Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children // Ransom Riggs {Audiobook}

Why I'm reading
I’d heard the title before, and it seemed pretty interesting. I actually went looking for this one, instead of just browsing.

Where I got the book
Greenwich/Overdrive.

Expectations
Harry Potter with less wizardry and a more circus/freak show vibe.

So how was it?

Soooo…. not actually what I was expecting. For one thing, there isn’t really a “school,” in the sense of Harry Potter (which I did find in the Finishing School series). And while it has a lot of YA themes, it didn’t feel constructed the way a lot of modern YA books do. It felt like the books I read (oh god am I about to say this) when I was younger, before YA was such an established genre. It reminded me of Hunky Dory Dairy.

The plot is fun. It requires you to suspend a whole lot of disbelief, but it’s fun. It’s not all that easy to explain without a blow-by-blow, but the basic premise is: there are “peculiar” children who have special powers or mutations (think side-show, not X-Men), who live in time-looped locations, and who therefore don’t age. The modern-day main character stumbles into this situation, after growing up hearing about all these kids from his grandfather, gets crazy confused, and eventually there’s some monster-fighting.

Recommendation
Fans of adventure stories, historical fiction, circus freak shows.

Feels
Fun, imaginative, much more fantasy than scifi.

Favorites
I love that the “peculiarities” are much more freak show than X-Men. They’re not always useful, or at least not always obviously so.

Least favorites
There is pretty much zero logic behind “peculiarities.”

Festivus: The Holiday for the Rest of Us // Allen Salkin {Audiobook}

Why I'm listening
Another audiobook for the airplane, although I didn’t really get into it, and ended up half-ignoring it at work.

Where I got the book
Greenwich (again!)

Expectations
A book about festivus? I guess?

So how was it?

Pretty much the history of Festivus. Not terribly interesting, but good background noise.

Recommendation
If you don’t know what Festivus is, it’s not the book for you.

Feels
Fun, lighthearted, actually informational.

Favorites
What they did with it in Seinfeld (which... wasn’t really part of the book.)

Least favorites
It was less funny and more informational than I was expecting.

Dirty Daddy // Bob Saget {Audiobook}

Oh my GOD I got Alan to read a book. Okay, listen to a book. Without internet. While trapped on an airplane. In other news: we went to Arkansas for an action-packed week of alcohol and board games with friends!

 Why I'm reading
Bob Saget, star of Full House, bastion of 90s TV.

Where I got the book
Overdrive, Greenwich Library.

Expectations
It’s called Dirty Daddy, and I’ve certainly heard how bad his stand-up can be, so… dirty.

So how was it?

And -- it wasn’t. Dirty, that is. It was a fairly clean and even motivational memoir about Sagat's life and family, and most of the crude humor seemed tacked on to keep the reader from getting bored.

Apparently, despite what we've all heard, Bob Saget actually is (a slightly ruder) Danny Tanner. And that’s actually pretty neat.

Recommendation
Fans of Full House, or Bob Saget in general. Not for people who can’t handle a few “my laptop is melting my balls” jokes, but it doesn’t go much further than that.

Feels
Heartfelt, but inexperienced in terms of writing.

Favorites
The unexpectedly heartwarming focus on the role of humor in times of tragedy.

Least favorites
Like quite a few memoirs, this one falls into the trap of talking about itself way too much -- naval gazing about the process of writing a memoir, the whys and wheres, the deadlines, how far along it is, how silly and awkward it is to be writing about oneself, etc. etc. Sagat is an actor and comedian who can write jokes, but doesn’t seem comfortable writing an actual book.

Writing style
Conversational and heartfelt, with a dirty joke tacked on every few paragraphs.

Live Die Repeat // Tom Cruise {Movie}

Why I'm watching
I’m a big Tom Cruise fan, no matter how cray-cray he is… but mostly I’m watching because the plot looks awesome.

Where I got the movie
Greenwich library. Watching it on a plane to Arkansas!

Expectations
Tom Cruise living, dying, and repeating said process. If I had to take a stab at the plot, I’d say Cruise (and female costar) go to some kind of post-apocalyptic Earth to do...something?

So how was it?

Yeah, no, I’m now fairly certain that’s the plot to Cruise’s Oblivion, which I should probably see.

Anyway.

I really, really liked Live Die Repeat Edge of Forever Edge of Tomorrow. Like, holy crap, big-budget scifi action movies are making a comeback!

Cage seems like your typical Tom Cruise Military Dude at first, but we quickly find out he’s a useless cowardly asshole. As an actor, Cruise doesn’t have a huge range -- but when he deviates from his typical action hero role, he does it really well.

Things happen, he gets sent to the front lines, and accidentally gets stuck in a time loop. As this is the first we (or the military in general) hear anything about time manipulation, he’s justifiably WTF. His reaction to the time loop -- before and after he figures it out -- absolutely makes the movie worth watching. He ends up being trained by the famous war hero Rita (Emily Blunt) -- turns out she was caught in a time loop, too, but lost it -- in an attempt to destroy the alien threat.

Oh right, the world’s military is fighting these crazy alien things. And the soldiers are equipped with exoskeleton fighting suits.

Recommendation
Action and scifi fans. Duh.

Feels
Fun and action-y, with a hint of Oceans 11 elaborate social misdirection. The plot is smart without being wrapped up in its own complexity. The characters are engaging.

Favorites
The movie was surprisingly subtle and heartfelt about how Cruise was changing as he repeats the same day for who-knows-how-long. On the surface, he’s just memorizing the day and learning how to fight… but if you pay attention, you actually see him changing as a person. I love it when movies don’t shove this stuff down your throat.

I also liked the trust between the two characters -- he trusts her training and guidance, she trusts his knowledge of the day. Teamwork!

Least favorites
I really have no complaints. Of course there were some parts of the plot that don’t make all that much sense, you have to suspend disbelief about certain alien things, and the characters make some stupid decisions, but… it’s an action movie.

So what did I really think?

Click "read more"... massive spoilers ahead!

Sh*t My Dad Says // Justin Halpern

Why I'm reading
I came across it looking for audiobooks, and I know Shatner did the TV adaptation.

Where I got the book
Greeeeenwich!

Expectations
Someone's crotchety old dad saying funny things.

So how was it?

The book is based on the twitter account Shit My Dad Says, which (as you’d expect) consists of funny and insightful quotes from Halpern’s dad. But the book itself is less “funny shit my dad says,” and more “life lessons from my dad, who often says funny shit.”

It’s fairly good, as far as humorous essays go.

Recommendation
I imagine this would mostly appeal to young men, and to people who are close with their fathers (err… not that I’m not the latter).

Feels
Coming-of-age, family bonding. What I imagine Everybody Loves Raymond is trying, and utterly failing, to be.