Samantha Irby has a really eye-catching cover design for her books. I picked up another one because there was a cat on the cover (it was bright yellow I think?).
She's an award-winning essayist that really knows how to land a story. I tend to remember and think about her stories way after I've shut the book. I mean, they aren't all deep and serious, but I wasn't expecting to really have them stay with me like they have. Plus, there's a lot of funny moments.
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I read this through my library. I've become a bit overcome with their digital options and I have a huge wish list. I think I really create more digital clutter (is this the right term) than I should. I'm a big library fan regardless...I've tried a bunch of authors I wouldn't have normally, and I've found a few new favorites that I enjoy.
I'm not sure I'm 100% getting all of Rogan's comedy but I like some of his stuff. I like more of his later projects. Seth doesn't care about that of course; he's doing just fine without my wishy-washy movie watching habit. I figured I'd get on the hold list for his book at the library, and it finally hit my number. Please excuse my photos. I took them from my kindle...to send to a friend because we talked about one of his stories in here for about a day...and then I realized I still had them, so I put them here. I should have made an effort to get better photos but eh. I have such a book hangover (is this the right term?) over the last book I read. I basically just need a little bread to recover. The book that did me in was Madame Fourcade's Secret War about one of the leaders of the French Resistance. She survived the war, but many of her comrades did not. It was very, very good but it was absolutely a gut punch of read for me.
I'm going to work on some re-readings and see if I can get back to it. Maybe a lot of happy endings only romance type books? Or maybe some comic books? I own two of Mindy Kaling's books. I am furiously writing Christmas (Holidayish) cards to people and trying to get them sent off so they'll make it to their destinations by New Years Eve. Which is obviously not Christmas but I had a week's worth of migraines and I did nothing last week. Not even decorate for Christmas. I'm the only lightless house in the neighborhood! Even my Trump loving next door neighbor put one of those inflatable yarn ornaments out (by his Trump sign, it's color coordinated!). It's bad when you're the only scrooge on the block!
I read this book awhile ago and liked it. So when it popped up in my "to-be-read/reread" shelf, I went ahead and read it. I've read quite a few Bryson books and enjoyed all but one (he seemed really oddly bitter in that one and I can't tell if I didn't get the humor). Often his books are written for a British audience, but with the caveat that non-Brits might enjoy them. I think I enjoy Bryson more when he's bringing history into his work (re: At Home) verses when he's in a setting of which he doesn't understand or he's uncomfortable. I think sometimes when dealing with people Bryson can punch down. It can come off very elitist but yeah, sometimes it's a bit misanthropic. For instance, whilst I like many of Bryson's books, I'm well aware that he seems to see everyone in the south as something off Deliverance and judges from that. So he probably wouldn't like me for existing I guess. Perhaps that's wrong but it's been a theme in a few of his books (heavily highlighted in The Lost Continent). To be fair to Bryson, it's a thing for some people to punch down (or to take the mickey out of) I guess in Europe and it's not always my favorite type of humor. One of the first things a Danish dude said to me was that "All Americans are fat...you're just not fat yet." Thanks Danish dude. He told me later is was a joke but I mean, we're not going to be friends (which upset him?!). I've verged. Bryson has a quirk with this writing and is best when he does history and not travel experiences where he has no curiosity (he's done this in Australia, America, UK, Africa, and Europe...occasionally he's overly grumpy and mean). Danish men surely aren't all assholes but I've yet to meet a non-rude one. I've met lovely Danish women though. I think I'm just allergic to America. Well, maybe my state. Like, some type of thing is setting off my migraines more than normal. Besides the pandemic. Maybe it's just the pandemic.
