Is This Anything?

Is This Anything? by Jerry Seinfeld    480 pages

If you are a Jerry Seinfeld fan you will love this book.    Jerry saved his best material over 45 years of funny stuff and put it all in this, his latest book (his first in 25 years).    It is so laugh out loud funny the observations he makes on life from the simple to the extreme and yes, he even throws in bits about being married, being a Dad of 3 and how family vacations are leaving home so you can pay to yell at each other in a hotel.   The book is like being in Vegas with Jerry doing stand-up for a couple of nights.   It is great.   My oldest brother turned me on to Seinfeld and I may have to return the favor by buying him this book.   So enjoyable.   Prepare yourself for an enjoyable read.   I recommend this to anyone who loves to laugh, but, especially to baby boomers who will get his references and get an extra kick out of it.    Love Ya, Jerry!   So funny!

 - Shirley J.

Failure is an Option

Failure is an Option by H. Jon Benjamin; 245 pages

H. Jon Benjamin is best-known as the voice behind the animated series "Archer" and "Bob's Burgers". And yes, in the book he admits he does not make Archer and Bob sound different in any way even though they are two very different characters.

This was light and funny. The premise, as the title suggests, is that failures aren't the worst thing that can happen and that sometimes it's okay to shoot for a failure. In these wacky times, I kind of get it. The chapters were short and funny. I would say that I didn't "learn" much but that wasn't why I picked it up. He told some funny stories from his youth to adulthood and it was a fun, quick read. I was impressed by his writing and his humor and I think Benjamin is a pretty smart guy. I was glad I read this on an e-reader because he used words difficult enough that I had to look them up in the e-reader's dictionary. 

And I did pretty much read the entire book with his Archer/Bob voice narrating it in my head. 

Zero to Sixty

Zero to Sixty by Bob Saget   120 pages

Known for his work on tv's "America's Funniest Videos" and "Full House"  and "Fuller House"  Bob Saget is also well known for his stand-up comedy which is certainly a shade bluer than his family guy tv image.    Sort of his Jekyll and Hyde personna.    Bob talks about what a fast trip his life has been getting from babyhood to 60 years old.   He waxes philosophical and shares many of his experiences throughout his life not hiding the hurtful not the horrible.   Not apologizing just relating,  He has experienced some hard knocks in life and how he keeps on going regardless.   He talks about his coming of age, his marriage, his kids and how the best exes make great friends.    A funny and bittersweet tale of the life of a regular guy who's greatest happiness is when he is making other people laugh.    Be ready for some surprising comments from the guy you can't not think of as Dad to the Olsen Twins and Cameron Buhe.   Good book.   I recommend it to adults but only for those who don't mind base humor, fart jokes, penile illiterations and locker room humor.   For those who know what 'The Aristocrats," joke is - yeah, he tells that one, too.

Just the Funny Parts…

Just the Funny Parts…And a Few Hard Truths About Sneaking Into the Hollywood Boy’s Club by Nell Scovell       Audio Book: 8 hours, 36 minutes     Hardback Book:  336 pages     

Nell Scovell is both funny and a great writer.    She spells it out and names names on her experiences trying to break into writing for television and film.    Even in this day and age, the field is often closed to women, most t.v. writers are men and they are a very closed network.   Being a women and breaking through the glass ceiling of Hollywood writers is almost but not quite impossible.   Nell was able to do it, to hold her own to earn respect from her bosses and co-workers but in doing so she often had to become one of the guys.   If she worked with there being another woman on the writing team it never lasted.   They gave her hell, often ignoring her ideas or taking credit for them instead of giving it to her, even being belligerent and shouting in her face she was only there because they were giving the impression they were a diverse team.   Nell talks about the old boy network alive and rampant in all of the Hollywood studios.  If you do manage to break in don’t be surprised if you are harassed, sometimes verbally sometimes sexually.  It takes a tough skin to survive and she has learned to give and take with the men in the room by tolerating some of their crude remarks even giving them verbal jabs now and then, and she goes into detail  about the treatment she received from some of the top names in show business.   It is a very good book with a lot of insight into what to do and what not to do, what to expect and what not to expect.    She tells it all with aplumb and so much humor you will be laughing out loud at times.   This book is so open and informative a real taste for wanna be writers – a serious if you can’t stand the heat get out of the kitchen type of advice.    She is like a mentor giving the ins and outs.    She said as a woman and as a white woman she still seemed to have an advantage as in her decades long career she has never seen a black woman writer and so very few minorities working as writers on t.v. shows that it could be a room out of the 1950s and would still look pretty much the same.    An eye-opening look into Hollywood bias.   I would recommend this book.  

The Last Black Unicorn

The Last Black Unicorn by Tiffany Haddish             Audio Book:  6 hrs. 29 mins      Hardback Book:  288 pages                    

I loved this book.   Tiffany Haddish is one of my favorite actresses – if you haven’t seen, “Girl’s Trip,” do.   The film is great and Tiffany Haddish is stand out hilarious.    In this book, Tiffany talks about her life with such depths of truth, the reader will be captivated by her life story.  She has the most amazing positive attitude to combat the rough times she has been through and sees some of the hardest times so innocently she just takes them in her stride where many others would not have been so strong.    She speaks honestly and openly about every aspect of her life (jaw dropping honesty at times) and while she may not name names, she tells things that will curl your hair and how she deals with some really harsh circumstances she has come through, man, I am in awe of this strong black woman – she could be a superhero because in many ways she already is.   She has kept a phenomenal sense of humor throughout even the toughest of times in her life and there have been many that she shares with her readers.  Beginning with how she arrived at the title of her life story through less than kind circumstances of her youth through her current circumstances.    She tells on herself and others and does it with such finesse and humor that I think everyone reading this book will come away a fan of hers.    She is a warrior, an overcomer and an up and comer.    May her star ever rise higher and her bank account, too.   She deserves a happy life filled with joy and no more financial worries.    She has never lost her sense of who she is and never forgot how easy it is to lose it all and have to start again.    She is brilliant and funny and doesn’t let bad terms define her.    She always finds a way and her personality is so charming.   I pray for the rest of her life she has nothing but sunshine, her book is so well done.   I would not recommend it for the younger set, as she does speak her mind in ways that can go well beyond an R rating at times, but, for the adult set, while her life story can make your jaw drop now and then, the way she bounces back will make the reader want to constantly wish her comfort for what she has been through and kudos for her amazing ability to come back from the edge and find the funny in even the most bizarre of circumstances.   Kudos, Tiffany.   Excellent book.  

