Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea
Handler mines family, jail, dating, and travel for brash essays where oversharing is both joke and shield.
2,186-word summary · 10 min read
Tag: humor
209 books with this tag.
Page 7 of 9
What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions
Randall Munroe of xkcd answers absurd science questions with real physics, rough math and stick figures, from relativistic baseball to draining the oceans.…
2,932-word summary · 13 min read
Twenties Girl
Dumped and flailing, Lara Lington is haunted by her great-aunt Sadie, a 1920s ghost who wants her lost necklace back.
2,938-word summary · 13 min read
The Miserable Mill
Sent to work at the Lucky Smells Lumbermill, the Baudelaires face harsh labor, strange hypnotism, and a familiar villain in a new disguise.
2,662-word summary · 12 min read
Rodrick Rules
Greg Heffley starts a new school year hiding a summer secret with Rodrick, whose party, photos, and talent show chaos threaten to expose everything.
2,971-word summary · 13 min read
It's in His Kiss
Julia Quinn's seventh Bridgerton novel pairs sharp tongued Hyacinth with Gareth St. Clair as an old Italian diary leads them toward hidden jewels and Lady…
2,908-word summary · 13 min read
Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things
Jenny Lawson mixes blunt talk about depression with wild stunts and taxidermy to argue for grabbing joy on purpose.
2,963-word summary · 13 min read
Everything is Illuminated
Jonathan Safran Foer travels to Ukraine with translator Alex to find Trachimbrod and Augustine, while old shtetl chapters retell Brod and Kolker with humor and…
2,616-word summary · 12 min read
Britt-Marie Was Here
At 63, fussy Britt-Marie leaves her marriage after an affair and takes a youth soccer job in fading Borg, where grief, lists and new neighbours slowly change…
3,795-word summary · 17 min read
Assistant to the Villain
Evie Sage becomes assistant to Rennedawn's infamous Villain, sorting office chaos and a slow burn crush while hunting a traitor in his ranks.
2,806-word summary · 12 min read
The Wide Window
The Baudelaires brave Aunt Josephine, Captain Sham and leech-filled Lake Lachrymose.
2,459-word summary · 11 min read
Pippi Longstocking
A super-strong nine-year-old lives alone in Villa Villekulla, upending school, circus and town rules with neighbors Tommy and Annika.
3,115-word summary · 14 min read
Nothing to See Here
A struggling young woman spends one summer caring for twins who burst into flame when upset, in this warm oddball novel.
2,167-word summary · 10 min read
Let's Pretend This Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir
The Bloggess turns a strange Texas childhood and anxious adult life into a funny, warm memoir about family.
2,479-word summary · 11 min read
Get a Life, Chloe Brown
A chronically ill woman recruits her gruff handyman neighbor to help her finish a bold Get a Life list.
2,147-word summary · 10 min read
Finlay Donovan Is Killing It
A broke single mom novelist is mistaken for a hitwoman over lunch and takes the job. Funny crime caper, first in the series.
2,538-word summary · 11 min read
Why Not Me?
Essays on work, dating, and body image from the Office writer learning to ask for bigger rooms.
2,000-word summary · 9 min read
When You Are Engulfed in Flames
In twenty two essays Sedaris tries to quit smoking in Japan, buys a skeleton, fights spiders in Paris, and files dry reports from France on family, country…
2,974-word summary · 13 min read
The Hidden Oracle
Apollo lands as a teen in New York with no powers and must earn his way back with Meg and demigods.
1,933-word summary · 9 min read
Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!
Feynman drums, cracks safes, and learns by doing from Los Alamos to Caltech classrooms.
1,946-word summary · 9 min read
Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers
What happens to donated bodies, from crash labs and decay farms to composting and space tests.
2,051-word summary · 9 min read
Madeline
Ludwig Bemelmans's 1939 Madeline: the twelve girls in Paris, Miss Clavel, the midnight appendix scare, and why the smallest girl became a classic.
2,944-word summary · 13 min read
Anansi Boys
A dull Londoner learns his dead dad was a spider god and his slick brother inherited all the magic.
2,036-word summary · 9 min read
The Reptile Room
Baudelaires find kind Uncle Monty until Olaf returns as assistant Stephano.
2,005-word summary · 9 min read