Laughter is great medicine. When you read these quirky essays about the humorous aspects of life or listen to them as are driving or cleaning house, they will make you laugh.
“A Trip to the Hardware Store” – This is the hilarious tale of a dad who frequents the hardware store because he wants to fix at least one thing right. He finally gets his chance but not exactly in the way he would have planned it.
“Dinner is Served” – Oh, the fun of planning a dinner party when each of the friends you are inviting have foods they can’t or won’t eat. I think I would have given up and served a buffet, but the author has dishes she wants to prepare no matter how many changes to them she must make.
“Lazy Bones” – Are any of you lazy? Do you procrastinate? This one was written for you. Learn about famous procrastinators of the past and why procrastination really isn’t such a bad thing.
“Your Account is Past Due” – The author’s experience working as a debt collector and some of the fantastic excuses those who owed money would give her. This type of job would be a fiction writer’s dream! You would get endless writing prompts as part of your job.
“Gadget Girl” – Do you like to buy all sorts of gadgets? You know, the kind they advertise on TV. If you do, this story tells you all of the great things you can do with them as well as how to find room for them.
“Where did the Time Go?” – The author talks about her dad, who, in his golden years, is not remembering things quite so well.
“Beyond Belief” – The author reminisces about her different waitressing jobs. Hilarious!
“High Finance” – The author explains the strange way she and her sisters handle the finances. No way could I handle my finances their way.
My only complaint about the audiobook is that it wasn’t long enough! I have listened to it several times, and I will listen to it many more times.
If you listen to this one while you are driving, be careful! The stories will have you laughing so hard that you may find yourself unable to pay enough attention to the other cars on the road.
I listened to it while I cleaned the kitchen. That was just a bit safer than listening to it while driving. I just had to be careful not to drop dishes or splash dishwater all over myself.
The lady reading the essays, Carrie Lee Martz, did a great job. She somehow managed to not break out in laughter as she read, and her voice was clear and easy to understand.
I was sent a copy of the book and the audiobook in exchange for an honest review. If you would like to purchase your own copy, I have provided Amazon links for both below.
Amazon Link: A Trip to the Hardware Store & Other Calamities (Quirky Essays for Quirky People)
Favorite Sentences:
Only a master procrastinator can leap from the precipice of putting things off into the whitewater of wasted time to swim in the sea of snide remarks without drowning.
My car went off the road into a canal swarming with alligators during mating season and I barely escaped!
Think of the exotic flavors you could invent, like bourbon with cornflakes, or candied bacon—you can’t find those in the store!
Picture a misstep, a shaky hand and a large frozen strawberry daiquiri with whipped cream toppling off a tray in slow motion, spilling right onto a bald man’s head!
New Words Learned:
gewgaw – something gaudy and useless; trinket; bauble.
tchotchke – an inexpensive souvenir, trinket, or ornament.
About the Author:
Barbara Venkataraman is an attorney and mediator specializing in family law and debt collection.
She is the author of The Fight for Magicallus, a children’s fantasy, and a humorous short story entitled “If You’d Just Listened to Me in the First Place,” and two books of humorous essays: I’m Not Talking about You, Of Course and A Trip to the Hardware Store & Other Calamities in her Quirky Essays for Quirky People series.
She is also the author of the Jamie Quinn mystery series. The books in this series are Death by Didgeridoo, The Case of the Killer Divorce, Peril in the Park, and Engaged in Danger.
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