Book Review: The Day I Lost My Shaker of Salt

 By Tracey Meyers

Salt.  For some reason, it's the one ingredient I seem to always forget to put in my pie dough mix until the very last possible minute. (I mean, this one time I even sprinkled some in as I was rolling the dough out.)

The above mentioned pie dough is the only reason I keep salt in my home.  If it weren't for my obsession with making pies from scratch, and the insistence of others that pie dough taste bland without it, salt would not take up resistance in my kitchen cabinets.  However, for Jen Tucker and her family, salt is just like another member of the family and without it, things become that much more wacky in their lives.   

In her latest memoir, The Day I Lost My Shaker of Salt, Jen takes readers on a journey through the time her family lost the one of their most precious members - the salt shaker.  And a funny journey it was to take.  I thoroughly enjoyed this ride and the stories that accompanied it.  Many of them so relatable, I couldn't help but write her a novel-like e-mail about how all the different stories I related to - and that was just after reading two chapters!  (Sorry Melissa A, I tried really hard to refrain from doing this, but I couldn't help myself!)  Dentist drama, ant drama, dentist drama, kids trying to work situations to their advantage, vet drama, Vegas and BFFs.  Though I was a bit exhausted (figuratively speaking) at times taking all the events in, I surely enjoyed a glimpse into Jen's world and appreciated her ability to laugh at herself and her family... which is another reason I enjoyed her book so much as I firmly believe a key life skill to have is the ability to laugh at oneself and the things that are happening around them.

Now, it might seem like I'm going off on a bit of a tangent.  And, to be quite honest, I believe I am.  However, I would expect that because I am talking about Jen Tucker.  See, in real life, Jen sometimes has a tendency to go off on tangents... ok, she had a tendency to go off on tangents a lot of times.  Now, don't take that the wrong way; it's not a bad thing.  I don't begrudge her for this; it's actually part of her charm.  However, I do think it's something important to note because if you didn't know this about her, and read her book, you might form the opinion that the structure of her book is a bit off when in fact it's just Jen being Jen ... only in a written form.  Before this fact sunk-in, even I was a bit confused and wondered why the chapters of her book just seemed to end abruptly.  After realizing this fact, I instantly knew she would eventually tie-up the loose ends, which she does in the chapter titled, "For the Curious" (that would be me!).  In the end (literally), this just allowed me to enjoy the book even more than I already did prior.

The Day I Lost My Shaker of Salt was the first time I read a book by Jen Tucker.  I was glad that I got the opportunity to spend some time with the Tuckers, and will need to backtrack a bit and check out Jen's first memoir, The Day I Wore My Panties Inside Out.  Furthermore, the next time I forget to add salt to whatever I may be making (most likely pie dough), I'm sure they will all come to mind and bring a smile to my face as Jen's book brought me each and every time I picked it up.

Thanks to Jen Tucker for the book in exchange for an honest review. She's sharing The Day I Lost My Shaker of Salt along with her children's e-book, Little Pumpkin, over at her interview.

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