The Poop Diaries Paperback – February 5, 2020

Stories were sometimes funny, sometimes shocking, sometimes gross and sometimes heartwarming. Stories were short, so you could read some when you only had a little bit of time. It was a fun book to read.

If you have a vivid sense of imaginary smell this one may not be for you. Yes. I read a book about plumber stories. I was thinking there might be more Barbies, golf balls, and other toys stuck in drains but that wasn't the case. I've never experienced clubs like some of these plumbers talk about. It was an interesting adventure to see plumbing experiences through the eyes of actual plumbers though. Kind a different read from the usual, so it's worth reading.

This book was written in the first person, like each plumber was telling their stories. A lot of quoted conversation was included. What drive me nuts was contractions were never used. When I talk and listen to others talk, we say I'm or he's or we'll. This book reads like robots are doing plumbing jobs for robots. It drove me nuts and while I enjoyed the stories I had to take a break in reading the book and eventually started skipping over passages.

I loved this book! I can identify with plenty of the stories too. I can remember telling my husband not to dump bacon grease down our sink drain. Did he listen? Of course not. We ended up having to cut away a section of pipe and replacing it because of the grease clog. This was done while I was recovering from shoulder surgery. It was an expensive lesson to learn.There were plenty of times I burst out laughing just picturing the messes and the smell. We had a pipe freeze and burst. A plumber came in, took one look in the laundry room and ran up the stairs and left the house. I later found out that he thought the soaked pieces of drier lint were actually poop! The broken pipe was the water line into our house, not a drainage pipe/sewer line at all.

This book is divided into one plumber per chapter, each with an introduction and several stories they’ve told. There are plenty of common themes but not so much that it’s repetitive. Each plumber’s personality comes through and I especially enjoyed the female plumbers’ perspectives. Every chapter stands alone so I read a few here and there between other books.The only thing I couldn’t get past was that this book consisted of informal storytelling, in the plumbers’ voices, but it seemed like someone searched and replaced every single contraction in the whole book. “I am the plumber”, “It is OK”…. It just kind of sterilized the voices for me.

This was a great book. Yes, it’s about plumbing which some people might think is an odd subject. But the book is filled with funny circumstances and should give you a good laugh. It also lets you into the mindset of those people we rely on at some very hard times. Call them our unsung hero’s because that’s what they are.

I chose this book knowing it would be interesting and an easy, light read. I was 100% right. I have a new appreciation for plumbers and what their work is like. I found it surprising that these people take such unusual routes to get into their profession. Fun and entertaining, quick read.

Although it was arduous to do so, I continued the read of this book wondering whether each "plumber's" voice would change. Nope. While the stories are amusing, a couple of distractions cumulatively can burden a reader: [1] Each plumber, male or female, sounds the same; no distinct voices. All told their stories similar; all introduced themselves to customers in the same fashion using nearly identical words. I doubt this is part of plumber training; [2] None of the plumbers in this work used conjunctive apostrophes. Sure this sounds piddly, but it is the verbage version of water torture. Choppy, stiff, robotic, as if these were plumbers from a future when conjunctions are no longer used. Torn between one & two stars; two stars is generous for the mere fact that I finished this book.

I work as a water plant operator, so I have had the displeasure of having to deal with large amounts of human waste. As a woman, it’s always nice to read books that reflect both genders and their experiences in the trades. I love this book. It was funny, informative and just a great read overall. Going to recommend it to some other tradespeople who I think will enjoy it as much as I did.

I really enjoyed this book.Very interesting and entertaining insight into the lives and jobs plumbers have and also the customers who use them. Not crude not rude and as well as being funny you will also learn a thing or two like don't put a lemon down your loo want too know more have a read it like me a listen.Thank you Abby for a good book.

I'm still reading it, but can't believe the problems people create with their own stupidity with toilets! I had a neighbor, who was a plumber and he came over to fix a clogged toilet that held, of all things, a 12" Lone Ranger toy. No sign of Tonto, thank goodness... How it got there in the first place, I'll never know. This book is hilarious and there were some scary issues for these brave plumbers. It's not an easy job, so show some appreciation for someone who will literally put their hands in-well, you know-for you.

Nice variety of stories and I liked the intro from each contributor. I didn't love the language as written, no contractions were used so there was alot of "I will fix it" as opposed to a more natural voice of "I'll fix it".

I loved that there were different plumbers stories and I especially liked the woman plumber's accounts. The themes , however, began to repete midway through the book.