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I loved this book!

I got it from the library a couple of months ago and read the first page and gave up. I’d just finished another book, and it’s oftentimes difficult to get into a new one. The tone is different, in so many books you have to get halfway through to get into it.

But then I saw “Shred Sisters” listed as one of the best books of the year.

So I reserved it again.

I’d just finished Jami Attenberg’s “All Grown Up,” which took me the better part of two weeks, since I’d been on the road. Which is to say when I ultimately finished it, there were only a few pages left, so I had no hangover, I immediately started “Shred Sisters,” and wow!

This is the kind of book that cuts like butter, it’s not hard work and it’s not long until you get invested.

What you’ve got here are two sisters with the last name Shred. One a nerdy science lover and the other a beautiful free spirit who…

Colors outside the lines, gets in trouble, and the mother can’t handle it and the father keeps being supportive and…

Life is a mystery. You truly realize this as you get older. You wake up one day and say HOW DID I GET HERE? How did I end up with this person, how did I end up doing this work… It never turns out the way you planned. You think you’re going to have one occupation but then the wheels turn and you end up doing something else. You get married and think it’s forever, but then it’s not.

People. And society.

Sometimes you get locked out. The opportunities in your chosen field dry up, and you’re forced to pivot. One thing I’ve learned about getting fired is you always end up in a better place. It may be hell getting there, but when you do you marvel how happy and fulfilled you are, and look back and can’t conceive of continuing to do what you once did.

And the people you meet along the way… They influence you. Some people risk constantly and flame out, others do so and become billionaires. Then there are others who are afraid of their shadows, but they’re victimized anyway. The factory closes, their spouse dies, your beloved has an affair with a coworker and you’re forced to deal…with situations you could never fathom.

So Ollie (short for Olivia), breaks the code, does all this stuff you’re not supposed to. How do parents cope with this? As Stewart Copeland told me about his seven kids…you never know what you’re going to get. You want them to love sports but they’re into the arts. They’re infatuated with something you pooh-pooh. Do you let them go on their way or try to corral them into being the person you want them to be?

And not everybody’s feet are planted firmly on the ground, not everybody is reliable. You can have a great conversation, a great sexual connection with someone you ultimately can’t depend on, who can’t be changed. You have to accept them as they are. But that’s almost impossible to do. You keep having hope that this time they’ll come through, you think this time they’re on the right path, but then they jump the tracks and you’re left holding… The emotions. That’s one thing popular culture never unearths, the pain of relationships, family, love, the breakups, the trauma, it can go on for years, DECADES!

So what we’ve got here is a family drama. Which really hits its stride in the 1970s. No one here is famous. No one here is rich. But the father’s lumberyard is successful and…

The story unfolds.

You’ll see yourself in this book. Not throughout, but at moments. And you’ll wonder how Betsy Lerner knows this stuff, you thought you were alone.

And then you’ll be pissed when it’s over, you’ll want more.

I always have to give these caveats… If you only read books to learn something, to help you further your career, “Shred Sisters” is not for you. But it will make you feel less alone.

If you’re a macho guy, doing the bro thing with your buddies, “Shred Sisters” won’t ring your bell either. Then again, are you hiding who you really are?

Books are not like records, they take more than a few minutes to consume. And too often people recommend stuff that is difficult to get into, stuff that makes them feel good about themselves that you want nothing to do with. This is not a tough book. But if you want to go on a ride with a family, you’ll ultimately find connection, and that’s what we’re all looking for, to not feel so all alone.

And that’s a paradigm that has been marginalized in the present. Everybody’s got their public face, their lives are so wonderful. The whole world is an Instagram post, filtered for consumption to make the poster appear superior and you to feel like a loser.

There are constantly divides in life.

Oh, I want to mention how you never know who your friends are, you’ll disconnect and then reconnect… Sometimes they’ll burn you and you’ll forgive them, sometimes you won’t.

I don’t want to tell you what happens in this book.

But I do want to tell those who the above resonates with to read it.