Find on Goodreads

Every now and then a book shows up all over my news feed on every social network with a really enticing cover (and often featuring a beautiful dress.)

It’s a book everyone seems to have read except me and often there is a love-hate division; on Goodreads, The Selection has a pretty set line of love-hate, but unlike other books I’ve encountered like this in the past, I really enjoyed The Selection.

I can understand why some people left less-than-positive reviews on Goodreads if we’re trying to compare it to The Hunger Games. Some similar ideas are played with in The Selection, but in an almost completely different setting. There’s no fight-to-the-literal-death here.

It’s basically a beauty pageant–with higher stakes. The winner becomes queen. Simple, right?

Unlike many others, I didn’t find it a frilly or stupid read. I found in it a straightforward plot; the simplicity of the…

Overall: if you like Jim Gaffigan’s stand up, then you will like this book. If you don’t like his stand-up, then go back to watching reality TV and ironically riding your fixie.

With a little over lap, Gaffigan’s self deprecating humor about life, food and the humor of being a pale white man translates well to the written word apart from his well known, memorized and often paraphrased stand-up comedy.

I picked up this book because I like Gaffigan’s stand up, it had pictures and the chapters are super short (in this reading man’s opinion that’s the trifecta!). Playing into his strengths and comedic stylings, Gaffigan delivers a honest look into his life as a son in a big family, husband of a great wife and father of five kids. Carving out a life in NYC with five children to most people, according to his own interactions with people, is…