Tag: Humor Page 4 of 14

A Bathroom Book for People Not Pooping or Peeing but Using the Bathroom as an Escape by Joe Pera, Joe Bennett (Illustration)

DETAILS:
Publisher: Forge Books
Publication Date: November 15, 2021
Format: Hardcover
Length: 111 pg.
Read Date: January 18, 2022

What’s A Bathroom Book… About?

I don’t know how to describe this book, so I’m going to lift this from the publisher:

Joe Pera goes to the bathroom a lot. And his friend, Joe Bennett, does too. They both have small bladders but more often it’s just to get a moment of quiet, a break from work, or because it’s the only way they know how to politely end conversations.

So they created a functional meditative guide to help people who suffer from social anxiety and deal with it in this very particular way. Although, it’s a comedic book, the goal is to help these readers:

1. Relax
2. Recharge
3. Rejoin the world outside of the bathroom

It’s also fun entertainment for people simply hiding in the bathroom to avoid doing work.

A Bathroom Book for People Not Pooping or Peeing But Using the Bathroom as an Escape will be waiting in the bathroom like a beacon for anxious readers looking to feel calm, confident, and less alone.

The Illustrations

I’m not sure how to describe it. A few adjectives jump to mind: quirky, offbeat, unusual. But they fit the tone of the book really well.

When the illustration is of an object (or a few of them), it’s very realistic—cartoonish, but realistic. There’s very little realism to the people depicted, however. They’re very cartoonish, with nods to realism. It’s an interesting way to go with that. I should stress that cartoonish isn’t a criticism, it’s just the best word I can come up with to describe these. Bennett has a style all his own—oddly compelling and fairly eccentric.

Along these lines, whoever did the page layout and typesetting deserves a slap on the back and maybe a raise.

So, what did I think about A Bathroom Book…?

Frankly, I had to buy this just because of the title. How do you walk away from it? I knew nothing about Joe Pera until this—now I’m curious about him.

Some years back, as I understand, there were a variety of books labeled “Bathroom Humor” or something like that—vaguely risqué (maybe some weren’t that vague), full of jokes and perhaps cartoons. I remember my grandfather had a book like that equipped with a chain so you could hang it on the towel rack or something like that. This is not that kind of book.

This is a gentler humor—the purpose of it is to help you relax and regroup, maybe to take a beat and prepare to leave the bathroom to face whatever social pressure (or similar hurdle) lies outside the bathroom.

We’ve all been there at least once—some of us are there on a regular basis—using the bathroom not just for a biological need, but to take a breather from life for just a couple of minutes. This is short enough that it can fit the bill (or, if you read slowly, it’s easy to dip in and out for a quick trip).

You’re not going to laugh out loud (probably—except maybe for the Jane Goodall jokes). But you just might smile—even a half-smile—because it reminds you of human oddities. And maybe because it’ll remind you that you’re not alone in needing this oasis from reality.

I enjoyed this, I think it’ll hold up to repeated readings. It’s an odd source of affirmation and encouragement—but I like it, and will take the affirmation and encouragement where I can find it.

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, opinions are my own.

My Favorite Non-Fiction Books of 2021

By HCNewton

On January 5, 2022

In (Auto)Biography, History, Humor, News/Misc., Non-Fiction, Politics/Current Affairs

Favorite Non-Fiction 2021
My 2021 Wrap up continues and now we’re on to the Non-Fiction list. While I liked a number of works that didn’t make this list, I felt strange calling them a “favorite.” So, we have 6 instead of the nigh-obligatory 10 (Hartford had two books on the list, but I wouldn’t let someone else do that on another list, so I trimmed one from this). Like last year, I was surprised that I’d given so many of these 3 or 3 1/2 stars. But these are the ones that stuck with me through the year; the ones I cited in conversation; that I thought about when reading something else or watching something on TV. Really, that’s what’s important, right?

As always, I only put books that I’ve read for the first time on this list. I don’t return to NF books (outside of looking up things for one or three points), but occasionally I do—for example, The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction by Alan Jacobs would get a permanent spot on this list, were it not for this rule.

(in alphabetical order by author)

Blood and Treasure: Daniel Boone and the Fight for America’s First Frontier

by Bob Drury and Tom Clavin

My original post
This book de-mythologized—and then re-mythologized (to a point) Daniel Boone, who ended up being more interesting (and more human) than I anticipated. Some of the writing was fantastic and you could forget you were reading history (there were other parts that were so dry it could be nothing else). The book looks at both Boone and the Fight for the Frontier—against Indians, French, and the English. It’s the kind of history book that convinces me that I should read more history—not to better myself, just because it’s worthwhile.

3.5 Stars

A Dream About Lightning Bugs: A Life of Music and Cheap Lessons

by Ben Folds

I haven’t written a post about this book yet, so it’s hard for me to try to give a thumbnail here. I enjoyed getting to know Folds a bit better—warts and all (and he’s not afraid to bring up some of the warts). Where this book really impressed me was when he talked about music—performing, creating, listening, what it means to a listener/performer. I’ve already returned to some of that material to reread—I’m not a musician, but I appreciate someone that thoughtful about it. It’s inspirational.

Also, his stuff about Shatner is just great.

