This is a memoir by Jeannie Gaffigan, co-writer with and wife of comedian Jim Gaffigan. She was diagnosed with a brain tumor shaped like a pear (hence the title) in 2017, and here tells her own story.
This was a pretty good memoir, funny in some parts and touching in others. It was a little longer than it needed to be.
Nonfiction by Megan Mullally and Nick Offerman
This hyperbolically named book by the married actor/comedians is pretty funny, but not hysterically so.
It was a bit too long and repetitive; if you like these people already you'll probably like it. If you don't know who they are you will be bored.
Fiction by Jennifer E. Smith
The four Endicott siblings grew up together more or less normally, until Gemma, the oldest, was 12. At that point their mother Frankie disappeared from their lives to pursue Art, leaving them with a dad who worked all the time and only reappearing for summer visits. For the next seven summers, Frankie would take them on a whirlwind road trip, darting randomly around the country with the vague goal of eventually visiting all fifty states.
As adults the siblings remained close until a big fight blew a hole in their relationship. Then Jude, the youngest of the kids, makes a big effort to get everyone back together in North Dakota of all places. Secrets will soon come out...
This was a really well-written bunch of characters. I really liked this book.
Nonfiction? by Norm MacDonald
I put a question mark after the word "nonfiction" above because, although this book is labelled as a memoir, the story seems to be almost completely made up.
Norm MacDonald was indeed a comedian who was on Saturday Night Live in the nineties, and he was alive in 2016 and doing stand-up when the book was written (he has since died), but the rest of this "memoir" is quite fictitious.
Also it's not funny. At least the first half isn't. I gave up.
Nonfiction by Lisa Brennan-Jobs
Lisa is the daughter of Steve Jobs and his high school girlfriend Chrisann Brennan, but she was raised in her early years exclusively by her mother. Steve Jobs refused to acknowledge paternity, until the state of California sued him for back child support (to reimburse them for the food stamps and welfare Chrisann had been forced to apply for in order to support his daughter.)
Even after DNA test had proven that he was indeed Lisa's father, Steve continued to deny her for many years. He gave her little scraps of attention as she longed for his approval. At the same time, her mother loved her, but was emotionally unstable and chronically poor.
This was a very interesting memoir; it gives the reader a clear picture of Lisa and her parents. I didn't love it, since everyone was kind of unpleasant...
Nonfiction by Ellen Hunter Ulken
This book briefly profiles the short lives of six twentieth century female singers, all of whom died before reaching age 35. Five of the women were known to me.
It was a good overview and it's interesting to see the similarities and differences in the women's lives.
Nonfiction by Karen Tongsen
I got this book (along with several others about the late singer Karen Carpenter) because I'm kind of researching the Carpenters for a possible musical revue performance. I read a biography of her years ago before I started logging my books --I think it was Little Girl Blue by Randy Schmidt-- and I wanted a little refresher course.
This book was a bit colored by the author's own take. The author herself was named after the singer, and her home country of the Philippines apparently has a special affinity for Karen Carpenter. It was a pretty good short read.
Fiction by Susanna Hoffs
This book caught my eye with the author's name (Susanna Hoffs was the songwriter/singer for the Bangles) and the pretty cover (see below).
The story is about Jane Start, a one-hit-wonder singer who is still trying desperately to get that second hit after ten years. She takes an opportunity to fly to England and get out of her parents' basement, where she's been living. While she's there, she may find love, or even finally jump-start her career...
It was an okay book but I didn't love it.
Fiction by Byron Lake
Charlie is overjoyed when he lands his dream job: as a personal assistant to aging megastar Kathi Kannon, daughter of aged megastar and household name Gracie Gold. His job is to keep her happy and safe, and maybe help her write her memoirs. He loves her, so he’s sure this won’t be a problem.
But the problem is that Kathi is no good at staying safe. ( Or happy, really. ) She’s a partially recovered drug addict; she has manic episodes; she’s forever searching for the cure to boredom in dangerous places. Charlie has his hands full just keeping her alive, and his job is consuming his life.
This was a pretty funny and mostly interesting book. I liked Charlie but the self- sabotaging Kathi was difficult to muster sympathy for.
Fiction by Tom Hanks
I couldn't get interested in this book for some reason.
Nonfiction by Trevor Noah.
I had heard a lot of good things about this book; still I was reluctant to start reading. I don't often love celebrity memoirs; usually their lives aren't that interesting other than the fact that they are on TV or whatever. And I'd seen Mr. Noah's show briefly and remained unimpressed.
But I'm so glad I did go ahead and read this book. Born in South Africa under apartheid to mixed-race parents and raised partly in hiding, Trevor Noah has an amazing story to tell! The thing I loved the most was reading about his mother, Patricia. She's great!
I definitely recommend this book.
Fiction by Jim Carrey
Jim Carrey's summation of this book is: "None of this is real and all of this is true."
If you said, "Huh?" then welcome to the club. I didn't get it either, and unfortunately I didn't get this book. It's supposed to be a peek into Mr. Carrey's mind but in a fictional way?
Also it wasn't funny. I mark this one DNF--Did Not Finish.
Nonfiction by Jeanette McCurdy
Nonfiction by Demi Moore
This was a pretty good celebrity memoir.
I'm interested in Demi Moore because of her career and her romantic relationships, and she gives good details on both things. It probably wouldn't be interesting to anyone who hadn't heard of her, or Bruce, or Ashton, but a sizeable number of folks have definitely heard of all three of them.
