Seriously...I'm Kidding

It isn't often that a book can reduce me to tears...of laughter. This one did just that. Ellen's philosophy is similar to my own, so I just loved reading her perspective on life. I borrowed this from the library, but I am definitely putting it on my wish list. It is a book that demands having sections read out loud. If you can keep a straight face. I couldn't, especially when she talks about getting a colonoscopy and a mammogram.

Road trip! 2,500-mile round trip taking my daughter to college and driving back alone calls for a whole lot of audiobooks. (3 of 7)

Comic comfort food. I could almost feel this book evaporate from my brain shortly after it passed through my ears, but it sure felt good in the moment.

A place to use monologues that didn't make it on her talk show?
A blatant pitch to promote her talk show?
Proof that bad writing can get published if you are famous?
Examples of how to stretch three lines of good ideas into an entire book?
The result of being forced to write an entire book when you have nothing to say?

These are a few of the purposes that this book fulfills. In the introduction, Ellen jokes that this book came out when her agent misheard her due to a poor cellphone connection. At least, when I started the book I thought it was a joke. By the end I began to suspect there might be some truth to it. There is so little substance to this book and so much "stretching" to fill space that perhaps she really was forced into writing show more another book. I've read better BS from high school students who handed in an essay they hadn't started writing until the night before.

"Be happy and Watch my show."
There. That's all this book actually says. Now go spend your time reading something more worthwhile, like a Twilight book. show less

This review was first posted on BookLikes: http://brokentune.booklikes.com/post/802080/seriously-i-m-kidding

I picked up Seriously...I'm Kidding as an audiobook the other week and thought it was safe to listen to it in the car - silly me!

There were several moments last weekend when I was quite glad that, where I was driving, only few people tried to use the same road. Otherwise, it is quite likely that either of the following would have happened: a) accident caused by erratic driving due to bouts of uncontrollable giggles; or b) people thinking I'm crazy - also due to bouts of uncontrollable giggles.

I'm not saying it's the best or funniest book ever, and it certainly has a few elements that are predictable - like, after a few chapters show more you get the hang of how her humor is structured and there are quite a few self-promoting references to her talk show - but it honestly had me in stitches at times and then balanced it out with some more inspirational points of view.

One aspect that was new to me - and maybe it is because I haven't read many books like this - was that the audiobook was actually addressed to the listener, almost as part of a conversation, which made the listening experience very engaging.

Had it been the print version, I wonder if the references had been adapted to achieve a similar effect with the reader? I have a hunch it might have... show less

By pure chance, I stumbled upon an audiobook reading of this novel by the author, Ellen DeGeneres, herself and remembered that I'd been planning to read this for quite some time. Since it was only three hours long and I was already procrastinating anyway, I decided to push studying away a little further and be entertained by Ellen in the meantime. I'm not a regular viewer of her talkshow (I wouldn't even know if it is actually broadcast anywhere here in Germany, though I'd doubt that), but I enjoy her humor, respect her opinions and have in the past been entertained by a lot of short videos of her talkshow interviews and games which have been uploaded on YouTube.

Hence, I decided to learn a little more about Ellen and listen to her show more memoir. And the end result is, I know absolutely nothing about her I didn't know before. The book is written in a very unique and entertaining style, and it did make me laugh out quite a number of times, but apart from its funny sections, a lot of the segments in this book appear to be just a collection of random thoughts which don't have anything constructive to contribute. Ultimately, it lacks a destination, which - according to Ellen - shouldn't be a problem in general since the path to your goal is always more important than your goal itself. I agree with that statement, but reading (or listening to) a book without any interesting information doesn't really create an enjoyable experience. The first half was still pretty solid entertainment, but the closer we got to the ending, the more and more boring did it get, to be honest. Ellen is a good entertainer, but this book really would have benefited from a clearer destination. show less

Although I don't really watch television and have never seen an episode (okay, not a whole episode) of Ellen's talk show, I used to watch her sitcom (the one where she owned a bookstore, and I envied her character such a great job), and, like probably everyone else in this hemisphere, am familiar with her to some extent. I checked this audiobook out of the library mainly because I was looking for something fun and funny. I was not disappointed. By turns funny, serious, quirky, silly, and thoughtful, this was a delightful listen. I laughed out loud several times, and my only gripe is that it's fairly short and I could happily have listened to more. I think the audiobook probably has it hands down over the printed version, since listening show more to Ellen delivering her own jokes must be exponentially more engaging than simply reading them. If you are a fan (or even just feel generally disposed to like her and her brand of humour) you should definitely enjoy this book. show less

This book is pretty much total fluff. It has its inspirational moments, but it mostly consists of rambling, amusing anecdotes about nothing. If you’re in the mood for a light, fun read (or listen) that will make you chuckle, then this is the perfect book for you. Just don’t expect it to be particularly brilliant or profound.