Book review: Siri & Me

One of my goals this year is to read at least 25 books. It doesn’t matter the size or what the subject is, as long as I read at least 25.

In all honesty, if I stay focused and continue to read, I should be able to do 25 without blinking an eye. With that, I also plan on doing reviews of each book on here.

Siri & Me by David Milgrim is an interesting one, but you likely need to be an iPhone user to truly find the humor in this one. That being said, it’s short, a quick read and a bit fun.

For those who don’t know, Siri is the electronic sweetheart of many. She’s the voice behind the system in iPhone where you can get information about many things. Do a Google search for Siri and you’ll find so many funny things that she says.

The book isn’t long. The print version shows it being 112 pages. I read half of it one day and the other half the next, so an extremely quick read. As of now, Amazon doesn’t show a true Kindle version of the book available to purchase, but the print version is.

The description of the book is short —

Dave’s never met anyone like Siri. She’s helpful, smart, and easier to talk to than any girl he’s ever known. She really gets him…

Siri & Me is a love story for our times. A must read for all of us in a codependent relationship with our gadgets. An instant classic in a world of instant everything.

It’s a simple and enjoyable story, especially if you have the iPhone or are into technology and get what Siri is all about.

The Good

The story line.

Basically, boy finds Siri. Boy falls for Siri. And who can blame him? The book is a modern-day, technology love story. More than that, the written parts of the book are quite small as it’s loaded with cartoons and those are excellent.

I enjoyed the dialogue and the characters. And, to be honest, as much as I liked the main character, as well as shutterbug Iris, the dog was a fine addition to the book. In fact, I might say he’s my favorite in the book.

The Bad

The version of the book I have is a Kindle version, but it notes in the beginning it’s not the finished copy. Therefore, while some things were annoying (formatting, a few capitalization issues, style and paragraph numbers all over), I can’t truly count that against the book’s rating. After all, I knew what I was getting into when I got this copy. Still, in case others get a pre-release copy, this is a warning.

Outside of that, I can’t think of many things. There were a few little things and there were times I felt I was supposed to laugh, but didn’t. Almost like the humor was being forced. But the story helped get through those parts, so it’s not a big issue.

Overall thoughts

Though a decent read, I’m not sure how much I’d pay for it — maybe four or five bucks for a print version — as it’s something that’s a quick read. When I get books, I always look at the price compared to substance. Though this is a good story and was interesting reading, I was done with it in a couple of hours and I went somewhat slow with it. I think an e-version is smart — Kindle, iPad etc. — because if it’s priced right, say 99 cents, I can see where it could be an easy purchase.

That being said, it’s a quirky and fun book, which could make it easy to pick up and go through a second or third time and still find a few laughs. If you are into iPhones and Siri and laugh at things like this, I’d recommend the book.

Rating

In the end, rating this one is kind of tough. It’s a fun book and I laughed, but at the same time there were times when I wondered where it was going. The story line was good and it makes a lot of sense in today’s technological world. I’d give it a 3.5 out of 5 stars.

On the web

David Milgrim website. Milgrim on Twitter.

Allow me, too, to leave you with a small video about the book. It’s worth the watch.

Disclosure: I received the Kindle version of this book via NetGallery, an online place where people can receive free digital books through publishers etc. Nothing is required in exchange for this book, but being I read it, I’m going to review it as honestly as I always do!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!