Yes Please in Around the World in 80 Books

Dec 01, 2014 Sarah rated it liked it

Shelves: humor, nonfiction, book-club-dm, audio

Four stars for part one. I loved the banter between Amy and Seth Meyers (who reads a chapter in the audiobook). The story about Hurricane Mary and Chris Cooper made me cry. But the rest of the book was just... fine. It was entertaining. I listened to it while working on a project around the house and it helped the time pass. Parts of it were funny and parts were insightful, but I think I would have enjoyed it more if I watched Parks & Rec. A huge section of the book is all about her time on the ...more

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Oct 21, 2015 Nadine in NY Jones rated it it was ok

Shelves: audio, humor, essays

i don't know why I keep expecting these celebrity essay books to offer some sort of insight that I have not already discovered on my own. They don't. Even if there is no fresh insight, I hope they'll be funny or interesting in some way. They aren't. I expect they are interesting if you are a fan of the particular celebrity, but I am not so much. I LIKED these people, but I'm not a fan. I don't watch TV so I'm only moderately familiar with the shows they've been on. So, note to self: unless it's i don't know why I keep expecting these celebrity essay books to offer some sort of insight that I have not already discovered on my own. They don't. Even if there is no fresh insight, I hope they'll be funny or interesting in some way. They aren't. I expect they are interesting if you are a fan of the particular celebrity, but I am not so much. I LIKED these people, but I'm not a fan. I don't watch TV so I'm only moderately familiar with the shows they've been on. So, note to self: unless it's Joss Whedon or David Boreanaz writing these books, I should probably skip it.

In sum, there's four things I could expect from a book like this:
* It could be funny
* It could be educational
* It could be engaging
* It could be insightful

But this wasn't any of those things. I expected some parts to be funny, and there were a few moments that made me smile, but that's as far as that went. Mostly, I was expecting this to be really insightful, because that was the general buzz I'd gotten about this book. But ... no. There was no insight, and I had little interest in most of it. In fact (and to my surprise) whole passages were actually boring.

If this book has a theme, that would be: "I hate writing this book" - because that is the thing that Ms Poehler goes on and on and ON about. Geez. The prologue is all about how hard it is to write a book, and okay I'm sure it IS hard and I appreciate her candor. But she keeps bringing it up, throughout this book. If Ms Poehler dreaded the writing process so much, why did she write it at all?? Much of the book was filler. Chapters written by her friends, chapters written by her parents, chapters that were just lists or categories ... Clearly, Ms Poehler struggled to come up with enough material to qualify for "book" status. She's pretty open about hating the process. So, why did she write it? I don't know. I know a lot about allllllll the different drugs she took, and the stars she (literally) rubbed shoulders with, but I don't know why she decided to write this book.

The audiobook was well done, it was fun to have surprise guest stars (Carol Burnett! Patrick Stewart! Amy's parents! and more!!!), and Ms Poehler definitely has a great delivery. So, if you're interested in this book, and you have the ability to listen to audio books, you should absolutely go audio with this one.

This book fulfilled the "Written by a Comedian" prompt for the 2016 Ultimate Reading Challenge. ...more

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May 22, 2017 Jody rated it did not like it

I really like Amy Poehler, but I could not force myself to finish this book. It was so boring! I kept hoping it would get better and finally I just had to close the book and donate it. And a lot of the reviews on Amazon said it was so hilarious. I expected this to be funny and heartfelt and inspirational and it was none of these.

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Jan 11, 2015 alana rated it really liked it

Shelves: females-and-feminists, biography-memoir, audiobook, humor, 2015-read-harder

While I'm not a rabid Amy Poehler fan (TV comedy just isn't my jam), I am a big fan of women writing their memoirs and of comedians reading aloud their books. Success: mission accomplished! Poehler talks about her childhood, discovering acting, the support of her parents, her early improv adventures, her time on SNL, the creation of Parks & Recreation, and her family and recent divorce. Maybe because it was very fresh at the time of writing, but her chapter on surviving a divorce with kids was o ...more

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Jul 09, 2017 Kara rated it it was amazing

This book is GREAT. I'm so sad that I finished it. Highly recommend. Get the audio book! ...more

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Jan 07, 2015 Jen rated it liked it

I think I was a little disappointed by this book because I loved Tina Fey's and Mindy Kaling's so much. I still liked it a lot but I love Amy Poehler's performances so the fact that her book was not overly forthcoming about her personally was a let down. I also even found some of the parts a little (dare I say) boring which was super disappointing. Still a good read though, especially if you're a fan. ...more

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Dec 21, 2015 Erin (NY) rated it really liked it

Shelves: non-fiction, books-i-own, humor, read-in-2015, biography

I enjoyed this book a lot. The audio book was narrated by Amy herself and was great!

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Jan 02, 2015 Isabel rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: biography, non-fiction, memoir, autobiography

I was expecting big things from Amy Poehler but this audiobook just didn't quite deliver. She's funny and honest but rambles on quite a bit. I really disliked the fact that there was no chronological order. I preferred Tina Fey's Bossypants but this is still Worth a read, particularly if you are a fan. ...more

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Dec 15, 2014 Ken rated it it was ok

Shelves: never-finished

Sorry, I love Amy Poehler, but this book is just a mismash of anecdotes with nothing to say. I'll watch Amy in a TV series, in a movie, hosting the Golden Globes ... but I can't finish this book. ...more

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