Myth Conceptions

Myth Conceptions by Robert Asprin

Skeeve is an apprentice Wizard who tried to get a job as a court magician. He and his demon mentor (who is posing as his apprentice) are able to convince them to hire him. Then they realize the kingdom wants the wizard to help defeat some enemies. He eventually meets the enemy army and finds the only reason they are fighting is due to debts they have. Instead of fighting, Skeeve helps make them disappear, making everyone happy without a fight. The plot is simple, but the way they go about it is what brings the fun.

Beach Read

Beach Read by Emily Henry

A woman writer goes out to a beach town to occupy her deceased father's old house and escape her writer's block. A male writer is also in the town. They had been in college together, and were attracted to each other but thought the other one didn't like them. They fall for each other after a bunch of ups and downs. They also try to write books in each other's style. They also find out more of each other's backstory, including his in-process divorce and her dad's affair while her mom had cancer treatment. IT is a very typical light romantic comedy.

Romantic Comedy: A Novel

Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld

The title sums it up very well. The book is a well done romantic comedy. The book is told from the point of view of Sally Milz, a writer for a Saturday Night Live type show. Noah Brewster is a famous musician who is guest hosting on the show. There is some secret chemistry between Noah and Sally, though she cannot see how a famous star will be interested in her. They go through the beat-around-the-bush idiocy before they finally fall for each other. We also learn of Sally's backstory which includes a marriage to a college sweetheart and a falling away when she moved to New York to work on the show. Noah is portrayed as almost perfect. He is rich, famous, loving and caring. He sets them up in a private jet to rush and care for a sick relative. He even gets mistaken for a nurse with his help. It is all feel-good escapisim.

The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy

The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy by Megan Bannen

A fantasy world has demigods and "undead". People must take out funeral insurance policy when they enter, just in case. An arrow through the appendix of the undead is needed to eliminate them. Rather than create a dark fantasy tale, the author writes with a light tone filled with humor. It worked very well.

The story centers on Hart, a demigod marshall who hunts the undead and Mercy the daughter of an undertaker. They seem to hate each other, but there is some attraction. Hart starts spilling out his heart in anonymous letters. These are received by Mercy. They have a You've Got Mail relationship. They fall in love by mail, yet continue to dislike each other.  He discovers that she is the letter girl, and even tells her, but she doesn't believe him. Later he ends up saving her life from zombies and they fall in love. End, right? Nope. Still a lot more of the novel left. They seem to have a good relationship, but they freak out over him knowing about the letters and her not. Seems a bit contrived. He later discovers that he has the ability to stop the zombies by "going home". He saves the world, and then they live happily ever after.

The last part of the book seemed needlessly tacked on. The first part was really good. A light, humorous romantic fantasy is so much better than the dark droll that fills the shelves today.

The Radleys: A Novel

The Radleys: A Novel by Matt Haig

The Radleys are the typical suburban family. They happen to be vampires, but not even the kids know that until their instincts take over. The daughter is at a party where a drunk boy comes on to her and won't take no for an answer. When he refuses to stop she ends up biting him. After tasting blood, she can't stop. Then the parents tell them they are "vegetarian vampires". They also invite over his brother, a not vegetarian vampire who can help fix things (or make things worse.) The novel covers dark material in a light-hearted manner. There are a few people that know about vampires (like certain police group). There are some interesting conflicts with vampires and humans that are appropriately managed, as well as some interesting vampire transitions. I liked the light tone for the vampire work.

The Love Hypothesis

The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood

A girl runs into a guy when she is visiting campus. She thinks he is a grad student. He gives advice that helps her choose her future path. She doesn't realize that he is actually a professor and he had feelings for her also. She later chooses to kiss a random guy to "allow" her best friend to date her boyfriend. This ends up being the professor. But neither of them realized it at the time. They decide to carry on "fake dating" for a while. They are both oblivious to each other's feelings. It finally comes to a head when they agree to share a hotel room at a conference (in a Platonic relationship.) Things end up being not so platonic. Then there is the episode where the professor's old friend ends up being a scumbag and the professor gets in a fight with him. It makes for a welle-executed, very typical romantic comedy. You jus wish the main characters would stop behaving like middle schoolers and talk about their feelings.

