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Reviews
Frontier Follies: Adventures in Marriage and Motherhood in the Middle of Nowhere by Ree Drummond
mackenzie_reads's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
This was a reread - I read this book in print when it came out, but this time I listened to the audiobook. I highly recommend the audiobook and Ree narrates it herself!
mamareads24's review against another edition
5.0
I love Ree. I mean LOVE. While I don't live as far out in the country as she does, I frequently see similarities between her life on the ranch and my life on a farm. This book exceeded my expectations. I honestly wasn't expecting it to be this good or this heartfelt. Her love for her family shines through on every page, and it was fun getting a peek inside her life as a regular mom and wife.
ks2_alwaysreading's review against another edition
2.0
This book wasn't what I expected. It didn't really focus on her cooking show at all, which I was hoping for more of; rather, this was more about her life and being a mother and wife. The chapters were short, blog-type entries and some were honestly quite cheesy. I appreciate how real she is, but I did wish I learned more about her come-to-fame experience.
I did find it interesting that where they film her Food Network show is the Lodge, the guesthouse on the ranch, and that you can tour the space for free when they aren't filming.
I did find it interesting that where they film her Food Network show is the Lodge, the guesthouse on the ranch, and that you can tour the space for free when they aren't filming.
hannahjweav's review against another edition
4.0
The blogosphere is overrun with home cooks now, and Ree Drummond's empire has expanded so far beyond the blog that it's easy to forget that's actually where it began. But reading this book reminded me of what made her so popular in the first place: her witty, self-deprecating, honest blog writing. Frontier Follies is a bit aimless as it wanders through stories from her life, but it's so heartwarming and fun that it doesn't make a difference. In fact, this book perfectly resembles many of Ree's recipes: simple, unpretentious, and quick to be gobbled up.
daybreak1012's review against another edition
4.25
We all remember the heyday of blogging. And were there many bigger blog-celebrities than Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Woman? I hadn't picked up her earlier memoir, but decided I wanted to give this one a shot. I've had some personal struggles with blogger-writes-a-book, but Ree has been known to entertain me and I was game to give it a shot.
Let me be clear: my rating and review is based solely on the quality of the content delivery and my ability to engage with it, not the stories being told, because who am I to rate someone else's life experience and their vulnerability in sharing it with the masses?
Let me be clear: my rating and review is based solely on the quality of the content delivery and my ability to engage with it, not the stories being told, because who am I to rate someone else's life experience and their vulnerability in sharing it with the masses?
What I liked about Frontier Follies:
It's not a challenging read - There are times I appreciate a book that doesn't make me think too hard or get bogged down in absorbing what I'm reading. Now was a good time for me for such a book, because I've been grappling with my reading rhythm. We're officially in "southern summer" which means I will be ensconced in my air conditioning as much as possible. Now is the time when I can get a good groove on with my reading and this is the kind of book that can unlock it for me.
Some definite chuckles - If you're at all familiar with Ree's storytelling, it's less about anything deep or introspective or vulnerable, and more about lighthearted amusement. If that's what you like about her blogging, you'll feel at home here. I laughed out loud more than once. Enough that I got raised eyebrows from my husband.
What I didn't care for:
I struggled a bit to connect early on - I can't really say for sure what exactly it was, but I can say this is one of the contributing factors to my overall rating. It wasn't unreadble; I just couldn't engage in a way that made me care about what I was reading. While this might not be the same for another reader, for me, it was a problem: you have to get me invested. (Eventually, she got there.)
What left me conflicted:
The writing style - It was somewhat as I feared: it felt like a collection of blog posts. There wasn't really a continuity or flow to the storytelling (I got spoiled by Rob Lowe's Stories I Only Tell My Friends, which may have singlehandedly ruined me for memoirs forevermore)... until maybe the last third of the book! That's when it stopped reading like a series of blog posts and started to feel like an actual book. They are just two entirely different writing styles and voices.
Overall, a decent book. Fun, true to the Ree one would expect based on her blogging. The biggest hangup for me was that the book started out like a blog that didn't quite catch me with its content for the first third; the second third the content caught me, but it still felt like a printed-out blog; the final third, the style finally caught up to the content for me. Overall, this was a fun read, even if the execution of it somewhat missed the mark for me, personally.
It's not a challenging read - There are times I appreciate a book that doesn't make me think too hard or get bogged down in absorbing what I'm reading. Now was a good time for me for such a book, because I've been grappling with my reading rhythm. We're officially in "southern summer" which means I will be ensconced in my air conditioning as much as possible. Now is the time when I can get a good groove on with my reading and this is the kind of book that can unlock it for me.
Some definite chuckles - If you're at all familiar with Ree's storytelling, it's less about anything deep or introspective or vulnerable, and more about lighthearted amusement. If that's what you like about her blogging, you'll feel at home here. I laughed out loud more than once. Enough that I got raised eyebrows from my husband.
What I didn't care for:
I struggled a bit to connect early on - I can't really say for sure what exactly it was, but I can say this is one of the contributing factors to my overall rating. It wasn't unreadble; I just couldn't engage in a way that made me care about what I was reading. While this might not be the same for another reader, for me, it was a problem: you have to get me invested. (Eventually, she got there.)
What left me conflicted:
The writing style - It was somewhat as I feared: it felt like a collection of blog posts. There wasn't really a continuity or flow to the storytelling (I got spoiled by Rob Lowe's Stories I Only Tell My Friends, which may have singlehandedly ruined me for memoirs forevermore)... until maybe the last third of the book! That's when it stopped reading like a series of blog posts and started to feel like an actual book. They are just two entirely different writing styles and voices.
Overall, a decent book. Fun, true to the Ree one would expect based on her blogging. The biggest hangup for me was that the book started out like a blog that didn't quite catch me with its content for the first third; the second third the content caught me, but it still felt like a printed-out blog; the final third, the style finally caught up to the content for me. Overall, this was a fun read, even if the execution of it somewhat missed the mark for me, personally.
victoria_chiakmakis's review against another edition
5.0
Such a fun, light-hearted read that helped me relax and unwind. Going to miss this one!! Love having Ree on TV as background noise to our lives! Lol!