Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson

Jenny Lawson realized that the most mortifying moments of our lives—the ones we’d like to pretend never happened—are in fact the ones that define us. In Let’s Pretend This Never Happened, Lawson takes readers on a hilarious journey recalling her bizarre upbringing in rural Texas, her devastatingly awkward high school years, and her relationship with her long-suffering husband, Victor.

There's a method to reading and enjoying this book.  First, read Jenny's blog (www.thebloggess.com - we recommend starting with this post.  It had us all rolling on the floor.)  Then follow her on Twitter (@thebloggess) and get to know her (as much as you can know an author you've never actually seen).  Once you "get" Jenny a bit, and love her as I guarantee you will, then you are ready to read her "Mostly True Memoir".  If you read the reviews written by professional reviewers, they discount the book as being too over the top, exaggerated, and random.  Obviously they have not followed the steps, or else they are stuffy men who have never laughed at themselves.

Jenny suffers from an anxiety disorder which alternately (a.) forces her to hide in the bathroom or (b.) shuts off her self-filter and leaves her spewing a non-stop stream of consciousness (usually about inappropriate subjects) to total strangers.  She also has a bizarre fixation on taxidermied animals and the ability to spin every situation as her husband, Victor's, fault.  All of which she retells with a caustic sense of humor.

But underneath all that is a vulernable woman with a heart as big and open as West Texas.  You can see it in the Traveling Red Dress project that began with her donating one red dress to be passed around and turned into hundreds of people donating and sharing dresses to help other women feel better about themselves.  You can see it in the money she raised (by what started as a joke) to give Night Night Packages for homeless children.

Jenny's willingness to share all this makes her feel like a friend telling you these stories over a glass of wine, rather than a distant, unknown author.  THIS is the crucial information those reviewers missed.  Because if you have that info, this book is hilarious!  I feel obliged to mention that Jenny is well-versed in profanity and uses it frequently, so if that's an issue, you might want to skip this one (and her blog).  But if you can look past it, then her "mostly true memoir" is touching, encouraging and just freakin' funny!