Book Review: We Got to Play Baseball

Katie December 7, 2012 0 Comments

As you may know from reading my blog, I love baseball. I don’t play, but I love to watch.  This book compiles 60 stories from baseball players through the years about playing the game.  But they’re not just stories about the game – they are stories about pranks and great nights in the club house and other stories you probably wouldn’t hear during broadcasts.

One of the stories is about how one of the players didn’t know how many base runners they were – so they had a meeting at the mound to figure it out.  If you ever wondered what the players were talking about in those meetings – well sometimes it is to figure out how many players are on base! (And here I always thought it was deciding who would be buying the pizza for dinner after the game!)

There are a TON of great pranks mentioned in the stories as well.  One involving Jell-O is so controversial that there are various points of views told in the book.  Another one is about getting revenge on Billy the Marlin – the Marlin’s mascot!

The book teaser says if you love baseball you will love the book – but I think even if you somewhat enjoy baseball (or love a good prank or joke) you’ll like the book too!  It took me a while to pick the book up – but then I raced through 50 stories in no time and then finished the last 10 the next day in under 30 minutes.

If you’re not a huge baseball fan and don’t know if you will know who the players are – the end of each story has a short bio of all the players / managers / etc mentioned in the story so you will be up to speed on who everyone is!

I received a free e-copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in order to write this review. I was not otherwise compensated.

About the Book

Book Review: Random Acts of Travel

Katie December 6, 2012 1 Comments

 Random Acts of Travel combines 2 of my favorite things – travel and pop culture references! The book clocks in at just over 400 pages and it did take me quite some time to get through – but not because I wasn’t enjoying it. There is just a LOT of information in the book to read through.  There is also a Photo Gallery online that you can follow along with the photos while you read the book at Dean’s Google Plus page.

The book starts off with a warning about offensive language and that reader discretion is advised.  I wouldn’t recommend this book for a young kid but I would for anyone else who can handle the language. The author also suggests that you have Google handy if you don’t watch 30 hours of TV a week  – of course I had no problem keeping up with all of them. (I watch way too much TV.)

I love Dean’s writing style – it is almost more like he is having a conversation with you about where he and his wife went and what they saw than you are reading a book.

I now know where I should travel for the best food – or the worst food (not sure why I’d do that though), for the best views, etc.

If you are like me and love travel (and pop culture) then I definitely recommend this book.  The places they go and the amount of stories that are in this book is fascinating. And I wish I was half as humorous with my blog posts.  Also – make sure you look at the photos while you are reading the book.  I didn’t and the whole time was like “Man I should be looking at these pictures” and then looked at them all at the end.  The pictures are great but I think I’d have liked them better in context. So don’t make the same mistake I did 

You can pick up the book on Amazon for $3.99 (http://www.amazon.com/Random-Acts-Travel-Trepidation-ebook/dp/B008RZMZ30) – OR you can enter here to win a copy! Dean has been kind enough to offer to do a giveaway.

I received a free copy in order to write this review.

About the Book

Travelling through our diverse and fascinating world can be invigorating, uplifting and life changing. Of course, it can also be baffling, disgusting, aggravating and ridiculous. This hilarious tribute to world travel is full of humorous stories and shocking advice that will inspire you, make you laugh out loud and slowly but surely convince you to stock up on hand sanitizer.

About the Author

Dean Johnston was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada back around the time Canada was playing Russia in the original Summit Series. Duff Pounder is his pen name but don’t be intimidated, he does other stuff, too. He is a former financial planner who has blogged extensively about his travels and written numerous travel articles and financial resources. Random Acts of Travel is the first full length project he has managed to complete, although he does have all sorts of ideas and a lot of partially written material which had been going well at one time or another before he got distracted, probably by the return of The Mentalist or going shopping for ponchos. This is probably his political side coming out.

Book Review: Twain’s Brand

Katie December 5, 2012 0 Comments

Twain’s Brand: Humor in Contemporary American Culture by Judith Yaross Lee looks at the humor that Mark Twain used and compares it to some ways it is still relevant and helped pave the way for comedies today.

Some of the more current comedies that are mentioned in the book are the TV shows Seinfeld (a show about nothing that shows how comedians come up with their material for stand up – by showing a contrast of Jerry’s life and clips of his stand up) as well as The Simpsons.  There are also several images from comic strips included in the book as well.

