The Worst-Case Survival Handbook: Holidays by David Borgenicht and Koshua Piven

Since today is Christmas Eve, I decided to read something festive. And what says "festive" more than "how to solve holiday problems". From the blurb, which talked about rescuing people in chimneys and stopping runaway holiday balloons, I expected to read a funny, lighthearted book. Instead, this book confused me.

The thing about the book is that it starts out with how to salvage a burnt turkey, and provides what seems to be very solid advice. And in the exact same tone as 'saving turkey', the book goes on to describe what to do in various situations, from emergency decorations to stopping a one horse open sleigh. At no point in time does it change its tone, to let the reader know whether a certain tip is meant to be over the top, and when it's supposed to be helpful. The obvious cases are obvious, but there are grey areas where I wasn't sure if the authors were pulling my leg or just giving bad advice.

Perhaps this book's reader is a much more savvy and sophisticated person than I am... and can tell which parts are funny, and which are not.

While the book isn't completely terrible (the turkey advice is pretty sensible, and everything else seems to be grounded in fact). It's kinda like The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks - interesting, but the question "is this funny? Is this not supposed to be funny?" hangs over you the whole time you're reading it.