Back in December, I posted my review of the wonderful new novel Roomies by Sara Zarr and Tara Altebrando. Roomies is funny, touching, surprising, and feels just so real… and now you get a chance to win a copy!
We all have a roomie story, right? Whether good or bad — or truly the roommate from hell — it seems like nothing is quite so memorable as trying to live with a randomly assigned stranger.
For me, my freshman roommate is a distant memory, someone I never saw again after we moved out of our teeny, tiny dorm room at the end of the year. I wrote a little bit about her already in my Roomies review, but here are a couple more nightmarish moments from my early college days:
- Joanne was a super thin and very stylish girl who dreamed of becoming a model. And yet, despite being tiny, she insisted on buying jeans that were a size smaller than what she needed. One day I came back to the room to grab a textbook and she yelled, “Wait! I need your help!” She then lay down on my bed, since the zipper of her super-tight jeans would only budge if she was horizontal, and begged me to zip her jeans for her.
- Joanne attracted boys like a magnet… and collected them as well. In each of her classes, she would zero in on some ultra-smart boy, flirt enough to get him interested, and then keep them around like her own personal puppy dog. We had a non-stop stream of nerdy boys who would show up in our room whenever Joanne needed help with studying or an assignment — her own private army of personal tutors/devoted slaves.
- Joanne used our landline phone to call her boyfriend long-distance at all hours of the night or day… and then when the phone bill came, said she couldn’t afford her share, refused to ask her father (a cardiologist) for money because he’d yell at her, and then blamed me when our phone service got cut off because I wouldn’t pay her bill.
Those are my top roomie-from-hell stories. Fortunately, after freshman year, I moved in with the best bunch of people ever and made life-long friends who I’ll love forever! Don’t you love a happy ending?
GIVEAWAY TIME!
Little, Brown is offering a copy of Roomies to one lucky winner (US residents only). Just click on the link to enter:
AND, by offering this giveaway, I’m entered in a “Win One for You and Your Reader” sweepstakes! The prize is a Roomie survival kit/gift pack including earplugs, home spa essentials, a signed copy of the book, a special note from the authors, and other fun things—all packed in a shower caddy— one for me and one for one of my blog readers. Sounds amazing, right? Wish us all good luck!
Be sure to check out Sara and Tara’s appearances on their book tour starting next week:
- January 12, 2014 – New York, NY: McNally Jackson [venue link]
- January 15, 2014 – Salt Lake City, UT: The King’s English [venue link]
- January 16, 2014 – Provo, UT: Provo Library [venue link]
- February 4, 2014 – San Francisco, CA: Books Inc, Opera Plaza [venue link]
- February 5, 2015 – Petaluma, CA: Copperfield’s Books [venue link]
What’s your best or worst roomie story? Share your tales of woe or joy in the comments!
Bookshelf Fantasies 
I’ve discovered this book isn’t out in Scotland until July! I was NOT a happy bunny when I found that out! 😦
Oh, that’s too bad! I wish the giveaway wasn’t restricted to US residents (not my rules!). 😦
Me too. Oh well, suppose it’s good to have a summer read lined up!
This sounds super cute and totally stirs up thoughts of my roommate stories. 🙂
It’s really a fun book — and yes, roommate memories galore!
Before I went to college, my assigned roommate called to get to know each other a bit before we met in person. One of the first things she told me was that her bra size was a DD (I don’t remember the number, maybe 38? I was a loooooong time ago). I wasn’t quite sure that was the first thing I needed to know. 😉
LOL. Maybe she didn’t want you to be shocked when you met in person? Still, I can think of a lot more pieces of info that would be more important to discuss!
had one who took my stuff