But I'm going to blame the stupid flowers and weather in my state because I'm in a mood. Whatever. I'm running on a lot of coffee. I slept like the dead last night after taking a triptan (a pain pill meant for migraines) and I feel like I got hit by a truck. That's not hyperbole --I was t-boned by a massive truck that ran a red light a few years ago and I feel about the same. I finished my work and I've uploaded some photos and so that's where I am in life. Drugged and behind. You know, the norm. For some reason I thought I had talked about Ayoade's book, but it's because I mentioned it in a Fri-Yay post. Obviously when I realised my error, I decided to make the post. We should all have Ayoade in our life. I lost my mom when I was much younger and it wasn't until recently that I started to look around for grief therapy or even grief books. It was actually an HBO documentary that sent me back looking. When it first happened there wasn't as much in the way of therapy for kids near me or even stuff on the internet but now it's so much better and I really appreciate how there's more stuff available. I think it helped me to learn about grief and how other people dealt with death. That's probably weird but I guess that's how my brain operates.
I picked this up after reading the blurb to add to my 'grief bookshelf.' Which, yes, I have a sub-section just on grief and other bereavement books/articles. I don't find the books sad, instead I find them interesting and calming. Which, again, might be an odd view but I think it helps. Ty Alexander has her own website, which fits into the "lifestyle" category of blogging. She talks about her travel, beauty, fashion tips, etc. plus life advice and commentary. She also has a podcast in addition to all her social media. I think her blog is nice, and it's one of the ones I follow even though I can't wear Ty's style as well as she does (nor am I technically in her 'audience'), I do enjoy reading her blog posts. She also gets migraines, girl I feel you! :( I'm a HUGE Bill Bryson fan. I enjoy his snark and observations and his humor just kills me. I have all of his books (not his newest as of yet) and there's only been one that I haven't truly enjoyed.
I really liked his book about the history of normal household objects (At Home) and died while reading A Walk In The Woods (about his hike of the Appalachian Trail). You don't need to read his books in order of publication, instead I would suggest by picking the subject matter that you like best. I read I'm A Stranger Here Myself before I left to live overseas and read it again when I got back. I thought it was funny before I left...I thought it was amazingly hilarious when I got back. It's amazing how fast you can adapt to a new environs sometimes, and going back to the old normal can mess with your system. For instance, when I came back to America after a year, the new Coca-cola Free-style(?) soda mixer machine had been introduced. I had all sorts of disgusting combinations and I swear I was jittery for a week. It was a lot of soda. When I got back to Scotland and met my friend at Subway...with the four choices of soda I was kinda in a tailspin. It's that stupidly bizarre. I'm A Stranger Here Myself details the Bryson family's return (or moving) to America after two decades of living in England. Bill Bryson wrote essays for his newspaper back home and this was turned into a book. It's an observant view of the mundane, the exciting, the ridiculous and the beloved aspects about life here. I simply cannot adore this book more. So this has been a week right? In terms of news and weather on my front. I've had nonstop migraines for a week and last night the big one finally hit--I had to take a triptan and just give up. So today I'm very slow and trying my best to not type nonsense. I'm going to talk about Irby's book here because it really rocked my world when I read it and I wanted to talk about something positive after reading nothing but awful news about murders and mass shootings.
I read this book as part of a now-defunct book club. Book clubs never last long when I join, I might be bad luck.
To be fair...I was one of two people who had actually read the book so perhaps that was some of the issue. I picked this book up at the same table with the Marie Kondo books and the books on Danish hyggie-ness. I suppose it was kinda self-improvement station. I'm not sure it was written with my age range in mind but I liked a lot of the simple truths that Magnusson brings to the table.
I picked this book up from one of my local indie bookshops because I had seen Guy Branum on Conan's late night talk show promoting his book. Guy was funny and he looked so familiar to me, plus I wanted something funny to read.
I was delightfully surprised by how much I loved this book, Guy, and his brain. Guy is witty, poignant and snarky when talking about events in his life. While this book is a memoir, it's told in an essay-collection format. I think that helps sort it in your mind, while it does run consecutively, Guy takes little side roads to explain moments in a deeper way. |
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