Tag: Bookish

Books

I Must Say; My Life as a Humble Comedy Legend

RaeAnna

Read Yes
Length 336
Quick Review Martin Short is a comedy legend. I grew up watching his hilarious antics. His book is an emotional rollercoaster.

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I grew up in a cool house. We laughed a lot. I remember watching SNL, and I don’t mean the new stuff. We’re talking Steve Martin, Gilda Radner, Eddie Murphy, and Martin Short era SNL. I Must Say; My Life as a Humble Comedy Legend by Martin Short has been on my reading list for a little while. I finally used vacation to read a little of the fun stuff.

Martin Short is funny. He has an enchanting quality about him that keeps you watching and, in this case, reading. Starting at the beginning of his life, the Short household was a happy, odd house in Hamilton, Canada. He was the youngest of several and always had a penchant for singing and entertaining. As a young Canadian, entertaining did not seem like a realistic or even possible career choice, but, luckily for us, he found his way to it. His book is full of huge name drops. Not because he means to, but because he genuinely grew into adulthood with a crowd of insanely talented people ie: Gilda Radner, Eugene Levy, Paul Schaffer, John Candy, Steve Martin, Tom Hanks, Nora Ephron, and many, many more.

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There were some intensely laugh out loud moments. For the most part, it was a genuine retelling of the fundamental moments and people which helped him grow into the humble comedy legend he is today. Throughout the book there are pictures of him, his family, and his friends. He sprinkles some of his most iconic characters throughout the book allowing them to have their moments in their own voices. Short comes off as a fantastically self-aware flawed man. He knows he’s not perfect, but he has dedicated his life to the arts, his friends, and most importantly his family. He comes across as the man I thought he was as a kid: a good and funny man with a bawdy sense of humor. So in other words, the perfect comedian in my eyes.

I don’t cry often. Books rarely, if ever make me cry. I did here. I Must Say may be his story, but his story is not complete without his wife, Nancy. It isn’t just a memoir, it is a love letter to his wife. From the moment he mentions her, it is evident he is still head-over-heels for her. The last chapter had me in tears.  

Memorable Quotes
“Kim Kardashian. Not so bright. She thinks “soy milk” is Spanish for “I am milk.”

Title: I Must Say; My Life as a Humble Comedy Legend
Author: Martin Short
Publisher: HarperCollins
Copyright: 2014
ISBN: 9780062309525

 

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Books

Risk! by Kevin Allison

RaeAnna

Read Yes
Length 380
Quick Review Kevin Allison compiles incredibly touching stories in Risk! People from different backgrounds some of their most trying experiences. 

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Risk by Kevin Allison

Kevin Allison is the creator of the podcast and live show Risk! Over the years, he has heard people famous and not tell their stories they never thought they would tell. He has compiled some of the most memorable stories into a book, which comes out on July 17, 2018.

Everyone has a story to tell. Allison tells his own story alongside a multitude of others, but the pages are filled with real experiences people never thought they would tell. The stories range from the hilarious, bizarre, unbelievable, to completely heartbreaking. At the heart of each story is the essence of being human and finding meaning in even the most difficult situations.

Risk! is divided into sections based on the content of the story. Stories range from two pages to ten or so pages long. They all usually have a humorous aspect to them, but most have a serious theme. After each story, is a brief Question & Answer with the storyteller about how it affected their life or healing process; some are a question or two and others longer. Part of me really enjoyed reading this part, but the other part of me really prefers for the story to stand on its own.

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All in all, Risk! Is a really beautiful book full of insight into moments in people’s lives from a large variety of backgrounds and ethnicities tackling subjects from child sexual abuse to life in a drug cartel to prostitution to kinky sex. Laugh out loud moments kept me going through the tear jerkers. I really enjoyed this, and it’s a great book to take on vacations, commute, or in your busy stop-and-start life.

Buy on Amazon || Buy on Book Depository

Memorable Quotes
“This kid grew up poor with no hope and no support, and that is a very different kind of poverty – an emotional poverty.”
“I married my child when he was still a man.”
“…the thing about money is that it buys you comfort, but comfort is numbness.”

Title Risk! True Stories People Never Thought They’d Dare to Share
Editor Kevin Allison
Publisher Hachette Book Group
Copyright 2018
ISBN 9780316478281

Books

The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo by Amy Schumer

RaeAnna

Read Yes
Length 323
Quick Review Amy Schumer is a household name as a bold and open comic, movie star, TV star, writer, and more, but do we really know her?

