488 Rules For Life | Kitty Flanagan #AWW

Rule 12: The bathroom is not a library, there are far more pleasant, not to mention less smelly, places to read your book. Don't linger in there, get in get out.

Sorry Kitty. I was with you right up to rule number 12!

I've read in the bathroom ever since I was little. In a large family, there were not many places to go where you were guaranteed privacy. The bathroom was almost the one and only retreat available to an avid reader seeking peace and quiet. Taking a long bath with a good book was my favourite escape. It still is.

I hate to admit it Kitty, 488 Rules for Life: The Thankless Art of Being Correct is actually the perfect book for reading in the bathroom. 

Brief chapters filled with pithy and witty sections best imbibed a few at a time to fully savour their aptness. It also meant that Mr Books and I could read the same book at the same time. Well, obviously, not at exactly the same time. But over a period of a few weeks, with two distinct bookmarks, we chuckled and chortled our way through Kitty's rules together.

Rule 26: Cushions are not spiritual advisors.  

Rule 260: Decide on your tattoo. Then wait a year.

The other 480-odd rules were fair and reasonable rules though. As you mentioned a few times, they're barely worth mentioning, except, that obviously you do need to mention them as some people clearly don't understand the importance of standing back from the baggage carousel at the airport or about not leaving only one square of toilet paper on the roll or posting pictures of themselves doing yoga. 

Rule 386: Don't call it a wedding invite. It's an invitation. You invite people to your wedding with an invitation.

I have had the pleasure of seeing Kitty perform live a couple of times. I also enjoy her various appearances on TV shows and televised comedy festivals. She's my kind of funny. I feel like I know her. I certainly know her voice, her inflections and tone. As a read her 488 rules, I could hear her in my head. That's a good thing, by the way. It added to the funny.

488 Rules id highly recommended during these strange times when a good laugh can make all the difference.

Facts:

• Published by Allen & Unwin 2019
• Cover design and illustrations | Tohby Riddle
• Her dad is John Flanagan, the children's writer of The Ranger's Apprentice series.
• The book started as a joke inspired by Jordan Peterson's book 12 Rules for Life. Obviously 12 were never going to be enough in Kitty's world!
• Kitty has one of the most comprehensive wikipedia bio's I've ever read!

Favourite or Forget:

• Obviously a favourite.
• If you haven't seen her performances in Utopia yet, then make it your mission for the rest of this lockdown period, to binge watch this funny/not funny/too close to real life Working Dog series.

Image Source

Rule 404: Don't get a photo taken with Santa unless you're a child.