3.5 Stars

The Data Detective: Ten Easy Rules to Make Sense of Statistics

by Tim Harford

My original post
This is one of those books I should go back and re-read, taking copious notes to help me internalize the points. We’re subject to people at work, on the news, online, and from the government throwing numbers, statistics, and “studies show” so often that it can be overwhelming. So much so that many people blindly accept everything they’re told from that formula, or doubt it all. Hartford’s point is that we should be skeptical, but to use that skepticism to dig out the real meaning behind the study/statistic and then use it for our advantage as a voter, citizen, employee, or person (or all of the above). Crystal clear writing, easily applicable, and more useful than most books on related subjects.

Actually, I think I just convinced myself to re-read it soon.

3 Stars

Nine Nasty Words: English in the Gutter: Then, Now, and Forever

by John McWhorter

My original post
I’m a sucker for an entertaining look at language, and that’s what McWhorter delivered here. While I try to eschew the use of profanity, we’re surrounded by it so much more than we likely realize, so I might as well learn more about it, right? This was a solid look at the background and development of these “Big 9” words—in particular, I enjoyed McWhorter’s demonstration of how the words function as various parts of speech, as well as the varying nuances of meaning.

3 Stars

You’ll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey: Crazy Stories about Racism

by Amber Ruffin, Lacey Lamar

My original post
I talked about this in my favorite audiobook post, too, never fear—this’ll be the last time I bring it up this week.

Early on, Ruffin writes:

Twice a week, I get a text from my sister that says, “Can you talk?” It’s my favorite because I know I’m about to be transported to a place that exists in real life and fantasy: the place where coworkers will put their whole hand in your hair, talking ’bout “It’s fluffy like a dog.” I realize this sounds terrible, but it’s like watching Dateline. You can’t believe it was the GIRLFRIEND who killed the HUSBAND! It’s the edge of reality. Technically, it happens, but it is barely plausible. Excited, I steal away to the elevator banks at work and listen to Lacey tell me a new horror story. It’s fantastic. As I stand there, mouth agape, listening to some new fresh hell, I am always struck by the fact that these stories will only exist in this phone call. Some will go on to become stories once the topic turns to “racist people at work” one night when Lacey is hanging out with her friends, but she’ll forget most of them because of the sheer volume. The. Sheer. Volume.

That’s what this book is, a distillation of that volume. A compilation of the best/worst of those stories. They are tragic. They are sobering. They are frequently pretty funny. But only in the way they’re told. Lamar and Ruffin share these stories with an air of “you have to laugh or you’ll cry.” The kind of resigned laughter when you realize that your situation isn’t going to get better any time soon, so you might as well find the pleasure in it. A lot of this is hard to listen to/read—but it’s usually worth it. There’s also a decent level of “a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down” running throughout this.

4 Stars

Moonlighting: An Oral History

by Scott Ryan

My original post
It’s probably the most fun I’ve had with a book this year. Somehow, Ryan’s able to capture a little bit of the flavor of the show while getting into the history. Moonlighting was a revolutionary show, and he is able to talk to just about every significant figure involved in the creation and production of it for this history. He chronicles the ups, downs, and all-around zaniness. There are deep-dives on important episodes and or tricky scenes, as well as broader looks at themes, storylines, characters, etc. It’s easy to forget just how magical this show was, but spending some time with Ryan will remind viewers of a certain age of just what a ground-breaking, oft-controversial, and entertaining series it was.

5 Stars

My Favorite Audiobooks of 2021

By HCNewton

On January 4, 2022

In Audiobook, Fantasy, Fiction, History, Humor, Kevin Hearne, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, News/Misc., Non-Fiction, Politics/Current Affairs, Rick Riordan, Science Fiction, Seanan McGuire, Toby Daye, Tufa, Urban Fantasy

My Favorite Audiobooks of 2021
Last year I kicked off my Year-End Retrospective with a look at my favorite audiobooks, I might as well repeat that this year. How do I keep this from being just a rehash of my other year-end lists? By focusing on the audiobook experience over the content. What was it like to listen to it? How engaging was it, how did the narrator do? Was it a good match in terms of tone, content, and performance? All of these books are/were good—but the audiobooks are a bit better because of the narrator and the rest of the people involved in the production.

(in alphabetical order by author)

The Hum and the Shiver

by Alex Bledsoe, Emily Janice Card(Narrator), Stefan Rudnicki (Narrator)

This was my third or fourth trip through this book (maybe, fifth, but I don’t think so). I’m not sure if that means it was easy for me to be impressed—or maybe it was really hard because I had high expectations. Regardless, Rudnicki and Card took me to Cloud County and the land of the Tufa. I could believe that these people lived, breathed, and walked around in this world—and yet were otherworldly, as they ought to be. I knew Rudnicki could make me believe in a Fantasy world—it turns out that he can make me believe in this one, too. Card was right there with him.

4 Stars

Finlay Donovan Is Killing It

by Elle Cosimano, Angela Dawe (Narration)

My original post
This is on the list because of Dawe’s narration. The text was entertaining enough, sure, but her narration is what made sure I remembered the book during the list-making time. The novel was a tricky balancing act between the various tones and characters, and Dawe makes you believe it. She captured the comedic sense of the novel along with the tension and emotional moments. There were a few accents involved and she did a believable job with them, too.

3.5 Stars

A Christmas Carol: A Signature Performance by Tim Curry

by Charles Dickens, Tim Curry (Narrator)

My original post
I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: all you need to know about this is: Tim Curry. This wasn’t the performance I expected—I figured I was in for something near to over-the-top, with Curry going to town with the text. Instead, we’re treated to a respectful, restrained performance giving Dickens’ classic just the right emotional weight, sentimentality, personality, and life.

