WWW Wednesday, 14-June-2017

Welcome to WWW Wednesday! This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived here on Taking on a World of Words. Just answer the three questions below and leave a link to your post in the comments for others to look at. No blog? No problem! Just leave a comment with your responses. Please, take some time to visit the other participants and see what others are reading. So, let’s get to it!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Note: For users of Blogspot blogs, I’m unable to comment on your posts as a WordPress blogger unless you’ve enabled Name/URL comments. This is a known WordPress/Blogspot issue. Please consider enabling this to participate more fully in the community.

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Currently reading: Nothing with A Son of the Circus by John Irving. I think I’ll get back to it this summer, I’m just not sure when.
I made some small progress on Love in the Elephant Tent by Kathleen Cremonesi. There’s not much more reading for my class this summer so I’ll be able to enjoy this during lunch again! AND it’s about time to eat outside again. Woo!
I didn’t run as much as I thought I would this week so I haven’t made much progress with Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay. I think I’ll have it finished by next week, though!
I started Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Rober Pirsig over the weekend. I only have two weeks to read this one before my book club meets so I hope to fly through it. Fingers crossed!

Recently finished: I finished Tigerman on Saturday and got my review up yesterday! Go check it out and let me know what you think. I hope to have my book club reflection for it up tomorrow because we met Monday.

My review for Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express went up on Thursday. I gave it Four out of Five stars. I’m getting really excited for that movie adaptation! Who’s with me?
My review for Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris went up on Monday. I gave it Four out of Five stars.

Reading Next: No plans now. My next read will probably be an audiobook but I have no idea what title I’ll get. It all depends on what’s available at the time.

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Leave a comment with your link and a comment (if you’re so inclined). Take a look at the other participant links in the comments and look at what others are reading.

Have any opinions on these choices?

Until next time, write on.

You can follow me on Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. I’m available via email at SamAStevensWriter@gmail.com. And as always, feel free to leave a comment!

Book Review: Dress your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris (4/5)

I enjoy listening to some comedy from time to time. I couldn’t stand waiting for this eaudiobook any longer so I got the CD version to listen to in my car. It took me a little longer than normal to get through it, but I’m glad I listened to it. I own a copy of this book and have it signed by Sedaris.

Cover image via Goodreads

Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris

Summary from Goodreads:

David Sedaris plays in the snow with his sisters. He goes on vacation with his family. He gets a job selling drinks. He attends his brother’s wedding. He mops his sister’s floor. He gives directions to a lost traveler. He eats a hamburger. He has his blood sugar tested. It all sounds so normal, doesn’t it? In this collection of essays, Sedaris lifts the corner of ordinary life, revealing the absurdity teeming below its surface. His world is alive with obscure desires and hidden motives–a world where forgiveness is automatic and an argument can be the highest form of love. Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim is another unforgettable collection from one of the wittiest and most original writers at work today.

I have an odd relationship with Sedaris. I first tried reading his book Me Talk Pretty One Day in college and I couldn’t stand it. I returned it to the library without finishing it which is something I’d never done before. Two years later, I hated that I never finished it and got the audiobook and finished the book, loving it. I met David Sedaris three years ago and found him warm and welcoming. This is one of his books that I had signed and he was impressed with the long line of people he met. I knew what I was getting into with this book and I think that helped me enjoy it from the get-go. Sedaris narrated this one himself which helps a lot. Hearing him make fun of his brother’s accent or the emphasis he places on his disgust of his sister’s apartment is great. I really recommend his books on audio to anyone wanting to try Sedaris for the first time.

I love the way he portrays his family. You can tell he feels like a bit of an outcast amongst them and as different as he is, they still love him beyond reason. It’s great to hear him talk about his mother and how much he loved her. I enjoyed the stories about his siblings a lot, too. He never gets too deeply into his partner, Hugh, and how he feels about him. I can only think of one story that mentions their quarreling. I think Sedaris portrays his family in very realistic ways because as much as they may seem like caricatures, they’re consistent from book to book and none of them have come forward publicly denouncing him yet.

Paul was my favorite and the story about his daughter being born was amazingly funny and heart-wrenching. He has a heart of gold, it’s easy to see and really cared for his wife and daughter. Sedaris made a comment about how often Paul calls that really stuck with me and talk of how much he loves his siblings and father. I could tell there was a huge age gap between Paul and David that meant they were never that close, but I wish there could have been more about Paul in Sedaris’s childhood stories.

