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What I've Learned... So Far Part II: Angels, Chimps, & Tater Mitts
"The lessons of life never stop coming. Angels, Chimps, & Tater Mitts is a collection of humor as Mike Ball muses about the world around him, facing the tide of anything and everything with knowledge fit for a spell on the old throne. With plenty of knowledge mixed in with the wit, "Angels, Chimps, & Tater Mitts" is an excellent and much recommended pick for general humor and memoir collections." - Able Greenspan, Midwest Book Reviews
For years the essays of award-winning humorist Mike Ball, published under the title "What I've Learned So Far..." have evoked laughter and tears in readers all over the world. Mike's sharp wit, blended with his gentle homespun style, has been compared to Mark Twain, Erma Bombeck, Dave Barry and even Ernie Pyle. One reader said, "Mike Ball can make me laugh and cry in 400 words."
This is second What I've Learned... So Far book. Volume I, Bikes, Docks & Slush Nuggets , was published in the fall of 2009.
For years the essays of award-winning humorist Mike Ball, published under the title "What I've Learned So Far..." have evoked laughter and tears in readers all over the world. Mike's sharp wit, blended with his gentle homespun style, has been compared to Mark Twain, Erma Bombeck, Dave Barry and even Ernie Pyle. One reader said, "Mike Ball can make me laugh and cry in 400 words."
This is second What I've Learned... So Far book. Volume I, Bikes, Docks & Slush Nuggets , was published in the fall of 2009.
303 pages, Paperback
First published March 29, 2012
1 person is currently reading
9 people want to read
About the author
Mike Ball
12 books7 followersMike Ball is an award-winning humorist who writes the internationally popular weekly syndicated column "What I've Learned So Far..." He lives and writes on the shores of Whitmore Lake, Michigan, sharing a roof with his wife and a psychotic Siamese cat. He is a member of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists, the recipient of the 2003 Erma Bombeck Award, and a finalist for the 2011 Robert Benchley Award.
Mike's first book, "Bikes, Docks & Slush Nuggets," is Part I of the "What I've Learned... So Far" trilogy. Part II, "Angels, Chimps & Tater Mitts," was published in April, 2012.
In addition to cranking out his humor column and books, Mike is a musician. As front man for the band Dr. Mike & The Sea Monkeys, he plays guitar, banjo, ukulele, djembe, slide guitar, and F# Shaker Egg. The band has been described as John Prine meets Jimmy Buffet, and features songs based on Mike's columns and books, such as, "At Least I've Got Most Of My Hair," "Carlson the Pissed Off Angel," and "The Colonoscopy Song."
Mike is also the founder of Lost Voices, a Michigan non-profit group that takes therapeutic roots music writing and performing programs to incarcerated and at-risk youth. For this work he was awarded the Kindness Community Hero Award from USA Today.
Mike's first book, "Bikes, Docks & Slush Nuggets," is Part I of the "What I've Learned... So Far" trilogy. Part II, "Angels, Chimps & Tater Mitts," was published in April, 2012.
In addition to cranking out his humor column and books, Mike is a musician. As front man for the band Dr. Mike & The Sea Monkeys, he plays guitar, banjo, ukulele, djembe, slide guitar, and F# Shaker Egg. The band has been described as John Prine meets Jimmy Buffet, and features songs based on Mike's columns and books, such as, "At Least I've Got Most Of My Hair," "Carlson the Pissed Off Angel," and "The Colonoscopy Song."
Mike is also the founder of Lost Voices, a Michigan non-profit group that takes therapeutic roots music writing and performing programs to incarcerated and at-risk youth. For this work he was awarded the Kindness Community Hero Award from USA Today.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
October 10, 2012
Subtitled What I’ve Learned So Far, Mike Ball’s Angels, Chimps, and Tater Mitts is a very enjoyable collection of essays on modern life, best read before the end of 2012 just in case the world doesn’t make it that far. The author’s work with his band, Dr. Mike and the Sea Monkeys, adds lyrical overtones to the humor; and mention of his charity Lost Voices, where at-risk children find their own lyrics and music, adds a pleasing sense of depth.
If you’re offended by greetings of Happy Holidays after Thanksgiving, this isn’t the book for you. But if you’re wondering how Christians just like you seem not to be offended, maybe you ought to read the chapter A Brief History of Christmas from start to finish—whatever you do; don’t miss the finish. The sting and the starlight is often in the tail.
These essays cover topics such as Paris Hilton’s Christmas list, back-ache and Senior Specials, those missing verses from Woody Guthrie’s This Land, guy food, football—oh, and politics. So if you’re offended by any politics that supports Woody Guthrie last verses, this probably isn’t the book for you either.
