year read: 2018
how strongly i recommend it: 6.5/10

My first ever Sedaris book. I listened to the audio book version, which I think made it more enjoyable as it was read by Sedaris himself; it felt like I was listening to stand-up comedy.

It took awhile for me to warm up to Sedaris' style of writing, as it's not a typical novel or memoir with a 3-act story structure or even much character development. It reads (or listens) more like a diary--a series of memories and personal reflections. I can understand and appreciate why Sedaris has such a robust fan club--it takes a certain kind of person with a special kind of talent to be able to write in a way that makes his/her readers laugh out loud at such frequent intervals.

Sedaris observes and interprets tragic and sometimes mundane life events and occurrences through comic relief. It's clear he is not one to take himself, or life, too seriously, and that makes his work not only refreshing, but a joy to read.

year read: 2018
how strongly i recommend it: 8/10

One of the more helpful, contextual books I’ve read on meditation, though this is specific to the technique of Vipassana meditation. I read it to better understand the origin, history and why of Vipassana meditation, as I will be undergoing the experience myself in a few weeks.

The book is less a practical guide—for that, I think you may have to go to a 10-day Vipassana course. As mentioned in the book, there are three types of wisdoms: the first is accepted, which is when one accepts the wisdom that (s)he reads or hears. The second is intellectual, which encompasses the first but goes one step further in that the individual evaluates, researches and validates the learning through logical and rational analysis before accepting it as truth. And the last is experiential, the most powerful and beneficial, in which one experiences truth him/herself. 

What this book offers is wisdom, what you do with it thereafter is entirely up to you.

year read: 2018
how strongly i recommend it: 6/10

I really wanted to like this book - and I tried. It took me a lot longer to finish this book than most - I almost didn’t.

I love McSweeney’s Internet Tendency and other McSweeney’s publications and respect Dave Eggers as a human, writer and entrepreneur, but his stream-of-consciousness fantastical style of writing didn’t bode well for my ability to keep up and keep focused. I found it difficult to empathize, even though I understood, well, I think I did. Most of it.

With that said, there were characters I felt bonded to and paragraphs I marked for their unique choice of words and structural beauty.

It’s possible that the book would unveil upon me a different perspective on a second read, but I can’t say I’m inspired enough to try again, at least not for awhile.