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The Sweet Potato Queens' First Big-Ass Novel: Stuff We Didn't Actually Do, But Could Have, and May Yet (Sweet Potato Queens)
I have no pride. I tell anything, Jill Conner Browne is fond of saying. As Her Royal Highness, Boss Queen of the Sweet Potato Queens,® she has told legions of fans, known as SPQ Wannabes, her delectable secrets to living, loving - and eating - like a queen. In her words, More is more.
How much more? The #1 New York Times bestselling author of five works of nonfiction...more
How much more? The #1 New York Times bestselling author of five works of nonfiction...more
MP3 CD
Published
January 1st 2007
by Brilliance Audio
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The One Sentence Review
Characterization: Prepare to meet a lively bunch of characters but to not necessarily get to know any of them or their motivations, etc…well.
Setting: Set almost entirely in Jackson, Mississippi, a love of the South and the lifestyle that entails is important to this novel’s success.
Plot: A group of social misfits meet in high school and then proceed, over a period of decades, to “do” life together, for better or for worse (so to speak).
Description: This novel contains s...more
Characterization: Prepare to meet a lively bunch of characters but to not necessarily get to know any of them or their motivations, etc…well.
Setting: Set almost entirely in Jackson, Mississippi, a love of the South and the lifestyle that entails is important to this novel’s success.
Plot: A group of social misfits meet in high school and then proceed, over a period of decades, to “do” life together, for better or for worse (so to speak).
Description: This novel contains s...more
Ah... high school. The story starts with the insecurities, innocence and bullying that occurs in high school. This part of the story reminded me very much of the movie Mean Girls as it is funny and follows several high school students. Several high school friends form a group together to save one of the newcomers from the high school bully. The bully has "befriended" Tammy but Jill and her friends know better and try to warn Tammy that this is a friend she doesn't want to make. Tammy is naive an...more
One character says, "That's what people do for those they care about. They love 'em, no matter how badly they screw up." And boy, do they. Screw up, I mean. One by one these four women, plus one gay man, make bad choices in life, but mostly bad choices in love. They squabble with each other, then rescue each other, leading to multiple scenes of tearful hugging and forgiveness. It reminded me of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, only with more colorful language. In both cases, I found myself...more
This book was fast moving but the plot wasnt good. After a popular girl insults Tammy, Tammy's friends form a group to make her feel better & stoop to the popular girl's level to get back at her. The group becomes the Sweet Potato Queens. The members are not very nice & dont treat each other the way friends should, they backstab each other & are very catty.
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This novel, (notice, I said novel, as in fiction) reads more as memoir with some fiction thrown in. If Browne wanted to write a memoir, she should have, and if she wanted to write fiction, she should have put more effort into making it at least seem fictional. Instead it just comes off as a bit lazy.
I'm a huge fan of Browne's non-fiction work - the hilarious Sweet Potato Queens books of .... This wasn't nearly as funny as Browne's other work, which was highly disappointing. Still, the beginnings...more
I'm a huge fan of Browne's non-fiction work - the hilarious Sweet Potato Queens books of .... This wasn't nearly as funny as Browne's other work, which was highly disappointing. Still, the beginnings...more
I really have mixed feelings about this book. It is written in first person from one character's point of view and tells the story of a group of friends at various excerpts in time from high school onward. I liked how the book began, with a little girl feeling like a princess with a cardboard crown, but then how she lost that special confidence in herself. I could really relate to that. The rest of the book describes how she finds some great friends and how they relate to each other at various t...more
I have never heard of the SPQ's so this whole thing was new to me. And this book happens to be the only fiction book (so far) about the SPQ's. I thought it was funny and well written. I could, however, done without the copious amounts of language. Whew. I was ready to be done with the book just so I could be done reading the swear words!
This is the fictional story of 5 people (one guy, 4 gals) who band together in high school because they are the outcasts. They decide to snub all the rich kid,...more
This is the fictional story of 5 people (one guy, 4 gals) who band together in high school because they are the outcasts. They decide to snub all the rich kid,...more
Very funny, makes you laugh and feel good. I don't like glorifying some of the things that make America so unhealthy, but damn it, I couldn't help but laugh. Great summer read or when you are feeling down. The author uses her wit well.
