We've all had at least one of those vacations that didn't turn out as expected. We've all been confronted by unhygienic bathroom situations when we really had to go. We've all likely done or said something so embarrassing while on vacation that we swore to ourselves that we swear we will never tell anyone as long as we live, only to later find ourselves recounting the tale to anyone that will listen.

The Thong Also Rises: Further Misadventures from Funny Women on the Road! is a hilarious compilation of stories about such vacations that didn't quite turn out as expected. The authors of these accounts share their own stories of events that were just too juicy, hilarious, and utterly embarrassing to keep to themselves. I have to admit I felt much better about my own vacation misadventures once I read about Ellen Sussman's experiences on the nude beach, Deanna Sukkar's little custom's problem, and Ann Lombardi's ironing difficulties.

Ok, so I've read two others in this series (Sand in My Bra and Whose Panties are These) and didn't really enjoy them. But as they were lent to me I felt compelled to keep reading. I really wish I hadn't. This book was just as dismal as the first two. And another note, these are geared towards women, and as such, I just can't understand the cover. It doesn't bother me per say, but it seems like the kind of missed their audience there.

These books are supposed to be short stories from women travelers that range on the funny side. The traveling takes place all over the world, including the USA and to be honest, there were a couple stories that were so mind numbing I didn't even quite catch where they took place in this one. Some of the stories ranged from sharing a bus with a grandma who kept dirty diapers in a suit case, to other stories about buying underwear. Another story mused on the differences between men's and women's vacations. All travel was varied from airplanes, buses, and car travel.

All of these writers are supposed to be humorous, but I really didn't find them so. In fact, I don't think I even cracked a smile with this book. A couple of the stories were interesting at the very most, but that was about it. Some of them were completely boring too, like the woman who gets jealous over her husband's GPS in a story that could have been told in one paragraph instead of a few pages. And once again, with this book, most of the stories could have happened anywhere. I guess I don't see the point of travel if all you focus on is your underwear. I guess I'd just rather enjoy the travel part of travel in a travel book.

Hopefully I'll manage to stay clear of any other books in this series. I gotta say, there's just better things to read out there.

The Thong Also Rises
Copyright 2005
217 pages

Review by M. Reynard 2011

More of my reviews can be found at ifithaswords.blogspot.com

It did want to make me travel more!

This book was a little disappointing. I thought the stories would be more entertaining than what they were. Some made me laugh out loud but not enough.

I think the concepts are better than the execution in this collection of travel related short stories. I must confess that I did not quite make it halfway through the book before giving up. There just was not enough there to hold my interest, let alone amuse me.

Just the right kind of book to beat the stress. If your annual leave has been fully utilised, the next best thing is to pick up this book. Not readily avaiable in India at bookstores, but you can order via Amazon. Stories from smuggling drugs (medicines) from across the border - Mexico back to the United States, a case of Viagra gone wrong in an alien country - France, to yours truly writing of her experience of hopping on to a non-Volvo, non-AC ST bus instead of a tourist bus, a variety of Miss-Adventures have you grinning from beginning to end.

I found this book pretty funny. Not the most hilarious I read, but it was worth my time.

Loved it. Looking forward to the rest of the series.

Really funny! I love reading about all the adventures of these women!

I've been out sick for the past week, and the short stories in this collection were the perfect way to pass the time between fevered wakenings and bouts of coughing. I have a number of my own travel stories that I could probably add as well...like the time in India when the goat nibbled on the end of my sari and it began to unwrap as I walked away...

The collection is mixed, but ultimately, I enjoyed it. I think two of my favorites were the one Gory mentioned "Gently You Have to Avoid a Frightening Behavior," and "My Husband is Lost Without Me"-- woman vs GPS. There was one by the gal who wrote Sweet Potato Queen stuff, which made me wonder for a split second if this could qualify for the Hometown Authors BookBox we are putting together here in Charleston. (It took me less than a heartbeat to decide no.)

If one of the other anthologies of this editor come my way, I'd read it, if only for the titles alone. Earlier books edited by Leo include "Sand in My Bra" and "Whose Panties Are These?"

While this was still a fast-reading collection of Reader's Digest style snippets, I liked it a lot more than the first book in this series. The stories still often felt abruptly abbreviated, but they were more entertaining than the previous ones, and I even cracked a smile a few times. It's the perfect book for those times when you can only spare a moment or two to read. Bite sized morsels of travel stories.

Aside from a couple of stories, this book really bored me.