5 Stars

In This Bright Future

by Peter Grainger, Gildart Jackson (Narrator)

My original post
Grainger and Jackson together have made this one of my Top 3 audiobook series, period. So my only question was how many of the books would end up on this list. I ended up limiting myself to one, and therefore it had to be this one—we get so little of our typical characters and settings, but Jackson is able to make Belfast as warm and homey as King’s Lake. There are elevated dangers and emotions in this book that we don’t typically get with D.C. Smith, but Jackson doesn’t miss a beat. Grainger puts D.C. through his paces, too. Both are at the top of their game—making D.C. at the top of his, too.

4 Stars

Ink & Sigil

by Kevin Hearne, Luke Daniels (Narrator)

Even though a pro like Luke Daniels is constantly doing voices/accents for his characters and the narration is almost never his “natural” voice (assuming he even has one anymore), I have to think that maintaining a Glaswegian accent for as long as he did for this book (ten hours and change, I think) has to be an added level of difficulty. Not that you can tell from listening to this. I thought the novel was a rollicking good time and just the way you should introduce a new series. The audiobook version just cemented that.

4 1/2 Stars

The Unkindest Tide

by Seanan McGuire, Mary Robinette Kowal (Narrator)

This novel was the payoff (as far as we know so far, I wouldn’t put it past McGuire to turn it upside down later) to a storyline that had been lingering and building for years, I remember being stunned when reading it—just that aspect of The Unkindest Tide brought a great combination of anticipation, grief, suspense, and surprise. The story of the novel—the trip to the Duchy of Ships, the intrigue around Dianda, etc. was as solid as it gets, too. I remembered all this going in, so it was all teed up for Kowal—and she nailed it, it almost felt like I hadn’t read the book before and was discovering it fresh. A narrator who can do that is tops in my book.

4 1/2 Stars

We Had a Little Real Estate Problem: The Unheralded Story of Native Americans and Comedy

by Kliph Nesteroff

My original post
As I was trimming down the list of audiobooks I listened to last year for this list, I didn’t expect that this would stay on the list. A history of Native Americans in Comedy, really? But I kept not deleting it…so I started thinking of it—there’s a social history, an entertainment history, with individual profiles mixed it—it has it all. What’s more, despite a pretty dry (but never boring) narration, and not using clips of original performances, the comedy of these individuals comes through. In the midst of hardship, suffering, prejudice, and hard breaks, there are some solid laughs. It’s hard not to keep thinking about that.

4 Stars

Percy Jackson’s Greek Gods

by Rick Riordan, Jesse Bernstein (Narrator)

I started working on a post last year about contemporary myth retellings (and I intend on finishing it before my unconceived grandkids are ready to read it), and listened to this as part of that. In many ways, the book and the information didn’t fare well compared to things like Gaiman and Fry have recently produced. But this is here and they’re not—because as an audiobook this is a great experience. Bernstein is Percy Jackson here, and it felt like something ol’ Percy was sitting down and relating to future Camp Halfblood residents. It inspired me to listen to the original Percy Jackson series again just so I can listen to Bernstein perform this character.

3 Stars

You’ll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey: Crazy Stories about Racism

by Amber Ruffin, Lacey Lamar

My original post
I’m still telling people about this audiobook/book nine months later. I can’t think of a book that made me angrier, sadder, or made me laugh as much in 2021 (or a few years before it, either). This did all three. Ruffin’s narration, Lamar’s stories, their hurt, and their optimism make this a must-listen.

4 1/2 Stars

The Salvage Crew

by Yudhanjaya Wijeratne, Nathan Fillion (Narrator)

My original post
This is a very strange SF story about a sentient AI (based on the memories and personality of an engineer). I think I’d have enjoyed the story had I read the novel, but it’s Nathan Fillion that brought it to life. That same charm that makes you like Caleb, Mal, Castle, and Nolan shines forth and makes you believe in this malfunctioning (at least eccentrically-functioning) AI and get invested in the AI’s survival and that of his ragtag crew.

4 Stars

We Had a Little Real Estate Problem (Audiobook) by Kliph Nesteroff: One of Those Books You Didn’t Know was Needed Until You Read It

By HCNewton

On December 16, 2021

In Audiobook, Humor, Non-Fiction

We Had a Little Real Estate Problem:
The Unheralded Story of
Native Americans and Comedy

by Kliph Nesteroff

Unabridged Audiobook, 9 hrs., 34 min.
Simon & Schuster Audio, 2021

Read: December 8-9, 2021
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

What’s We Had a Little Real Estate Problem About?

This book sketches a broad history—roughly from the end of the 19th Century to the present—of Native Americans in comedy. He starts with things like wild west shows and circuses—where people like P. T. Barnum presented “authentic Indian” practices, but would define what was authentic for the people who’d do the performing, and would punish them if they did anything actually authentic. So right away, you know this is going to be a feel-good story.

In the early days of Movies and TV, it’s not much better for most—Indians were stereotyped and usually played by Whites. Sure, you’d get occasional people like Will Rogers as the exception. Nesteroff chronicles the struggles for representation from then up to “Iron Eyes” Cody (and beyond, I’m sure).

Then he sketches out the bright spots for Native Americans in the contemporary comedy scene, from stand-up to theater to TV writing. Nesteroff spent a lot of time on Charlie Hill’s life, career, and legacy—who made a lot of the contemporary advances possible. Frankly, he could’ve spent more time on it and kept me interested (although what he gave was sufficient). His interactions with Richard Pryor was fascinating.