I think Sedaris’s family stories are so relatable because we’re all embarrassed by our families at one time or another. I work at the same company as my mother and spend about 20% of my time trying not to embarrass her by my own actions. It’s a very universal feeling, especially as a kid which is why I suspect so many of Sedaris’s stories are from his childhood.

My signed copy of the book.

My favorite story was Six to Eight Black Men. It talked about cultural differences, focusing on Christmas traditions between America and the Netherlands. Sedaris has this great sense of humor and vividness to make American traditions sound just as outrageous as the Dutch ones and poke fun at both. He also taught me that in my home state of Michigan, the legally blind can hunt alone. I have to say, I’m not at all surprised but I wonder if this is still true.

It’s hard to say if I disliked any of the stories but there were some with more dark humor than I was comfortable with. Monie Changes Everything comes to mind. David’s family gained a lot from Aunt Monie but he seems to not care much for her, even when he went to see her. It was a little too dark for me.

Sedaris narrating the book himself was perfect. Like I said before, it changed how I perceived the whole story the first time I listened to him. There were two stories recorded live and played back for the recording which was even better. Sometimes, Sedaris wouldn’t pause after something funny and if I laughed too hard, I’d miss the next bit. In the live recordings, he pauses to let the crowd laugh and then I didn’t feel as silly laughing alone in my car. There were recorded voices of hundreds of others joining me.

Sedaris is very different from the rest of his family but they all accept and love each other. I think that’s the most important thing he tells his readers. No matter what, we all need to love our families because we never know how far away we’ll end up or how long they’ll be with us.

Writer’s Takeaway: Sedaris does a great job poking fun at himself. It can be hard to admit your flaws or when you mess up but he does it humbly and it makes for a really fun read.

A great laugh. I made my husband listen to one of the stories before we returned it. Four out of Five Stars.

Until next time, write on.

You can follow me on Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. I’m available via email at SamAStevensWriter@gmail.com. And as always, feel free to leave a comment!

Related Posts:
Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim – David Sedaris | Lorannkay
Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Demin by David Sedaris | Emilia Lives Life
Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris | Imperfect Happiness
Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, David Sedaris | Books j’adore

WWW Wednesday, 7-June-2017

Welcome to WWW Wednesday! This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived here on Taking on a World of Words. Just answer the three questions below and leave a link to your post in the comments for others to look at. No blog? No problem! Just leave a comment with your responses. Please, take some time to visit the other participants and see what others are reading. So, let’s get to it!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Note: For users of Blogspot blogs, I’m unable to comment on your posts as a WordPress blogger unless you’ve enabled Name/URL comments. This is a known WordPress/Blogspot issue. Please consider enabling this to participate more fully in the community.

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Currently reading: No movement on A Son of the Circus by John Irving. Still on hold pending free time and a break in the book club season.
I got through some more of Love in the Elephant Tent by Kathleen Cremonesi because I forgot to bring my school book to read during lunch. It meant more school reading over the weekend, but it was a nice break!
I got into Tigerman by Nick Harkaway this week and I’m really enjoying it now. The trouble is finding more time to read it. I get through a few pages before bed, but all my free time now is for school. It will be over soon…
I made some big progress with Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay. I’m finally seeing the two stories converge and I’m looking forward to them really crashing into each other.

Recently finished: Two finished! I feel like I’m winning at reading this week. The first is Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris. My review for this one will be up next week. I enjoyed Sedaris’s commentary on life and I’ll just say here that I’m glad I’m not one of his sisters! I gave it 4 out of 5 stars.
I also finished Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie. It was perfect timing because my husband and I finished listening to it on Thursday, the same day the trailer for it came out! It looks like they’ve changed a few things around but it will be pretty close to the book based on the trailer. I can’t wait for that one!

I posted my book review for Landline by Rainbow Rowell so please go check that one out! It went up on Monday.

Reading Next: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Rober Pirsig is still waiting on my bedside table. I’ll pick it up as soon as I finish Tigerman.

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Leave a comment with your link and a comment (if you’re so inclined). Take a look at the other participant links in the comments and look at what others are reading.

Have any opinions on these choices?

Until next time, write on.

You can follow me on Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. I’m available via email at SamAStevensWriter@gmail.com. And as always, feel free to leave a comment!

