Welcome to Litsy!

Only Richard Ayoade would attempt to write an entire book critically analyzing the Gwyneth Paltrow groaner View From the Top. Does he always succeed? No. Is it a sometimes hilarious effort? Absolutely. Is hearing him read if in his own voice the absolute best? For sure.

Do you want a serious (but not) critical examination of the 2003 Gwyneth Paltrow film View from the Top by one of the funniest British comedians?
This books is for you!
From questioning Donna‘s need for nightly pizza deliveries to a deep dive into the availability of airplane-shaped-guest-soap, Ayoade seriously discusses all of the unserious parts of an outlandish movie.
Must see the movie first.

Thanks for the tag @merelybookish! It took me a couple of days, but here is a pretty definitive list of my #Top21of21. I don't think I'd change anything out, but there are two more weeks of reading for 2021!

I'm sure most everyone has been tagged, but I'll give a try anyway.
@La_Cori, @stevesbookstuf1, @jon_dottingly, @ryanme, @TH3F4LC0N, @Reggie, @Zuhkeeyah would you like to play?

If you don't have 21 top books, just post the top 1 or top 5!

That's the look I get when I stop petting him 😁

This book was a delightful read. I think one of the hardest things to do is to write a funny book that's funny from beginning to end. It's just hard to sustain a premise for that long before the novelty wears off. No such problem here. Not only is this a masterclass in irony and sarcasm (and film criticism!) but it's hysterical from beginning to end. For me it's: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

#FirstLineFridays
@ShyBookOwl

There are moments in your life when things change forever. I'll never forget that day in June, or maybe it was March, in either 2013 or 2014, when I opened up my laptop, attached the external DVD player with a (male to male) USB cable to the 'puter port, swabbed the screen with a lemon-fresh (and moist!) towelette, removed a shop-bought DVD from its slightly chipped Amaray case, checked for marks and scuffs that... ⬇

This made for a great audiobook, although I think even if I‘d read it as a paperback I would have heard it in Ayoade‘s voice! He is witty and sarcastic and clever and I love how he cleverly takes apart Gwyneth Paltrow‘s dramedy “View from the Top”. I have to watch it now. 😂

It has been the Mondayest Tuesday ever

Doritos and mindless reading are just what's called for.....maybe some chocolate too

#LMPBC

@runswithscissors007 @Andrea4 @BookishTrish @ShelleyBooksie

Confession: I really really enjoyed this book. I am the kind of person who watches the same movie over and over again ad nauseum. Watch for my forthcoming monograph on Tokyo Drift (inspired by This book) 🤪

Well this is getting mailed out today!! Power read.
Honestly, it's not for everyone and while I chuckled through it I did have to speed read because putting it down meant I didnt really have the desire to pick it up again.🤷🏽‍♀️
It's one of those books. He's one of those guys. This may be too much.
#LMPBC @runswithscissors007 @BookishTrish @FantasyChick @ShelleyBooksie

Morning of August 1st and jumping in (what else is there to do while waiting for beau to wake up?)!
Switching to blue pen for this one since @runswithscissors007 used black- don't want to get confused! Haha
I actually realise I have seen View from the Top but I believe it's been a looooooong time!

@runswithscissors007 look what came!
These are our August reads thiugh right? Lol. I feel everyone has shipped their book; I'm almost there!

@FantasyChick @BookishTrish @ShelleyBooksie
#LMPBC

@Andrea4 I am heading to the post office tomorrow! This densely worded yet fairly light read is coming your way!!

Ps if anyone in our #lpmbc #teamcanada would like the marked up Running with Scissors I will happily post it directly to you.

Have I seen View from the Top? No. Is it strange to read a book critiquing a film I've never seen? Perhaps. But if you are a fan of Ayoade's dry dead pan delivery and sometimes surreal segues to other topics you will get and enjoy this. At some point, I will probably watch the film because of this.

Because I have to keep emersed in a book when I am cooking and cleaning, what better than a humourous critique if an apparently awful film starring Gwyneth Paltrow that I have never seen?

In summary, the book amounts to a 219 page scene by scene review of 1993s cinematic romcom fodder, ‘View from the Top‘. Well written, quick read. Made me chuckle at times but it‘s tough to engage fully when the material is based on the authors feeling about a film that I know absolutely nothing about.

Cant remember the time I laughed so hard reading a book!

@4thhouseontheleft @howjessreads #friyayintro

1. I got this one for Christmas, SO funny

2. I was born in the same place as the other people

3. I honestly don‘t like any sports I‘m afraid! Unless doing yoga counts. I‘m a bit of a stereotype of a ‘nerdy‘ reader who hates all sports, nothing against other ppl liking them but they‘re not for me

4. @Clwojick you cultivate a lovely team 🥰 thanks for all your hard work for us!

I‘d never have bought this but I devoured it so quickly after getting it (the best kind of present??). A very silly analysis of a very average Gwyneth Paltrow dramedy about flight attendants from 2003, arguing that it‘s the greatest film ever made. My mum heard me laughing through the walls at 1am. I‘m suddenly a fan of Richard Ayoade.

#24b42020 @TheReadingMermaid @Andrew65 @jb72 #wintergames #merryreaders #impulseread @Clwojick @StayCurious

My boyfriends dad got me this for Christmas and I was surprised at first, I didn‘t know anything about Richard Ayoade but I don‘t read a lot of comedy books, then I started it casually and it was suddenly the funniest thing I‘d read in years. Literally I‘ve been laughing out loud and getting odd looks on the bus, I can‘t remember the last time a book kept me turning pages like this. I‘m at 17 hrs for #24b42020 @TheReadingMermaid @Andrew65 @jb72

This book is very very very silly. As evidenced by the above very silly index. 😂 Ayoade riffs on the deeper meanings of a forgettable Gwyneth Paltrow movie in his own inimitable nerdy style. It‘s tongue in cheek and sometimes bizarre but made me laugh out loud at least twice. I‘m kicking myself for not looking for it in audio though because I‘m sure it‘s twice as good if you can hear Ayoade‘s voice.

#weeklyforecast

Don‘t know how much reading I will have time to do (unless I rebrand Boxing Day to Book-ing Day 😂) but this is the haul I just picked up from the library.

The Man who Caught the Storm and The Unwanted for His Elderliness. A Tudor Christmas and Ayoade on Top for me. (Richard Ayoade 😍😍😍)

I don't think this is a roast, more like ceviche, with Gwyneth Paltrow in the acid. Basically Richard Ayoade watched a forgettable DVD and this is his stream of consciousness rant about it. I cackled my way through it. Defo a pick for me.