BookCrossing Through Middle-Earth by Skyring: A memoir about two trips to New Zealand, twenty years apart: first for Skyring’s honeymoon, then another trip with his wife and two teenage children. This is a fun and friendly narrative, with plenty of rich detail. I especially enjoyed the little historical anecdotes, like the toilets on ships and the Maori’s sound defeat of the British. Skyring’s side comments, particularly when dealing with language, are often quite funny. (One such example: his assurance that Wakatipu is not widely pronounced “Wakkity-poo”, especially by locals.) As an American, Australia and New Zealand are quite closely connected in my mind, but Skyring’s adventures reminded me that they are indeed two separate countries. However, amidst all the humor, there is no mistaking Skyring’s abundant awe and respect for the beautiful land and people he encounters. I nearly salivated at some of the scenery he describes. I would recommend this thin book to other BookCrossers, of course, but also to anyone who enjoys travelogues. This certainly whetted my appetite for New Zealand.
Also posted on BookCrossing.
by Jasper Fforde: Detective Jack Spratt heads the somewhat failing Nursery Crimes Division of the Reading Police Department. Shortly after being assigned Mary Mary as his new partner, Spratt and his team are faced with solving the suspicious death of one Humperdink “Humpty” Dumpty. In a world where police departments get much of their funding from royalties earned publishing the gripping tales of their cases in Amazing Crimes magazine, Friedland Chymes is king, and he wants the Humpty case. Spratt’s boss gives him until the budgetary committee meeting to solve the case, so it’s a race against time and the laughs are nonstop. This is, quite simply, one of the funniest novels I’ve ever read. I listened to it on audio, read by the immensely talented Simon Prebble, and on many occasions I laughed out loud or even repeated some of the funnier lines. They come at you from all sides, from hilarious takes on famous nursery rhyme characters to witty business names (my favorite newspaper name was The Daily Eyestrain) to truly bizarre plot twists. Highly recommended, but you might want to brush up on your nursery rhymes first so you can catch more of the jokes. Trust me, you’ll enjoy it just that much more.
by David Sedaris: Since I haven’t read Barrel Fever, all but one of the stories in this collection were new to me, and I really enjoyed them all. Some of them were more weird than funny, but there were enough laugh-out-loud moments to make up for the bits that fell short of awesome. I especially enjoyed the Santaland Diaries, about Sedaris’s stint as a Macy’s elf, and Front Row Center, which is basically what would happen if a theater critic started covering elementary school Christmas pageants. Definitely recommended, but not if you’re feeling too sentimental about the holidays. Sentimental is one thing this book definitely is not.
by Laurie Notaro: A collection of autobiographical essays from one of the funnier writers I’ve come across. Though in places too acerbic to be truly uproarious, once you get into Notaro’s groove her rants and tangents range are pretty darn funny. There were times I laughed aloud – no mean feat, considering I was reading this on an exercise bike. Her descriptions of the tampon flying out of her purse, the spontaneously exploding pants, and her attempts to “love everybody” while at CostCo on a weekend were particularly memorable. A short book, but good for a quick laugh.
by Nick Hornby: It’s rare that I pick up a book based on its movie, but this time I did. I really enjoyed John Cusack as Rob, though I’d heard that Hornby had been surprised at the quality of the film, since to him the book was very much about living in London and yet the story was almost seamlessly transplanted to Chicago for the movie. Anyway, this book is brilliant. It’s the story of Rob, a thirty-something owner of a semi-failing record shop, and his life after his girlfriend leaves him. Rob is obsessed with music, top five everything, his past, and himself in general. His manner of narrating is at once painfully honest and absolutely hilarious, and I laughed out loud on several occasions. The time flew by whenever I was reading. I’ll definitely be looking up other Hornby books in the future.
by Karen Cushman: A diary of a 13-year-old British girl in 1290. Absolutely delightful. Birdy’s commentary is loads of fun: earthy, funny, and brutally honest. Things just get better when she obtains a book of saints and marks whose feast day it is, often with hilarious commentary. I wonder how many of them are real. (Probably most, given the level of Christian superstition during those days.) Definitely recommended for anyone – children and adults alike – looking for an interesting and entertaining sample of medieval life (pay particular attention to the food – eww!). I don’t know why I didn’t read this years ago.
by David Sedaris (unabridged audiobook read by the author): One thing I really appreciate about Sedaris is not only does he share the often unflattering foibles of everyone around him, he never spares himself. Indeed, he often paints himself as the one with the worst intentions and habits. I laughed particularly hard at “In the Waiting Room” and “What I Learned”. The final and longest essay, “The Smoking Section,” goes through his first few months after quitting smoking. It’s made more interesting by the stay in Japan during this time. These essays are sometimes poignant, often funny, and always unexpected. All in all, this is one of Sedaris’s better collections. It doesn’t beat out Me Talk Pretty One Day as my favorite, but it’s probably in second place.
by Mike Resnick: This is the third in a series of four, though it stands on its own fairly well. It’s another tale of Thaddeus Flint’s galactic traveling carnival, this time about Jupiter Monk, the animal trainer. When his Earthling animals eventually die, Monk has no act and must find alien beasts to replace them. When he comes across a tour guide who looks as foreign as any animal, they come up with an interesting idea for a con. However, things eventually get out of hand. It’s a fun book, almost as light-hearted as the prior two in the series. Good beach read.
by Mike Resnick: Thaddeus Flint’s traveling carnival has taken to the stars, and it’s…pretty dull, actually. The aliens aren’t too interested in seeing a human take off her clothes, or an animal tamer when the animal more closely resembles the audience, or rigged games when the marks are telepaths. Luckily, Flint still has a few tricks up his sleeve. This brief novel is just as much fun as its predecessor, Sideshow, and can probably stand on its own just fine.