I received an electronic ARC from W. W. Norton & Company through NetGalley.
Part philosophy, part memoir, all pure Lemony Snicket. Readers experience a day with Snicket after he finds a note that says he has been poisoned for breakfast. He narrates the story and weaves vocabulary through as is usual. However, the subject matter tilts more toward an adult read than middle grade level. Snicket invites readers in and shares information about his life including one more twist to complete the book. If you appreciate Snicket's series, you will definitely enjoy this stroll through his thought and actions of the day. The pieces seem random at first but connect and bring the reader full circle by the final pages.

Lemony Snicket returns in this whimsical stream of consciousness book that weaves in philosophy. Snicket once again brings his signature wit to this book as he muses on life, death, and writing. For Snicket fans, this will be another great read. For others, it may be a little too out there, especially since it doesn’t have much of a plot.

Have you ever wished you could recapture the way you felt when reading the Series of Unfortunate events books for the first time? Well here you go. Poison for Breakfast is Lemony Snicket's last rumination on a day. You have poison for breakfast, so the note says. What do you do next? This day-in-the-life novel is short, full of Snicket's signature wit and vocabulary, and will make you want to move to a small village and solve a crime against yourself.

In this short and amusing novel, immediately after eating breakfast, Snicket receives a note telling him he's had poison for breakfast and sets about investigating the contents of his meal.

Some will like this little book more than others, but I think it can be well summed up in this one line: "It is as if enormous philosophical questions are not designed to be answered at all, but just to make you think." And I, for one, like those kinds of questions and those kind of books! Featuring Lemony Snicket's trademark style, I love that his allusions, references and winks are all explained in notes at the back. And a thank you to Mr. Snicket for his warm description of libraries and librarians. I have been fortunate enough to hear Daniel Handler speak at a library conference, and he brought a tear to my eye there, too. I hope everyone gets a chance to feel so valued in their professions!

Many thanks to #NetGalley for a digital copy, and #Liveright for a surprise print one!

Lemony Snicket returns with Poison For Breakfast, a tiny marvel of thoughts, philosophy, and the mess of human life.

"Everything in this book is true, by which that I mean it all really happened..." kickstarts a story that reads like the softly rolling hills of the English countryside, or the breeze blowing across the ocean, cooling your hot skin and wafting the tall dune grasses in mimic of the crashing waves.

It is a story about poison, and poems, and bread, and honey, and Sanskrit, and imaginary conversations, and ideals, and morals, and happiness, and the perfect breakfast. Lemony Snicket - a word which here means the pseudonym for Daniel Handler - brings his whimsy and his way with words into a pleasant dose of philosophical insight. Regarding how we should treat one another, where we should be more observant of the world around us, why we can't seem to change the atrocious ways we continue to treat each other, and the importance of libraries, literature, and melody, Poison For Breakfast is a heartwarming introspective work.

The whimsical outlook of Lemony Snicket abounds. Fans new and old will enjoy this winding, thoughtful story. There is a story, even if Snicket's thoughts often become tangental thoughts meant to provoke, of being poisoned at breakfast, being surprised, and going on an adventure.

Certain aspects of Poison For Breakfast come as advice on writing; the act of it, the lunacy of it, the wonder of it, and the process of it. Like when he says "Each patron in a library is looking for something different, and so the book you hardly notice is the book someone else is breathless to find, and the book that always makes you smile is busy making someone else sick. As someone who writes books, this always gives me hope."

There are countless nuggets of wisdom and hundreds of charming, funny, or ridiculous quotes. It's not hard to imagine this book on one's shelf, with a broken spine and pages that fall out, with highlights and notes in the margins. Poison for Breakfast is the kind of book to be read now and again, to be returned to, to laugh over and cry over, to hug it to your chest, and maybe, on occasion, throw it across the room.

Many thanks to Lemony Snicket, W.W. Norton & Company, and NetGalley for this eARC - which here means electronic advanced reader copy - in exchange for an honest review.

Loved it! Part memoir, part whimsy, part philosophy. The message might be - live each day like it's your last? This book made me happy. It was a quick satisfying read which I devoured in one sitting. There is a story but there are more side bars than original plot and that worked for me. I smiled as I read the rationale for not purchasing bread from the bakery and related to not wanting to be friends with a supermarket. The page long definition of the word “literature” was a joy to read for this book nerd. This is definitely a book that takes you deeper into the author’s mind but also into the author as a reader’s head. He tells stories as he tells his own story that starts with his breakfast. I didn’t see the chapter notes until the end but would have enjoyed referring to them during the reading as they answered many questions I had during the reading of this book. Set in one day with minimal plot and lots of meandering, Snicket hits on big and small questions in a gentle, humorous way. He doesn’t take himself at all too seriously nor does he expect his reader to. I loved the illustrations and the depth of imagination shown here. Ultimately, I believe the author is saying imagination is our secret superpower! We can’t afford to lose it and must do all we can to use and develop it. The true audience for this book includes those who grew up reading Lemony Snicket. I read all his books to my kids over ten years ago and there was such a wonderful feeling of returning home as I read this book. Familiar tone, familiar voice. “a phrase which here means” was fun for about the first 60 pages but then annoyed this old lady. The repetition of the breakfast made me glad I was reading text and not listening to this book on audio. I plan to gift this to my kids for Christmas in the hopes that we can have a discussion about it and reminisce on their memories of Lemony Snicket. I fondly remember awaiting the release of the next book in The Series of Unfortunate Events. If you’ve not read any of those you might want to. Those books have survived many purges of our bookshelves and I'm saving for my grandkids. Thanks Lemony Snicket and keep writing please.

Book Review for Poison for Breakfast

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Maybe if I were familiar with the Unfortunate Events series, I would appreciate this standalone title. I actually requested the advance reading copy to become more familiar with the famous Lemony Snicket. Unfortunately, most of the events in the story, and even the philosophical ramblings, failed to hold my attention. i had to skip to the end to learn the twist.

While I believe readers of any age will enjoy this book, I feel adults will find the most pleasure in this quick, fun diversion. The educational tidbits blended perfectly with the overall intelligence and humor. This was the most literary fun I’ve had in ages.

Poison for Breakfast is a welcome release for fans of Lemony Snicket's work. Not quite the Snicket we're used to from the Series of Unfortunate Events books, the author still holds our attention with a winding series of musings connected to his impending death by poison.

The publisher notes this book is appropriate for all ages, but I have trouble imagining children or even teens having the attention span needed to read this book. Even my mind wandered off on occasion. And yet it was fascinating to see Snicket connect the dots between seemingly random thoughts and references. A perfect read for when you want to settle down for an afternoon and peek inside an author's mind.