If you’re anything like me, you cannot even walk into a bookstore without spending $200 or more. I love reading, and I love books. Those aren’t always the same thing.
It’s with that spirit this week I was reading all sorts of different articles about popular books that may suffer from an unfortunate name or title. How unfortunate they actually are, I’ll leave up to you, the reader, to decide. Synopses are from Amazon or original.
My Parents Open Carry by Brian Jeffs and Nathan Nephew. “Come join 13-year-old Brenna Strong along with her mom, Bea, and her dad, Richard, as they spend a typical Saturday running errands and having fun together. What’s not so typical is that Brenna’s parents lawfully open carry handguns for self-defense. The Strongs join a growing number of families that are standing up for their 2nd Amendment rights by open carrying and bringing gun ownership out of the closet and into the mainstream. This unique kid’s book will be treasured for years to come and will be passed down to new family members.”
All My Friends Are Dead by Avery Monsen and Jory John. “If you’re a dinosaur, all of your friends are dead. If you’re a pirate, all of your friends have scurvy. If you’re a tree, all of your friends are end tables. Each page of this laugh-out-loud illustrated humor book showcases the downside of being everything from a clown to a cassette tape to a zombie. Cute and dark all at once, this hilarious children’s book for adults teaches valuable lessons about life while exploring each cartoon character’s unique grievance and wide-eyed predicament.”
The Night Dad Went to Jail-What to Expect When Someone You Love Goes to Jail by Melissa Higgins. “When someone you love goes to jail, you might feel lost, scared, and even mad. What do you do? No matter who your loved one is, this story can help you through the tough times.”
K is for Knifeball: An Alphabet of Terrible Advice by Avery Monsen and Jory John. “A laugh-out-loud collection of bad advice that turns the children’s alphabet book on its head. Adorable illustrated characters lead readers down a path of poor decision-making, and alphabetical, rhyming couplets offer terrible life lessons in which O is for opening things with your teeth, F is for setting Daddy’s wallet on fire, and R is for Raccoon (but definitely not for rabies). With plenty of playfully disastrous choices lurking around every corner, this compendium of black humor may be terrible for actual children, but it’s perfect for the common-senseless child in all adults.”
And, lastly, some grounded, blue collar advice from the Ivy league-educated daughter of multi-millionaires…
It’s Your World: Get Informed, Get Inspired, Get Going! by Chelsea Clinton. “In a book that tackles the biggest challenges facing us today, Chelsea Clinton combines facts, charts, photographs and stories to give readers a deep understanding of the world around them—and how anyone can make a difference.” The only child of former White House occupants who’ve been known to clear $250 million a year, Chelsea, a graduate of Stanford, Oxford, Columbia and New York University, will help commoners understand the real world with heaps of platitudes and condescension from someone who wouldn’t know the first thing about the “real world.”
Enjoy!
Stu Salkeld is the new editor of The Leduc/Wetaskiwin Pipestone Flyer and writes a regular column for the paper.