A Right to Be Hostile

A Right to Be Hostile by Aaron McGruder  Book: 255 pages

Two young black boys and their grandfather move from the South side of Chicago to the suburbs and hilarity ensues. This book had me laughing and really the only reason it's so funny is that all the leftist diatribe is coming from a school-aged boy. If these lines were spoken by a grown man this would just be a political comic, but coming from a boy of maybe 10 it is hilarious. I'm not sure why it's funny when children talk like adults, but it's a formula that works. Huey (named after Huey P. Newton of course) is a revolutionary whose goal it is to take down the capitalist, racist regime known as the American government. His views on society, entertainment and especially politics are unwavering. This comic is controversial and it's easy to see why, but it is also easy to see why it's so popular. Huey's younger brother Riley wants to be "gangsta" complete with cars, money, girls (even though he doesn't want them to touch him!), and the fear of the people around him. Grandad adds his own special quality to the picture, being a traditionalist and thinking Huey really needs to calm himself down and act like other kids his age and Riley needs to do better in school and be less disrespectful. Along the way they meet some interesting characters that also add to the humor. Caesar is my favorite, he is basically the straight-man to Huey's insanity, agreeing with him on some things but calling him insane on others. I would recommend this book for those who are not easily offended because it does have some views with which certain people would strongly disagree.  

The Song of the Quarkbeast

The Song of the Quarkbeast by Jasper Fforde
289 Pages

Fforde, known for his irreverent Thursday Next series has the second young adult book about the Ununited Kingdoms.  With magic again on the rise, Jennifer Strange is all that stands between Bad King Snodd IV's attempt to corner the magic market.  A book of fun and wit.

Seventh Grave and No Body

Seventh Grave and No Body by Darynda Jones
336 Pages

"Lead me not into temptation.Follow me instead! I know a shortcut! "


Charley Davidson is back in the latest from Darynda Jones and in as much trouble as ever.  Now twelve beasts from hell are out to get her and just when her plate is already full with the disappearance of her father,  a rash of suicides where the victims are missing, and a bun in the oven.

I think I would read these books just for the quotations that start every chapter (see opening line).   Seven books in and the action is still going strong with a good development of the overall story arc.  Yes, there is sex but if you aren't interested, it is possible to skip the sections without losing the plot, or much of the book. Lots of humor.

Almost Perfect

Almost Perfect by Diane Daniels Manning     321 pages

     I know I shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but I do. If the cover looks like something I would like, or the title intrigues me, then I try it. Usually I’ve made up my mind long before I read the back cover. There is no way I could resist the cute poodle puppy on the cover of what appeared to be an enchanting read. 

 

     At the center of this novel are two flawed individuals: Seventy-year-old Bess and teenage Benny. I’m not sure that the author ever revealed his age, but if he’s over fourteen, he’s an extremely immature fourteen. 

 

     Bess is a bitter woman. For decades she enjoyed a distinguished career as one of the nation’s top Standard Poodle breeders. She dreamed of winning the Westminster Dog Show all her life, and even had the dog, McCreery, to do, too. Yet, she always held herself, and McCreery, back. A psychologist would say that she was afraid of success.  Maybe, maybe there were other reasons. Now she’s in the process of tearing down the famous Umpawang kennels. She’s gotten rid of all the dogs except McCreery and his puppy-son Breaker, who is the spitting image of his daddy. 

 

     Enter Benny. He’s new to the neighborhood. After a messy divorce, Benny is forced to go live with his father and new stepmother. He attends a nearby therapeutic school for his autism. The one thing Benny wants more in the world---besides his mother to love and pay attention to him---is a dog. Dad says no, but Benny wants what Benny wants. 

 

     As he walks home from school one night, he hears a dog crying. Sure the dog is the perfect one for him, he tries to locate the source. There he winds up in Bess’s kennel. 

 

     The story that follows is an often hilarious, sometimes heartbreaking story of two people and two dogs who teach other that life has more to offer than what’s happening at the moment.

 

     I highly recommend this book; I give it 5 stars.

 

 

 

 

The Gates

The Gates by John Connolly                        296 pages

Samuel Johnson and his dog, Boswell, are out trick-or-treating three days before Halloween.  Samuel thinks that he is showing initiative but his neighbor is annoyed.  While he is out, he sees his neighbors, the Abernathys, performing some strange ritual that ends with opening up a portal to Hell.  Samuel realizes that the Abernathys have been possessed by demons and that they plan to open the gates of Hell so that the demons can come through and take over the Earth.  Unfortunately, Mrs. Abernathy saw him and realizes that Samuel knows more than he should.  She has set out on a campaign to destroy him before he tells anyone.  Also, Samuel has been trying to tell people but they don’t believe him.  Samuel is afraid that he may have to work alone to stop the gates being open while avoiding attacks sent by Mrs. Abernathy.  A funny, supernatural, action adventure that I really enjoyed.