Tag: humor

Short Story Sunday: Down with Frogs by Eden Gruger

Down With Frogs
Author: Eden Gruger

Narrator: Bridget Thomas
Published on Audio: March 13, 2023
Audiobook: 1 hour 38 minutes

Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Read: May 5-7, 2023
Jessica’s Rating: 4 stars

Book Description:

It has always been said Princess’ have to kiss a lot frogs before they find their Prince…so it makes sense that sometimes they might feel like giving up on love.

From awkward first meetings, dreadful dinners, to who should do the dusting, and sexual mishaps dating is a minefield.

The big question is will we learn from our mistakes or make them all over again?

Whether you are happily settled, or still looking, these laugh out loud, always candid, occasionally tragic tales will delight you.

Jessica’s Review:

This is a short book with a series of short stories that is humorous that shows the dating scene with what we women go through with men!  We have 14 short stories, that range in length. I’m sure every female reader/listener will find a favorite story. I enjoyed one of the longer ones the most: Day Out at the STI Clinic. Some of the shorter stories are basically lists, which would work better on paper than audio.

If you have ever dated, are currently dating, or even given up on dating, give this short audiobook a listen!  You should enjoy these stories and might even laugh some too!

The narrator is Bridget Thomas and she did a good job with her narration!

Many thanks to the author Eden Gruger for sending me an audio copy to listen to through Spotify. I enjoyed it! 

Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK

Book Review: Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein

Where the Sidewalk Ends
Author: Shel Silverstein

Published: 1974
187 Pages

Reviewed By: Cristina

Book Description:

Come in… for where the sidewalk ends, Shel Silverstein’s world begins.

Shel Silverstein, the New York Times bestselling author of The Giving Tree, A Light in the Attic, Falling Up, and Every Thing On It, has created a poetry collection that is outrageously funny and deeply profound.

You’ll meet a boy who turns into a TV set, and a girl who eats a whale. The Unicorn and the Bloath live there, and so does Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout who will not take the garbage out. It is a place where you wash your shadow and plant diamond gardens, a place where shoes fly, sisters are auctioned off, and crocodiles go to the dentist.

Shel Silverstein’s masterful collection of poems and drawings stretches the bounds of imagination and will be cherished by readers of all ages.

Cristina’s Review:

Poetry often gets overlooked for young readers, but it can be a great stepping stone from picture books to chapter books, or comprehension practice for older readers. And, you know, poetry can just be fun to read!

Shel Silverstein is a very popular poet for children. This happens to be my favorite collection of his works. With poems about ice cream, pirates, doing chores, going to school, Silverstein’s poems are something children can relate to in their own lives. Some of them are just plain silly, some are very thoughtful, and some have a little lesson in them. He also draws illustrations to go with them. (The crocodile in the dentist chair is one of my favorites!) If your reader is thinking they are getting “too old” for bedtime stories, or you don’t have time for a whole book or chapter of something, try reading a poem together instead. This is a great collection to get them hooked on poetry!

Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK

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Audible Original: I Choose Darkness: A Holiday Essay by Jenny Lawson

I Choose Darkness: A Holiday Essay
Author: Jenny Lawson

Narrator: Jenny Lawson
Published: September 29, 2022
Audiobook: 38 minutes

Reviewed By: Jessica
Date Listened To: October 22, 2022
Jessica’s Rating: 5 stars     

Book Description:

From cheap costumes to creepy dolls to questionable candy, number one New York Times bestselling author Jenny Lawson weaves a hauntingly hilarious account of her ongoing—sometimes outrageous—Halloween life.

The holly-jolly holidays aren’t for everyone, least of all when you look back on that one Christmas when there were two definitely haunted dolls waiting for you and your sister under the tree. You have to assume that’s where it all started.

And so it was for Jenny Lawson. Now, she lives in the land of eternal Halloween, as evidenced by her interior decor and general state of darkness. (Although, if you ask her, her taxidermy zoo is less dark, more delightful. But not everyone has taste, so what are you going to do?)

This essay takes Jenny back to where it all started, from her humble beginnings as a trick-or-treater in the 1980s, on high alert for (logistically improbable) candy laced with razor blades and the (allegedly) ever-present threat of satanists on the loose. From there, she has risen from the candy-wrapper ashes of her childhood to claim her rightful lifestyle as the queen of Halloween.

Jessica’s Review:

This very short self-described essay popped up for free on my Audible, so I got it. I had no idea who Jenny Lawson is, so I didn’t know what I was in for but was very pleasantly surprised! Halloween is Jenny’s favorite holiday of the year and she reminisces and her childhood Halloween’s.  And we must be close to the same age, babies of the 1980’s, because I have so many similar memories as her! From the hideous costumes offered to the fear of razor blades being put in candy: and yes, I remember my parents taking my sister and I to the hospital and our candy being x-rayed!  I had a plastic orange pumpkin container that my candy was in.  It was most likely done at the hospital that my mom worked at.

I really enjoyed this essay of Jenny’s Halloween memories and she even narrated! She tells it like it is, foul language and all! I am going to have to look up some of her other books she has written and even listen to the audio if she narrates those! She definitely seems to have a new fan to look at her blog!

Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK

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