My Planet: Finding Humor in the Oddest Places

by Mary Roach

 Reader's Digest 2013

191 pages     Humor

The Shortlist

Mary Roach is having a good year. Her non-fiction book, Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal is a best seller, and Reader's Digest has just released a book of her humor columns, called My Planet: Finding Humor in the Oddest Places.

My Planet contains short essays that have appeared in the Reader's Digest over several years. Each essay explores one aspect of Roach's life, from her marriage to "the man I call Ed," her run-ins with technology, to the major idiosyncrasies of modern life. There are essays about "the wall of cold remedies," buying bathing suits after the age of 40, family trips, and massages. Many of the essays are about life in a long-time marriage. As a matter of fact, I just read a passage to my pack rat husband about her pack rat husband 

My philosophy of life seems to match Mary Roach's. That is: You have to laugh about the crazy stuff in life. Otherwise you would be crying all the time. Well, reading about Mary Roach's world had me crying with laughter all the way through the book.

My Planet would be a great gift for a mom who spends all her time in cars dropping kids off at one practice and then waiting to pick the next kid at another practice. Each essay is about 5 minutes long--just about the right amount of time. Wonderful good fun.

Here is Mary Roach's website: http://www.maryroach.net