days, during which Alex suffers moral pangs after posting an incriminating video featuring the daughter of a Republican politician/parenting advice author. Under pressure to attract traffic to the website, Alex writes increasingly outrageous and unkind things,...more This sort-of roman à clef is about Alex Lyons, a 25 year old New Yorker who blogs for Chick Habit, a snarky women’s website that closely resembled the real-life Jezebel.com (where Jessica Grose previously worked). The book spans roughly 4 days, during which Alex suffers moral pangs after posting an incriminating video featuring the daughter of a Republican politician/parenting advice author. Under pressure to attract traffic to the website, Alex writes increasingly outrageous and unkind things, while simultaneously losing her shit when an anonymous blogger starts a website devoted to insulting Alex and the other Chick Habit writers. She grows increasingly evasive around her real-life circle, comprising her mom, boyfriend Peter and best friend Jane -- each one more saintly than the next.

The book is a quick read, and anyone who wants an inside, slightly cynical view of working for women’s interest media will probably enjoy parts of it. For example, Alex talks about breaking down “hard-news posts” into three categories: “sad foreign ladies, dead babies, sexist statistics.” We’re lead to believe that Alex is notionally passionate about these topics, which unfortunately do not attract pageviews. Instead, she has to focus on “celebrity drama and civilian controversy” -- which is what the job demands, but it also seems like it would be easier to do anyway.

The downside to this book is the thin characterization of basically everyone. Alex is a cipher with the generic backstory of today’s modern girl. Before meeting her nice boyfriend, she dated a guy who was not nice. She’s also had “some scattered hookups that provided fodder for hungover Sunday brunches with the girls.” Oh, do tell! Her chief weakness is her attraction to guys who are attractive: “muscular without being bulky with a perfectly proportioned tall frame.” Her other chief weaknesses are a limpet-like clinging to other people’s expectations, coupled with an acute sensitivity to judgment. Plus bad hygiene.

(For the record, the supporting cast fairs no better in terms of characterization. We’re lead to believe, for example, that one of Alex’s coworkers is intimidatingly cool. As evidence, we’re told that “her IM handle is a reference to Todd Solondz’s indie film classic about an unfortunate tween called Welcome to the Dollhouse.” Okay, sure.)

I’m always interested to see how the Internet gets represented in the classic print genre -- the novel. I wish that Grose spent more time on some of the contradictions of Alex’s job. I’m curious to know what it’s like to churn out posts for a maw of difficult to please commenters. Those aspects of the book were far more interesting than the manufactured drama between Alex and her boyfriend or the tacked-on mystery of figuring out who was behind the anonymous hate blog. There were the beginnings of some interesting themes here and it would have been nice to see them fleshed out.(less)

like · see review

Feb 05, 2013 Marguerite rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I'm a bit ambivalent about Sad Desk Salad because I didn't especially like the protagonist, Alex Lyons, the website writer. Working from home as a website writer seems like a dream job. Wait...I need to back up: Alex works for Chick Habit. The parent company for Chick Habit has set a "page view" demand for each writer of 100K hits. In order to meet that monthly goal, Alex is tethered to her laptop from 6a-6p and obsessively trolls the internet for news she can spin to entice readers to their web...more

like · see review

Nov 05, 2012 Claire Richmond rated it 4 of 5 stars

As a fan of Jezebel and with a curiosity about how the writers push out multiple posts per day and deal with the sometimes insane hivemind of commenters I was excited to read this book. The first sentence mentioned her iphone. I panicked. Was this to be one of those books that has a laundry list of hip items to own? Thankfully it didn't turn out that way.

I loved it. It's a fun romp through world of bloggers that make their living through writing. The Chick Habit website that our protagonist work...more

2 likes · like · see review

Oct 24, 2012 Angie Holtz rated it 5 of 5 stars

From Lilac Wolf and Stuff

The synopsis isn't quite right. It's not a no brainer, Alex is tortured by her choice. She's already spirally out of control when the story begins. She doesn't shower much and has been wearing the same muumuu for weeks, it literally smells bad to her. She doesn't like posting about the catty celebrity stuff, but with the pressure for pageviews, she feels the need to go that route more and more just to keep her job.