Psmith, Journalist

Psmith, Journalist by P. G. Wodehouse

Psmith ends up in New York. There, he helps take over a small periodical and turns it into a "popular" muckraking periodical. This helps them gain circulation, but the original owner is upset when he returns. There is plenty of British humor, but it can be a bit slow going.

Happy-Go-Lucky

Happy-Go-Lucky by David Sedaris

The author works primarily as comedian. A lot of the work involves traveling around the country and interacting with the audience. The pandemic made this challenging. He was glad to finally be able to get back out on tour again. The book is primarily narrated, but there are a few "live" sections that include the audience response.

The comedy in the book primarily deals with personal experiences in his family life. There are also plenty of observations related to culture and society. The pandemic caused a shortage of low-wage labor, and left some poor quality service workers. The different values from different parts of the country also provide source of humorous insights about things such as masks and guns. The death of his nonagenarian father also provided a source of humorous insights.

The humor is relatively clean, though his partner would have some of the content removed. The delivery is fairly relaxed. He is not wild and crazy. Part of the humor is with the calm way he observes interesting events.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

Arthur Dent is not having a good day. He is hungover and sees his house about to be destroyed to make way for a highway bypass. He meets his friend, Ford Prefect who takes him to a pub and tells him the earth is about to be destroyed to make way for an interplanetary bypass. (Shortly after it is destroyed, these become no longer needed.)

Things get crazier. They hitchhike a ride on a Vogon construction ship that is building the bypass. They don't like hitchhikers, but their help does. They are using the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy to make their way around. Earth's entry is just "Harmless" (though will be updated to "mostly harmless".) They are tortured with poetry and try to talk their way out of punishment, but end up being shot out of the ship into space.

They get picked up by zaphod beeblebrox on the Heart of Gold ship. This ship is powered by the improbability drive. It was almost impossible for them to be picked up, and thus the ship's improbability picked them up. Many other "improbable" things happen. (For example, Dent knew Beeblebrox from his time picking up a girl he liked at a pub - and the girl is here.) They end up in a place that makes custom planets. They are about to get nuked before the missiles turn into a sperm whale. They have a babelfish that translates any language to be understood (and just happens to have evolved that way.) They also learn that answer to life the universe and everything was 42 and earth was created to find the question - but it was destroyed just a bit too soon. Mice were the most intelligent creatures. Dolphins were trying to tell people that the earth would be destroyed, but people just saw it as tricks.

The book is filled with memes and humor. It goes quickly, but is zanily entertaining, while also providing witty societal commentary.

The Restaurant at the End of the Universe: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Book 2

The Restaurant at the End of the Universe: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Book 2 by Douglas Adams

The second Hitchhiker's Guide book is comedy couched in nihilist philosophy. The earth has been destroyed just before it produced the question for life the universe and everything. (The answer was 42.) The gang are traveling around with some bizarre gadgets (including glasses that make things go black to help avoid bad things). The paranoid android continues to be negative, but can help them get places. They are hungry and end up at the Restaurant at the End of the Universe. There is some time travel involved, so people can go, watch the end of the universe and then return back home. The restaurant includes animals that are bred to be eaten. The cow comes out and asks people what part of them they would like to eat. 

The gang ends up stealing a totally black ship and eventually end up on early earth. They run into primitive cultures, as well as a culture that has formed bureaucracy before innovation. (They need market research before producing the wheel.) There is also a group of "unneeded" people that were sent away from their planet under the guise of being the first to inhabit a new world before their planet is destroyed. The book includes some humorous explanations for hard to grasp processes (like the beginning and end of the universe.) There are plenty of funny moments as well as parts of interesting observations of the silliness of people, especially in the context of a vast world.

