Big Biography Summer is upon us!

And we're reading Jim Henson: The Biography

I usually try my best to keep No One Asked on a schedule of sorts—one post per week, although the day of the week varies—but I always say that in summer, we’re on a Shakira schedule. Posts come out whenever, wherever. Last week was our first week of summer break and I didn’t have time to put together a post in between our COSI, pool, library, and movie theater outings. This isn’t a complaint at all (boo-hoo, I had to go to the movies! The thing I love most!), but just a reminder that things will be sporadic as summer goes on. But later this week, perhaps even tomorrow, I’ll be back with the Monthly Roundup for paid subscribers and oh boy do I have a lot to share with you. I decided to make the most of my Criterion Channel subscription and I watched so many movies last month!

But today, we’re here to talk about the next No One Asked read-a-long. I decided to honor the poll results and go with Jim Henson: The Biography by Brian Jay Jones. I have a lot of books to read for work this month and, as previously established, not a lot of work time, so we’re going to take this very slowly. Here’s our schedule:

Pages 1-172 (Prologue through Chapter Six: Sesame Street): July 1st

Pages 173-349 (Chapter Seven: Big Ideas through Chapter Eleven: The World in His Head): July 15th

Page 350 (Chapter Twelve: Twists and Turns) to the end: July 29th

I THINK those pages/dates make sense, but it’s very loud at the library right now and I’m not 100% sure my brain is working properly.

I’m excited to read this book, and I hope you are too! Just like with our previous read-a-longs, I’ll do a sort of recap post on the above dates and I hope you’ll let me know your thoughts. I anticipate: crying, still thinking Jim Henson is hot, maybe rewatching The Dark Crystal.

Jim Henson is a special figure to me because The Muppets played a big role in my childhood and the development of my sense of humor and my sense of myself as a writer and creative person. The joke structure in the Big 3 Muppet films (The Muppet Movie, The Muppets Take Manhattan, The Great Muppet Caper) is so solid and, of course, The Great Muppet Caper introduced me to one of my very first celebrity crushes (Charles Grodin as a jewel thief). And as I’m sure you know because I talk about it a lot, it was a COSI exhibit on Jim Henson that inspired Very Sincerely Yours (which might be my favorite of my books—don’t tell my other books).

So I’m very much looking forward to reading this one all the way through, finally. Let me know if you’re joining in! Okay, I have to go because my block of writing time is just about over. Please forgive any typos. I’m this Kermit gif right now.

See you later this week for the Monthly Roundup! xo