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I live under a rock, so I had never heard of Amy Schumer until her 2016 movie Trainwreck. In the two years following, I have become a big fan. I love her honesty. She’s not perfect, but she is real. In The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo, she ramps up her candor and imperfections even more. She becomes an even more relatable star as she humorously tells some of the ups and downs and face plants of her life.

I am drawn to people who deal with struggle through humor; probably because I do the same damn thing. Schumer’s stand up is hilarious and powerful and sometimes in your face. Her book is a subdued version of all of those things. She looks comfortable on stage for comedy shows. During interviews, she seems nervous and uncomfortable like she’d rather be any where else preferably not in the spotlight. Instead of entertaining on a stage or sitting on a couch for an interview, her introversion shines through. She is just that: an introvert. In her book, it feels like she gets to tell her story on her own terms without having the pressure of being funny.

I have always appreciated her unapologetic honesty. Her book is even more so. She talks about her family, her struggles, her relationships, losing her virginity, abuse, the road to success, having money, and so much more. She lets her fans and readers in and see what is behind her on stage persona.

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She has a very self-deprecating sense of humor. I appreciate this because I too spend most of my time pointing out my flaws. Although, I hope she could see herself the way so many people see her: as a smart, talented, beautiful woman. It is obvious she deals with self-esteem issues sometimes bordering on ‘does she have any self-confidence at all?’ But I would love to meet a woman on this earth who doesn’t. This book was written two years ago, and it’s evident the themes in her latest movie I Feel Pretty have been long lasting themes in her own life.

Candor is one of the most notable points in her memoir. She talks about her parents honestly. She has no qualm about critiquing or slamming present and past self. Her inclusion of diary entries is hilarious and wonderful. She includes footnotes, which are equally funny. It takes a lot of lady balls to let the world see the ridiculousness that is teenage diaries.

Schumer is a born storyteller. She has a tendency to meander through her stories and chapters by adding one or three tales on her way to making her main point. They may or may not have something to do with her point, but they are all entertaining.
I highly suggest The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo to anyone who enjoys a good laugh and a multidimensional memoir. I know I do!

Memorable Quotes
“If you’re a true introvert, other people are basically energy vampires.”
“I don’t know what a hedge fund is. I want a hedgehog fund.”
“…nobody can be innocent and wise at the same time.”
“This is how we were raised: we were always oppressively OKAY.”

Title: The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo
Author: Amy Schumer
Publisher: Gallery Books (Simon & Schuster)
Copyright: 2016
ISBN: 9781501139888
Lifestyle

The GOC: The Grammar Obsessed Character

RaeAnna

I’ve decided to do a series called Tuesday Truths. I’m a huge fan of the truth, so why not get down and dirty with the thoughts that cross my mind as a reader, as a blogger, as an Instagrammer, and everything in between. So… kind of my once a week complain session, but it’s a well founded complain sesh. Let’s start off with a good one.

I hate books with grammar obsessed protagonists.

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As an avid reader, I come across books of all shapes, sizes, and plots. Something that keeps cropping up: main characters with a grammar obsession. It’s overdone and not done well. Writers are a language obsessed group, and grammar is a part of that obsession. It’s appealing to write a character with this specific neurosis because it’s familiar.

I dare you to name one person you truly enjoy being around who is constantly correcting your grammar and how you speak. I can’t come up with one either. No one likes being reprimanded mid-sentence because they used who instead of whom. It’s called conversation; I’m not writing a thesis while talking about my favorite way to prepare a potato. Let’s just have fun and enjoy the company.

As unpleasant as these people are in real life, they are even more unpleasant on the page. I have yet to read a grammar obsessed character I like or relate with or want to know better. They literally never come off as endearing. The author usually tries to sell it as a cute quirk. Not cute. Not a quirk. It’s annoying. It makes me not like your book. Each character has come off as snotty and better than me. I don’t want to waste my time on a character I wouldn’t give the time of day to in real life.  

On top of being awful, the books usually have grammar mistakes. This is partially the editors fault, but it’s also the author’s fault. If you’re writing an uppity grammar police of a character, then your prose better be flawless. I mean immaculate. If it’s not, then you come off as a douchy hypocrite, which makes me like you even less.

I’m tired of this trope. Let’s move on from writing these characters. Unless the goal is to make them unlikable, then keep on writing! I will keep on hating.

