Let's Pretend This Never Happened

Let's Pretend This Never Happened, by Jenny Lawson (The Bloggess).

I sometimes wonder what it would have been like to have a childhood that was not like mine. I have no real frame of reference, but when I question strangers I've found that their childhood generally had much less blood in it, and also that strangers seem uncomfortable when you question them about their childhood. But really, what else are you going to talk about in line at the liquor store? Childhood trauma seems like the natural choice, since it's the reason why most of us are in line there to begin with.

I had heard of The Bloggess before reading this book, but had only read a few of her blog posts. People talked about her at last year's BlogHer convention - she wasn't there, but had been at a few of the previous ones; she has anxiety sometimes, and tends to "hide out in bathrooms during social events," as she confesses in this book, and she did that at one of the BlogHers. The next year, they made a fake bathroom just for her to hang out with people! So she has an intriguing reputation, to say the least.

The book started with her childhood, where we learn her dad was into dead animals - he's a taxidermist of sorts - and a lot of the anecdotes she recalls were hilarious. I read this book at work during my breaks and had to be careful to not laugh out loud hysterically for a lot of it, because parts are hilarious.

The book follows her throughout where she is now, married for fifteen years with a daughter, and living life in Texas.

Like I said, parts of this book were hilarious and I could.not.stop.reading. However, as time wore on, it became that I kind of just wanted to finish the book - nuggets here and there were still funny, but it became similar to spending too much time with a crazy relative; aka, time to move on and hit the road (or, in this case, finish the book).

3.5 stars out of 5.

*Disclosure: I was compensated for writing this review for the BlogHer Book Club. The opinions expressed here, however, are my own.