Read 30 Books - #1 Let's Pretend This Never Happened

I have always loved reading, but I go through phases where I haven't read a book in months, or the exact opposite and I'll read six in just a few months often staying up until 3am unable to put it down. I'd like to consistently be reading a book (during normal hours) instead of watching so much meaningless television. I think it's pretty obvious why getting lost in a book is more productive than literally losing an afternoon to bad daytime television (why is it that I can get sucked into a movie already 25 minutes in even though I've seen it a million times? Damn you, Death Becomes Her!).

I decided to read 30 books this year because, duh, I'm 30 and also it's an aggressive goal for a semi-slow reader like me. I like a variety of books, mostly fiction or classics, but I also love memoirs and an occasional self-help or educational book. 

I had just finished reading Ken Follet's World Without End so I wanted to switch to something modern and funny. My first pick is Let's Pretend This Never Happened: (A Mostly True Memoir) from American blogger and journalist Jenny Lawson who has won countless awards for her blog, The Bloggess. I had actually never read her blog until hearing about her book. Most people will describe her writing as funny, brutally honest, irreverent, aggressive, and seemingly loud. If Tina Fey, David Sedaris, and Chelsea Handler had a three-way, Jenny would be their love child (if maybe they were all simultaneously reading Chicken Soup for the Soul and doing crack at the time). 

You will literally laugh out loud (which was tough at times reading in bed at night next to Mike who was asleep already) as she describes her unconventional upbringing with her dad being a taxidermist in a very small town in Texas. Seriously disturbing and hilarious. You quickly realize why today Jenny struggles with OCD, depression, and high anxiety. For someone that deals with a lot of unfortunate mental and physical illnesses, she's very inspiring once you get over some of the things she says that you may find offensive. I didn't think anything was offensive, but I have a high tolerance for things like  a taxidermied mouse dressed as Hamlet, dead baby references, and a non-traditional family environment. Through all the f-bombs, ridiculous stories, and awkward scenarios (I love awkward), deep down you can tell she is a good person. She's not in your face sunshine and rainbows, but you can tell she's a positive person, because despite the crazy childhood, mental illness, and daily physical pain of having rheumatoid arthritis, she's making her life work. She's not just making it work, she's living a great life with a loving husband, daughter, friends and family and helping thousands of people through their own isolating mental illnesses. It's truly something to be admired.


I particularly love the dynamic of her marriage. Her husband and her are complete opposites and at times you wonder how they deal with each other, but it works in a messed up kind of way. At times it reminded me of my own marriage, though not as extreme, and I even had Mike read a chapter about them discussing "the deal" that was made when she chose to leave her job in HR (like me!) to take a year off. In a nutshell, we both promised doing some things that didn't end up getting done. We'll just leave it at that. Seriously, these are the types of examples I need in my life to show Mike I'm semi-normal and not as crazy as other people! Thank you, Jenny! Holy crap and we have the same name. That is weird.


Anyhow, take a look at her blog and if you like it, you will probably like the book. She rambles a lot and gets off topic telling side stories before coming back around to her point, which you would think would be annoying, but it works and I never felt lost. It was a good read and I look forward to her future projects and reading more of her blog. 


If you have any good book suggestions let me know in the comments! One down, 29 to go!