My friend and coworker suggested The Sweet Potato Queens' Book of Love; I haven't finished it, but I have really enjoyed what I've read so far. So, being that I'm generally more of a fiction type girl, I thought that the First Big-Ass Novel would be awesome. Unfortunately, for me, it fell pretty flat.
The book spans about twenty years or so in the lives of five childhood friends, all told from one person's perspective. I liked that the novel covered so much of their lives, but ultimately felt di...more
The book spans about twenty years or so in the lives of five childhood friends, all told from one person's perspective. I liked that the novel covered so much of their lives, but ultimately felt di...more
This was a lovely book. It was hysterically funny all the way through but had moments that were touching, sad, and thoughtful.
It was so real. The author did a masterful job of capturing the complex nature of friendships yet maintaining each individuals core personality.
The timeline and its pop history and southern culture were spot on. The one liner's in this book made me laugh out loud and now I have several people at work looking into this book.
I plan on hunting down every book the author has...more
It was so real. The author did a masterful job of capturing the complex nature of friendships yet maintaining each individuals core personality.
The timeline and its pop history and southern culture were spot on. The one liner's in this book made me laugh out loud and now I have several people at work looking into this book.
I plan on hunting down every book the author has...more
I love The Sweet Potato Queens. I've read every book by Jill Connor Browne that I've found - she makes me laugh till I pee my pants.
Beach read material for sure. Light, fluffy and fun, but I have actually enjoyed some of the other books more.
I needed a quick, entertaining, simple, mindless book to read, and this definitely fit the bill. It was pure entertainment. Hardly had to think at all. Just lived the story with the characters, and these woman and their gay friend are hysterical. Again, wish I had written down some of the southern saying. Funniest thing was they decided they should open a restaurant called "Rest In Peace" and serve funeral food. There are even recipes for funeral food at the end of the book. I will be reading an...more
Rather predictable account of misfit high school friends. Two stay home in Jackson, unsure of their talents and wasting away, waiting for the future to find them. One, an actress, off to fame and fortune, the unsure of his sexuality male that heads to San Francisco, the would be singer that is scared to try and sees value only in landing a man to provide all the best things in life and the one that wants to be mother with an unfaithful husband. Told over a course of 20 years with a lot of food,...more
Jill Conner Browne is best known for her series of (non-fiction) Sweet Potato Queens books of "Southern wit and wisdom". Erica assures me that those books are delightful -- she certainly laughs out loud a lot when she's reading them. On our recent roadtrip we listened to her first novel, titled, unsubtly enough, The Sweet Potato Queens' First Big-Ass Novel. It's... a good first try, I suppose.
This is a guilty pleasure that I listen to on CD while I battle traffic. I can't tell if I like the writing, or just feel transported back to the South I loved to hate and dearly miss. I grew up in Virginia, and I knew Sweet Potato Queens of a sort. Some of this lines in the book are good laughs because they are so true, and some because they are so raw. Plus, I confess, I am a chick lit kind of gal sometimes, and this friendship stuff makes me all sappy. Don't hate me because I enjoy the Sweet...more
Jill Conner Browne writes a fictional account of how the Sweet Potato Queens came into being and how they truly became queens through some terrible decisions and heartbreak.
I absolutely loved the first chapter of this book. It was sheer perfection I tell you. It starts when the queens are in high school and haven't really figured out that they're queens yet. They are always being looked down upon by the high school beauty queen, a bitch if ever there was one. I was shrieking with laughter and do...more
I absolutely loved the first chapter of this book. It was sheer perfection I tell you. It starts when the queens are in high school and haven't really figured out that they're queens yet. They are always being looked down upon by the high school beauty queen, a bitch if ever there was one. I was shrieking with laughter and do...more
Oct 08, 2009
Holyn
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Holyn by:
Krysten
This novel was a fun romp through the imagination of HRH Jill. The preface states that this is complete fiction, but I am inclined to believe there might be a bit of truth in some of it. SPQ:FBAN reads like a 'how the SPQ were born' work.
