Review: Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris

Me Talk Pretty One Day
By David Sedaris
Published by Back Bay Books, 2009
Source: purchased ebook at Barnes and Noble

Goodreads Description: 
A new collection from David Sedaris is cause for jubilation. His recent move to Paris has inspired hilarious pieces, including Me Talk Pretty One Day, about his attempts to learn French. His family is another inspiration. You Can't Kill the Rooster is a portrait of his brother who talks incessant hip-hop slang to his bewildered father. And no one hones a finer fury in response to such modern annoyances as resturant meals presented in ludicrous towers and cashiers with 6-inch fingernails. Compared by The New Yorker to Twain and Hawthorne, Sedaris has become one of our best-loved authors.

My Review:
I actually read this book on my Nook many months ago. I've finally take the time to mark it as 'read' on Goodreads and write this review. I don't like waiting too long to write a review, so I'm going to keep this very brief. 

I really enjoyed reading this book. Sedaris's series of short personal essays were often very wry and always witty. I cracked a smile or bellowed a good laugh at least once per essay. I really enjoyed reading this book in short segments. It's a good book to read when commuting or as a quick pick-me-up. I often looked forward to reading Sedaris's hilarious essays after a particularly difficult day. It was actually more entertaining to read in segments because often the essays had little transition from one to the next. The essays were not ordered chronologically, and topics varied from Sedaris's childhood speech therapy to his time in France. 

Overall, the book was a very light, funny read. Sedaris is witty and his snarky essays make it hard to suppress laughter. I will admit that I did get bored with some of the essays, that perhaps his essays lose focus and seem to become attempts at self-actualization, not really literature. It's been a few months since I've read this book, but I'm still not entirely ready to dive into more Sedaris novels. That said, I definitely am interested in reading more of his works at some point. 

I'm going to give this book four out of five foxes. It was a funny read and I've definitely recalled some very funny scenes from the personal essays since my reading them. 

Zahn's Review: Found by M. Haddix

Zahn's Review: Found by Margaret Peterson Haddix
 

Title: Found

Author: Margaret Peterson Haddix

Series: The Missing  book 1

Genre: Mystery

Pages: 314

Goodreads Description: 

Thirteen-year-old Jonah has always known that he was adopted, and he's never thought it was a big deal. Then he and a neighbor, Chip, who finds out he's also adopted, begin receiving mysterious letters, saying things such as: "You are one of the missing," and, "Beware! They're coming back to get you." Jonah, Chip, and Jonah's little sister Katherine are plunged into a mystery that involves the FBI, a vast smuggling operation, an airplane that appeared out of nowhere—and people who seem to disappear and reappear at will...and make a staggering discovery: Jonah and Chip, and some other kids are actually the missing children from history, stolen for profit by time travelers. Now, they are caught in a battle between two opposing forces that want very different things for them--and their choices will determine the course of their own lives, and the lives of their friends.

My Summary: This book starts out with a strange plane appearing out of nowhere in an airport landing post, with 36 babies and no adults on board. Then it goes to 13 years later, where Jonah, his sister Kathrin, and their friend Chip start to get strange letters saying they are one of the missing. Looking around to see what it means, they both look into their adoption letters and find a name, James Reardon, Jonah and Kathrin talk to him and discover a airplane that mysteriously appeared one night at an airport. When they search into it more, they found Chip and Jonah, who are both adopted, were on that plane. They talk around and find a person who will tell them about that night, but come out with more questions than answers. Then a meeting for adopted kids comes up, and when they go to it time smugglers try to take them to the future. This is when JB, a janitor Jonah and Kathrin net before, tells them that they are the lost children of time and he must send them back. Jonah and Kathrin, Chip and Alex, all get sent back to the 15^th century, and a whole new adventure begins.

I liked that this book had never ending nail-biting excitement throughout the whole book.

I did not like that it was confusing in most the book.

I rate this book 4 out of 5 foxes. 

Reviewed by Zahn