One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories in Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge

Aug 13, 2014 Rincey rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2014

Listened to this as an audiobook. Some of these essays were really clever and I like the ideas explored, some of them made me roll my eyes cause I felt like Novak was trying a bit to hard to be clever or witty. Basically, I feel the same way about this book that I do about Novak, I like him about 50% of the time and the other 50% I just roll my eyes.

2 likes · Like · see review

Mar 07, 2015 Molly rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 4-stars, recommended, borrowed, read-in-2015, read-harder-2015, audiobook, short-stories

I finished this on the way home yesterday, but I want to listen to a few of these stories again (it bothers me to no end that there's no track listing. I ended up downloading a sample on my kindle to at least get the table of contents!).

This was my first ever audiobook! (Thanks, #ReadHarder challenge!) In a way, it was kind of the perfect audiobook for my purposes: since I got it from the library, it was on CDs, so I could only listen in my car. My drive to work is about 15 minutes, and since m I finished this on the way home yesterday, but I want to listen to a few of these stories again (it bothers me to no end that there's no track listing. I ended up downloading a sample on my kindle to at least get the table of contents!).

This was my first ever audiobook! (Thanks, #ReadHarder challenge!) In a way, it was kind of the perfect audiobook for my purposes: since I got it from the library, it was on CDs, so I could only listen in my car. My drive to work is about 15 minutes, and since many of the stories in the collection are fairly short, it worked out nicely. And given that there are something like 60 stories here, it's expected that they were hit or miss.

I am not now, nor have I ever been, a fan of The Office. However, I have a weird affection for both Mindy Kaling and BJ Novak. I can't explain it. I also was somehow under the impression that this was partially a memoir, but it's 100% short fiction. I heard "Julie and the Warlord" on an episode of This American Life, and it piqued my interest. Plus I needed an audiobook for my reading Bingo card! Weirdly, I liked the NPR version better than the one here; it was read by Alison Brie and an actor whose name I can't recall but he sounded legitimately African. Here it's Jenna Fisher and apparently Rainn Wilson (which I didn't realize until the credits). I actually didn't like the story as much on the second listen, with different voices.

I feel like my main issue with the stories I disliked was the endings. There were a few that were so short I was left saying "What? That's it?" and back tracking because I was sure I'd missed something. I feel like those super-short stories might have worked better on the page. Then there were a few stories that I felt like should have ended about a minute sooner than they actually did. The Chris Hansen story...so hilarious and then it has the dumbest ending. Novak has a thing for weird pauses that are just a beat too long - there were several times when I thought a story was over and then he'd start talking again. The Kellog's story in particular drug on FAR too long, as did "The Best Thing in the World" awards.

But on the positive side, there were lots of stories I loved: the very first one, about the tortoise and the hare. All the stories featuring Mindy Kaling, but particularly "Closure," which has a great twist. The dark matter story has kind of a stupid ending, but I did love the twist that the protagonist is so worried about whether or not his friends went to a party without him that he completely misses the scientist's revelation. "The Man who Invented the Calendar" was absolutely perfect on audio; in fact, I'm not sure it would have been as entertaining on the page. Same goes for "Welcome to Camp Fantastic for Gifted Teens": it's read by Rainn Wilson, and it is delightful. It made me wish I could hear Wilson narrate Dear Committee Members.

I really want to re-listen to "Sophia" (the one about the sex robot) and "One of these days, we really have to do something about Willie." The latter is one of the longer stories, but the ending was so abrupt. I actually wish I could read this one in book form. And I feel like "Sophia" might be better in the hands of someone like Margaret Atwood, but I want to give it another chance.

Like I said, this was kind of the perfect audiobook for me right now. I'm not sure I could ever handle fiction; even if I were able to listen in longer stretches, I tend to drift off and start thinking about other things (which, to be fair to Novak, could have been why some of the endings felt abrupt). I feel like I would miss too much in a novel. Nonfiction and short stories tend to lend themselves better to stopping and starting. There were a couple of times I found myself sitting in my car because I wanted to hear the end of a particular story, or at least get to a natural stopping point. I can see that being more of an issue with a novel. But this was fun! It did make me interested in audiobooks in general...I kind of want to load up my iPhone with celebrity memoirs to listen to by the pool this summer (I'm trying to decide if it's worth paying for an Audible subscription, since my library's audiobooks are all on CDs). ...more

Like · see review

Aug 03, 2015 Sarah rated it did not like it

Shelves: did-not-finish, humor

Blerg. I'm sure there is a gem story in here somewhere, but I am not going to read the whole pretentious book just to find it. Even though it is about 200 pages it just isn't worth it to finish. ...more

Like · see review

Apr 17, 2017 Rossie rated it it was amazing

Hilarious. Absurd. Smart.

Like · see review

Feb 19, 2014 Cathy rated it really liked it

The way BJ Novak's mind works is fascinating. Many of these stories were mindblowingly original. going to get the audio version as I think it will be extra funny to hear him read his stories aloud with friends (hello, Mindy Kaling!) ...more

Like · see review