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Recommendations based on Don't Get Too Comfortable: The Indignities of Coach Class, The Torments of Low Thread Count, The Never-Ending Quest for Artisanal Olive Oil, and Other First World Problemsby David Rakoff
* statistically, based on millions of data-points provided by fellow humans
Assassination Vacation
by Sarah Vowell
A comedic travelogue exploring the history of presidential assassinations in the United States.
Sarah Vowell exposes the glorious conundrums of American history and culture with wit, probity, and an irreverent sense of humor. With Assassination Vacation, she takes us on a road trip like no ... (Goodreads)
Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex
by Mary Roach
A humorous exploration of the science and research behind sex and human sexuality.
In Bonk, the best-selling author of Stiff turns her outrageous curiosity and insight on the most alluring scientific subject of all: sex. Can a person think herself to orgasm? Why doesn't Viagra help ... (Goodreads)
The Partly Cloudy Patriot
by Sarah Vowell
An exploration of American nationalism and identity, weaving in personal stories and reflections.
Sarah Vowell travels through the American past and, in doing so, investigates the dusty, bumpy roads of her own life. In this insightful and funny collection of personal stories Vowell—widely hailed ... (Goodreads)
Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
by David Sedaris
A humorous collection of autobiographical essays reflecting on family relationships.
David Sedaris plays in the snow with his sisters. He goes on vacation with his family. He gets a job selling drinks. He attends his brother’s wedding. He mops his sister’s floor. He gives directions ... (Goodreads)
Naked
by David Sedaris
Collection of humorous essays exploring the absurdities of everyday life.
Welcome to the hilarious, strange, elegiac, outrageous world of David Sedaris. In Naked , Sedaris turns the mania for memoir on its proverbial ear, mining the exceedingly rich terrain of his life, ... (Goodreads)
Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise
by Ruth Reichl
A restaurant critic's journey to understand the art of food and dining, while hiding her true identity.
Ruth Reichl, world-renowned food critic and editor in chief of Gourmet magazine, knows a thing or two about food. She also knows that as the most important food critic in the country, you need to be ... (Goodreads)
When You Are Engulfed in Flames
by David Sedaris
Humorous reflections on everyday life, navigating the absurdities of the human condition.
It's early autumn 1964. Two straight-A students head off to school, and when only one of them returns home Chesney Yelverton is coaxed from retirement and assigned to what proves to be the most ... (Goodreads)
Dry
by Augusten Burroughs
A memoir of alcoholism, mental illness, and the search for redemption.
You may not know it, but you've met Augusten Burroughs. You've seen him on the street, in bars, on the subway, at restaurants: a twenty-something guy, nice suit, works in advertising. Regular. ... (Goodreads)
My Life in France
by Julia Child
A memoir of Julia Child's life in Paris, cooking and exploring French cuisine.
The bestselling story of Julia's years in France–and the basis for Julie & Julia , starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams--in her own words. Although she would later singlehandedly create a new approach ... (Goodreads)
The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals
by Michael Pollan
Exploration of the modern food chain, examining the impact of food choices on our health and the environment.
What should we have for dinner? The question has confronted us since man discovered fire, but according to Michael Pollan, the bestselling author of The Botany of Desire , how we answer it today, at ... (Goodreads)
Magical Thinking: True Stories
by Augusten Burroughs
A collection of autobiographical essays exploring the author's experiences with magical thinking and mental illness.
From the #1 bestselling author of Running with Scissors and Dry–a contagiously funny, heartwarming, shocking, twisted, and absolutely magical collection. True stories that give voice to the thoughts ... (Goodreads)
Eating the Dinosaur
by Chuck Klosterman
Collection of essays exploring pop culture, sports, and society through a philosophical lens.
Chuck Klosterman has chronicled rock music, film, and sports for almost fifteen years. He's covered extreme metal, extreme nostalgia, disposable art, disposable heroes, life on the road, life through ... (Goodreads)
The Road from Coorain
by Jill Ker Conway
Autobiography of a young woman growing up in the Australian Outback.
Jill Ker Conway tells the story of her astonishing journey into adulthood—a journey that would ultimately span immense distances and encompass worlds, ideas, and ways of life that seem a century ... (Goodreads)
A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail
by Bill Bryson
A humorous account of a man's attempt to hike the Appalachian Trail, reflecting on the beauty and history of the American wilderness.
The book starts with Bryson explaining his curiosity about the Appalachian Trail near his house. He and his old friend Stephen Katz start hiking the trail from Georgia in the South , and stumble in ... (Wikipedia)
Cunt: A Declaration of Independence
by Inga Muscio
A powerful manifesto for reclaiming the word "cunt" and its power for female empowerment.