Interspersed with the history are brief profiles of individual comedians/teams and their careers. So it’s not just a history of the industry, but we get spotlights on individuals, too. They were definitely the highlights of the book for me.

How Funny Was It?

Nesteroff kept the narration restrained—he’s a stand-up, so I’m sure his instincts were to perform (at least) a bit more than he did. But he read it the same way you’d read a book about productivity. I’d think that would be particularly difficult when he read a transcript or script from a comedy piece/interview. But even then—the material shone through and I found myself audibly chuckling frequently. Funny stuff is funny (would’ve been funnier in the original, I’m sure, but getting permissions necessary to do that would’ve made this audiobook too expensive to produce)

So, what did I think about We Had a Little Real Estate Problem?

I heard Marc Maron talk about this book a little on his podcast (but I haven’t gotten around to any of the episodes with the author), and it seemed like it’d be up my alley. I love hearing about the business of comedy and the people that are behind it. Focusing on this one story? Sounded like a great idea. And I think Nesteroff pulled it off.

I guess I would think as a history, it’s probably incomplete—but I’m not sure how you can do a comprehensive history of something like this.

I think the central premise of this—media depictions of Native Americans makes them conform too much to a stolid, serious, stoic type—or a tragic one. It’s hard to believe that encompasses any culture—much less the great number of Native American cultures in North America. To promote understanding between cultures in the US and Canada, we ought to see all aspects of them.

The profiles—either brief or extended (like Charlie Hill and Will Rogers)—were interesting enough to make me go check out samples (and sometimes more) of the work. The overall narrative was interesting and optimistic.

I think the book worked—if you’re at all interested in the behind-the-scenes of comedy, about those who make the movies/shows/stand-up you enjoy, you’ll probably think so, too.

4 Stars

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, opinions are my own.

Dr. Rick Will See You Now by Dr. Rick is a Thing that Actually Exists (and I chuckled at)

By HCNewton

On December 7, 2021

In Humor, Non-Fiction

Dr. Rick Will See You Now

by Dr. Rick

Kindle Edition, 119 pg.
Eleven Letter Press, 2021

Read: December 6, 2021

What’s Dr. Rick Will See You Now About?

I don’t know if my out-of-the-U.S. readers will have been exposed to these commercials, but I assume that everyone in the U.S. has seen these advertisements from Progressive Insurance–Dr. Rick is an expert in “parentamorphisis,” and advises his clients on how to beat it.

What is parentamorphisis? That’s when doing things like owning your first home turns you into your parents and gets you started doing things like making dad jokes, talking too much about parking, giving unsolicited advice at a hardware store, printing out directions for driving, and so on.

This book is a collection of quizzes and tips on how to avoid becoming your parents–a few items are similar/the same as the commercials, but most aren’t. There’s a combination of text, photos, and simple drawings to illustrate

“Dr. Rick”

I didn’t see anywhere in the book (I may have overlooked it) where the author(s) were identified as other than the Dr. Rick character–Progressive Marketing Department, or something like that, I guess. I’d like to give them the credit due, but…I guess that’s not to be.

So, what did I think about Dr. Rick Will See You Now?

This is cute. I find these advertisements pretty amusing, and this is just like sitting down and watching a series of them.

And, hey, it’s free. Free chuckles and something to do for a little bit. That’s a pretty good deal.

3 Stars

Catch-Up Quick Takes: The Case of the Missing Marquess; Dark Arts and a Daiquiri; Breaking Silence; Everything Happens; Based on a True Story: A Memoir; How to Resist Amazon and Why; Nothing Like I Imagined

By HCNewton

On November 24, 2021

In (Auto)Biography, Audiobook, Fiction, Humor, Jo Perry, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, Non-Fiction, Politics/Current Affairs, Urban Fantasy

The point of these quick takes posts is to catch up on my “To Write About” stack—emphasizing pithiness, not thoroughness. This time, I’ve got a handful of 3 Star reads/listens (I don’t think I planned it that way, it just worked out).

The Case of the Missing Marquess

by Nancy Springer, Katherine Kellgren (Narrator)
Series: Enola Holmes, #1
Unabridged Audiobook, 4 hrs., 31 min.
Recorded Books, 2008
Read: November 1, 2021
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

(the official blurb)
This is a cute read for people who like the idea of Sherlock Holmes, but aren’t that interested (or ready) in the real thing. Which may sound dismissive, but it’s not supposed to be. I can easily see why the people behind the movie(s) latched onto this character. I can also easily see why they tweaked the content of this book and expanded it for the first movie (does the second book some/all of what they used to expand?).

I don’t know that I’m going to go the distance with this series, but I can easily see going for one more dip in the pool.

Fast, amusing and pretty clever. This look at Sherlock and Mycroft’s little sister is a pleasant little book.

3 Stars

Dark Arts and a Daiquiri

by Annette Marie, Cris Dukehart (Narrator)
Series: The Guild Codex: Spellbound, #2
Unabridged Audiobook, 7 hrs., 39 min.
Tantor Audio, 2018
Read: October 22-25, 2021
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

(the official blurb)
For book 2 to remove our non-magical bartender to a guild of Magic Users from the Guild Members for the majority of the book is a pretty gutsy move. I’m not sure it was the right way to go, and I’m not sure it was successful. But it was gutsy.