I definitely had my moments to laugh loudly and wish I was a SPQ wannabe, but this novel is not as entertaining or gut-splitting as the rest of HRH's works. I enjoyed it immensely but did not love it. Save for a quick, entertaining read on a road trip or at the...more
I definitely had my moments to laugh loudly and wish I was a SPQ wannabe, but this novel is not as entertaining or gut-splitting as the rest of HRH's works. I enjoyed it immensely but did not love it. Save for a quick, entertaining read on a road trip or at the...more
Jun 13, 2008
Tabby Kat
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
the-sweet-potato-queens
Browne's Sweet Potato Queen advice books on love, divorce, and cooking have found a wide audience in readers who appreciate the Queens' sassy southern charm. With coauthor Gillespie, Browne turns to fiction for the first time to share lives and loves of the Queens. Jill, Mary Bennett, Patsy, and Gerald are united by their outsider status in high school. When Tammy, a beautiful but insecure redhead, moves into town and is humiliated by the in-crowd, Jill and company form the Tammy Club to bolster...more
May 15, 2008
Jackson Temple
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
women proud of their southern herritage
Recommended to Jackson by:
a friend from work
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
This book is full of laughs. The first half is very funny. As the story progresses you see the dark side of the characters but in the end you find out who they are and why they are the way they are. I love Jill. She is the sensible one. Gerald a friend who is trying to figure out who he is. Mary Bennett-what a hoot. You have Patsy who has a voice. The Tammy who learns that life is not what you always dreamed it would be. I would definitely recommend the book.
Okay, I've read almost all of the Sweet Potato Queens' other books, the humorous essay collections by Jill Conner Browne, and I even went to see the Queens live at a book signing (boas, glittery dresses, wigs, fake tits and all), and I love them!
I thought this book was amazing for the first hundred pages, when it was closer to the humor side and a rather whimsical coming-of-age tale revealing the origins of the queens in high school. Then unfortunately, Browne revealed how very uncomfortable she...more
I thought this book was amazing for the first hundred pages, when it was closer to the humor side and a rather whimsical coming-of-age tale revealing the origins of the queens in high school. Then unfortunately, Browne revealed how very uncomfortable she...more
This was a lot of fun - four women and one man, who bonded together as "not-in" during high school, keep in each others' lives as they grow older. Lots of Southern humor, familiar mistakes and feelings while growing up, and learning to handle life's problems. It builds to a satisfying conclusion after a lot of ups and downs. I just finished it on Tuesday, and have already handed it off to a friend. This is defintely an author I will remember!
Mar 01, 2009
Jodi
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
All Queen Wannabes and Loyal Fans
What a great book. This fiction novel traces the beginnings of the famed Sweet Potato Queens of Jackson Mississippi. This quick read traces the beginnings of the Queens to their mid twenties. The Queens had me laughing, reminiscing and crying through many of the same ups, downs and exploits I enjoyed, (or wished I enjoyed)in my early years. I read this novel in eight hours and didn't want it to end. Great Novel!!!
The Sweet Potato Queens begin their club in high school. There are 4 females and 1 male (yes, he is gay but at the time he doesn't realize it) This book follows their friendship and personal trials and tribulations over many years. Seems like the "girls" just get better. Their personal lives have a lot of hills and valleys, yet the group maintains their sense of humor. They drag each other through some very tough times. What friendship !! We all should have friends like this.
A; I haven't heard of the Sweet Potato Queens, but this book left me wanting more! I realize this is a book of fiction and Jill has several other books out there around the SPQ's. Can't wait to check them out. This was a great tale of girlfriends from high school through middle age. Made me grateful for my Chica Crew and the never ending love and support we offer each other.
Sep 16, 2009
Colleen Wright
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
everyone
It was truly a great book. A really fun book. I listened to this one, and I think to truly get the WHOLE feel for the book, you need to listen to it. You need to get the drawl, the sayins, etc. Just a great book about friendships and how you stick together through thick and thin, and even though you might be a part for a little while when you get together it was like you saw each other yesterday. Great, great book.
I read this book in a little more than a day. Absolutely loved it. From the introduction to the recipes in the back, it's laughs all throughout mixed in with some tearfully beautiful friendships! I plan on reading everything this author writes. It's definitely a good pick me up. I recommend it to all and I'm glad one of my bff's swapped it with me. Great read!
If Jill Conner Browne writes and reads it, I'm there. However, for the first time, I was a little disappointed in this effort. I didn't realize until the end, listening to the author interview, that it was a joint project with another author. So, I'm thinking that explains the "too neat" way plot lines turned out. Read only as a Sweet Potato Queens fan.
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