Furiously Happy

How do you even begin to explain a Jenny Lawson book? Known as The Bloggess on the internet, Lawson is one of the most laugh-out-loud, hysterically funny, off-the-wall-crazy-pants writers I've ever come across. From her antics with taxidermied animals to the bizarre arguments she has with her husband to the weird tangents her brain goes on, Lawson is one of the most entertaining people on the internet. In Furiously Happy, she explores her lifelong fight with mental illness, from depression to anxiety to a number of manias, and she does so in a lovely, non-judgmental way. She does get serious - she talks about her “folder of 24” - 24 letters from suicidal people telling her that she, and the community she's built, are the reason they're still here. Lawson tackles the topic of depression head on, and by writing down the bizarre things that go through her head, lets people know THEY'RE NOT ALONE, and that's incredibly important.

As the subtitle of the book says, it might be a book about a serious topic, but oh. my. is it funny. Between sneaking a taxidermied ecstatically happy raccoon into view of her husband's video conferences, and trying to snuggle koalas in Australia while dressed in a full-body koala costume, Lawson also talks about waking up in the middle of the night thinking her arms have fallen off, and being stalked by carnivorous swans. Lawson's blog is hilarious, and this book is one of the most insanely funny things I've ever read, and now I have to track down her other two books. (Let's Pretend This Never Happened and You Are Here)

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