Bossypants

Bossypants by Tina Fey

Tina Fey humorously tells her life story. She lived on the east coast, was involved in arts clubs. There were many gays in the clubs, which she enjoyed being with, but was a little freaked out when she first saw some making out. She worked in a YMCA in Evanston and had interesting experiences there with a diverse crowd and the occasional conflicts from that diversity. She got involved with the Second City Comedy group. She mentioned Heartland Cafe in Rogers Park. Alas, that was closed a half-decade ago. I do remember that being an interesting place. She then made it to Saturday Night Live as a "diversity" hire. She portrays herself as someone who naively goes along through life. She had one child, and felt conflicted about having a second child. (Though it appears she later decided to opt for the child.) One theme through the book is the role of women in entertainment. There are extra challenges, especially as they get older. The book is short and funny, but also fairly forgettable.

Evil Spy School

Evil Spy School by Stuart Gibbs

The protaganist gets kicked out of spy school due to an "issue" with a mock battle. Back in regular middle school, he gets chased by bullies who somehow stop chasing him. The "evil spy" leader has saved him and wants him to join them. He agrees (after realizing that his friends might have intentionally framed him to get him to infiltrate the bad guys.) The bad guys have their spy school (including a girl that barely missed the olympic gymnastics cut.) They have a base disguised as a gated community with missile silos in septic tanks. The good guys barely win.

The pacing works fairly well, though seems a little too long. There are plenty of interesting elements that seem almost plausible, but are clearly played for laughs.

To Marry or Not to Marry

To Marry or Not to Marry by Elizabeth Inchbald

Women talk about getting married. Men talk about getting married. The play feels like a combination of a Jane Austen book with British commedy.

To Marry, Or Not To Marry; A Comedy, In Five Acts

To Marry, Or Not To Marry; A Comedy, In Five Acts by Elizabeth Inchbald

This short play seems to revolve around men questioning the benefits of marriage. They have status and the ability to live their life as they desire. Why would they want to get married? It has a light comedic touch that feels like a cross between Vaudeville and Jane Austen.

Hear Both Sides

Hear Both Sides by Thomas Holcroft

I read a free version that was a Google scanned version of an old library book. The quality had much to be desired. Every other page seemed to have a lot of bleedthrough from the other side. (It was interesting that the other half of the pages seemed to be clear.) I found a version on Amazon for sale that seems to have a totally made up synopsis that has absolutely nothing to do with this play. 

The actual play comes across as a very British comedy. It was first performed in 1803, but did not last for long, yet we still have it today. There are people bickering. There is an inheritance involved along with people that may or may not be dead. Bits did seem funny, however, I had trouble following what was going on. It would be better to see (or even listen to) a performance.

Subculture Vulture: A Memoir in Six Scenes

Subculture Vulture: A Memoir in Six Scenes by Moshe Kasher

Moshe Kasher creates a memoir of his life in "six scenes" which cover subcultures that he has been involved in phases of his life. He was an alcoholic at as a teen and become sober through AA. He was later involved in the Bay Area rave scene, both DJing promoting and selling ecstacy. Burning Man became another key part of his identity as he was involved as an attendee, and an employee. He was raised Jewish, which was an important part of his life (his father became orthodox after his parents divorced.) His parents were deaf, while he and his brother could hear, making him part of the deaf community and involved in translation efforts. Finally, he worked his way up through the comedy scene and has become involved in the comedy scene. There were challenges in each of the areas, as well as plenty of humorous anecdotes. The story of his deaf dad beating up the son of the mafioso stuck in my mind. (The result was the mafioso coming out and punishing his kid for getting beat up by a deaf Jew.) The book reads like a long comedy routine by a stand-up, complete with plenty of self-effacing vulgarity.

