Let's Explore Diabetes With Owls

I enjoy David Sedaris but have never quite shared the enthusiasm that so many people have for him. Yet when I saw he had a new book out, I immediately went to find it. (I mean it is David Sedaris.)

Let's Explore Diabetes With Owls is pretty standard David Sedaris- a collection of funny personal essays with a couple of satire pieces. There was a fictional correspondence from one sister to another that's humorous and then two others. There's one called "I Break For Traditional Marriage", that I didn't like at all. It's very over the top and dragged on way too long. "Health-Care Freedoms and Why I Want My Country Back" on the other hand I loved. It was short but funny.

As for the personal essays which make up the bulk of the book, there are great ones and others which aren't as good. Generally I liked the stories about the present such as "Author, Author" and "#2 to Go." I cared less for the ones about his childhood such as "Loggerheads" and "Memory Laps." I couldn't help thinking, "Oh c'mon, David.. you've written how many books and you never told this story before now? And you expect me to believe this?" And that's really at the heart of my tepid enjoyment for Sedaris-- I'm always suspect to anything that is supposed to be autobiographical. There are so few times I can remember exactly what is said in a given situation it seems strange to me that entire conversations are presented as a slice of history rather than an interpretation of what happened. That said, I still enjoyed the book.

Let's Pretend This Never Happened

I found out about Jenny Lawson (Aka, The Bloggess) from my sister's blog and was interested in checking out her book, Let's Pretend This Never Happened (A Mostly True Memoir). I had to wait a couple months before it was available at the library, but it was worth the wait. The book cracked me up. Jenny Lawson is a very funny woman and despite how obnoxious it was, I couldn't help reading parts aloud to my husband. I don't read many humor books (maybe because it is not a huge genre?) but always enjoy them when I do. I especially enjoyed this book for Lawson's warped sense of humor and the way she dramatically delivered stories. I could relate to her, particularly in the story "And Then I Got Stabbed in the Face by a Serial Killer" in which she describes her social awkwardness/ anxiety, something I myself suffer from (though thankfully not to the same degree). Another story I particularly enjoyed was "The Dark and Disturbing Secrets HR Doesn't Want You to Know," in part because I was in the process of job hunting at the time. But I don't think there was a story I didn't like. I enjoyed the entire book and definitely recommend it to everyone (except those who get easily offended).

Bossypants

Another fun listen on the Playaway was Bossypants by Tina Fey. My sister is a huge Tina Fey fan and I will admit to having very limited exposure to her work, but checked it out from the library since I figured it'd be entertaining and that I could chat with my sister about it. I was definitely right about the entertaining part. Tina Fey is a very funny woman and I laughed a lot. I ended up checking out the book from the library too because she talks about referring to a pdf to see photos but I wasn't up for downloading it just so I could glance at a couple of pictures for a minute. Alan ended up reading most of the book, which I loved since one of my favorite things is when he reads books that he finds funny. There's something about him curled up with a book, laughing hysterically that strikes me as adorable. I'm willing to bet though that the audio book is a little funnier. At some points there are scripts printed in the book but the actual skits are 'played' on the audiobook. Either way though, I think it's safe to say it's funny and entertaining... unless you can't stand Tina Fey, which some people certainly cannot, according to some of the "fan" mail she shared.

It Looked Different on the Model

I have a slight addiction to these new Playaways. For those who don't know, a Playaway is an audio book downloaded onto an MP3 kind of player so it's super portable plus unlike audio CD's it keeps your spot for you even if you turn it off and don't listen for days on end. (It was because I'd always lose my place that I gave up on the CD's, so this was a selling point for me.) So with a Playaway I can wash dishes or fold laundry while listening to a book- pretty cool, huh?
I still haven't ventured into listening to fiction on an audio book, so I look for nonfiction selections. A month ago I found It Looked Different on the Model: Epic Tales of Impending Shame and Infamy by Laurie Notaro. It was certainly an enjoyable read and found myself at times laughing out loud. This book is a collection of humorous personal essays. I will say though at times, it felt like the jokes were forced, that Notaro was trying a little too hard to be funny. But I laughed my butt of at this one story, I think it was called "Instant Karma" about the hippies that populate the town where she lives. It was really funny to me, especially because I could have been some of the people she was complaining about. I'm not sure I would have enjoyed this quite as much had I read it instead of listened to it, but it was quite entertaining.