Book Review- Jenny Lawson's Let's Pretend This Never Happened

Thank goodness nobody was home, because when I read page fifteen, I laughed for about twenty minutes. It was the kind of laugh that turns to streaming tears and a cramped belly. I'm not going to tell you what's on page fifteen in Jenny Lawson's memoir, Let's Pretend This Never Happened, because the funny is in the reveal. There is simply no words that I can use to do justice to what is written on that page. You must check it out for yourself.

Lawson, who turned her popular blog (The Bloggess) into her first memoir, has led a very unusual life and she has a hilarious way of recounting it. This is going to sound a bit sick and twisted, but I am going for it...I totally relate to Lawson's love for animals, yet her fascination with taxidermy, particularly poorly done taxidermy. Some people collect live animals. some go for crusty gators in pirate costumes. Like Lawson, I get pretty giddy when I come across a piece in a store or museum.

Walter Potter, nut or creative genius? A bit of both?

Lawson has a good excuse for her taxidermy obsession, her father was a taxidermist and she was raised with an usual relationship with animals. Her father often brought home wild animals that he didn't kill to be family pets. He would also bring home drifters to the dinner table. Lawson's childhood was a constant adventure, as she never quite knew what to expect. Lawson's upbringing was a complete polar opposite to mine and is a huge factor in what makes her memoir so interesting.

The book is hilarious, providing many laugh-out-loud moments. This is not to say, that there are not some very serious topics covered in the book. Lawson has had some major issues in her life and she faces them head-on in her memoir. She does not shy away from very personal, tough issues.

As much as I enjoyed the book, as with most collected stories, some are stronger than others. Some were not quite as funny as they tried to be or not as interesting. I even found myself skimming a few. However, the ones that are well done, are completely fantastic. I love Lawson's candor and writer's voice. She is definitely someone that I would want as a friend and I look forward to reading her blog, something that I didn't know existed prior to discovering her book.

Hypersmash.com

Book Review- Melissa Bank's The Wonder Spot

I wanted to give Melissa Bank a second chance after being underwhelmed with her debut novel, but I found her follow-up, The Wonder Spot, to be equally underwhelming. This is not to say that the novel is without merit, as there are things that Bank does very well.

She doesn't write plot, she write slice of life and character sketches. This entire book comprised of slices of the main character, Sophie Applebaums, life. It's an examination of how a woman grows (or is stuck) as she develops relationships in her life. Again, this book doesn't have a big plot. It's almost like little short stories revolving around the same person. The lack of a forward plot or over-all arc, is a bit maddening and maybe if the character was more interesting, it would be forgivable.

Bank writes characters. She write real people. Sophie is entirely relatable, even if she isn't very likable. Unfortunately, I recognized much of myself in her character. The problem with making her so real, is it made the book a bit dull. This is not even remotely escapist literature or chick-lit. It's a character study. Sophie may feel real, but she is also not a very interesting person.

Neither are the other characters in the story. I kept getting them confused with one another, none of them made an impression. This was the major fault of the story. I can handle the lack of plot and realism, if the characters give me a reason to care. Unfortunately, I just didn't care about any of them.

I want to like Bank, as she has a way of writing that is authentic. I just desperately want her writing to be more interesting.

Book Review- Matt Logelin's Two Kisses for Maddy

In March of 2008, Matthew Logelin suddenly lost his high school sweetheart and wife, Liz, to a pulmonary embolism just twenty-seven hours after she had given birth to their first child, Maddy. In his grief, Logelin took to candidly blogging about his emotions and fears. Logelin's blog ended up becoming a sensation, as readers from all around the world connected with struggles.

Logelin's memoir Two Kisses for Maddy was made possible through the unwitting success of his blog. The book is dedicated to Maddy and serves as a more formal approach to documenting his relationship with Liz, her death and his first years as a single parent. Although more structured than a blog, it is not writing without raw emotion. Logelin is not a writer by trade, he fell into this new career through tragedy. He has tons of talent, but it's raw and i feel as a reader, this is what I responded to so strongly. He's not polished, swears often and doesn't sugarcoat or sentimentalize memories. Logelin has a knack for writing in a genuine voice.

I seem to pick a lot of books having to do with loss and grieving. It's therapeutic. Logelin's story had some odd parallel time from to grief that i experienced in my own life. Liz and Matt are my age. Liz died in Pasadena, just a six weeks after my mom died just miles away in a Glendale Hospital. Just by the descriptions of places, I am fairly certain that they lived in a nearby neighborhood. My heart skipped a beat when Logelin mentioned a doctor Wada on Liz's death certificate. My mom has the same name on hers. Even though the circumstances are very different, there are a lot of commonalities with grief and processes that you need to attend to when a loved one dies. I think knowing that their family was experiencing grief at the same time as mine and in a local community, gave me pause.

i connected a lot on a different level. My father died when i was four and I really don't remember him. There are so many ways to handle the issue, but i loved and respected how Logelin used his memoir as a legacy for Maddy. He did Liz and Maddy justice, by writing Liz as a real person, not just letting her death elevate her into a saintly figure. One day, when Maddy is old enough, she will read this and know that she had amazing parents who loved her and each other so much. The stories of her parents courtship will not be distorted through time. i wish that i had more information on my parents and who they were before i came along. I feel like this book is such an amazing gift. it gave me perspective into fears that my mom must have experienced as a single parent, but that i was never privy to.

Parts of this book were sad and difficult to read, but I ultimately walked away thinking that this was such a positive, uplifting story. Maddy is so lucky to have an amazing father and Matt is so lucky to be blessed with a great kid. I loved the pictures of two of them globe trotting and visiting places that were special to Liz.