David Sedaris: Live For Your Listening Pleasure

Audio Performance: David Sedaris: Live For Your Listening Pleasure

Summary:  If you were lucky enough to have caught a performance on David Sedaris's most recent sold-out, 34-city tour, you already know thatDavid Sedaris Live For Your Listening Pleasure is a must-have album! If you didn't hear it live and in person, then you're in for a treat-hilarious brand-new recordings from performances in Denver, New York, Durham, LA, and Atlanta, in one convenient audiobook collection, on sale November 24 for only $17.98.
From the bold feral rabbits of his French backyard to the eating habits of a carnivorous bird Down Under, Live For Your Listening Pleasure takes listeners on a veritable tour of natural wonders, beginning with a fable, "Cat and Baboon," and moving on to the peculiarly American habitat of the "big-box" store.

Thoughts: I picked this audio performance up from the library to hold me over until I get Sedaris's new book, Let's Explore Diabetes With Owls.  Live For Your Listening Pleasure is exactly the way I like Sedaris: relating his personal stories in front of a live audience.  I've listened to him narrate his own book before, so I'm used to his voice.  He has a special cadence and rhythm that I don't get through reading alone.

His observations on life are funny and dark.  He approaches both himself and the people around him with the honesty most of us dismiss in the name of common courtesy.  I've seen the link on twitter a lot this past week, but if you haven't watched it, take a look at Sedaris on The Daily Show (embedded below).  The video is him at the top of his game and the humor is exactly what you will find in his writing. (You can also watch a video of Sedaris reading from 50 Shades of Gray. O.o)




Moments I Loved: Sedaris relates a story of being annoyed by how well an acquaintance picks up French.  The friend begins speaking to him in French and Sedaris responds in Japanese.

WTF Moments: There are a lot.  That is mostly why I like David Sedaris.

Narrators: I've come to really enjoy listening to Sedaris narrate his own stories.  I was thrown off by his voice the first time I heard it, but now that I'm used to it, I know what to expect from his narration as much as from his stories.  Plus, this CD was recorded in front of a live audience, which made it even more enjoyable.

Overall: A short intro to Sedaris for those who aren't familiar with his work, but also a fun piece for long time fans.

David Sedaris: Live For Your Listening Pleasure gets a FakeSteph rating of...

Waiting On Wednesday: You Look Different In Real Life by Jennifer Castle

Waiting On Wednesday, hosted by Breaking the Spine, lets us book hoarding bloggers highlight a book we're excited for each week. This week I'm waiting on You Look Different In Real Life by Jennifer Castle.

GoodReads Description: A smart, fresh novel about five teens whose ordinary lives are captured on camera for the whole world to see, from a breakout author who "will be well received by Sarah Dessen fans" (ALA Booklist)

The premise was simple: five kids living their real lives, with a new movie about them every five years. But the six-year-olds who shared the same table in kindergarten have become teenagers who are hardly friends. And Justine, whose edgy sense of humor made her the surprise star of the first two films, now feels like a disappointment.

Still, they've all shared the painful details of their lives with countless viewers. They all know how lonely it is to have fans instead of friends. So when the latest movie gives them the chance to reunite, Justine and her costars are going to take it. Because sometimes, the only way to really see yourself is through someone else's eyes.

With the "detailed writing and smart, realistically cool characters" (SLJ) that earned The Beginning of After critical acclaim and comparisons to Sarah Dessen, You Look Different in Real Life is a sharply observed, wholly engrossing book about the surface-level identities you can see on camera and the truths you can only see in real life.

Why I'm Excited: After college, I moved to LA and I met quite a few child actors (and just actors in general).  I'm really interested to see how the book handles the special issues that go along with fame and growing up in the spotlight.  Plus, I love contemporary.

You Look Different In Real Life comes out June 4, 2013 from Harper Teen.

Top Ten (Tuesday) Books Dealing With Tough Subjects

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish that combines lists and books.  This weeks topic is... Top Ten Books Dealing With Tough Subjects. As always, covers link to GoodReads.

Loss...

    

  

The Holocaust...

Sexuality...

A book about cancer that doesn't want to be a Cancer Book...

Rape...

    

I'm super excited to see all of your lists this week!

Scarlet (Lunar Chronicles #2) by Marissa Meyer

Book: Scarlet (Lunar Chronicles #2) by Marissa Meyer

Summary (from GoodReads):  The fates of Cinder and Scarlet collide as a Lunar threat spreads across the Earth...Cinder, the cyborg mechanic, returns in the second thrilling installment of the bestselling Lunar Chronicles. She's trying to break out of prison—even though if she succeeds, she'll be the Commonwealth's most wanted fugitive.
Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit's grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn't know about her grandmother or the grave danger she has lived in her whole life. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother's whereabouts, she is loath to trust this stranger, but is inexplicably drawn to him, and he to her. As Scarlet and Wolf unravel one mystery, they encounter another when they meet Cinder. Now, all of them must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen Levana, who will do anything for the handsome Prince Kai to become her husband, her king, her prisoner.

