What's That Growing in My Sour Cream?

Humorous Observations on Modern Life

By: Brad Graber

Narrated by: Derek Neumann

Length: 3 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's Summary

Why is a fly circling the deli? What can you learn from your dog about aging? Is Mahjong the real game of champions?

If you're a fan of David Sedaris, Erma Bombeck, or Andy Rooney, you'll love Brad Graber's new release What's that Growing in My Sour Cream? - a compilation of over 70 humorous essays on the joys, challenges, and absurdities of life in America. Drawn from Graber's blog "There, I Said It!" Graber introduces listeners to his sharp observations on everyday subjects such as Facebook friends, the odd messages stuffed into fortune cookies, and awkward man hugs. A bold new voice, Graber's humor and wit are on full display in What's that Growing in My Sour Cream?.

©2020 Brad Graber (P)2020 Brad Graber

Some funny, some insightful. Loved them all!

I really, really enjoyed this collection of thoughts, some (all?) collected from the author's blog posts. Many are insightful, others are humorous. I laughed out loud at some of them, while I said to myself 'How true!' Some of the more serious ones rang very close to home, like the experience and sorrow of putting down a pet. I've been there, and I really felt for Jeff having to go it alone the first time. You don't know unless you've been through it. Don't worry, most of the snippets are much lighter and funnier. There are some nuggets of wisdom here, too, things I wish I had heard about 20 years ago, when I was young, but as the author says, 'It's never too late..." I am definitely looking for more from this author.

The narration was fantastic. It was smooth and even, with pauses in all the right places, and great overall delivery.

I received a free copy of this audiobook and am voluntarily leaving this honest review.

What's That Growing in My Sour Cream?

What's That Growing in My Sour Cream? Humorous Observations on Modern Life is a hilarious book. I have been having a hard time lately and fighting off depression. This book gave me just what I needed for a bit. It was fun to get away from life for a few hours and learn to laugh again.

I had the pleasure of listening to the audio version of What's That Growing in My Sour Cream? Humorous Observations on Modern Life with Derek Neumann narrating. He did an excellent job. He made me laugh so hard.

I give What's That Growing in My Sour Cream? Humorous Observations on Modern Life four and a half stars. I recommend it for readers who need some humor and laughter in their life.

I received What's That Growing in My Sour Cream? Humorous Observations on Modern Life from the publisher. This review is one hundred percent my own honest opinion.

Pithy Shower Thoughts on Life from a Gay Boomer

What's That Growing in My Sour Cream? is a collection of mostly humorous shower thoughts from author Brad Graber presented as a collection of blog posts or social media entries. The format is similar to Wil Wheaton's Just a Geek, and flows well together. I enjoyed the mixture of comical hot takes on modern life interspersed with more sombre and heartfelt thoughts on death, loss, and the importance of loving the ones you've got while they're here.

I didn't connect with every story, but that's not surprising. Brad is a gay man who's lived a lot of life, born and raised in another generation and in another country (USA), while I'm a Canadian woman in my early thirties, raised in a time of quickly evolving digital technology and (at least in British Columbia where I grew up) a rapidly declining acceptance of homophobia. Musings on American health care and general health worries in older years, in particular, are things I have no personal touchstones for, and while mini rants about technology and modern customer service are funny, I don't think I probably found it funny for different reasons than the author did. I also wanted to point out that there are two separate blog post entries wherein Brad complains that his husband is sick and potentially spreading it to him, and advises the audience on how to come out of such situations unscathed. While these were funny, and naturally this situation would come up more than once in the timeframe these posts were pulled from, the repetition definition stood out in such a short work, especially when listening to the audiobook version which is only 3.5 hours.

I was excited to experience this as an audiobook, hoping it would be presented more like a stand-up set. The fact that it wasn't was not the fault of the narrator, and if I had checked reviews first and discovered this was written in blog post format I wouldn't have expected that, but it was still disappointing. The narrator's performance is spot-on for what the project is, 5 stars. The experience of listening to this particular format, however, falls a bit short. I do think I would have enjoyed this in print form better.

Overall I rate this 4 stars, with 5 stars given to the narrator's efforts. I would like to thank the author Brad Graber for the free review copy, which was given to me through participation in the blog tour for this title through Audiobookworm Promotions in exchange for an honest review.

Very enjoyable

I wished I had written this collection of blog posts. They are clever and insightful and deal with every day common sense. I really enjoyed this listen.

There is no story. It's just the authors daily musings and they are so worth your time.

The narrator's performance was like chatting with a friend at a party. Total fit for the material.

Great for a road trip

"I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review."
Brad Graber is new to me. I was given the chance to listen to this audiobook and I jumped on the chance. I am a fan of other authors that have a similar writing style. I thought this audiobook was good and lightened my stay at home time during Covid-19. Derek Neumann is the narrator for this book. This would be a great book for a road trip.

Great collection

Food for thought and a laugh of two.
Great collection of short essays.
Good narration by Neumann.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review

Entertaining

Quick, witty insights and musings about sundry subjects from the author's blog posts. Made me laugh out loud on occasion.

Funny

What's That Growing in My Sour Cream? Humorous Observations on Modern Life made me laugh so much and I found myself nodding at many of his observations as I could really relate to a lot of them.
Each section was a blog post that Brad had previously published on his blog, some very short but funny all the same. He seems to have a way with words that makes you want to know more of what he is thinking and has made me want to look his blog up and read more.
The narrator Derek Neumann had a lovely voice and it really helped the humor get across, but also the more serious thoughts too.