Thursday, February 23, 2017

Book Beginnings: Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson

Ok, Jenny Lawson is not for everyone, but I like her books and find her books compelling reading. If you like the cover, you might like Jenny. Yes, there is humor in her memoirs, but also honest and revealing writing about mental illness and physical conditions she faces like a true warrior. I honor her courage. But you might find her books (and a few cuss words) simply not for you.
I am linking to Book Beginnings at Rose City Reader where the rule is to post the first sentence of a book you are reading.
So "Furious Happy: A Funny Book about Horrible Things" begins:
"No, no. I insist you stop right now.
Still here? Awesome. Now you're not allowed to blame me for anything in this book because I told you to stop reading and you just kept going. You're like Bluebeard's wife when she found all those heads in the closet. (Spoiler alert). But personally I think that's a good thing. Ignoring the severed human heads in the closet doesn't make for a good relationship. It makes for an unsanitary closet and possible accessory charges."

I am also linking to Friday 56 at Freda's Voice where we share something from page 56.
"The second advantage of being on antipsychotics is that they can actually help. In the time I've been on them I've hurt myself less. I feel more stable. The blue men who live in my closet try to sell me fewer cookies and most of those squirrels plotting against me have disappeared."

Personally I salute this brave young woman. Her supportive husband gets my admiration too.

Here is the cover of her first memoir.
Her dad has a love of taxidermy which affects her life today and as a child, and explains the two subjects of the two book covers.


20 comments:

~Lavender Dreamer~ said...

I've never read her books but I'll look for them now. Take care my friend. Sending you LOTS of hugs, Diane

Laurie said...

Terra I'm intrigued! I just may have to check this book out of the library!

Roberta Gibson said...

Actually, I do like the wackiness of it. I like memoirs, too, so I might just give it a try.

Jennifer said...

I love Jenny Lawson. Her blog "The Bloggess" is hysterical!

Blondie's Journal said...

Book Beginnings is a very cool concept. Honestly, before I buy a book I read the back or inside jacket for the summary, then I read the reviews, then the bio of the author...finally, the first paragraph. Okay, I also skip to the middle to see how it's moving along.

This book sounds interesting, Terra. Will you be giving us a review once you've finished?

Jane x

Laurel-Rain Snow said...

I've been eyeing her books...and I am not completely drawn in. I actually hate the covers...LOL.

But...I'm curious. Thanks for sharing. Here's mine: “HEARTBREAK HOTEL”

Katherine P said...

I love Jenny Lawson! I really enjoyed both her books and her blog. If you do audio at all they're worth getting. I listened to Furiously Happy a month after reading it I think I loved it even more! Hope you enjoy it!

fredamans said...

Sounds funny to me, and I like funny!
I did have to fix your link. I'm not sure what you did but it was funny too.. lol. All good now though. Thanks for taking part!
Happy weekend!

Alicia @ A Kernel of Nonsense said...

I feel furiously happy after seeing that cover. I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Unknown said...

I love this! I will definitely be picking this book up. I did my Friday 56 on "The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck", so the language definitely doesn't bother me, lol. my Friday 56 is here: http://chandareads.com/2017/02/24/friday-56-2/

Lin said...

I liked her first book better than the second. The second is all over the place--dealing with her usual weird stuff, then she goes into her illness...then back again. It's something I can only read in small doses. This isn't the type of book you pick up and finish all the way through.

Janice said...

Hi Terra, thank you for visiting my blog. My goodness you have read a lot of books! I only seem to manage around 30 books a year, which isn't too baad as I only read when I go to bed. I see you are in California, I hope you weren't affected by all the rain California has been having recently!

Kathryn T said...

I think any book that inspires because of the courage of the person is always great and humour helps as well. Sounds like a good read.

Gattina said...

I never read a book of her !

Rebecca said...

I'm not sure that the cover calls my name, LOL!
But then again, who knows??

diane b said...

They sound interesting reads.

Stephanie said...

Oh my, what fascinating looking books! The covers along brought a smile to my face :)

Enjoy your week! Hugs

Wanda said...

I think I need to check these out.

Sam I Am...... said...

I used to visit her blog and almost bought her first book and then I saw she had a second.....now I want to read both of them. I remember her being very funny!

kath001 said...

I read this last year...well...I read about half of it last year. Parts of it made me laugh to the point of waking up my hubs. Other parts made me ache for her. I wasn't able to concentrate enough to finish before it was due back at the library, but I plan to go back to it.