An ancient title of respect for women, the word cunt long ago veered off this noble path. Inga Muscio traces the road from honor to expletive, giving women the motivation and tools to claim cunt as a ... (Goodreads)
Nickel and Dimed: On
by Barbara Ehrenreich
A journalist's exploration of poverty in the U.S., exposing the struggles of low-wage workers.
Millions of Americans work full-time, year-round, for poverty-level wages. In 1998, Barbara Ehrenreich decided to join them. She was inspired in part by the rhetoric surrounding welfare reform, which ... (Goodreads)
Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead
by Sheryl Sandberg
An exploration of gender dynamics in the workplace and solutions for women to achieve success.
Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In is a massive cultural phenomenon and its title has become an instant catchphrase for empowering women. The book soared to the top of bestseller lists internationally, ... (Goodreads)
In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto
by Michael Pollan
Argument for a return to traditional diets and away from processed, industrialized food.
Michael Pollan's last book, The Omnivore's Dilemma , launched a national conversation about the American way of eating; now In Defense of Food shows us how to change it, one meal at a time. Pollan ... (Goodreads)
Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper
by Diablo Cody
A funny, poignant memoir of a young journalist's year spent working in a strip club.
Decreed by David Letterman (tongue in cheek) on CBS TV’s The Late Show to be the pick of “Dave’s Book Club 2006,” Candy Girl is the story of a young writer who dared to bare it all as a stripper. At ... (Goodreads)
Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly
by Anthony Bourdain
A humorous and unflinching account of life in restaurant kitchens, exploring the culture and camaraderie of the culinary world.
A deliciously funny, delectably shocking banquet of wild-but-true tales of life in the culinary trade from Chef Anthony Bourdain, laying out his more than a quarter-century of drugs, sex, and haute ... (Goodreads)
Killing Yourself to Live: 85% of a True Story
by Chuck Klosterman
An exploration of life and death, featuring road trips to music-related death sites.
Building on the national bestselling success of, Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs, preeminent pop culture writer Chuck Klosterman unleashes his best book yet—the story of his cross-country tour of sites ... (Goodreads)
Operating Instructions: A Journal of My Son's First Year
by Anne Lamott
An intimate diary of a mother's journey of joy and struggle raising her son.
The most honest, wildly enjoyable book written about motherhood is surely Anne Lamott's account of her son Sam's first year. A gifted writer and teacher, Lamott ( Crooked Little Heart ) is a single ... (Goodreads)
I Was Told There'd Be Cake: Essays
by Sloane Crosley
A collection of humorous essays depicting the highs and lows of modern life.
Hailed by David Sedaris as "perfectly, relentlessly funny" and by Colson Whitehead as "sardonic without being cruel, tender without being sentimental," from the author of the new collection, Look ... (Barnes & Noble)
A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose
by Eckhart Tolle
A spiritual guide to finding peace and purpose in life, by transcending the ego.
The highly anticipated follow-up to the 2,000,000 copy bestselling inspirational book, "The Power of Now" With his bestselling spiritual guide "The Power of Now," Eckhart Tolle inspired millions of ... (Goodreads)
Your Money or Your Life
by Vicki Robin
An exploration of personal finance and the journey to financial independence.
In times like these, it's more important than ever to know the difference between making a living and making a life. Your Money or Your Life is even more relevant today than it was when the book ... (Goodreads)
The Wordy Shipmates
by Sarah Vowell
A humorous and insightful look at the Puritan settlers of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and their impact on American history.
The Wordy Shipmates is an exploration of the Puritans and their journey to America to become the people of John Winthrop's "city upon a hill"—a shining example, a "city that cannot be hid." To this ... (Goodreads)
Teacher Man
by Frank McCourt
A memoir of the author's 30-year career as an English teacher in New York City.
McCourt's long-awaited book about how his thirty-year teaching career shaped his second act as a writer. Nearly a decade ago Frank McCourt became an unlikely star when, at the age of sixty-six, he ... (Goodreads)
A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again: Essays and Arguments
by David Foster Wallace
Collection of essays and arguments, exploring the absurdities of contemporary culture.
In this exuberantly praised book — a collection of seven pieces on subjects ranging from television to tennis, from the Illinois State Fair to the films of David Lynch, from postmodern literary ... (Goodreads)
Running with Scissors
by Augusten Burroughs
An autobiographical story of a young boy's difficult upbringing and his unconventional family.
Running with Scissors covers the period of Burroughs' adolescent years, beginning at age 12 after a brief overview of his life as a child. Burroughs spends his early childhood in a clean and orderly ... (Wikipedia)
Lucky
by Alice Sebold
A young woman's story of survival and resilience after being violently attacked.
In a memoir hailed for its searing candor and wit, Alice Sebold reveals how her life was utterly transformed when, as an eighteen-year-old college freshman, she was brutally raped and beaten in a ... (Goodreads)