WWW Wednesday, 31-May-2017

Welcome to WWW Wednesday! This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived here on Taking on a World of Words. Just answer the three questions below and leave a link to your post in the comments for others to look at. No blog? No problem! Just leave a comment with your responses. Please, take some time to visit the other participants and see what others are reading. So, let’s get to it!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Note: For users of Blogspot blogs, I’m unable to comment on your posts as a WordPress blogger unless you’ve enabled Name/URL comments. This is a known WordPress/Blogspot issue. Please consider enabling this to participate more fully in the community.

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Currently reading: I’m so sorry to say that I’ve put A Son of the Circus by John Irving aside for a while. I have some book club selections I need to get through first. I have all of the intentions in the world of finishing this one up and it makes me really sad to put it on hold.
I made some moderate progress with Love in the Elephant Tent by Kathleen Cremonesi but I’m wondering where this book is going because I’m 1/3 of the way through and they’re not in the elephant tent anymore! Is there another elephant tent coming?
My drive to work is better with Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris. I’m about half way through it now and it’s been a good distraction from traffic.
I started reading Tigerman by Nick Harkaway, one of my book club selections. It’s OK but making me miss the Irving. I was at my parent’s cottage this weekend and found some good time to read.
My husband and I started a car-trip audiobook. I hope this one doesn’t take as long as some of our earlier ones! This time it’s Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie. So far, we’re really enjoying it. As much as I have my suspicions about who it could be, I know Poirot will keep me guessing until the end!
I’ve just started Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay on audio. I love the cover of this one and saw it as a popular book club pick for a while so I’m interested to see where it goes!

Recently finished: I was able to wrap up Landline by Rainbow Rowell over the holiday weekend! I’m so glad to have finished a book. With all the ones I have in process, I’m not sure how quickly I’ll finish another one, haha. I think I’m only missing Rowell’s novella now before I’ve read all of her work. I plan to have a review for this one up early next week.
No reviews this week but as I said, Landline will be coming next week so there’s one to look forward to!

Reading Next: With so much going on, I don’t really want to think ahead, haha. I do know my next book club selection will be Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Rober Pirsig. I could only find a print version of this book so I’ll be reading it in that format after Tigerman.

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Leave a comment with your link and a comment (if you’re so inclined). Take a look at the other participant links in the comments and look at what others are reading.

Have any opinions on these choices?

Until next time, write on.

You can follow me on Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. I’m available via email at SamAStevensWriter@gmail.com. And as always, feel free to leave a comment!

WWW Wednesday, 24-May-2017

Welcome to WWW Wednesday! This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived here on Taking on a World of Words. Just answer the three questions below and leave a link to your post in the comments for others to look at. No blog? No problem! Just leave a comment with your responses. Please, take some time to visit the other participants and see what others are reading. So, let’s get to it!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Note: For users of Blogspot blogs, I’m unable to comment on your posts as a WordPress blogger unless you’ve enabled Name/URL comments. This is a known WordPress/Blogspot issue. Please consider enabling this to participate more fully in the community.

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Currently reading: I made a push to work on A Son of the Circus by John Irving over the weekend and got maybe 40 pages in. I’m over page 400 now but I’m thinking this might have to go on hold for a bit so I can get through some book club selections in time for the meetings. I hate doing that, but sometimes social pressure get the best of my reading schedule!
I had some technical difficulties with Love in the Elephant Tent by Kathleen Cremonesi over the weekend but they’ve now been solved and I’m back at this one. I’ve had a bit of lunch reading time but not too much. Hope to make some steady progress going forward.
Landline by Rainbow Rowell has been fun. I’m not as engaged as I have been with other Rowell books, but it’s still enjoyable. It’s great for runs and cooking time!
I’m making slow progress with Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris only because I don’t drive a lot. Having this one limited to my car is a bit slow but I’m still liking the humor. I’ll keep enjoying it. The short essays help with my short drives!

Recently finished: Nothing new finished but two book reviews posted! The first is for Terra Incognita by Ruth Downie. This is the second in the series and I really enjoyed both so far. I hope to keep going with these as they’re all on mobile audio. Yay! I gave the book 4 out of 5 stars.
My second review is for Ellen DeGeneres’s Seriously… I’m Kidding. I listened to this on audio and my review may have been different if I’d read the book but I gave the audio 4 out of 5 stars.