The story was…okay, I guess. It really didn’t do a lot for me, but the last few chapters—pretty much when Tori reunites with her friends made the whole thing worth it. And the Dresden File hat-tip was fantastic.

I’m still in on this series/group of series, but I bet when all is said and done, this’ll be the one to forget.

3 Stars

Breaking Silence

by Linda Castillo, Kathleen McInerney (Narrator)
Series: Kate Burkholder, #3
Unabridged Audiobook, 9 hrs., 21 min.
Macmillan Audio, 2011
Read: October 20-21, 2021
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

(the official blurb)
Another horrific murder in Amish country. I’d love for a few books to involve other crimes in this community. I realize it’s her shtick, but a little variety could help things.

That aside—the villain of this piece is horrible and creepy, and you can feel the evil. Watching Kate and Agent Tomasetti try to figure out the motive behind the killing and the identity of the killer was a fun ride. I really do like these individually—even if I wonder about the series as a whole.

3 Stars

Everything Happens

by Jo Perry
Kindle Edition, 119 pg.
Fahrenheit Press, 2019
Read: October 18-19, 2021

(the official blurb)
This starts as the story of a nurse trying to get a quickie divorce from a loser and then turns into a story of carjacking, kidnapping, attempted kidnapping, robbery, vengence, betrayal, and car chases.

Basically: just another weekend in Vegas.

I was riveted throughout, but…I couldn’t stop asking, “Why?” I’m not sure I saw the point of the whole thing—but you know what? I didn’t care, I enjoyed it too much to bother with things like that.

3 Stars

Based on a True Story: A Memoir

by Norm Macdonald, Tim O’Halloran (Narrators)
Unabridged Audiobook, 7 hrs., 18 min.
Random House Audio, 2016
Read: October 12-14, 2021
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

(the official blurb)
A fictionalized version of MacDonald’s memoir, it’s hard to tell what’s memoir, what’s a joke, what’s a mixture. The more obviously genuine moments are marred by their vicinity to the clearly fictional. As a book? This is a mess—a self-indulgent, erratic, mess.

But wow. This was funny—even most of what I didn’t like was funny.

Don’t go into this thinking you’ll understand MacDonald’s life, career, or humor better. Go into it expecting a strange performance art-like experience with some giant laughs and you’ll be set.

3 Stars

How to Resist Amazon and Why:
The Fight for Local Economics,
Data Privacy, Fair Labor,
Independent Bookstores,
and a People-Powered Future!

by Danny Caine
Paperback, 113 pg.
Microcosm Publishing, 2021
Read: October 6, 2021
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

(the official blurb)
This is a no-holds barred critique (screed?) against Amazon—their business practices, the way they treat employees, the way they deal with governments, their security products…and just about everything else. It’s also a call to arms against the giant.

I have a lot of sympathies for Caine’s positions and desires—and agree with most of them. I also follow some of the practices he espouses (not as many as I want, but hey…I’m on a budget).

Still, I’m not sure the megastore is a super-villain—it may resemble one, very closely. As much as we might want it to be.

Read this—blanch at some of it—but take it with a grain of salt.

3 Stars

Nothing Like I Imagined (Except for Sometimes)

by Mindy Kaling
Unabridged Audiobook., 2 hrs., 19 min.
Brilliance Publishing, 2020
Read: October 1, 2021

(the official blurb)
I really enjoyed Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) and Why Not Me?—this has the same kind of humor—and the audio versions of all three are equally charming.

But I don’t know, this seemed lifeless? Sweet and genuinely funny, but it left me wanting a bit more. I don’t think it was just the length, either.

3 Stars

This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase from any of them, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, opinions are my own.

The Conjuring of Zoth-Avarex: The Self-Proclaimed Greatest Dragon in the Multiverse by K.R.R. Lockhaven: So Preoccupied with Whether They Could, They Didn’t Stop to Think If They Should…

By HCNewton

On November 4, 2021

In Fantasy, Fiction

The Conjuring of Zoth-Avarex:
The Self-Proclaimed Greatest
Dragon in the Multiverse

by K.R.R. Lockhaven

Kindle Edition, 306 pg.
BookBaby, 2021

Read: October 23-25, 2021
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

“We’ve had years and years of preparations to ensure everything will run smooth. We have learned from the mistakes of the past and will use that knowledge to make better mistakes in the future. Er. . . to avoid those mistakes altogether.”

What’s The Conjuring of Zoth-Avarex About?

Harris Reed is fresh out of magical training school and arrives at the Site to begin his career as a conjurer—he couldn’t be more excited about it. He’d grown up on fantasy literature and movies, and in college finds out that so much of what he’d dreamed about is actually true. Not only that, he can be part of the incredibly secret world.

What he discovers is a corporate culture that basically mimics that which is in the mundane world (Harris would use the adjective “Muggle,” he’s that kind of nerd). Petty rivalries, careerists focused on climbing the ladder, budget issues, inter-department squabbles, and a devotion to bureaucracy over the well-being of the employees—or common sense.

Harris and his fellow graduates have been brought to the Site to add some last-minute power to a long-term project set to launch on their second day of work, which sounds exciting to them all.

What they don’t know is that the project is summoning a dragon into this world from another universe. To you and I, this might sound as dumb as John Hammond’s plan for a park full of dinosaurs, but the managers of the Site (and the U. S. Military, which expects to be the eventual recipient of said dragon) don’t see it that way. It turns out that, in comparison, Hammond looks like a safety-conscious genius—it takes less than one sentence for the dragon to show that the humans have no control over him. He kills one staff member, snatches a woman that Harris knew from school, and flies off.