I think it's a brilliant look at how the internet can tur...more

like · see review

Oct 17, 2012 Deb rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: chick-lit, fiction, reading-for-review

A sad desk salad is the lunchtime standby of the working woman--that meal you consume at your desk--either working or while surfing the net.
Alex Lyons is one of four writers for Chick Habit, a popular website for women, where she is responsible for ten posts a day--mostly salacious celebrity gossip and stories about those not-so "regular" people that you might see on Jerry Springer. She spends her days waiting for news feeds to drop stories interesting enough to write about and post to hit her w...more

like · see review

Oct 04, 2012 Jennifer Rayment rated it 4 of 5 stars

The Good Stuff
•Delightfully wicked and fun
•Perfect for a day at the beach or for commuting
•Good character development and relevant to today's life (Damn people get paid to blog -- cough cough somebody pay me please)
•Actually makes you think about the moral dilemma involved - what would I have done in the same situation - do we have a right to intrude into the family of celebrities, etc
•Laugh out loud funny yet almost heart warming at times
•Nice to see realistic friendships between the char...more

2 likes · like · see review

Oct 02, 2012 Luanne Ollivier rated it 3 of 5 stars

Well, if you're reading this, you're connected online in some way - reading blogs, surfing websites, tweeting, posting etc. Now how much time do you spend online?

Alex Lyons, the main character in Jessica Grose's debut novel, Sad Desk Salad, spends a minimum of twelve hours a day online. She's a writer for Chick Habit - a women's website that skewers just about anything and everything. When Alex receives an anonymous email with a link to a blockbuster scoop, she has to decide if her job is worth...more Well, if you're reading this, you're connected online in some way - reading blogs, surfing websites, tweeting, posting etc. Now how much time do you spend online?

Alex Lyons, the main character in Jessica Grose's debut novel, Sad Desk Salad, spends a minimum of twelve hours a day online. She's a writer for Chick Habit - a women's website that skewers just about anything and everything. When Alex receives an anonymous email with a link to a blockbuster scoop, she has to decide if her job is worth more than her morals. For, the scoop may ruin another young woman's life. And is the job ruining hers?

It was interesting to see behind the scenes of an online site - the frenetic postings, the pressure to find the next scoop, to have the comments and stats needed to stay on top. Grose herself worked as an editor at Jezebel and Slate. Both publications bear a remarkable similarity to Chick Habit, so it truly seems like Grose has given us a real insider's look behind the curtain.

Grose raises interesting questions about our fascination with celebrity, gossip and the effect modern media has on our lives, using Alex as a vehicle. Sadly though, I just didn't like the main character. I found Alex to be shallow and self centred and very two dimensional. I identified more with her best friend Jane, who was more grounded and saw things with clearer eyes. Although Alex makes some personal revelations as the book progresses, they just came too late for this reader. (And I'm pretty grossed out by the fact that she doesn't bother showering and wears the same mu mu for nearly a week.)

There is a thinly veiled 'mystery' that kept me reading as I wanted answers. And, I wanted to know if Alex would reclaim her life. The final chapters do provide neat tying up of ends.

Fans of the aforementioned online sites will eat this book up, but for this reader it was just okay.Tag lines have declared the book funny and comic. Others may find it humourous, but I didn't. The cover is pretty cute though. Speaking of eating - the title?

"We get the most readers around lunch-time, when girls in offices all over the East Coast eat their sad desk salads and force down bites of desiccated chicken breasts while scrolling through our latest posts. We get another traffic bump around four, when our West Coast counterparts eat their greens with low-fat dressing."