Thoughts: I loved Cinder and even though I had heard great things about the sequel, Scarlet, I was still very nervous to read it.  Luckily, Scarlet exceeded my high expectations.  Not only are we able to revisit Meyer's vivid and unique world in Scarlet, but we learn a whole lot more about it.  I loved reading about what is going on in the different countries on Earth as well as what is going on with the Lunars and Lunar rebels.  I *think* in the next book, we'll actually get to visit the moon and I'm already excited.  The book also had me at the edge of me seat, taunted me with little bits of information the whole way through, and made me giggle and swoon over characters old and new.

What I was most nervous about was the introduction of Scarlet and all of the other new characters.  Each book in the series is or will be loosely based off of a different fairy tale.  I was worried about losing Cinder, aka cyborg Cinderella, in a new fairy tale (Little Red Riding Hood).  But that never happens.  We get plenty of Cinder action, plus a few chapters from Kai's point of view.  But there is also Captain Thorne, an American and a thief.  He is hilarious and exactly the kind of personality that Cinder needs to be around to stay sane.  And Wolf, who is just... he makes my heart happy.  As far as love interests go, that kind of story line is one of my favorites.  Cinder and Scarlet are both awesome and I can't wait to see the damage these two can cause together.

Moments I Loved: Scarlet and Wolf's train kiss.  Man, I loved every scene with Scarlet and Wolf.

WTF Moments: The Lunar attack!  The Lunar's have manipulated their soldiers DNA and they fight like animals while looking like humans.  Incredibly creepy.

Overall: A sequel that is even better than the first book, with more action and more romance!

Scarlet gets a FakeSteph rating of...

Sundays In Bed With... Paper Valentine and Stacking the Shelves

Sundays in bed with is hosted by Kate at Midnight Book Girl.  Yesterday, I took the day off blogging, because I spent Friday taking the Praxis II (the licensing test to become a teacher) and I was tired.  My first summer class starts this week, but I'm hoping to do a ton of reading before I get overwhelmed with homework.  So this week, I'm in bed with way too many books, but there is one that I am definitely planning on finishing this week:

Paper Valentine is the winner's pick for this month's TBR Intervention and I'm starting it today.  I love serial killer stories, so I'm really excited.

Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews.

For Review:

Dare You To by Katie McGarry, which I have already read and LOVED.  Can't wait to review it and I'll be featuring it in my next two Looks From Books posts and a Waiting On Wednesday.

Free for Kindle:

Open Minds (Mindjack #1) by Susan Kaye Quinn

Previously on The Fake Steph Dot Com (in a dramatic voice)
A thankfully slow week, because I need some time to catch up.  And in case you missed it this week I posted reviews of The Trouble With Flirting and What Really Happened In Peru.  I also posted my top ten books when you need something light and fun, waited on The Book of Broken Hearts, and picked a winner for TBR Intervention (but you can participate in June, which might be a special BEA edition).

Bout of Books: Sign Up

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 13th and runs through Sunday, May 19th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 7.0 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

I think that this is actually going to fit perfectly with my schedule and I'd really like to get ahead now, before the semester starts.  So... I'm participating.  My goals are below and I'll be updating this post throughout the readathon.

Goals:

I've started the first few chapters of all these and I want to finish these:

Paper Valentine by Brenna Yovanoff (edit: didn't actually start this before the readathon, so whole thing.)

Lean Mean Thirteen by Janet Evanovich

Warp: The Reluctant Assassin by Eoin Colfer

Finding Rachel Davenport by Michael Harling

The Murmurings by Carly Ann West

I want to read two graphic novels:
The Walking Dead 6

The Amulet of Samarkand

Audiobooks:  I want to get through the first part of:

A Storm of Swords by George R. R. Marting

Six Years by Harlan Coben

Rereads:
Paper Towns by John Green

Monday
Books Read: 
Lean Mean Thirteen by Janet Evanovich - finished - 230 pages
Paper Valentine by Brenna Yovanoff - started - 15 pages
Mini-challenges: none

Tuesday
Books Read:
Paper Valentine by Brenna Yovanoff - continued - 60 pages
This Sorrowful Life (Walking Dead #6) by Robert Kirkland - started and finished - 144 pages
Mini-challenges:  none


Wednesday
Books Read:
Mini-challenges: 

Thursday
Books Read:
Mini-challenges: 

Friday
Books Read:
Mini-challenges: 

Saturday
Books Read:
Mini-challenges: 

Sunday
Books Read:
Mini-challenges: 

Total
Pages Read: 449
Time listened: 0
Books read from/listened to: 3
Books completed: 2

TBR Intervention: May 2013 Redux

TBR Intervention will run on the first Friday of every month in 2013. Since this is the second Friday of the month, I get to announce the winner. Check out last week's post to read the rules and see how things went down.

