Reads: Island of the Sequined Love Nun

Island of the Sequined Love Nun by Christopher Moore

rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

I believe that Island of the Sequined Love Nun is the sixth or seventh book that I’ve read by Christopher Moore. Moore’s novels are always packed with sardonic humor that makes me silently snicker. Island of the Sequined Love Nun was originally published over 10 years ago. The book was still as crazy as some of his more recent works.

This absurd adventure follows Tucker Case, a geek in a stud-muffin’s body, who starts out the novel as a pilot for a cosmetics company. One night, he picks up a woman at a bar who says she wants to join the mile high club immediately. So, Tucker, even being slightly drunk, takes her up in his boss’s private jet. Drinking, flying, and sex don’t mix and Tuck ends up crashing the plane and impaling his special man-place. OUCH!  He gets fired and ridiculed in the media.

Out of nowhere, Tuck is offered a job as piloting a private Lear Jet for a Methodist mission on a remote island in Micronesia. It sounds too good to be true, but Tuck has no other options so decides to take the job. And so his wacky adventure begins…an adventure that includes a talking fruit bat, cannibals, a trans-gendered prostitute and some natives worshipping the image of a woman painted on a plane (cargo cult!).

I read this book as I jetted off to a tropical island. It was total brain candy. I wouldn’t say it was my favorite Moore book (an honor that is held by  Lamb), but it was a good beach read.  It took a little while for me to get into it, but it got better a little further into the book.  It was a fast-paced, quick-witted, easy read.   I recommend Island of the Sequined Love Nun to anyone looking for a crazy getaway to a tropical island.

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Reads: Then We Came to the End

Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris

rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
I read “Then We Came to the End” for a book club meeting that I have next week. I m still not 100% sure that I can make it to the meeting, but I read the book all the same.

“Then We came to the End” is Ferris’s first novel and is set at the turn of the 21st century at a Chicago advertising agency that is struggling through the dot-com failure era. The workers at the office are being laid off one at a time with very little rhyme or reason as to who gets the ax when.

Layoffs were upon us. They had been rumored for months, but now it was official. If you were lucky, you could sue. if you were black, aged, female, Catholic, Jewish, gay, obese, or physically handicapped, at least you had grounds.

Ferris narrates the book from a 1st person plural point of view, which is different from other books I have read. The book is laced with disaffected humor as we are allowed to observe the copywriters and designers partake in their office hi-jinx and suffer from paranoia that they will be the next layoff. The workers spend much of their time trying to look busy or hanging out at the coffee bar gossiping. The book for the most part is set in the office so, if you’ve ever worked in corporate America and sat in a cube, you should be able to find something in this tale that you relate too.

Overall, I enjoyed the book although I think it could have been stronger. There were a lot of characters and most of them weren’t very deeply drawn so you don’t really “get to know” any of the individuals too well.

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Reads: Stuff White People Like

Stuff White People Like by Christian Lander

My review
rating: 4 of 5 stars
How could I resist a title like THAT!?!? and I found it on the Buy One Get One table no less…Irresistable!

“Stuff White People Like” is based on the blog by the same name. It is written as a sort of item by item guide of, well, stuff that white people like. It is written as if the audience is someone other than a white person and tells them how to befriend, date, and/or impress a white person.

The book will sometimes differentiate between the right kind of white person (wears real vintage T-shirts) and the wrong kind of white person (wears faux vintage T-shirts).

The book had me cracking up throughout. It is funny, because its true. Christian Lander does a great job providing a humorously cynical look at the habits and preferences of upper middle class white Americans. I saw myself in a lot of the write-ups.

This is one of those rare books that my husband (not a white person) wants to read! I think mayhaps he wants to read it to pick up some tips on how to impress all those white people he meets on a daily basis through his job.

Best Snack to eat while reading this book: Sushi and organic, locally grown fruit… washed down with some Fair Trade coffee.

Best Music to Listen to while reading this book:your iPod play list of Arcade Fire, The Pixies, A Tribe Called Quest, Joanna Newsom and Belle & Sebastian.

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