Reading Next: Unfortunately, it’s going to have to be Tigerman by Nick Harkaway. I really wanted to get to The Circle but school has been more crazy than expected. I don’t think I’ll make it to the theaters to see the movie anyway. Sad day!

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Leave a comment with your link and a comment (if you’re so inclined). Take a look at the other participant links in the comments and look at what others are reading.

Have any opinions on these choices?

Until next time, write on.

You can follow me on Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. I’m available via email at SamAStevensWriter@gmail.com. And as always, feel free to leave a comment!

WWW Wednesday, 17-May-2017

Welcome to WWW Wednesday! This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived here on Taking on a World of Words. Just answer the three questions below and leave a link to your post in the comments for others to look at. No blog? No problem! Just leave a comment with your responses. Please, take some time to visit the other participants and see what others are reading. So, let’s get to it!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Note: For users of Blogspot blogs, I’m unable to comment on your posts as a WordPress blogger unless you’ve enabled Name/URL comments. This is a known WordPress/Blogspot issue. Please consider enabling this to participate more fully in the community.

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Currently reading: I wish I had more time to read A Son of the Circus by John Irving now that I’m enjoying it. School is very fast-paced for this 6-week course and I’m spending a lot of my free time reading for that class. I hate to push books off, but school does, unfortunately, come first.
I’m finding more time to read at work during lunch than I’m getting at home. As such, I’m making decent progress with Love in the Elephant Tent by Kathleen Cremonesi. It’s a little slow, but I’m still enjoying the story of Kathleen’s time in the circus and her time with the elephants.
I started two new audiobooks. The first is Landline by Rainbow Rowell. It was the next eaudio I could download. I picked up a physical copy of this book at a library sale and I’m been wanting to read it for a while. I’ll get to it much sooner as an audiobook than if I’d waited to read the physical book.
I picked up an audiobook for my car, too. I want to get to some of those that have long hold times. I decided to go with Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris. I tried reading a Sedaris book in college and couldn’t stand it but when I listened to it, I was in love. I’m hoping this is the same.

Recently finished: Seriously… I’m Kidding by Ellen Degeneres was a quick, fun read. I’m glad I listened to this one because, like Sedaris, having the author read it added a lot of fun and humor that reading the words on the page couldn’t add. My review will be up next week so look forward to that.
No reviews this week! I’ll have another one up tomorrow, though, so don’t fret!

Reading Next: I know I’ve had The Circle on here for a few weeks but I got another book club book I have to read first! Unfortunately, I’m going to replace my next up with Tigerman by Nick Harkaway. I’m hoping this is a quick read so I can get to Eggers soon! I’m putting off seeing the movie until I can read this book.

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Leave a comment with your link and a comment (if you’re so inclined). Take a look at the other participant links in the comments and look at what others are reading.

Have any opinions on these choices?

Until next time, write on.

You can follow me on Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. I’m available via email at SamAStevensWriter@gmail.com. And as always, feel free to leave a comment!

Meeting David Sedaris. A story of lines and chairs.

I’ve never gone to meet someone before and known what their voice sounds like but not what they look like. It was a little strange. But ultimately awesome. Here’s my saga.

The signing was 11 June in Ann Arbor, Michigan, which is about 40 minutes from home. Fortunately, I was visiting the Sunday before and stopped in the bookstore to ask what time general signing started. I knew the reading was at 5PM and I didn’t have tickets for that. They said it should start around 7, but to get there at 5. “Bring a chair and book,” one of the employees advised. Don’t mind if I do.

So I went straight from work and got there just after five. I was fourth in line! Win. I settled in, thinking I’d sit there till seven and then get my book signed and be on with life. And by settled in, I want to specify that I bought and brought a folding lawn chair to sit in on the sidewalk. And I was the only one. So yeah, that was fun.

About 6:30, people with ‘Waiting List’ tickets showed up. They’d gone to the story the day reading tickets were sold and didn’t get one so they got a ‘middle ground’ option of cutting in the signing line. My 4th in line was reduced to 20th. Dang. About the same time, it started raining so we were moved to the bottom floor of the bookstore to wait. David was still signing books from the people who attended the reading.

He is so generous with his time that it created a Catch-22. He spent about five minutes with each person. So if you think about it, that would mean I should get to meet him about 8. However, there were the people from the reading as well and they pushed that out another hour, so I finally met David around 9PM after being in line for four hours. Yep. And remember, I’m toting a folding chair this whole time.

