Let's Pretend This Never Happened Review

TITLE: Let's Pretend This Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir
AUTHOR: Jenny Lawson
NARRATOR: Jenny Lawson
PUBLISHER: Penguin Audio
PUBLICATION DATE: 4/17/2012
FORMAT: Audiobook
LENGTH: 8 hours 41 minutes
SOURCE: Bought
MY RATING: 

COYER SCAVENGER HUNT #45: READ A BOOK BASED ON TRUE EVENTS - 3 POINTS

SUMMARY (FROM GOODREADS): When Jenny Lawson was little, all she ever wanted was to fit in. That dream was cut short by her fantastically unbalanced father (a professional taxidermist who created dead-animal hand puppets) and a childhood of wearing winter shoes made out of used bread sacks. It did, however, open up an opportunity for Lawson to find the humor in the strange shame spiral that is her life, and we are all the better for it.

Lawson's long-suffering husband and sweet daughter are the perfect comedic foils to her absurdities, and help her to uncover the surprising discovery that the most terribly human moments--the ones we want to pretend never happened--are the very same moments that make us the people we are today.

Let's Pretend This Never Happened is a poignantly disturbing, yet darkly hysterical tome for every intellectual misfit who thought they were the only ones to think the things that Lawson dares to say out loud. Like laughing at a funeral, this book is both irreverent and impossible to hold back once you get started. 

MY THOUGHTS: I loved this book so much! I had never heard of Jenny Lawson before, but this had good reviews so I thought I'd pick it up on Audible. I'm so glad that I did. It's hard to find the words to describe this book. It's just funny. This book was incredibly hilarious. I was listening to quite a bit of this while I was at work and I was biting my cheeks to stop myself from laughing out loud. I highly enjoyed every moment of this book.

I also loved the more serious moments. In chapter 25, Lawson talks about her anxiety and her husband being well-meaning, but just not understanding. I can completely relate to that. I feel like she took the thoughts right out of my head.

COVER: After reading the book, I can see that the cover is perfect for it!

Storm Review

TITLE: Storm
SERIES: Paper Gods #3
AUTHOR: Amanda Sun
PUBLISHER: Harlequin Teen
PUBLICATION DATE: 6/30/2015
FORMAT: Paperback
PAGES: 287
SOURCE: Amazon Vine
MY RATING: 

COYER SCAVENGER HUNT #74: READ THE LAST BOOK IN A SERIES - 5 POINTS.

INSIDE COVER SUMMARY: After almost a year in Japan, Katie Greene has finally unearthed the terrible secret behind her boyfriend Tomohiro's deadly ability to bring drawings to life--not only is he descended from Kami, the ancient Japanese gods, but he is the heir to a tragedy that occurred long ago, a tragedy that is about to repeat.

Even as the blood of a vengeful god rages inside Tomo, Katie is determined to put his dark powers to sleep. In order to do so, she and Tomo must journey to find the three Imperial Treasures of Japan. Gifts from the goddess Amaterasu herself, these treasures could unlock all of the secrets about Tomo's volatile ancestry and quell the ink's lust for destruction. But in order to complete their quest, Tomo and Katie must confront out-of-control Kami and former friend Jun, who has begun his own quest of revenge against those he believes have wronged him. To save the world, and themselves, Katie and Tomo will be up against one of the darkest Kami creations they've ever encountered--and they may not make it out alive.

OVERALL IMPRESSION: This was a great ending to a great series. It picked up where the second book in the series left off, rounded out the overall story line and wrapped everything up nicely. The writing in this book sucked me in. I could see everything in my mind as it was happening. The book has nice reminders of what happened in the previous books without having long drawn out summaries. It helped refresh me on what was going on since the last book.

There were far fewer drawings included in this book and I really missed seeing them, but it makes sense because the characters weren't really drawing anything until further in the book. I really enjoyed the drawings that were included.

I liked the ending of this book. I felt that it was the best possible way for things to go and I felt like it wrapped up the entire series enough to where I felt content.

CHARACTERS: The characters are all great. We don't really learn a lot about the characters, but I feel like we already know a lot about them from the previous two books.

COVER: This is my least favorite cover of all the books in the series. I loved the first two covers so much. I wish they would have made this one more similar to the first two covers.

**I received a copy of this book from Amazon Vine and the publisher for my honest review. My opinions are my own and have not been influenced in any way.**

Cat Daddy Review (Audio)

TITLE: Cat Daddy: What the World's Most Incorrigible Cat Taught Me About Life, Love and Coming Clean
AUTHOR: Jackson Galaxy & Joel Derfner
NARRATOR: Jackson Galaxy
PUBLISHER: Tantor Media
PUBLICATION DATE: 5/10/2012
FORMAT: Audio
LENGTH: 6 hours 24 minutes
SOURCE: Bought
MY RATING: 

COYER SCAVENGER HUNT #55: READ A BOOK FEATURING AN ANIMAL PROMINENTLY IN THE STORY - 4 POINTS

SUMMARY (FROM GOODREADS): Cat behaviorist and star of Animal Planet's hit television show My Cat from Hell, Jackson Galaxy, a.k.a. "Cat Daddy," isn't what you might expect for a cat expert (as the New York Times noted, with his goatee and tattoos he "looks like a Hell's Angel"). Yet Galaxy's ability to connect with even the most troubled felines--not to mention the stressed-out humans living in their wake--is awe-inspiring. In this book, Galaxy tells the poignant story of his thirteen-year relationship with a petite gray-and-white short-haired cat named Benny, and gives singular advice for living with, caring for, and loving the feline in your home.

When Benny arrived in his life, Galaxy was a down-and-out rock musician with not too much  more going on than a part-time job at an animal shelter and a drug problem. Benny's previous owner brought the cat to the shelter in a cardboard box to give him up. Benny had seen better days--his pelvis had just been shattered by the wheels of a car--and his owner insisted he'd been "unbondable" from day one. Nothing could have been further from the truth.

An inspiring account of two broken beings who fixed each other, Cat Daddy is laced throughout with Galaxy's amazing "Cat Whisperer" advice for understanding what cats need most from us in order to live happier, healthier lives.

MY THOUGHTS: I thought this would be a good book, but I had no idea how good of a book it would actually be. I am a huge fan of the show My Cat From Hell, so when I was at the library and I saw that this was a book, I knew I had to get it. Soon after, audible had a deal on this book, and I scooped it up. I love when writers narrate their own books because they can put emphasis on certain words or phrases that they want to stand out. Jackson does a great job with that in his book. I can hear in his tone of voice when he is angry or excited, etc. and it makes me feel those things right along with him.

I went through quite a lot of emotions in this book. I am an animal lover and have had my fair share of pets in the past, the present and most likely will have in the future. Therefore, I can put myself in Jackson's shoes during some parts of this book. I don't know what it's like to be addicted to drugs, but I do know what it's like to love an animal, and I could feel the love that Jackson has for his cat Benny. There was a chapter of this book that was particularly hard for me to listen to which made me tear up and feel quite emotional (I happened to be driving in the car at the time of course!). But being able to connect to something on that level just makes it better for me.

If you are already a fan of Jackson Galaxy, or you love animals, this is a book for you.

June Wrap Up

In June I read a total of 10 books, putting my total books read for this year at 80. Of these books, 5 counted towards my "real" book challenge. This means, so far this year, I have read 68 "real" books.

"Real" Books:

Ebooks:

Audio Books:

This year, I am also participating in Summer COYER 2015. Click HERE to check out my progress on that.

Reviews Written:
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
Paper Towns
Tiny Pretty Things
The Rules