Let's Pretend this never happen (A mostly true memoir)

HA. Awesome. Oh my. Not for the faint of heart.

These are just the top things that come to mind when I think about Jenny Lawson’s first book.  Obviously immediately followed by is that a mouse dressed in Shakespearian garb on the cover (yes, yes it).

This author is a big old mess of my kind of crazy.  She curses like a sailor, writes she’s talking to an old friend and multiple times I laughed out loud (and rather loudly to be honest).  She takes you through her childhood life in a small backward-ass town Texas that’s  filled with wild animals acting inappropriately indoors and  the taxidermy shop her father ran that was attached to her house.  Since most of this seems too ridiculous to even been (mostly) true there are pictures and ladies and gentlemen they are indeed worth a thousand words.

There’s a bit of sad mixed in as she speaks candidly about her anxiety and she social awkwardness but it’s nestled in there between the porn addicted neighbor , the huge metal chicken and a love for dead animals stuffed in little outfits so it still qualifies as a good summer read.  Also the chapters are nice and short and it doesn’t take a genius to follow along so it is the perfect book it pick up and put down while enjoying the beach or wherever your summer activities take you.  Looking forward to Book Number 2 so get on it.

I couldn’t resist including this excerpt from a Jen Lancaster interview with the author 1. Because it’s hysterical and 2. Jenn Lancaster kicks ass but since I can read faster than she can write I appreciate her filling her fans in on other hysterical authors to read.

Lancaster: You appear to have a soft spot for dead, stuffed creatures, particularly if they’re clad in bowler hats or acting out a scene--please explain.

Lawson: My father is a professional taxidermist, so it’s not like I had a fighting chance. And besides, I think the real question here is, who wouldn’t be interested in ferrets in cancan dresses? Old anthropomorphic taxidermy is fascinating and I’ve collected an entire menagerie of creatures that make up my personal posse. Cuban pirate alligators, Shakespearean mice, heavily armed squirrels, vampire-slaying ducklings. I’m not sure how you say no to those. My husband can, but I’m fairly sure there’s something not right about him. Anyone who can turn his nose up at the Last Supper constructed of Victorian kittens has a problem. I suspect it’s because he’s a Republican.

Lancaster: Snooki or Kim Kardashian?

Lawson: Alphabetically, or in order of who is most likely to fuck up the youth of America? Because those are two different answers. Or possibly they aren’t, now that I think about it.

Interview lifted from http://www.amazon.com/Lets-Pretend-This-Never-Happened/dp/0399159010/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1340319473&sr=8-1&keywords=jenny+larson

Tina Fey Bossypants

Well let's just lay it out there... I am not the world's biggest Tina Fey fan.  I never started watching 30 Rock even after it got super popular...and quite frankly I regret it.  But that's not the point.  The point is Tina Fey is both really funny, brutally honest and one tough chick.  I listened to this as an audio book and I felt it added a little something since Tina read it herself.  I should warn you the book is filled with funny flashback pictures that most famous people would be hiding from the press instead of self mocking and publishing for the world to see (apparently people took denim really seriously in the 80s) so you do loose out on that if you go audio - they do come as a pdf for your viewing pleasure.  Tina doesn't hold anything back in this book - you are with her while she grows up, when she first struggles to get into comedy, her writing on SNL, her glorious Sarah Palin days and finally 30 Rock.  I will be forever grateful to Tina for her hilariously honest descriptions of what fashion shoots are like, the reality that everyone looks like crap - even when you are taped into your outfit with professional hair and makeup you still get airbrushed to high hell so fear not regular people apparently famous people don't look like magazine covers in real life either.  Thanks Tina for a bit of girl power and a genuinely funny read.

I have neglected you blog...forgive me?

So it's been a while...I didn't stop reading life just got to crazy and I stopped blogging.  That being said I am back on the ball and have read some great books and some not so great books.  Let's just cover what I have no intention of writing reviews about:

1. 1. The Hunger Games series - if you haven't read these books you are clearly (a) living under a rock or (b) under the misconception that you are too good/cool/advanced to read a YA book.  I feel you group B as I was previously  along time member.  I skipped the Twilight series and all other books that have made teenage girls squeal since I was in fact a teenage girl myself.  However all three books in the Hunger Games series are badass and the only reason you even remember they are YA books is because there is no nudity/sexytime. Awesome books, super quick and quite frankly the movie was pretty damn good as well.

2. The Games of Thrones series - oh again I have to say that I am not in general a fantasy fan (if you are rolling your eyes b/c Hunger Games is arguably fantasy I say touche and shut it).  I can't review these books because they are epic both in awesomeness and in scope.  Also how on earth would I do that without it being a giant spoiler alert.  Also so far only partially through book 4 and honestly can't really remember what happened in each book to write about them intelligently.  So just read them - go out of your comfort zone, stretch that brain muscle and enjoy the bloody , occasionally rape-y, badass series that George R. R. Martin has made for us. Side note the HBO series is pretty awesome so if the size of the books intimidates you enjoy it in one hour bits with some really pretty actors (it's not as soon though so consider yourself warned that you are missing out).