This book was certainly a lot easier to get through than Twain’s autobiography – a 700+ page book that I am still trying to get through. (I’m not sure I’ll ever finish it – although I was hoping to read it before visiting his home in Hartford.  Looks like I’ll be visiting whether it is done or not!)

I never really thought of Twain being still relevant today – but this book definitely opened my eyes to that.  Anyone who is a fan of Twain or interested in finding out more about his humor should definitely check out this book.

I received a free e-copy from the publisher through NetGalley in order to write this review. I was not otherwise compensated.

About the Book

A study of what made mark twain a pioneer of American comedy today

Samuel L. Clemens lost the 1882 lawsuit declaring his exclusive right to use “Mark Twain” as a commercial trademark, but he succeeded in the marketplace, where synergy among his comic journalism, live performances, authorship, and entrepreneurship made “Mark Twain” the premier national and international brand of American humor in his day. And so it remains in ours, because Mark Twain’s humor not only expressed views of self and society well ahead of its time, but also anticipated ways in which humor and culture coalesce in today’s postindustrial information economy–the global trade in media, performances, and other forms of intellectual property that began after the Civil War.

In Twain’s Brand: Humor in Contemporary American Culture, Judith Yaross Lee traces four hallmarks of Twain’s humor that are especially significant today. Mark Twain’s invention of a stage persona comically conflated with his biographical self lives on in contemporary performances by Garrison Keillor, Margaret Cho, Jerry Seinfeld, and Jon Stewart. The postcolonial critique of Britain that underlies America’s nationalist tall tale tradition not only self-destructs in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court but also drives the critique of American Exceptionalism in Philip Roth’s literary satires. The semiliterate writing that givesAdventures of Huckleberry Finn its “vernacular vision”–wrapping cultural critique in ostensibly innocent transgressions and misunderstandings–has a counterpart in the apparently untutored drawing style and social critique seen in The Simpsons, Lynda Barry’s comics, and The Boondocks. And the humor business of recent decades depends on the same brand-name promotion, cross-media synergy, and copyright practices that Clemens pioneered and fought for a century ago. Twain’s Brand highlights the modern relationship among humor, commerce, and culture that were first exploited by Mark Twain.

Judith Yaross Lee is a professor and director of honors tutorials in the School of Communication Studies at Ohio University. She is the author of Defining “New Yorker” Humor and Garrison Keillor: A Voice of America, both available from University Press of Mississippi.

Book Review: Mac & Cheese, Please!

Katie December 4, 2012 0 Comments

Mac & Cheese has got to be one of my favorite meals. When I saw that there was a book with FIFTY Mac & Cheese recipes I knew that I had to check it out.  I thought that I would be smart and wait to read it until after I was full on dinner – but that didn’t work.

The book is broken down to 8 chapters – Classic (and Almost Classic), Mostly Cheese, Eat Your Veggies, Eat Your Protein, Breakfast at Dinner, Totally Decadent, Lighten Up, Cool Down and Party Time.

Typically I stick with Kraft in the blue box or easy mac (which I practically lived on in college!) Ive never ventured to try and other kinds.  But with all the different kinds of cheeses that would work for mac & cheese listed in this book – I might have to start expanding on my options.

Each recipe also lists option add ins – such as bacon, tomatos, ham, etc. If you have a favorite recipe and want to mix it up just a little bit,

I think the first I am going to try is the Nacho’s Mac & Cheese, but that is only first in a long line of recipes I am going to want to try out!

If you love Mac & Cheese or have someone in your life that loves Mac & Cheese and you want to surprise them with a home cooked meal  – this is the book for you!

I received a free e-copy of this book from the publisher through Net Galley in order to write this review.

About the Book

No one knows cheese better than Laura Werlin, and now she’s applying her expertise to everyone’s favorite macaroni dish. Inside, you’ll find 50 recipes organized by fun topics, such as Classic and Almost-Classic Mac & Cheese, Porky Mac & Cheese, Decadent Mac & Cheese, Lighten Up Mac & Cheese, Veggie Mac & Cheese, Party Time Mac & Cheese, and Breakfast for Dinner Mac & Cheese. The 50 recipes are presented in a fun format, like her previous title, Grilled Cheese Please! She even includes an appendix that includes info on all the food trucks and restaurants that specialize in mac & cheese.