Bomb Shelter: Love, Time, and Other Explosives

Philpott’s collection of personal essays outlines what happens when worry becomes reality. She wanted to always be there to help her family when needed. When she and her husband find their teenage son seizing on the bathroom floor one morning, she learns that, while the situation is scary, she can get through it. These essays detail different parts of her life; many of them return to the day of the seizure, but there are tales of humor and heart even in relation to crisis. The title story details how she learned as an adult that her father used to work for a government agency that built bomb shelters; another essay tells how she and her husband cared for turtles living in their backyard. Readers of Philpott’s other works (I Miss You When I Blink) will appreciate this more serious dive into her life, and readers of autobiographies in general will find entertainment here.