Books

lost & found

RaeAnna

Read: Yes
Length: 310
Quick Review: When Millie’s mother abandons her, she accidentally gathers a small and unlikely group of friends and protectors.

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lost & found is nothing short of witty and inventive. Brooke Davis is a beautiful story teller; although, her name makes me think of “One Tree Hill.” A quick read full of humor, insight, and struggle. I enjoyed reading it because it is fresh instead of a new take on an old story. I haven’t read much, if any that I can think of, Australian literature, so it was great dipping a toe into the unfamiliar.

Millie is a little girl obsessed with dead things. In her notebook, she keeps a list of all the dead things she has seen including her dog, Rambo, and her dad. Her mother abandons her at a store one day. Karl the Touch Typist is old. He has lost his wife, but he and Millie become friends over snacks. Agatha Pantha is a Millie’s elderly, shut-in of a neighbor since her husband died. Each of the characters are eccentric and lost in their own grief. They’re an odd group, but somehow they complete each other.  

Davis has a wickedly funny, observational sense of humor as each of the characters describe their views of the world from often overlooked age groups. It’s hard to think the story of an abandoned little girl is funny, but it is; not the fact she was abandoned, but the way the story is told.

I love that the main characters are from age groups seldomly written as protagonists. As an adult, it’s hard to get into the brain space of a child and an older person – we haven’t been there yet. They are groups of people who are overlooked, underappreciated, and greatly underestimated. It was lovely watching these characters, who usually fly under the radar, be so full of life.

The chapters are fairly short and told from each characters’ perspective. The language is simple and to the point. There are great humorous moments and a style all its own. lost & found is a great read if you want to laugh. It’s also a great book to get through on an afternoon after work.    

Memorable Quotes:
“I am never going to have sex again, he says. Not with this face.”
“And then they do IT, because even old people call it IT.”

Title: lost & found
Author: Brooke Davis
Publisher: Dutton (Penguin Group)
Copyright:2015
ISBN: 9780525954682

 

Books

The Book of Tea

RaeAnna

Difficulty: II
Length: I
Quick Review: A beautiful look into the history and importance of tea from a master and historian.

Written by and for the tea lover. This incredibly short book is jam packed with teaism. In reality, The Book of Tea isn’t a book at all but a long essay by the Japanese scholar Kakuzo Okakura. Written in English for the Western world to pear inside the world and history of Japan through tea.  Screenshot_20180521-195047_Instagram.jpgTea is a central component of Japanese and Asian identity. It has played a major role in their culture for a millenia and some. With a beginning in the religious and medicinal worlds, tea evolved into a staple beverage in Asia and eventually the world. As times changed so did tea. It has lived a life in three different stages with three different preparations. Boiled Tea came from a cake or brick of tea, which, at one point in time, the ingredients included salt and even onions. After that period, Whipped Tea was concocted from a powder forever leaving behind salt and onion. As technology progressed, tea arrived in its modern form of Steeped Tea utilizing the leaves. Whipped Tea or powdered tea is still present but not popular.

The first traces of tea, as we know it, arriving in Europe was documented by Marco Polo in 879. Tea gained immense popularity in the sixteenth century as access increased and cost decreased. Tea became a drink of the people no longer reserved for the filthy rich and royal.

Okakura talks extensively about the history and significance of tea. It embedded itself in the Asian cultures and religions. Tea plays a significant role in Taoism and Zennism. The tea ceremony has evolved as Tea Masters have mastered the art. Okakura discusses the masters in length before describing the tea ceremony.  The efforts required to hold the ceremony are extensive starting long before one even begins. The tea room must be built from the best materials, flowers must be just so, the tea must be grown correctly, so on and so forth. Like many things in Japan, the tea ceremony is executed with precision and mindfulness.

Okakura’s first language was Japanese, but he wrote The Book of Tea in English. The language is simple, elegant, and captivating. He draws the reader into his world. Through focusing on tea, he is able to allow the Western world into a culture vastly different than our own. His words are about more than tea; they are about appreciating the beauty in life.

Memorable Quotes:
“Tea began as a medicine and grew into a beverage.”
“In joy or sadness, the flowers are our constant friends.”
“He only who has lived with the beautiful can die beautifully.”

Title: The Book of Tea
Author: Kakuzo Okakura
Publisher: Dover Publications, Inc
Copyright: 1964
ISBN: 9780486200705