On reading the author's notes at the end, Grose thanks many people - "for encouraging the crazy idea that I could write a novel in five months while holding down a full-time job without having a nervous breakdown. And they were mostly right." Hmm..... (less)

like · see review

Jun 08, 2012 Kendra rated it 3 of 5 stars

If you spend about ten hours a day being paid to talk trash and be mean to those whose lives are plastered in the media and on the internet, you might start to have a hard time staying tied to the real world and the people who are in it. You might also find it difficult to separate virtual drama from the parts of life which you most value. This is the situation Alex Lyons finds herself in when she is suddenly awakened by getting a taste of her own medicine one week from a hate blogger. The story...more

like · see review

Oct 22, 2012 Carrie Ardoin rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: tour, chick-lit, i-own-this

3.75 STARS

Alex Lyons is a 25 year old living in New York City with her financier boyfriend, Peter. If you think that sounds glamorous, well, it's not. Alex is a writer for a infotainment blog called Chick Habit, and she is literally on the computer looking for her next post, every waking moment. She is pretty snarky, but never thought she'd done anything bad enough for someone to target her on a hate blog!

And things go from bad to worse when Alex posts a video of a celebrity daughter in a compro...more 3.75 STARS

Alex Lyons is a 25 year old living in New York City with her financier boyfriend, Peter. If you think that sounds glamorous, well, it's not. Alex is a writer for a infotainment blog called Chick Habit, and she is literally on the computer looking for her next post, every waking moment. She is pretty snarky, but never thought she'd done anything bad enough for someone to target her on a hate blog!

And things go from bad to worse when Alex posts a video of a celebrity daughter in a compromising position. In a very short period of time, Alex finds her life spiraling out of control--her virtual life has come to affect her real one. Can she find a balance between the two?

I thought this was a pretty good, non-standard piece of chick lit. The book is interspersed with texts, emails, IM's, and Facebook statuses, so it was pretty easy reading for a tech savvy 20-something like myself.

I was able to easily relate to Alex from the beginning. Like her, I am a blogger and spend tons of time in front of my laptop. I skip around from Facebook to reddit to various culture blogs I read, and soon enough I find that hours have passed without me really doing anything productive at all! I think it is a sign of our generation, I can't recall the last time I turned on the TV to look for news updates.

Alex came off as a bit cocky and immature though. It bothered me that when things got tough, she ran away. She either drank, or stayed away from the one person who she should be able to confide in, Peter, completely. This was a pretty lame way for her to deal with things, and I'm not sure if by the end she had changed this about herself at all.

The story doesn't really get rolling until about halfway though, but I had no trouble getting into the book. Alex does go into a lot of background info about herself that seems not entirely relevant to the story--her entire relationship with Caleb, her parents' history, etc. I mean, some parts of it were embedded in the main plot, but the amount of backstory she gave could have been trimmed a little.

The end moved pretty quickly, and I was really excited to find out who the hate blogger was. But once I found out her motives, it left me a little "eh...". The ending was also wrapped up a little too sweetly. I wish we could have seen the dynamics of Alex and Peter's relationship much more.

I believe the reason that I enjoyed this book so much is because it's so relevant to my life right now--this book actually made me sit back and take stock of the time I spend online every day. I had to ask myself, "Am I really accomplishing anything by being on the internet right now?"

Any book that makes me ask questions to re-evaluate myself is great for me. Not something I would have expected from this genre of book, but I'll take help where I can get it :)(less)

1 like · like · see review

Oct 16, 2012 Viviane Crystal rated it 4 of 5 stars

Chick Habit is a sponsored website where a group of women are paid to write what others refer to a "gossip" column, posting comments on contemporary social and cultural items of high interest throughout the entire day. Their success depends on the number of hits they achieve each day for the advertisers and promoters, and the ceiling rises with time. Alex Lyons works for this site, known as "Chick Habit." Alex works from home in a smelly mu mu and leaves the apartment only to get her lunch of th...more Chick Habit is a sponsored website where a group of women are paid to write what others refer to a "gossip" column, posting comments on contemporary social and cultural items of high interest throughout the entire day. Their success depends on the number of hits they achieve each day for the advertisers and promoters, and the ceiling rises with time. Alex Lyons works for this site, known as "Chick Habit." Alex works from home in a smelly mu mu and leaves the apartment only to get her lunch of the title name of this novel. Her life is consumed on getting the dirt that will really capture her reader's attention and increase their large audience. It's one website that is multiplied dozens and dozens of times elsewhere, sometimes under the guise of news and at other times being equivalent to a sleazy paparazzi-haunted newspaper or TV scandal sheet.

