Holiday short stories. A slim volume but pretty entertaining. Notaro reminds me quite a bit of Erma Bombeck, only more modern with a slightly dirtier sense of humor. I plan to check out her other books.

Standard Notaro, and probably one of the reasons I'm not a huge fan of her writing, although I'm a big fan of hers. I love subtle humor, sarcasm, dark humor, but I'm not always so much a fan of a book that grabs you by the collar, shaking you and screaming, "Aren't I funny, goddamnit!?" I find that many of Notaro's books do just that.

This is a book of humorous tales from the holidays centered around Laurie's family and friends, including her long suffering husband, her mom, and her best friends in Arizona. The stories are amusing, but they're just not my kind of humor. My sister, however, thinks they're brilliant. So go figure! :-)

#readingchallenge2017 (my book with a holiday/season in the title)

Reading ALL of Laurie’s novels during my high school years, I was a huge fan of hers, as the stories felt relate-able; letting me know I’m not the only one with a crazed family and a few extra pounds.

Though, as I re-read her novels in my adulthood, the humor has begun to fad. The theme didn’t flow throughout the novel, the humor wasn't subtle, but instead felt slammed down my throat over the top, "aren't I funny?!"

The novel read like some loud person at a party yelling un-funny stories at you, but you can’t ask them to stop because they’re the bosses wife.

I read this book in one sitting and laughed the entire time. The writing was brilliant and the stories were all interesting and entertaining. Laurie Notaro is a fabulous storyteller and I cannot wait to get my hands on more of her books.

Laurie Notaro always makes me laugh, and this was fun, as usual. As grand as she is at humor I also admired THE MURDERESS, which I’m not sure is out yet, a novel bad on an historical true crime…good stuff, I heartily recommend both books!

I loved this book, it made me laugh aloud over and over. There are 6 twisted Christmas stories, which of course are completely true and contain no exaggeration for humor. And I can relate to most of them. Especially the ones about bizarro Christmas presents. I am not sure I would recommend this as your first taste of Laurie since knowing her other work makes this make more sense. But it is a delight.

So funny. I read this book in one night and laughed so hard I cried and got a stitch in my side. When Christmas rolls around you have to read this book. You'll never see the holidays the same way again.

The holidays are much easier to get through with the help of Laurie Notaro. I'd say she's the female counterpoint to David Sedaris.

this book is for anyone who has ever gotten a crappy last minute gift that the giver swears took them ages to find.

This is the first book by Laurie Notaro that I've read. I now see why some of my friends eagerly await her next book. She is funny without being mean and usually if anyone is "put down" it's herself. In this collection of tales she shares Christmas memories with her family and though she's making fun of them and herself there is some real heartfelt memories shared too often at the same time.

Tis the season for a funny Christmas book. I am always looking for laugh out loud books to read -they are so hard to come by! This one was amusing in parts. I think I even laughed once, but it was downright ridiculous in others. Mostly a book of short happenings around Christmas -not a story throughout. A very quick read - which is what I was looking for since I am really waiting for Tuesday when Artemis comes out! 2.6stars from me.

For me, the short essays in An Idiot Girl’s Christmas were hit-or-miss. Many of the stories were previously published, giving the book an uneven, cobbled tone. There wasn’t a central theme (aside from the generic ‘Christmas’) to tie all the essays together into a cohesive whole. And one essay didn’t even relate to Christmas! What was the message? When you’re the least crazy in your family, make sure you write negatively about them to your meager profit?

Author Laurie Notaro rides the very thin line between sarcastic and sardonic, dipping into ungrateful territory frequently. I did laugh occasionally, but I did not “laugh my tinsel off,” as was advertised on the inside front cover. I will concede the story about shopping with her grandmother was accurate; I’ve been there myself, and with travelers checks. Otherwise, it was a sporadically amusing collection of memoir essays.