Zoth-Avarex takes Silvia to the top of the Space Needle and makes it his base. He brought Silvia along because he needs a princess in addition to his treasure. There’s no threat implied to her (as long as she doesn’t try to escape)—he basically wants to keep her safe and pamper her. It doesn’t keep this from being a horrible experience for her, but it sure could be much worse.

On their first day, Harris has befriended (or tried to) Siliva, her fiancé, and her sister. The three of them quickly realize that Management and the military are going to be of little use in getting Silvia back, and decide to take matters into their own hands in the tradition of fantasy protagonists everywhere. They get support and a little guidance from Silvia and Harris’s direct supervisor, as well as a long-term employee who’s got his heart set on retirement.

Eddie

One of the first people that Harris meets on campus is a conjurer just days away from retirement. He’s named Eddie, but might as well be named Dr. Perry Cox. Eddie’s a legend on the Site for some heroics back in the ’70s but is now an iconoclastic grump. The kind of guy every office has one or two of—they’ve been around forever and understand the way things work in ways that management doesn’t. They also don’t care about anything anymore and aren’t afraid to show it. He gives the new hires a hard time but actually gives good advice and assistance.

I personally love to get to know those figures and try to learn as much as I can from them (and have likely taken on that role a time or two), maybe that’s why Eddie resonated with me so much. He was hands-down my favorite character—he’s one of those supporting characters that could overshadow the protagonists if used too much, but Lockhaven doesn’t let that happen. Which is probably good, too much of him could’ve hurt the novel.

Footnotes

I am a sucker for a good (generally comedic) use of footnotes in novels—it’s not something I see often, but when I do, there’s a high correlation between their presence and a novel I enjoy.* Lockhaven nails the practice—they give him an added vehicle for jokes and help add to the reader’s understanding of the world and some characters. He also includes one note that’s so long could be a Steinbeck-ian intercalary chapter. It takes a certain audacity to try that, and it paid off.

* See Lisa Lutz, Thomas Lennon, Josh Bazell.

Satire

The book is primarily a fantasy adventure, but throughout—sometimes more pronounced than others—it’s also a workplace satire. As such it’s a winner—even if the fantasy storylines and broader comic bits didn’t work, I’d be pretty positive about this book for the workplace satire alone.

Like Harris, Lockhaven is pretty clearly someone who has drunk deeply from Fantasy fiction. At once he celebrates tropes, themes, and ideas from all sorts of Fantasy—and pokes fun at them. If he just ridiculed them (as several tropes and themes deserve), it’d likely come across as mean-spirited and wouldn’t be that entertaining. If all he did was unleash his favorite tropes to use in telling his story, it’s be unoriginal and clichéd. Mixing avoids the pitfalls and makes for an entertaining read.

So, what did I think about The Conjuring of Zoth-Avarex?

“Well, Bill, I know the answer to life is simply to live with love. Well, actually it’s forty- two, but you humans can’t comprehend that.” The dragon paused wistfully. “I know the best things in life are free. But the birds and bees can have all of that. I need gold! Gold! And to hang here with my beautiful maiden. That’s all I want in this crazy mixed-up world.”

It’s de rigueur when talking about a humorous work of Fantasy or SF to invoke Pratchett, Adams, and Asprin, and it’s de rigueur when I talk about that kind of fiction that I go out of my way to not do that. It’s easy this time because I find them completely inapplicable. On the other hand, TCoZA:TSPGDitM brought to mind: John Scalzi (I’m thinking Agent to the Stars and The Android’s Dream), Scott Meyer (Magic 2.0 series), Joe Zieja (Epic Failure Trilogy), and Eoin Colfer (Highfire). You put those works in a blender and pulse for 30 seconds and you’re going to get something akin to this book.

* Actually, does anyone Asprin anymore? I probably need to update my references.

This would be an easy book for me to go on too long about—I’d love to spend a few paragraphs on Zoth-Avarex alone. But it’s best experienced rather than being told about.

Most of the Independently published Humorous/Light Fantasy that I’ve come across hasn’t worked for me—at least not as much as I wanted it to. Either on the humor front or the story front. But Lockhaven nailed it, I’m happy to say. I laughed—audibly and hard—a couple of times, I chuckled and grinned a lot. I thought the relationships between the characters worked well, and I enjoyed the characters you’re supposed to enjoy and was annoyed by the ones that are supposed to bother you. This is largely one of those novels whose journey is more important than the destination—but I enjoyed the way Lockhaven wrapped things up, too.

In short, I had a lot of fun with this and expect that you will, too. Give this one a try.

4 Stars

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, opinions are my own.

Catch-Up Quick Takes: Out of House and Home; Word by Word; Scarface and the Untouchable; Yearbook; Is This Anything?

By HCNewton

On October 22, 2021

In (Auto)Biography, Audiobook, Fiction, History, Humor, Non-Fiction, Urban Fantasy

The point of these quick takes posts is to catch up on my “To Write About” stack—emphasizing pithiness, not thoroughness. Here are some recent-ish audiobooks (and one left-over from 2020!).

