MOUSETRAPPED by Catherine Ryan Howard

THE GIST:

An Irish gal spends a year and a bit working for a Disney World hotel in Orlando and admiring all things space related.

THE VERDICT:

This is a fun travel memoir that will appeal to anyone who loves Disney, NASA and/or Starbucks. Catherine writes about her experiences in Florida with a fresh, chatty voice. She is honest about the difficulties of moving to a new country completely alone, while expressing the wonder she feels while fulfilling some of her childhood dreams.

This is an easy read that will make you kind of want to be an astronaut. It is interesting to see an outsider's impressions of the US, as well as an insider's perspective of a theme park city. The personable tone of the story is what ultimately makes the book. You end up sympathizing with Catherine's trying moments, laughing at her funny ones, and celebrating her special triumphs.

The cool thing about this story is that this is a self-published book. I'm very skeptical about most self-published material because agents and editors usually know what they are talking about when they turn manuscripts down. In this case the author had received positive feedback from agents who turned her down because they thought the market for this book was too niche. She also had her book professionally edited, so it was mostly free from annoying typos and grammatical errors. The ending was a little uneven, but other than that the story was well-written and well worth the $3 for the e-book.

THE COST:

$2.99 for the Kindle edition

THE LINK:

The author's blog, which includes her self-publishing story: Catherine Ryan Howard

THE QUESTION:

What makes memoirs about regular people worth reading? An exotic location? A special challenge or obstacle? Humor?