Otherwise read, laugh, enjoy and repeat. I thoroughly enjoyed time spent in the company of this author’s voice through his gently bantering tales.
Disclosure: I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
If you’re offended by greetings of Happy Holidays after Thanksgiving, this isn’t the book for you. But if you’re wondering how Christians just like you seem not to be offended, maybe you ought to read the chapter A Brief History of Christmas from start to finish—whatever you do; don’t miss the finish. The sting and the starlight is often in the tail.
These essays cover topics such as Paris Hilton’s Christmas list, back-ache and Senior Specials, those missing verses from Woody Guthrie’s This Land, guy food, football—oh, and politics. So if you’re offended by any politics that supports Woody Guthrie last verses, this probably isn’t the book for you either.
Otherwise read, laugh, enjoy and repeat. I thoroughly enjoyed time spent in the company of this author’s voice through his gently bantering tales.
Disclosure: I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
February 18, 2016
Subtitled What I've Learned So Far, Mike Ball's Angels, Chimps, and Tater Mitts is a very enjoyable collection of essays on modern life, best read before the end of 2012 just in case the world doesn't make it that far. The author's work with his band, Dr. Mike and the Sea Monkeys, adds lyrical overtones to the humor; and mention of his charity Lost Voices, where at-risk children find their own lyrics and music, adds a pleasing sense of depth.
If you're offended by greetings of Happy Holidays after Thanksgiving, this isn't the book for you. But if you're wondering how Christians just like you seem not to be offended, maybe you ought to read the chapter A Brief History of Christmas from start to finish--whatever you do; don't miss the finish. The sting and the starlight is often in the tail.
These essays cover topics such as Paris Hilton's Christmas list, back-ache and Senior Specials, those missing verses from Woody Guthrie's This Land, guy food, football--oh, and politics. So if you're offended by any politics that supports Woody Guthrie last verses, this probably isn't the book for you either.
Otherwise read, laugh, enjoy and repeat. I thoroughly enjoyed time spent in the company of this author's voice through his gently bantering tales.
Disclosure: I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
If you're offended by greetings of Happy Holidays after Thanksgiving, this isn't the book for you. But if you're wondering how Christians just like you seem not to be offended, maybe you ought to read the chapter A Brief History of Christmas from start to finish--whatever you do; don't miss the finish. The sting and the starlight is often in the tail.
These essays cover topics such as Paris Hilton's Christmas list, back-ache and Senior Specials, those missing verses from Woody Guthrie's This Land, guy food, football--oh, and politics. So if you're offended by any politics that supports Woody Guthrie last verses, this probably isn't the book for you either.
Otherwise read, laugh, enjoy and repeat. I thoroughly enjoyed time spent in the company of this author's voice through his gently bantering tales.
Disclosure: I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
May 19, 2014
Mike is pretty funny most of the time, except when he's caricaturing conservatives - then he's pretty mean-spirited. But I don't mind cutting him a break, because he's a genuinely nice guy and he does great work with kids in prison through his foundation. And because he made me laugh out loud when describing why a GPS is necessary: "I have spent a good part of my traveling life wondering if someone was moving whole towns around just to confuse me. And my wife can actually sit watching a sunset without having any idea what direction she is facing." I can relate.
May 17, 2012
This book is a collection of what I think was at one point a newspaper column. It’s a bunch of short snippets/stories about his life, his opinion on things, or stories he has been told. Each chapter is short and to the point making it a very easy book to pick up, open to any chapter, and enjoy reading for a couple minutes. Some of the stories were humorous while others were touching and then there some that were just plain interesting.
I enjoyed all the short quirky stories in this book, if there was one I didn’t like as much I could easily head another page or two and pick up a new one. The only bad thing was that I was trying to finish the book quickly so I could review it, if it were up to me this would be a great book to just pick up every now and then and read a few chapters. It’s a nice change in between long novels, and it doesn’t hurt that some of the stories were about Michigan and Ann Arbor!
I would recommend this book to almost anyone but especially someone with a short attention span and doesn’t like to get involved with long books. Or someone who doesn’t have a lot of time to read, this is great because each chapter grabs your attention quickly and it’s over before you know it and you can get back to whatever other important things you have going on in your life.
For a full review check out my blog:
http://explanniefyfed.blogspot.com/20...
I enjoyed all the short quirky stories in this book, if there was one I didn’t like as much I could easily head another page or two and pick up a new one. The only bad thing was that I was trying to finish the book quickly so I could review it, if it were up to me this would be a great book to just pick up every now and then and read a few chapters. It’s a nice change in between long novels, and it doesn’t hurt that some of the stories were about Michigan and Ann Arbor!
