Sugarhouse: Turning the Neighborhood Crack House into Our Home Sweet Home

Matthew and Jenae Batt discover that what follows the eventual cooling of newlywed bliss isn't promising. Their best friends are divorcing, leaving them worried that a trapdoor might open under their own marriage. Then Matt loses his dad and grandmother in quick succession and, as Jenae stands by him and his family, he realizes that he still deeply loves her. Determined to improve their lives, Matt suggests getting out of their less-than-desirable apartment and buying a home.

In the Sugarhouse district of Salt Lake City, they find a dilapidated former crack house whose owner's attempts at renovation have done more harm than good. Hoping to make a renovator's nightmare into the house of their dreams, Matt and Jenae buy the house and hop on the DIY ride of their lives, an uproarious journey of amateur power-tool operation, stripping floors with the equivalent of stabilized napalm, and developing a man-crush on an "artisan concrete worker."

Along the way, Matt grapples with his dysfunctional family, especially his grandfather. A wealthy and incurable womanizer, Grandpa has coped with his wife's death by parading his girlfriends in front of the shocked family. Readers will laugh and cringe as Matt tries to strike a balance between convincing Grandpa to rein it in and not upsetting their relationship. (Grandpa holds the loan on their fixer-upper.)

Anyone who has tackled home renovation or dysfunctional family blues will chuckle and nod knowingly at Matt's experiences. Everyone else: get out your belt sander and prepare to laugh along with this witty, lighthearted memoir. --Jaclyn Fulwood, blogger, Infinite Reads

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