Book-A-Day #31 (8/17): Life's Little Annoyances by Ian Urbina

Yes, I am clearing out all of the little, quickly-read books that accumulated while I was neck-deep in 2005 fantasy earlier this year. I think I'll jump into longer things after Worldcon (maybe even during Worldcon, since I usually like to take at least one big fat classic with a ribbon marker to big conventions), but, for now, it's nice to keep tossin' 'em up and knockin' 'em out of the park.

This is a silly little book; I don't think it actually was a website first, but it feels like it should have been. (That might have helped collect more -- and better -- stories.) It's all about the annoyances of everyday life (rude cell-phone people, telemarketers, bad drivers -- anything that Andy Rooney could get a good snit worked up about), and specifically about how various people have "fought back."

Urbina has a lurking sense of humor -- he often writes about people annoyed by things each other do in quick succession -- but he's also primarily a reporter, so his voice is mostly a rah-rah cheerleader style, rather than drawing any parallels.

I got this book at work for free, and it only took about two hours of my life. That's about what it was worth to me, so it was a decent trade.