I would recommend this book to almost anyone but especially someone with a short attention span and doesn’t like to get involved with long books. Or someone who doesn’t have a lot of time to read, this is great because each chapter grabs your attention quickly and it’s over before you know it and you can get back to whatever other important things you have going on in your life.
For a full review check out my blog:
http://explanniefyfed.blogspot.com/20...
April 27, 2012
3.5 stars
What I've Learned So Far... Part II is a humorous and touching collection of articles written by 2003 Erma Bombeck Award-Winning humorist Mike Ball. He was also a finalist for the 2011 Robert Benchley Award. The Erma Bombeck is a writing competition hosted every two years by the Washington-Centerville Public Library and the Erma Bombeck Writer's Competition. The Robert Benchley Award is given out annually by his society to humor writers.
Aside from being a writer, Ball has formed a nonprofit group that conducts song writing and performing workshops with incarcerated kids named Lost Voices. Some of the essays in this book are about the Lost Voices. He touches lives.
This book runs through about a year of essays, articles written by Mike Ball. He calls them essays I call them articles for his syndicated column. He pokes fun at Bill O'Reilly's "War on Christmas" but other than that he really stays away from politics, which is a good thing.
His articles are short, but not too short. They're easy to get through and fun to read. I enjoyed this book. It wasn't the best thing I've ever read, but it was pretty good.
Read as a review request. Every opinion here is my own.
What I've Learned So Far... Part II is a humorous and touching collection of articles written by 2003 Erma Bombeck Award-Winning humorist Mike Ball. He was also a finalist for the 2011 Robert Benchley Award. The Erma Bombeck is a writing competition hosted every two years by the Washington-Centerville Public Library and the Erma Bombeck Writer's Competition. The Robert Benchley Award is given out annually by his society to humor writers.
Aside from being a writer, Ball has formed a nonprofit group that conducts song writing and performing workshops with incarcerated kids named Lost Voices. Some of the essays in this book are about the Lost Voices. He touches lives.
This book runs through about a year of essays, articles written by Mike Ball. He calls them essays I call them articles for his syndicated column. He pokes fun at Bill O'Reilly's "War on Christmas" but other than that he really stays away from politics, which is a good thing.
His articles are short, but not too short. They're easy to get through and fun to read. I enjoyed this book. It wasn't the best thing I've ever read, but it was pretty good.
Read as a review request. Every opinion here is my own.
July 31, 2012
Review copy provided by author's representative.
Angels, Chimps, & Tater Mitts is Mike Ball's second collection of columns previously published under the title "What I've Learned So Far." The topics range widely, as the title suggests, and have a midwestern feel, although Ball is decidedly liberal, thank heavens. Ball writes about fishing, Michigan sports teams, his work with Lost Voices (an organization that helps kids in juvenile detention facilities), his travels, and lots of other stuff. He avoids being overly sentimental, though I admit to getting misty a few times when he was talking about some of the kids he helped and what they had to say. I laughed long and hard over his comments about Sarah Palin. Of course, I mainly read the book to learn exactly what a Tater Mitt could be, and I recommend that you do the same. All of the essays are short, so this is a great book to keep in the car when you're waiting for a kid to finish baseball practice or whatever. It's easy to pick up and put down. I wouldn't have minded a table of contents so I could go straight to favorite topics...maybe that will be a new feature in Part III?
Angels, Chimps, & Tater Mitts is Mike Ball's second collection of columns previously published under the title "What I've Learned So Far." The topics range widely, as the title suggests, and have a midwestern feel, although Ball is decidedly liberal, thank heavens. Ball writes about fishing, Michigan sports teams, his work with Lost Voices (an organization that helps kids in juvenile detention facilities), his travels, and lots of other stuff. He avoids being overly sentimental, though I admit to getting misty a few times when he was talking about some of the kids he helped and what they had to say. I laughed long and hard over his comments about Sarah Palin. Of course, I mainly read the book to learn exactly what a Tater Mitt could be, and I recommend that you do the same. All of the essays are short, so this is a great book to keep in the car when you're waiting for a kid to finish baseball practice or whatever. It's easy to pick up and put down. I wouldn't have minded a table of contents so I could go straight to favorite topics...maybe that will be a new feature in Part III?
July 15, 2012
The author has an easy-to-read writing style and has filled his book with quirky stories and humor. His quick, fun jokes and stories make the book a delight to read. It is definitely a great book for an airplane or the beach.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews