Tag Archives: humor

The Humor Code

18144085Title: The Humor Code
Author: Peter McGraw and Joel Warner
Source: from publisher for review
Rating: ★★★★☆
Review Summary: This book was amusing, well-written, inspiring, moving, and educational, as well as containing surprisingly valuable research.

If you’ve ever thought about why some things are funnier than others, you’ll probably realize that this is a tough question to answer. Other difficult questions include why we’d evolve a sense of humor and what purpose humor serves.  Although scientists still don’t agree on answers, professor Peter McGraw and journalist Joel Warner decide to tackle these questions in an epic, around-the-world journey. Their trip includes everything from talking to comedians and researchers to dressing as clowns and trying their hand at stand-up comedy. The perfect read for April Fool’s Day :) Continue reading

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Filed under Humor, non-fiction, Science

The Long and Whining Road

17285231Title: The Long and Whining Road
Author: Simeon Courtie
Source: from publisher for review
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Review Summary: For me, the first half of this book dragged a bit, but the second half flew by with fantastic place descriptions and a great message.

The Long and Whining Road is about one of the craziest road trips you can possibly imagine. Simeon Courtie and his wife, along with their three children, took one year to circumnavigate the globe…in a VW camper van! By the end of their journey they had driven over 18,000 miles, visited 17 countries, and sung sounds by The Beatles in most of them to raise money for UNICEF. This is the story of the many amazing places they visited and the great people they met along the way. Continue reading

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Filed under Humor, Memoir, non-fiction

The Sh!t No One Tells You

16073050Title: The Sh!t No One Tells You: A Guide to Surviving Your Baby’s First Year
Author: Dawn Dais
Source: from publisher for review
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Review Summary: This was often funny but also had sections that contained really useful advice and heart-warming empathy for new mothers.

“There comes a time in every new mother’s life when she finds herself staring at her screaming, smelly “bundle of joy” and wishing someone had told her that her house would reek of vomit, or that she shouldn’t buy the cute onesies with a thousand impossible buttons, or that she might cry more than the baby….Eschewing the adorableness that oozes out of other parenting books, Dais offers real advice from real moms—along with hilarious anecdotes, clever tips, and the genuine encouragement every mom needs in order to survive the first year of parenthood.” (Source) Continue reading

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Filed under Humor, Memoir, non-fiction, Self-Help

Some Nerve

17707684Title: Some Nerve: Lessons Learned While Becoming Brave
Author: Patty Chang Anker
Source: from publisher for review
Rating: ★★★★★
Review Summary: This enjoyable memoir was funny, relatable and incredibly inspiring.

What inspired Patty to try to become brave was the realization that her two daughters were inheriting her timid approach to life. Previously too afraid of failure to try new things, in this book Patty chronicles her adventures facing down her fears and those of others. With input from friends and experts, Patty shares her experience exploring everything from fears of public speaking to the fear of death.

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Filed under Memoir, non-fiction

Soundbites About How To Be a Woman

13612950Title: How To Be a Woman
Author: Caitlin Moran
Narrator: Caitlin Moran
Rating (Story): ★★★★★
Rating (Narration):★★★★★

For this review I’m mostly going to refer you to my review of the book in which I mostly rave about how much I loved it. It’s funny, it’s relatable, and it makes some points I think are just spot on. It’s so wonderful, I was laughing out loud or nodding my head in agreement almost the entire time I listened. And having the author narrate only enhanced the experience. A lot of the book feels like a friend talking to you, confiding in you, and occasionally ranting. As such, hearing it in the author’s own voice just felt right. I will definitely be looking for more author-narrated books and highly recommending this one to everyone.

Amazon|Goodreads

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I Could Pee on This: And Other Poems by Cats

Title: I Could Pee on This: And Other Poems by Cats
Author: Francesco Marciuliano
Source: library
Rating: ★★★★☆
Fun Fact: Like comics, books of poetry are actually categorized as non-fiction!
Review Summary: Short and very sweet, these poems made me laugh but also made me stop and appreciate how much fun it is to have a cat.

You can probably tell this already from the title, but this book was both adorable and hilarious. Although these were definitely not your typical poems, they were still quite well written. The cadence imposed by the line breaks and the placement of the words on the page were used very effectively to guide you through each poem to the punch line.  Each poem briefly takes you into the mind of a cat for one typical cat moment. Did moving confuse your cat? Well, now there’s a poem to help you understand their sense of lose and confusion. Does your cat desperately want through a door… until you open it? There’s a poem for that too. And familiar to even non-cat owners, thanks to youtube, there are also poems for the cat who destroys your toilet paper roll and for the cat who deliberately knocks things off the counter – just to watch them fall. And oh by the way, that was (obviously) a link to a hilarious cat video, so if you didn’t watch it the first time, here it is again :)

Amazon|Goodreads

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How To Be a Woman

Title: How To Be a Woman
Author: Caitlin Moran
Source: library
Rating: ★★★★★
Review Summary: Parts of this book were moving, while other chapters were so funny I nearly collapsed laughing, but the whole thing was thought-provoking and definitely worth a read.

The most important thing to know about this book is that it probably won’t be what you expect. I was surprised by things including: Caitlin Moran’s frank discussions of all aspects of being a woman; how she defined feminism; and how completely and totally hilarious some of this book was. All of her philosophical musings on feminism and being a woman are tied together very nicely by stories she shares of her life. These are both the funniest bits and the thing that imposes chronological order on what would otherwise be a series of distinct essays. For a good idea of the topics and the tone of the book, I’d recommend the goodreads summary. Continue reading

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