So just when Alex's quota seems unreachable, a "source" hands her a provocative story on a silver platter via email and some quick chat texts with photos. The news is an explosive expose about the behavior of a daughter of a woman who has written a book about perfect parenting. What follows is not just cute, inane comments about social events or notable people. Some interpret the expose as a violation of civil privacy and some treat it as a necessary statement about those who don't live the talk of perfection.

The responses are even more devastating as one particular writer decides to get even with Alex and begins to post pictures and comments that are hugely embarrassing to Alex. The writer even threatens to tell a story about Alex's father that would shame her immensely and which even make her wonder how much she did or didn't know about her father. At the same time her relationship with her boyfriend is deteriorating and he challenges her reasons for spending innumerable hours on such a sordid career, which offends her but causes her to question her own career goals.

She and her friends decide to track down this attacker and find out why this response is so vitriolic. And, as usual the media are having a frenzied heyday with the whole sordid series of exposures.

Sad Desk Salad is a timely novel about an issue of immense significance in today's media onslaught of "bad" behavior on the part of stars and notable persons. Where is the line between privacy and public right to knowledge of those who hold themselves up as public models? How far is "too far?" Light in tone in just the right spots, serious where such an issue should be, this novel is one that deserves higher attention and discussion. Although it's a surface treatment, it's the beginning of a necessary conversation. Nice intro, Jessica Grose!!!(less)

like · see review

Sep 26, 2012 Alex rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: contemporary, edelweiss, for-review

The Deal: For the last six months, Alex Lyons has been working for Chick Habit - a up and coming blog that covers all sorts of women-related things like celebrities and pop culture - and though at first it seemed like a great opportunity, it's starting to drive her crazy.

She spends her days glued to the computer/iphone, showers only occasionally and has been wearing the same ugly muumuu every day of the summer so far. And she has melt downs each time she gets hate mail.

Still, she can't seem to...more The Deal: For the last six months, Alex Lyons has been working for Chick Habit - a up and coming blog that covers all sorts of women-related things like celebrities and pop culture - and though at first it seemed like a great opportunity, it's starting to drive her crazy.

She spends her days glued to the computer/iphone, showers only occasionally and has been wearing the same ugly muumuu every day of the summer so far. And she has melt downs each time she gets hate mail.

Still, she can't seem to tear herself away, and she can help but succumbing to the pressure her boss, Moira, puts on her to keep spewing out content and grow a pair and stop whimpering about said hate mail.

Things get seriously complicated one week when she stumbles into an irresistible scoop that could very well destroy someone's life.

My Thoughts: I started Sad Desk Salad with high hopes, I was actually talking through a friend while I read the first few chapters and kept quoting stuff at her, because Sad Desk Salad starts in a very funny way that resonated with me - I'm a blogger too, after all - and when she was going nuts about page views and less than nice comments that part rang quite true.

But as time passed and the scoop bit was revealed, I found myself wishing Alex would grow a pair too. And that she would stop being such a paranoid psycho. She's almost thirty yet she keeps behaving in a very childish way - particularly with her boyfriend Peter and her best friend Jane - and blames everyone but herself for the things that keep happening to her.

I started the book liking Alex a lot, but by the end I'm not sure I liked her at all. Though the book had it's funny moments it did started to moralize a little toward the end which is just annoying - and there is this sort of mystery thread running through that added to that and was pretty thin.

Sad Desk Salad comes out October 2nd, 2012.

Favorite Quote: "What I wrote could sometimes be constructed as mean - but I always tried to be fair. "Nice" is different than "good", as Stephen Sondheim says. My new rule turned out to be: Don't write anything you wouldn't say to a person's face. Sober."(less)

like · see review

Nov 13, 2012 Little Gray Pixel rated it 4 of 5 stars

Alex is a blogger who can't seem to get her priorities straight. She works from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. without taking a proper break or showering or putting on clean clothes. But the real problem is that her sense of self is in jeopardy. Her sense of ethics is confused.