He’s everything you’d think he would be: friendly, quirky, sarcastic, and random as hell. He had a box of chocolates that he was offering to everyone. I choose a coconut flavored one.

I had two books for him to sign. The first was a copy of Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim that I found at a used book store. It’s a little beat up but the biggest problem was that it was already signed! It was bought at B&N that way by the original owner. So, David personalized it for me.

“To Sam,
I see you picnicking on chocolate with multiracial friends with birthdays falling on weekends”

The other one was an (again) used copy of ‘Me Talk Pretty One Day,’ the only Sedaris book I’ve read so far. I wasn’t going to buy it, but it was in pristine condition so I’ll have a nice one to hang on to. He drew me a pretty picture.

Because, of course, he carries a bag of multi-colored sharpies so he can draw bloody scissors in books. Why would you think anything differently?

Of course, I asked David the same question I ask all writers. “I want to be you. What advice can you give me?”

He said with a smile, “Write every day. Write on Christmas, write on your birthday, but write every day. And, of course, read.” I’ve heard this advice before but it was still great to have it reaffirmed. Writing every day is the reason I started this blog. Even if I’m not working on fiction, I’m working on my voice: my familiarity with words and commitment to style. It’s been a great practice. David said, “You might be okay now, but you’ll never be good unless you write every day.” And if you follow me here, you know I read every chance I can get. I love to take reading as a chance to develop myself as a writer.

Unfortunately David doesn’t do pictures so I don’t have one to share. It was awesome to meet him and I want to publicly thank Katherine for waiting an hour and a half for me to get through the line so we could have dinner together. That was too kind of you.

As I’m shaking David’s hand and walking out the door, he asked me, “What are you doing tomorrow?”

“Writing.”

Until next time, write on.

Recently Added to my To-Read Shelf

So it’s been a while since I wrote one of these posts. Over two months actually. And in that time I’ve added nine books to my shelf. And in the same time period, I’ve read 11. So, a net loss of 2 books per two months or one book per month. That means that at this pace, it will take me 112 months or 9 years and 4 months to clear out my shelf. Yikes. So with that sobering fact, I bring you a list of books I want to read badly enough to lengthen my list. Enjoy!

1.  Under the Wide and Starry Sky by Nancy Horan: I added this solely because a librarian said I might like it. I figured that’s a good enough reason. It’s a literary wives story, this time with Robert Louis Stevenson.
2. The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank: I think saying ‘I haven’t read this yet and I’m sorry’ should suffice.
3. Misterio de La Guia de Ferrocarriles by Agatha Christie: A co-worker of mine visiting from Mexico gave this to me as a parting gift. It’s the Spanish translation of The A.B.C. Murders and I’m excited to read it! I haven’t read Christie before.
4. The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri: I went to a massive used book sale called ‘Bookstock’ and this was one I couldn’t pass up. Lahiri has gotten a lot of attention lately for her books and I wanted to jump on the fan train. This book is about a family emigrating from India to America.
5. A Widow for One Year by John Irving: Have I said enough yet about how I love John Irving? No? Well, I’ll say it again here. I adore him. I don’t even know what this book’s about and I don’t care. But I can bet there will be a life-long obsession with something, wrestling, bears, tragedy, and strange characters. And I’m excited.
6. The Coward by Kyle R Bullock: Kyle was the first author to send me a request to read on my author’s page. So of course, I said yes. This trend will likely not continue in the future but Kyle is my lucky #1. The story is about a cowardly pilot during World War II.
7. Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs: I’ve been hearing great things bout this one for ages. And this is available as an audiobook at my library so it was an easy decision to add. Winning.
8. Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris: I went to meet the author on 11 June and needed something for him to sign. I picked this up in a second-hand store and now it’s priceless to me!
9. The Girls at the Kingfisher Club by Genevieve Valentine: This is totally Katherine’s fault. She read it because it has fairy tales and knew I’d like it because it’s set in the 20s. Done.

And that’s it! Hopefully I don’t come back in two months with even more books! I know it’s a day early, but check out MizB’s ‘Friday Finds’ for more posts like this one.

Until next time, write on.

You can follow me on Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. I’m available via email at SamAStevensWriter@gmail.com. And as always, feel free to leave a comment!