Cat's Cradle

Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut

Cat's Cradle is one of Vonnegut's better books. The audiobook also includes a brief interview with the author, though that does not add much to the book. 

The story centers around an author who is trying to write a book about the experience of the nuclear bomb. He contacts the children of the scientist behind the bomb and asks what their experience was when the bomb went off. He received responses and got to know the family better. We learn that the scientist was a rather peculiar man. His wife and children also had their strange traits. The scientist had also been asked by the marines to invent something so they would not have to fight in mud. He had actually done it, though he had not widely shared it. This was "ice-9" a substance that is a "seed" that changes the crystallization and melting point of water, and can pretty much caused instantaneous freezing. Each of his children had a small amount. This would lead to the end of the world. 

The novel also ventures off to a nation where all religion is banned, especially the "national" religion. This religion is quite quirky and extremely contradictory. The leader of the company is on his death bed and a seemingly random outsider is asked to be leader. Leadership pays well and comes with dictatorial responsibilities, but nobody wants it. However, the old leader dies with ice-9 and most of the world gets iced over. The few survivors can survive by melting off ice.

There is some crazy science here (which is not fully explained) as well as plenty of social commentary, and just plaine zaniness.

Confidence: A Novel

Orson and Ezra meet at a camp for troubled teens. They build up a relationship there, and also run the underground smuggling operation. They are both "scholarship" students who also have a knack for non-violent crime. The engage in schemes to treat a store clerk out of money or return things they have not bought. They do move on to more legitimate jobs (such as working at a hotel), but continue to master the art of parting people from their money.

Orson is the master smooth talker, while Ezra is more of a "brains". They eventually pass themselves off as Stanford students and tech innovators. Their device really does nothing, but they tell people it helps them feel happy. This in turn does make people feel happy. They market it (complete with patents and piggybacking off research.) The company grows and then includes a "retreat" in upstate New York where the rich and famous come for New Age enlightenment. They also expand to other countries and become fabulously rich. Some people do find benefit from the work, even though it is essentially a giant pyramid scheme build on psuedo-science.

Things eventually unravel. They are in the middle of a third-world coup that goes badly. There are accounting irregularities. An early friend who signed away patent rights when he was drunk starts to stalk them. He eventually falls to his death from a flying device as they are taking him away. They end up in prison.

The characters are just grounded enough to not be too over the top. Both Silicon Valley Hollywood are gullible to a well-placed charlatan. Ezra is a bizarre character. He is in love with Orson, yet doesn't seem to be very phased when he goes off with a woman. He is super trusting of his assistant of others, which eventually leads to his downfall. He also fails to pay attention to his eyesight and he ends up practically blind. In spite of all this, he continues to be optimistic and ready for his next scam. How many rich executives are just scam artists in a suit?

The Wizards of Once

Wizards of Once by Cressida Cowell

A wizard gets impatient for his magic to come in, so her tries to kidnap a witch. Things get weirder and weirder. They eventually realize that it is better to wait for magic than to try to kidnap dark magic - or do they?

Infinite Jest

Infinite Jest is a long novel that takes place in a time somewhat similar to our own. Years no longer are known by numbers, but instead by their sponsors. Most of the book takes place in the Year of the Depend Undergarment. Things are somewhat different. It is part alternate history and part futuristic work (that is now in the past.) 

A good chunk of the book takes place at a youth tennis academy in Arizona. The people there play war games on tennis courts, takes various mind alternating substances and explore many aspects of their life.

A significant section of the book also takes place in Boston. We also hear a long discussion about Alcoholics Anonymous in Boston.

Parts of the book feel based on his experiences. Some parts are quite good. Other parts are offensive. The book is in the "future" but very rooted in the 1990s when it was written. Some parts of culture were carried to their absurdist limits (corporate naming rights for everything), while other parts seem to still be stuck in the 90s. It feels like something that would be fun writing, just not so fun reading.