All Over the Place

January 9, 2017
Getting laid off from a job she adored opened the door to the blogosphere for DeRuiter, as she explains this irreverent, yet warm-hearted memoir. Readers of her blog the Everywhereist will be familiar with the author’s style of using her personality quirks and health issues as the foundation for her conversation with the reader and revelations on life. “I hail from a long, nervous line of hypochondriacs,” DeRuiter explains. Being afraid of travel and lacking a sense of direction haven’t hindered her but rather helped her explore the world. “So, if there is any advice I could dispense, it would be this: it’s absolutely incredible the things you can learn from not having a clue about where you’re going.” Her intimate memoir chronicles her adventures during the seven years she spent crisscrossing the globe, learning to understand and accept quirky family members. The author delves into her relationship with a workaholic-but-loving husband and a serious health crisis. DeRuiter’s memoir is a light-hearted look at travel and learning to live life to the fullest each day, even if you not quite sure where you are going.

February 15, 2017
A travel memoir from the author of a popular blog.Upon losing her comfortable job at a small board game company when the company went out of business, DeRuiter floundered for a while. It was 2008, the global economy was in recession, and she wasn't sure what to do next. At her husband's suggestion, the author started a travel blog, and the Everywhereist became immensely popular, eventually receiving mentions on several top-blog lists. DeRuiter's first book recounts the circumstances that led to the blog, as well as stories about her eccentric parents, her life with her husband, Rand, and various exploits from their travels together. True to its title, the book wanders all over the place, and the result can be off-putting. The author's observations rarely make it past surface level, and the witticisms for which she is known can be less-than-charming. In fact, without more substantive material to back them up, they grow tiresome. "That's what's incredible about love," she notes at one point. "It's nothing like the movies. It happens to mere mortals, manifesting while they're standing in line for groceries or getting a dental check-up or renewing their license at the DMV." Unfortunately, DeRuiter often delivers aphorisms that are less insightful than trite (i.e., love can happen to regular people), and the self-deprecating doubling-back doesn't help: "I'm lying about that last one," she continues in this particular passage. "Love has never, ever thrived at the DMV. That place is where love goes to die. But I'm pretty sure those other examples are sound." Readers who are charmed by this sort of thing might find a lot to like here, but many will be exasperated by DeRuiter, who describes in gory detail an episode involving a clogged toilet but barely describes the places she actually visited. Despite her strenuous attempts to be funny, more often than not, the author falls flat.

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April 1, 2017
Those seeking a book of travel advice should look elsewhere. DeRuiter (author of The Everywhereist blog) travels, yes, but she has a terrible sense of direction and is forever getting lost. She's anxious and jobless, too, but she has somehow turned these difficulties into a hilarious, slightly off-color, laugh-out-loud read. When she can't find a job, she begins traveling with her husband, who's constantly on the road. The destinations are the framework for DeRuiter's sometimes raucous accounts of life on the road; what is most significant, however, is how those experiences are funneled through the lens of her slightly off-kilter viewpoint. She comes by it naturally: a colorful Italian mother, a stoic but ultimately endearing father, and a pesky brother have allowed themselves to be fodder for DeRuiter's book. One aspect of DeRuiter's life shines: she is happily married to a patient and caring man. Though, just as the reader begins to tire of their perfect marriage, troubles appear, and the reader reengages in sympathy.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)