Out of House and Home

by Drew Hayes, Kirby Heyborne (Narrator)
Series: Fred, The Vampire Accountant, #7
Unabridged Audiobook, 11 hrs., 11 min.
Tantor Audio, 2021
Read: September 29-30, 221
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

(the official blurb)
Wow, it’d been almost ten months since I’d listened to a Fred, the Vampire Accountant book. After a pretty steady diet of them for a while, the break was a little strange.

Anyway, the wedding’s behind him, so there’s another new challenge for Fred—someone’s coming for him, and the House of Fred. This isn’t new, but the openness, brazenness, and intensity of the attacks are.

Fred has to be his most creative to get through this challenge with both his ethics and clan intact. Not to mention his life.

For reasons that make sense (and make some of the drama possible), Krystal was not around for most of this book. That bugged me, I’d have liked to have seen a bit more about married life between the two. Oh, well, there’s time for that to come.

Gentle humor, just enough action to keep you going, and a bunch of pleasant characters. The seventh installment of this series proves there’s plenty of life left in this story of the undead.
3.5 Stars

Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries

by Kory Stamper
Unabridged Audiobook, 9 hrs., 48 min.
Random House Audio, 2017
Read: September 16-20, 2021
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

(the official blurb)
If you’ve ever wondered how a dictionary—at least Merriam-Webster dictionaries—is produced, this is the book for you. If you hadn’t but the idea sounds pretty good now that you know a book like that exists (like I was), good news. Kory Stamper’s book will satisfy.

As the blurb says,

She explains why small words are the most difficult to define, how it can take nine months to define a single word, and how our biases about language and pronunciation can have tremendous social influence. And along the way, she reveals little-known surprises—for example, the fact that “OMG” was first used in a letter to Winston Churchill in 1917.

I found her discussion about trying to refresh the definition of “bitch” in the twenty-first century, with all the history and varied usage to pair nicely with John McWhorter’s chapter on the word in Nine Nasty Words. I’d love to hear the two of them discuss it.

There’s some humor, some scholarship, and word-nerd fun. It’s an entertaining and enlightening book.
3.5 Stars

Scarface and the Untouchable: Al Capone, Eliot Ness, and the Battle for Chicago

by Max Allan Collins and A. Brad Schwartz, Stefan Rudnicki (Narrator)
Unabridged Audiobook, 18 hrs., 36 mins
HarperCollins Publishers, 2018
Read: June 14-21, 2021
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

(the official blurb)
There is a lot of de-mythologizing in this history of Capone and Ness—not just of some of the myths that surrounded them during the 1920s and 30s—but of many of the “de-mythologizing” works that have been written about them since. According to Collins and Schwartz, both men—especially Ness—have been the victim of so much revisionist history that it’s almost impossible to really get at what these two did and were like.

Still, the authors think they’ve got it—or at least closer to it than others due to their research methods, etc. Hopefully, they have—I don’t know. They did tell a pair of compelling stories about Capone, Ness, and how they both rose to notoriety—and kept it.

I do think a text version of this would work a little better—I had a hard time tracking some of the not-as-important names/dates/events. It could be me, and probably is. I don’t think it was Stefan Rudnicki’s fault at all—he did a great job with the work (and it was nice to hear him doing something other than Alex Bledsoe novels).

3 Stars

Yearbook

by Seth Rogen (and a whole lot of other people)
Unabridged Audiobook, 6 hrs., 13 min.
Random House Audio, 2021
Read: September 7-8, 2021
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

(the official blurb)
Simply put, this is a collection of stories from Rogen’s life—from doing stand-up as a teenager to his work on TV and in movies. There’s—no surprise at all—a lot of references to and stories about drug use.

I’m not a huge Rogen fan—have enjoyed some of his work, but not most of it. I have always appreciated his ability to tell a story in interviews, though, and that’s what we get here. Great literature? Nope. Insightful look into the human condition and/or the Entertainment Industry? Nope. Silly fun? Yup. I can’t imagine anyone picking up a Rogen book looking for more than the last option, anyway. So you get what you expect.

This was definitely a book to listen to on audio—listening to Rogen tell these stories adds a bit of humor and flavor to it that I think just reading it wouldn’t deliver.
3 Stars

Is This Anything?

by Jerry Seinfeld
Unabridged Audiobook, 6 hrs., 15 min.
Simon & Schuster Audio, 2020
Read: December 15-16, 2020
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

(the official blurb)
Jerry Seinfeld keeps the notebooks he writes his jokes in and has always done so. Which made compiling this collection possible. This is a collection of what Seinfeld considers his best material.

It’s organized by decade, with a little narrative added to discuss his career/family. But it’s primarily joke after joke after joke after joke. As I recall, SeinLanguage was essentially the same thing, but the last time I read that was in the 1990s, and my copy is in a box. So I can’t verify that.

I’m not sure audio was the best method for me. It felt like listening to a comedy album recorded in a studio rather than in front of an audience. It just felt strange to hear it all without laughter or other audience reaction—or his reaction to the audience. Also, I think it’d work better taken in parts—not the whole 6 hours in a clump (I guess 2 clumps).

Still, it’s material from one of the best around—it’s an entertaining time.

3 Stars

This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase from any of them, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, opinions are my own.

The Genius’ Guide to Bad Writing by R.T. Slaywood, R.C. Martinez: For Those Who Are Curious About Writing Worse

By HCNewton

On September 7, 2021

In Humor, Non-Fiction

The Genius’ Guide to Bad Writing

by R.T. Slaywood, R.C. Martinez

Kindle Edition, 39 pg.
2021

Read: September 4, 2021

It’s time to disappoint your readers!