I really enjoyed watching her spiral out of control to find out who is writing a hate site about her. This is a novel very much of our time, and anyone who spends any time on the Internet (raises hand) can relate to the situations.

My on...more

like · see review

Oct 19, 2012 Blodeuedd Finland rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: chic-lit, romantic-fiction

I needed something light and funny and this was the perfect book for that. Though it was not just happiness and sunshine, no this book did look at the internet a bit more closely too.

Alex the heroine gets up around 6 am and then works for almost 12 hours. She does not dress, take a shower and often forget to eat. She is obsessed with her work as the tempo is high and she needs to find and write several pieces a day and get a lot of traffic for the website. Is she happy? I think she is too busy t...more

like · see review

Oct 15, 2012 Rachel rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, fiction, chick-lit

I think that anyone who blogs will appreciate Alex's story for sure, especially those who blog professionally. Internet and blogging ethics are still evolving and this book is a great commentary on the nebulous state of them today. Also, the author worked at both Slate and Jezebel so I assume that Alex's story is fairly realistic as far as what it's like working as an online writer.

Alex has to keep up on pop culture as part of her job and this book is full of pop culture references which was fun...more

1 like · like · see review

Dec 05, 2012 Helen Dunn rated it 3 of 5 stars

I listen to the Slate podcasts so Jessica Grose was a familiar name to me and while I am not a particular fan of the Double X podcast or of Jessica's work on that show, I felt like I wanted to support her efforts as a novelist so I picked up this book.

It's a total page turner about the behind the scenes machinations at a small gossippy web site called Chick Habit. A scandal involving cocaine and some pseudo-celebrities, drama between catty co-workers who interact almost exclusively via IM, and a...more

like · see review

Nov 18, 2012 Allison rated it 2 of 5 stars

I agree with many of the other two-star reviewers: it was ok.

I don't read much chick lit, so I'm not sure if it's all like this. I actually only read this book because I received it as a galley copy from HarperCollins. Still, even if chick lit is all written like similarly, this is a book I could have written . . . back in 7th grade when everything I wrote mirrored my life, only with far more melodrama than I could muster up in real life. I am unimpressed by any of the characters including Alex...more

like · see review

Dec 06, 2012 Samantha Robey rated it 5 of 5 stars

I received a copy of Sad Desk Salad in exchange for an honest review. I thought I was going to love this novel from the description and the beyond-hilarious cover. I knew I was going to love this novel from the first page. But seriously – how was I not going to fall in love with a main character who blogs at a women’s lifestyle website called Chick Habit? I was immediately transplanted into the story and stayed in Alex’s world until the last page. Alex is starting to lose focus with herself as s...more

like · see review

Sep 15, 2012 Lisa rated it 5 of 5 stars

I received this book as an early copy from another website and of course, I had hoped to enjoy it and not be bored or irritated by it but I didn't expect that I would like it as much as I do.

It was a great story. There were times when I couldn't put it down. It shows a life that I am not familiar with but I see from a distance. I see those postings on Yahoo and other places but I never really thought about who would be writing them and why, where and how. And how the writer might also be reading...more

1 like · like · see review

Oct 08, 2012 Rainycityjen rated it 2 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I usually enjoy light, funny, commiserating books aimed at females. (I won't call it "chick lit," which sounds as stupid as "ditzy rom com.") Unfortunately Sad Desk Salad did not live up to its cute title or its author's slick blogging cred. I did get the requisite goopy thrill out of the quirky cast of characters, could relate to all the discussion about gossip blog culture, and was initially empathetic to the narrator's work-related anxiety. Beyond that, the book fell short as both a comedy an...more

like · see review

Sep 20, 2012 Sara rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads, fiction, funny

ARC received through the Goodreads First Reads program.

