To be fair, I’m a Christian and he approaches “The Year of Living Biblically” without any faith in God at all. So it starts out feeling like a gimmick to sell books (and he would probably agree that it was at least partially that). I held out for some redeeming moment where he realized why he was REALLY on this quest and what it meant to him attempting to live with faith in something for a year.

There were a few glimpses of that, but far too few to keep me from being disappointed. While I admit that I was hoping the year would really show him his need for God, I also came to feel that he was toying with things that aren’t really meant to be toyed with. I love his humor and his willingness to be self-deprecating, but the blase approach got old (really? Wearing a white robe and carrying a bible around? That’s not trying to be like Jesus, that’s just being weird for the sake of being weird).

If you’re attracted to the oddball passages of the Bible or you wonder how anyone can take it literally, this might be an interesting read. He is kinder towards some of the “oddball” beliefs than many religious people who preach tolerance. But if you’re looking for a moral message, keep seeking.

The book is full of strange, hilarious and occasionally serious facts from his reading. I learned about a Chinese uprising that killed 20 MILLION people that I’d (sadly) never even heard of. I found out that the Mozart/Salieri rivalry was just fictional (they were actually friends). And I read aloud the juiciest and funniest bits to whoever was sitting near me as I was reading.

The best part of the book, really, is for those of us who really do want to know it all. We have a curiosity that can never be satisfied. We can’t seem to resist checking the facts and looking for more in-depth answers than are provided on “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire”. It’s a fairly small club and I’m not always sure it’s one that I really want to be in, but I can’t help myself. For other “know it alls”, this book may be just what the doctor ordered.

I would get my best pregnant friend, “From Here to Maternity: The Education of a Rookie Mom“, which I found more amusing. Konig’s books are real, which is great and they’re not all silly stories. Some of them have a point and some of them are touching. I just didn’t feel the depth of humor that I was looking for. Worth a read, but not going to impress the pants off of you (unless, of course, they’re your old maternity pants, in which case, maybe those will just fall off – here’s hoping!).

And these aren’t sissy traveling stories either (well, okay, several of them are just about road trips gone bad, but several of them are quite clever). Some of these people traveled internationally, let witch doctors “heal” their kids, carried dirty cloth diapers around in their luggage, etc. I laughed, maybe not until I cried, but out loud at least several times.

The only problem was, I was waiting for the car seat/camel story.

And I never found it.

In the book’s defense, there is a story about riding camels with children. No mention of car seats was made, or if it was, it was SO in passing that it was completely missed.

And the title just made such a picture in my mind, a mom trying to clamber up onto a camel with her infant in a Graco car-seat – do you put it on the hump? In between the humps? Will it fit? Do you loop the reins around the babyseat so it can’t fall off?

It’s a cute book, a wonderful gift for a couple who’s having their first child and insisting that they’ll still travel with their baby. Just don’t expect that title story to be in there.

And it didn’t. Cash Peters book about his exploits going from an NPR on-air personality to a reality show, on-camera TV personality is funny. It’s not really laugh out loud hilarious, but it’s charming and interesting. If nothing else, it will probably teach you something about how “reality shows” are made (hint, the REAL in reality is sooo distant as to be non-existent).

I enjoyed reading about the places. I got some good ideas on where I might like to visit and where I definitely would NOT like. Come to think of it, most of the places he went are more on my “do not visit” list, but at least now I can make an informed decision.

If you know someone who enjoyed his TV or enjoys his voice on the radio, this would be a great gift. Or if you just have a friend that’s a frustrated homebody when they really want to be a world traveler, this is a great gift to make them realize it’s not all it’s cracked up to be.

Hopefully, Ms. Notaro won’t be too horribly insulted, I’m not trying to suggest that she looks like Roseanne or even acts like Roseanne… it’s just that Roseanne is such a character that you can immediately visualize and there’s some sort of visceral connection with her, even though she’s totally weird.

Do young people even KNOW who Roseanne is anymore?

Whatever. The point is that Laurie Notaro is like that… there’s something about her that you just connect with instantly, even when it’s distasteful or when she says something that you totally disagree with.

Her humor about herself is wonderfully sarcastic and self-depricating and reminds me a bit of David Sedaris. The hairy tongue chapter was so funny that I nearly fell out of my chair laughing. Women are probably more likely to “get” Laurie-humor more than men, but she could easily appeal to both.

If you need a book to pick you up (or cheer someone else) and you aren’t offended by disrespect for elders, curse words and nephew humiliation – this book is for you!

His style and tone are very different than David Sedaris (one of my favorite comedic authors), perhaps because they are less autobiographical and much more fanciful. Some of them are laugh out loud funny, often the ones that seem as if they wouldn’t be funny at all (i.e. the modern day rejection letter for “The Diary of Anne Frank”).

A few of the little chapters (i.e. Wild Child Tony), I didn’t find at all amusing. Ridiculous? Sure. Intriguing? Not really. After some of the more clever chapters, I expected more throughout.

The great thing about this book is that you can flip easily around and never miss out on a story line or even a cohesive theme. You need a 3-5 minute chuckle and you can find one even if the first one you glance at doesn’t do it for you. Flip a few pages forward or back and you’ll find something.

I’m guessing that his sense of humor appeals more to guys than to women, but I have yet to conduct a scientific poll to prove it. If you know a guy whose sense of humor leans towards “Talladega Nights” but he likes to read in the bathroom, this could be a good gift!

Rakoff talks more about commonplace topics and is more blunt in his approach. He’s readable, but somehow not as likable. If Sedaris is the weird hippy uncle that you’ve always thought was kind of stupid with a dash of creepy, yet secretly half admired, Rakoff is the cousin who is funny enough but you can’t help but wonder if he tortured animals when he was a kid.

Everyone’s sense of humor is different though, so perhaps Rakoff is just what you’ve been looking for. If nothing else, it will almost certainly make you smile.

If you have someone that enjoys mommy-humor, they will certainly like this book and get some chuckles out of it.

The only real problem is that the “in love with two different men” trick can only carry for so long. At some point, she’s going to have to pick and a big portion of the fan base is going to be aggravated. Personally, I’m ready for her to pick one and I don’t really care which one, but I know there are millions of fans who feel otherwise (as evidenced by the cheesy stickers that come with this book – I love Morelli or I love Ranger – what is this – TWILIGHT?! Are we a bunch of 12 year-olds?).

If you love highly intelligent thrillers, like Tom Clancy, this is probably not going to do it for you. Read “Unbroken” or a David Baldacci novel instead.

Thanks to Laura F for suggesting and loaning this to me.