What’s The Genius’ Guide to Bad Writing About?

A guide for the writer who is tired of success and wants to reclaim their lives from answering the siren call of fortune and fame that comes to every author. Slaywood and Martinez have a 10-Step program guaranteed to ruin a novel or two and stop a career dead in its spot.

Obviously, this is a satire—although I can think of more than a few authors that seem to have found this book before its publication (I’m going to assume it slipped through a wormhole and was delivered to them years ago). I’ll be nice and not name names here, but I think Slaywood and Martinez are owed some money if they could figure out how to collect it.

The “Illustrations”

I thought the idea behind this was clever and well-executed. They picked up a half-star from me for this. It reminded me of the footnotes in Heads You Lose by Lisa Lutz, David Hayward, but with a different flavor.

Formatting

The formatting on part of this is a little iffy—it largely is going to depend on what device you use to read it. My Paperwhite was fine but it was irritating to read on my phone (I’d wager my Fire Tablet would’ve been okay, but maybe not as nice as my Paperwhite—I’m just too lazy to charge the thing for this post). But the amount of irritation is minimal, this is just a caveat lector (mostly inspired by an online review that seemed overly irritated).

The Table of Contents is just wonky and ugly, but I’m 60% sure it’s supposed to be. And even if I’m wrong, it’s the Contents, if you’re spending enough time on a 39-page book to get worked up about a poorly formatted Table of Contents, you really need to ask yourself some questions about your priorities.

So, what did I think about The Genius’ Guide to Bad Writing?

It bothers me greatly to write something so brief, but with 39 pages, there’s not a lot to say unless I give a line-by-line commentary.

It is intended to be a brief work, and I don’t hold the length against it. I enjoyed what is there, while I do think I’d be happier on a bang-for-my-buck level if the book was twice as long. Unless the authors were just on fire, more than twice as long would’ve gotten tiresome (see: The White Man’s Guide to White Male Writers of the Western Canon).

This is a quick, fun read that’ll bring a grin to the face of readers. Take a few minutes and enjoy yourselves.

3.5 Stars

A Quick Look at the Wonderful The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: The Illustrated Edition by Douglas Adams, Chris Riddell (Illustrator)

By HCNewton

On May 25, 2021

In Douglas Adams, Fiction, Science Fiction, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy:
The Illustrated Edition

by Douglas Adams, Chris Riddell (Illustrator)

Hardcover, 291 pg.
Del Rey, 2021

Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

As soon as I picked up this book this weekend, I just knew that I had to talk about it today on Towel Day. And then I sat down to write about this—and I’m not really sure what to say. Anyone who’s read this site much knows how bad I am at describing art. But, what else am I going to talk about today?

For the 42nd Anniversary of the publication of the novel The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, the publishers commissioned noted illustrator and political cartoonist Chris Riddell to tackle this classic. And wow, what a great choice.

The book starts off with “A Guide to the Guide” a short piece Adams wrote about the series in its various forms shortly after the release of So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish. Then we get the text of the novel—attractively laid out, with illustrations scattered throughout.

One of the best things included in this edition is a large, full-color illustration on the inside cover—it’s a collection of some of the more obscure characters mentioned (largely in passing) throughout the novel—and the book ends with a key to that illustration. Which is just great, I’ll be the first to admit that I didn’t give almost any of these any thought. And now I don’t have to, Chris Riddell did it for me.

Some of the Characters and Scenes Depicted

By and large, the illustrations don’t really match what I had in my head (although the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal was pretty close), but almost every time I look at one, my reaction is “yeah, he’s nailed it, that’s what _____ should look like.”

I’m not going to go over all of them, but I’ve had a blast flipping back and forth through the book looking at the pictures. The small furry creature from Alpha Centauri (a real one) was adorable, Slartibartfast was…perfect, Marvin looks nothing like the TV show or movie—thankfully. Eddie the Shipboard Computer is odd, but I can buy it. Eccentrica Gallumbits looks, well, you know. Trillian’s mice and (particularly in their native universe) and The Heart of Gold was just great. Deep Thought was another surprise but absolutely worked. Gag Halfrunt looks just like a private brain-case specialist should look. Last, but not least, the falling sperm whale and the poor bowl of petunias got a two-page spread, and I’d absolutely love to have a print on my wall of it.

Trillian

My biggest beef about the book is the small number of illustrations of the core characters—I liked what I saw, but we really only got more than one illustration of Trillian (although Zaphod, or should I say…Phil? is in the background).

I’m sure most of us can figure out why they’d include another picture of the attractive mathematician and astrophysicist, rather than the bumbling human, the two-headed egomaniac, the oddball researcher, or the morose android.

Some examples

So, I wasn’t really sure what I could get away with as far as showing samples from the book, so I didn’t want to just take some pictures of a few of the illustrations (besides, it’s clear that my photographic ability isn’t that great). But I was able to find this drawing for some original art to celebrate the publication. The art shown isn’t exactly what you find in the book (the book version of Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz, for example, is far more disgusting), but these sketches give you an idea of what you’ll find here. That’s about the best I can do.

It’d take a lot for me not to like an edition of this novel, I realize, but I absolutely love Riddell’s work on this. Which is great for me—if I’m going to bring another edition into my house, it’d better be great. It is, the illustrations capture the feel and flavor of the novel, and make it feel fresher. I strongly recommend it for fans new, old as well as those who are still on the verge of being fans.

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, opinions are my own.