Sad Desk Salad is a very funny book about a twenty-something woman named Alex who writes for a gossip site called Chick Habit that is aimed at women. The author, Jessica Grose, was formerly an editor at Jezebel. It definitely shows--I definitely recognize the commentor archetypes! Grose's novel is humorous, but also captures the stress of the gossip blogger lifestyle. I can't imagine being chained to my computer the way that Alex is. The day...more

like · see review

Nov 26, 2012 Leah rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: arcs-freebies, harpercollins, william-morrow

Chick lit has a tendency to be fairly vapid and this is no exception. The cover art is fun, and I thought I'd read something light, but I didn't really enjoy this book. Alex Lyons is your stereotypical protagonist: young woman struggling with her identity, career path, and love. And her job as a blogger for Chick Habit, a rather mundane, somewhat trashy, pseudo-news gossip site, is turning her into someone who doesn't shower regularly and is pathologically attached to her laptop.

Then a site pop...more

like · see review

Nov 03, 2012 Abby rated it 2 of 5 stars

When you linger over the two-star review option on this side, a little pop-up appears that says, "It was okay."

It was okay.

This is the book I am afraid I would write if I tried to write a book. A little too close to my own life, a little more exciting than my own life, a little too expose-y of my career, a little too... this friend of mine from college, that friend of mine from college, this ex-boyfriend, that ex-boyfriend, this grown-up realization that I am responsible for my actions, that gro...more

2 likes · like · see review

Jun 01, 2013 Robert rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

SAD DESK SALAD takes a snarky and impassioned look at American society through the eyes of Alex Lyons who has much more to offer than just snarky wit and charm. This tongue-in-cheek approach to the Internet way of life had me nearly in stitches at times, and at other times, I seriously questioned the sanity of our society. I mean, many Americans literally live for the latest antics of Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan, and Amanda Bynes and seek out the latest celebrity sex tape scandal like it’s a t...more SAD DESK SALAD takes a snarky and impassioned look at American society through the eyes of Alex Lyons who has much more to offer than just snarky wit and charm. This tongue-in-cheek approach to the Internet way of life had me nearly in stitches at times, and at other times, I seriously questioned the sanity of our society. I mean, many Americans literally live for the latest antics of Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan, and Amanda Bynes and seek out the latest celebrity sex tape scandal like it’s a ticket to the Italian opera. We’re a crotch flashing, paparazzi attacking, reality show watching, fucked up society. The crazier and bitchier you are, the more likely you are to actually get attention. We want immediate gratification, and whatever happened two hours ago is old news. Yes, folks, gnats actually have larger attention spans than we do, and it’s only going to get worse.

Like Alex, I’d like to “state my opinion without being attacked by the judgment police every goddamn second.” But if you do write a controversial post, it’s important to stand by what you’ve written without feeling the need to defend yourself, even if the comments flood in like a broken dam. “The positive ones are ego inflating, and the negative ones can be soul raping, but if you let them get to you too much, you start pandering to the audience.”

I loved the fact that the IMs were time stamped with hours, minutes, and seconds. That’s what we’ve reduced ourselves to people, even though we have 31,536,000 seconds in a year. And if you don’t use them properly, your life could follow Alex’s train wreck tendencies. Her out-of-control spiral resembled her sketchy hygiene, unwashed black eyelet muumuu, and penchant for Internet abbreviations. I cringe at the thought that we might actually enter a world where we can be BTD, BRB, DARFC, BTFO, CBB, CUNT, DDG, and EMI all in the same sentence.

