A la Cart by Hillary Carlip

When I first heard about Hillary Carlip's A la Cart on NPR, I wasn't sure what to think — but the idea sounded really interesting, so I decided to give the book a shot.

I was a little surprised when I got the book how short it was. The essays about each character are only a couple of pages long; the book is printed on thick, photo-quality paper to make it look thicker.

Still, though, it's an amusing book for an afternoon or evening read. The important thing to remember is that it's all about the idea, not the writing — what's interesting about it is reading the grocery lists and seeing the pictures of Carlip dressed up as the characters she created from them. The essays themselves are, as far as I'm concerned, fairly unimportant when you consider how she came up with each character. It's the process that's important in this one!

Practically Perfect in Every Way by Jennifer Niesslein

If you are amused and mildly disgusted by the self-help genre, Jennifer Niesslein's Practically Perfect in Every Way is the perfect book for you.

In Practically Perfect, Niesslein decides that something is missing from her life, and that self-help may hold the key to happiness. To make things more interesting, she decides to write a book chronicling her experiences. The result: lots of sarcastic humor, but also a good, quiet look at why self-help is overrated.

The book focuses mostly on self-help in the areas of the household, relationships, and parenting. (If you think Feng Shui is kind of silly, like I do, you'll especially like the commentary in the first chapter.) As you near the end of the book, Niesslein obviously starts losing steam. She is not as gung-ho in her experiments, but at the same time you start getting more down-to-earth, insightful observations about self-help.

The very last chapter of Practically Perfect is my kind of chapter: Niesslein deals with the issue of The Soul. In doing so, she delves into the world of religion, but she also talks a lot about why she isn't particularly religious — something I can totally understand. It is fitting that this is the last chapter, because by this point Niesslein has decided that taking every one else's advice is a really bad idea.

To conclude, I would like to post a quote from Niesslein's chapter on The Soul, one that pretty much exemplifies her humor and the way she came to view self-help:

Are my morals proof of the existence of God? If anything, they seem to me to be proof of the existence of my mother.

Truer words have never been spoken.

Magical Thinking by Augusten Burroughs

I am currently reading Magical Thinking, a collection of essays by Augusten Burroughs. The essays are about various events in his life, but what is most noteworthy is the sense of humor with which he approaches everything. Burroughs is sarcastic and laugh-out-loud funny -- and believe me, it's not often that a book gets me to laugh out loud.

The biggest surprise for me was the discovery, several essays into the book, that Burroughs is gay. He lets the reader know gently, by first talking about how one of his childhood heroes was a transsexual. I totally didn't pick up on the cues at all, so when he started talking about how he had considered getting a sex-change operation, I was shocked.

All in all, the experience was kind of humbling. I write regularly for a GLBT parenting site, so sometimes I start thinking like I've got "them" all figured out. Clearly, that assumption -- including the reference to GLBT people as "them," an other -- stems from some sort of prejudice that I have been socialized with and unknowingly retained. I don't think of myself as prejudiced at all, but this just goes to show that getting rid of socialized prejudice is easier said than done.

But back to the book. My surprise at finding out the author is gay hasn't changed my enjoyment of the book any. In fact, I have to point out that another one of the funniest books I've ever read -- The Kid, by Dan Savage -- was also by a gay writer. I love a sarcastic sense of humor, and both of these guys have got it in spades.

NNNNN, by Carl Reiner

I just finished reading one of the weirdest books I've read in a long time. I seriously think NNNNN, by Carl Reiner, evolved out of writer's block. It reads like something that a foundering writer would come up with out of desperation, but it's pretty funny, too.

NNNNN breaks all the rules: Ridiculous coincidences, melodramatic plot devices, silly names, and bad dialogue makes this book a hoot to read. I wish I had had writer's block at the time I read this, as I imagine it would be a fun book to read when I'm having a hard time writing.

Bitter is the New Black, by Jen Lancaster

I decided I needed a brief break from my steady diet recently of nonfiction and classics, so I'm now reading Bitter is the New Black, by Jen Lancaster. Although it's nonfiction, this memoir is told in light prose. It's a quick read and pretty darn funny.

The author is basically this stuck-up princess who loses her unbelieveable income during the post-9/11 layoffs. Although you can't help but laugh at the things she says about her co-workers, friends, neighbors, other dog owners, and her wedding, she's also the type of girl you'd love to hate: absolutely full of herself.

What I think is so funny about the book is that even though the reader knows Jen is a spoiled-brat-bordering-on-bitch, she's also saying things to the idiots all around her that most of us only dream of saying. There's something very satisfying about reading some of the things she says, and it's one of the few books I've read that makes me laugh out loud -- frequently.

If you need something really fun to read, look no further than Jen Lancaster's Bitter is the New Black!