Earth by Jon Stewart
A Visitor’s Guide to the Human Race
Genre: Humor, Satire
Published: Hachette Audio, September 2010
Format: Audio Book 3 hrs. 38 min.
Rating: 3 of 5
Aliens have finally discovered Earth long after the human race has gone extinct. Instead of finding humans, they find a deserted planet and a book left for them by Jon Stewart and The Daily Show crew. It’s a guide to understanding our species. Science, government, culture, religion, no topic is off limits.
I listened to the audiobook version and while I liked it, and few parts were laugh-out-loud funny, it wasn’t up to what I expected from Jon Stewart and company. Although I found it to be funny, irreverent, and often sarcastic, it was missing a lot of the wit that I enjoy on The Daily Show. Too much of the humor was sophomoric and immature; toilet humor to be more exact. If you’re not familiar with The Daily Show, there is a bit of politically incorrect humor here and it’s not for the easily offended, especially those with strong feelings about a few touchy subjects; religion and sex come to mind.
I thought perhaps I was missing something by listening to the audiobook and not seeing the accompanying graphics in the book so I went to the library and checked out a copy of it. The print version contains lots of pictures and illustrations and would make a nice coffee table book. But no, it didn’t change my opinion. In fact, I liked the audiobook better. It was read by Jon Stewart, the Daily Show correspondents, and Sigourney Weaver. Jon Stewart did a nice job chatting with the aliens with his deadpan serious delivery. I’m a big fan of The Daily Show and these guys can make me laugh, just not as much as I expected I would.
Did I like the book? Yes. Did I expect it to be better? Yes. Do I recommend it? Yes, if you’re already a fan you’ll probably enjoy it. If Jon Stewart is new to you, check this out from the library and see if you like it.
Thankfully Reading Weekend
I didn’t read as much as I would have liked but I did finish one audio book and got halfway through the second one. I listened while I cleaned up the house on Friday and did errands on Saturday. As I get more accustomed to the audio format I’m enjoying it more. I first started listening to books while I did gardening or yardwork. Now I find myself considering audio books more often and even listen on my walk from the train on weekdays.
- Finished audio book of Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver
Loved it. Review coming soon.
- I got half way through the audio book Packing For Mars by Mary Roche.
Very interesting look at the space program.
- Started Three Seconds by Anders Roslund and Borge Hellstrom; read the first section, 132 pages.
This is an ARC I’m reading with the Barnes & Noble First Look discussion group.
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Gratitude Giveaway Winner
I used random.org to draw the name of one follower.
Congratulations to Jeanette who has won a copy of Ah-Choo! by Jennifer Ackerman. I’ve sent an email requesting mailing information.
Mailbox Monday is touring through blogs. For the month of November it will be hosted by Knitting and Sundries. Next month the tour moves to Let Them Read Books where it will be hosted for the month of December.
Mailbox Monday was created by The Printed Page. It is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their home last week.
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New books that came into my home last week:
Rescue by Anita Shreve from Hachette Books for review.
A rookie paramedic pulls a young woman alive from her totaled car, a first rescue that begins a lifelong tangle of love and wreckage. Sheila Arsenault is a gorgeous enigma–streetwise and tough-talking, with haunted eyes, fierce desires, and a never-look-back determination. Peter Webster, as straight an arrow as they come, falls for her instantly and entirely. Soon Sheila and Peter are embroiled in an intense love affair, married, and parents to a baby daughter. Like the crash that brought them together, it all happened so fast.
Humpty Dumpty in Oakland by Philip K. Dick in a book swap. P.K. Dick is known primarily for his science fiction books, ie Blade Runner, Minority Report. This is one of his non-science fiction works.
Set in San Francisco in the late 1950s, Humpty Dumpty in Oakland is a tragicomedy of misunderstandings among used car dealers and real-estate salesmen: the small-time, struggling individuals for whom Philip K.Dick always reserved his greatest sympathy.
The secong challenge for Thankfully Reading Weekend is hosted by Beth Fish Reads. She asks us to:
“Share a photograph of your TBR pile or at least one bookshelf.”
This is the book shelf in my office. There are more books on the bottom of that table on the left, a few piles on my desk and the overflow are stacked on the floor waiting for me to buy more shelves. There is also another bookshelf on the other side of this room and a large wall-sized one in the family room.
This hawk has been visiting my backyard for a few months now. She was sitting on the fence a few feet from the bird bath. I am fairly certain this is a young female. Females are much larger than males. Young Cooper’s Hawks have yellow eyes; as they age their eyes turn red.
Normally a woodland bird, many of them now venture into suburban backyards in search of prey. In addition to medium-sized birds they also eat small animals such as mice, squirrels and chipmunks. They are beautiful to watch as they swoop down from high in the trees.
Interesting fact via All About Birds: Males tend to be submissive to females and to listen out for reassuring call notes the females make when they’re willing to be approached. Males build the nest, then provide nearly all the food to females and young.
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I’m participating in Saturday Snapshots this weekend. Head on over to At Home With Books to see more great photos.
Our first challenge for Thankfully Reading Weekend is to
“Write a post about the book you are most thankful for. This could be a book released this year or twenty years ago. Your post should include why you are thankful for that book.”
There is no one single book that I am thankful for; there are many. There’s the wonderful Charlotte’s Web, the first book I owned, that fueled my love of reading.
There’s A Wrinkle in Time, the book that has made time travel stories my favorite genre whether scifi, fantasy, romance or otherwise. 
And then there’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, which I have been listening to this week and just finished up today, which has given me more information than I ever knew was available on farming and eating healthy foods. Because of what I learned I bought, for the first time, a local, farm raised turkey for our holiday meal yesterday. 
This was absolutely the most delicious turkey I’ve ever eaten.
I am thankful most of all for what books can teach me.
I’m downtown every day for work dealing with the crowds on public transportation and in the city so the last thing I want to do on my day off is fight Black Friday crowds at the mall. I’ll shop on my computer. So, this will be a good weekend for me to catch up on some reading. I also have a few reviews to write for books I read during the week.
After I get the house back in order from the Thanksgiving festivities I’m going to settle down with a book. When I work around the house I usually listen to an audiobook. And if by some chance it warms up, I’ll take my audiobook outside and finish the yard work and the garden for this season.
Here’s what I’ve chosen for reading: Rescue by Anita Shreve, How Music Works by John Powell and Three Seconds by Anders Roslund and Borge Hellstrom.
For audiobooks I’ll be finishing up Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver and starting Packing For Mars by Mary Roche.
I’m probably being overly ambitious but it’s always good to aim high!
Under My Apple Tree 