If you don’t like to take yourself or your characters too seriously and you’d like to take a rather hilarious look at the extremist tendencies of our society, you’ll probably find yourself enjoying this read.(less)

7 likes · like · see review

May 06, 2013 Kelly O'Mara rated it 2 of 5 stars

Picked this up randomly at the library and was all excited for a quick read. A thinly-veiled, lightly fictional account of working at Jezebel/Gawker. Sign me up. But, it was just not very good. The conflicts were fake conflicts, except for the SUPER BIG IMPORTANT CONFLICT, which was rushed. The characters weren't well done. The entire thing was set over one week, which doesn't give you time to build and develop a story that is supposed to be us seeing how the main character loses her way and is...more

like · see review

Apr 21, 2013 Amy Scissors rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-read-in-2013

I am seemingly incapable of reading books with any substance lately, so this book worked out well for me. It read quick and I didn't have to use my brain at all. Some other reviewers have written that they don't like the main character, Alex, but I liked her well enough- I can identify with her conflicted feelings about her stressful job. She always wanted to be a writer, and now that she is, she realizes that she has to compromise her principles in order to remain a writer.

What bothered me mos...more

like · see review

Oct 10, 2012 Rheo3000 rated it 4 of 5 stars

I stopped reading before bed a long time ago. Last night, after finishing this book and clicking off my bedside lamp, I remembered why. This book was rapid-fire-fun-entertainment - like sitting in a child's roller coaster in an adult sized, non-butt-cinching, seat. So why did I immediately drift off and fall into a goddamn nightmare? A nightmare where a child attacked me in a mall - but he wasn't a child, he was a trained assassin who was stabbing me repeatedly but crying to passerby's like I wa...more

like · see review

Oct 28, 2012 Kellee rated it 4 of 5 stars

Former Jezebel blogger Jessica Grouse has written her very own 'Devil Wears Prada' for the blogging industry, but this debut novel isn't about her fight with a bitchy boss. It's about a writer's fight with herself.

Alex Lyons blogs for Chick Habit, a snarky web mag dedicated to tearing down celebrities & shoveling out advice to the 18-35 year old women of the virtual world. Her career, relationship & personal ethics come to a boiling point when she receives a video link of a politician's...more

like · see review

Dec 30, 2012 Shannon rated it 2 of 5 stars

I am definitely guilty of eating the "sad desk salad" and browsing the blogs at lunch. Gawker, anyone? This book was "okay" in that sense and never took itself too seriously. But I just didn't see what the whole big deal was the entire plot. The main character is freaking out over a few things, her boyfriend claims she's going mental, and an ex-boyfriend haunts her past. But the stuff she is freaking out about isn't so bad, you barely see her interact with the boyfriend, and the ex-boyfriend rea...more

like · see review

Oct 07, 2012 Cheryl rated it 3 of 5 stars

Alex works for Chick Habit, a gossip blog. Perk: Alex gets to work at home. Cons: Alex can never go anywhere without her laptop. Also the death threats are a major con. You have to take the good with the bad when you write for a gossip blog. Alex’s day starts with her waking up early, chatting with her boss where her boss gives her four topics to choose form to write about on the news for the morning and then the rest of the day involves Alex writing fluff pieces about random topics. This is whe...more

1 like · like · see review

Jun 03, 2013 Teresa rated it 2 of 5 stars

I wanted so badly to like this book - I recommended it to people before I had even read it because it seemed so great; clever title, interesting premise... My biggest complaint was it was poorly written and not well edited. There were multiple inconsistencies in timing/plot and things that are so obvious (i.e. The Today Show starts at 7am) that I couldn't help but get hung up on them. Beyond that, the story line was just meh; I was curious enough to finish it, and it was a quick and easy read, b...more

like · see review

title link	preview: Sad Desk Salad
avg rating	preview: Sad Desk Salad Goodreads rating: 3.05 (587 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13565600-sad-desk-salad?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1337194621l/13565600.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13565600-sad-desk-salad?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Sad Desk Salad by Jessica Grose[/url]

Sad Desk Salad

Friend Reviews

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topic
Discuss This Book

combine
Other Editions (2)

Genres

Readers also enjoyed similar books

Books by Jessica Grose

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website

Trivia About Sad Desk Salad

Sad Desk Salad

Friend Reviews

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topicDiscuss This Book

combineOther Editions (2)

Genres

Readers also enjoyed similar books

Books by Jessica Grose

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website

Trivia About Sad Desk Salad

new topic
Discuss This Book

combine
Other Editions (2)