Last week the choices were:

Then Came You by Jennifer Weiner

Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause

Paper Valentine by Brenna Yovanoff

What's Left of Me by Kat Zhang (will be a new copy--see rule 3 below!)

The Mermaid's Mirror by L.K. Madigan

I used random.org to pick a winner:

Which is...

Tiffany Drew

...who picked Paper Valentine. I'll e-mail you for your address this weekend and put it in the mail as soon as I finish.

What Really Happened In Peru (Magnus Bane Chronicles #1) by Cassandra Clare and Sarah Rees Brennan

Novel: What Really Happened In Peru (Magnus Bane Chronicles #1) by Cassandra Clare and Sarah Rees Brennan

Summary:   Fans of The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices know that Magnus Bane is banned from Peru—and now they can find out why. One of ten adventures in The Bane Chronicles.There are good reasons Peru is off-limits to Magnus Bane. Follow Magnus’s Peruvian escapades as he drags his fellow warlocks Ragnor Fell and Catarina Loss into trouble, learns several instruments (which he plays shockingly), dances (which he does shockingly), and disgraces his host nation by doing something unspeakable to the Nazca Lines.
This standalone e-only short story illuminates the life of the enigmatic Magnus Bane, whose alluring personality populates the pages of the #1 New York Times bestselling series, The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices series. This story in The Bane Chronicles, What Really Happened in Peru, is written by Sarah Rees Brennan and Cassandra Clare.

Thoughts: I knew going in that this would be a short, but I honestly expected there to be a little bit of a story.  Instead we get a series of short adventures that Magnus went on in Peru, all finishing with "but that was not why Magnus was banned from Peru."  (That is probably more of a paraphrase than a direct quote). For the most part I enjoyed them.  Magnus is one of the more colorful characters in Clare's series and I really enjoyed being able to learn more about him.  I just wish the short had been a story instead of a series of sketches.

Moments I Loved: The hangover story... that is what I expected most of the story to be like.

WTF Moments: The end.  It made the entire short feel like a too-long set up for a punchline that fell flat.

Narrators:  The narrator seemed very serious, which didn't feel right to me.  Yes, Magnus is a deep character covering all these hidden hurts, but that's just it... they are hidden.  He masks his pain with mischief and arrogance.  Only the people who know him well are supposed to see through it. So it didn't feel right that the narrator was so... mournful.

Overall: The narrator didn't capture Magnus's mischievous side and the ending left me frustrated instead of laughing.  Still, it was fun getting to know a little bit more about one of my favorite characters.

What Really Happened In Peru gets a FakeSteph rating of...

Waiting On Wednesday: The Book of Broken Hearts by Sarah Ockler

Waiting On Wednesday, hosted by Breaking the Spine, lets us book hoarding bloggers highlight a book we're excited for each week. This week I'm waiting on The Book of Broken Hearts by Sarah Ockler.

GoodReads Description: When all signs point to heartbreak, can love still be a rule of the road? A poignant and romantic novel from the author of Bittersweet and Twenty Boy Summer.

Jude has learned a lot from her older sisters, but the most important thing is this: The Vargas brothers are notorious heartbreakers. She’s seen the tears and disasters that dating a Vargas boy can cause, and she swore an oath—with candles and a contract and everything—to never have anything to do with one.

Now Jude is the only sister still living at home, and she’s spending the summer helping her ailing father restore his vintage motorcycle—which means hiring a mechanic to help out. Is it Jude’s fault he happens to be cute? And surprisingly sweet? And a Vargas?

Jude tells herself it’s strictly bike business with Emilio. Her sisters will never find out, and Jude can spot those flirty little Vargas tricks a mile away—no way would she fall for them. But Jude’s defenses are crumbling, and if history is destined to repeat itself, she’s speeding toward some serious heartbreak…unless her sisters were wrong?

Jude may have taken an oath, but she’s beginning to think that when it comes to love, some promises might be worth breaking.

Why I'm Excited: I loved (LOVED) Twenty Boy Summer.  It was exactly the kind of heartbreaking book I wanted and I can't wait to read this new one.  Especially because I love stories with sisters, families, and forbidden love interests.

The Book of Broken Hearts comes out May 21, 2013 from Simon Pulse.

Top Ten (Tuesday) Books When You Need Something Light and Fun

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish that combines lists and books. This weeks topic is... Top Ten Books When You Need Something Light and Fun.

I picked 12 books, but only 10 authors, so that totally counts.  Covers link to GoodReads.

    

    

    

    

I love happy-making books.