I’ll admit that until the tragic death of Chris Kyle in February of this year, I had never heard of him.  So I had no idea he was the most lethal sniper ever in the history of the American Military.  I was also amazed by the wide range of reactions to his death.  It was in the midst of the news coverage about his

Before reading Born to Be Brad I had no idea what Brad’s last name was or really who he was.  If I ever saw an episode of the Rachel Zoe Project on Bravo it was an accident.  And I certainly had no idea there was a show called It’s a Brad Brad World.  I really only knew who Brad was because of the Kate Spade

Finally I finished Let’s Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson. I hate being so busy I can’t finish a roughly 300 page book in a week’s time. Especially since it is the summer & the summer months are for poolside reading or indoor activities to avoid the summer heat.

I literally found myself laughing out loud several times as I read this book.  The way Jenny Lawson’s mind works is amazing and I know understand why people love her so much.  I haven’t ever followed her blog and if I hadn’t seen her mentioned so frequently on Twitter I wouldn’t have known about her book.

I can’t help but think if this were my life I would want to share it with everyone.  But I’m also amazed at her openness and ability to share her life the way she does.

You don’t have to be a follower or reader of Jenny Lawson’s blog to enjoy this book or to get to know her.  And you most definitely will not be lost reading her book.  But if you want to catch up with Jenny head over to her blog.

I’ve been trying to read a lot of indie author’s books because I understand their plight in trying to spread the word about their own novels, but I figure a first time author, even with the backing of a publishing house could still use some support and so I don’t feel too guilty straying off the indie author path with this read.  It was a good effort and a lot of fun, way to go Jenny Lawson!

Have you read this book yet? What did you think?

I’m just excited that I can now say I’ve read one of the books on my summer reading list. I am going to veer off a little bit for the next book I read because I had a friend loan me a book on the Kindle and I don’t have much time to get it read.  But I will quickly return to the list I laid out and get those books read!

I have been hearing all kinds of talk about Let’s Pretend This Never Happened on the Twitterverse and how funny it is…all the things I heard were true!  It didn’t take too long before this book had me laughing out loud.  Unfortunately I have been taking my sweet time reading this book because I’ve had so many different things come up that have taken over my free time and cutting into my reading time.

Since I am only 33% (thanks for that Kindle) into this book, I don’t feel like I can actually review it yet.  So instead I’ve decided to tell you my top three reasons you should read Let’s Pretend this Never Happened by Jenny Lawson aka The Bloggess:

3. You will be laughing from about page 2…of the Introduction!

2. Jenny is from Texas which means the first 33% has taken place in my home state!

1. If you ever thought your family was crazy, Jenny’s family has you beat!

As I read this book I can’t help but think, how in the heck did she get away with divulging this much detail about her family and husband?  I get called out if someone doesn’t understand the sarcasm in my tweets.  I can only imagine how much trouble I would be in if I wrote a book this revealing about the people close to me.  Not that I’m complaining by any means because I am thoroughly enjoying this book!

I’ll have more info next week, you know,  once I’ve actually finished her hilarious tale of growing up in West Texas.  But after that I might deviate from my summer reading list I posted last week, because I had a friend loan me a book on the Kindle and I only have limited time to read it.

What are you reading this summer?

If you haven’t read Tina Fey’s book “Bossypants,” I highly recommend it.  I found myself literally laughing out loud as I read it and I think you will too!

I always find it fascinating to read biographies and learn how people become who they are. This book won’t reveal anything shocking or unexpected about Ms. Fey, but it’s just interesting to hear how she came up with the idea for 30 Rock. Though I have to confess, I don’t watch the show.

I’ve never been a consistent SNL watcher, but I could’ve sworn that Tina Fey did more than just the Weekend Update during the show, but apparently I was wrong.  She said she tried doing a few other sketches during her tenure there but no matter the sketch she said she just always looked like Tina Fey but in a wig.  I would have never guessed that; to me she was one of the biggest stars of SNL while she was a cast memeber.

Apparently if you get the audio book, it is read by Tina Fey…now I kind of wish I’d done that!

Well it is on to the next book!

(That’s one book down in 2012, 19 to go!)

I’m not going to lie; the thing that drew me to tonight’s book was the cover and title.

Based solely on the title I bought the book one day, knowing I would take it to read on my vacation. Though I must confess I thought this would be a chicklit book I would just breeze through. Somehow I missed the word “memoir” on the cover.

This book starts out at what you would assume would be the low point of the author’s life. Due to her surgeon’s error two of her organs were punctured and she had to spend 2 weeks in the hospital and months hooked up to a “pee bag” as she calls it.

Things seem to turn around, her recovery is moving along just fine, and then her husband announces that he is leaving her for Bob. A man he met on gay.com. But that’s not the worst of it, a few days later she is in a terrible car accident that leaves her seriously injured.

With not many options, and a house that costs more than she can afford, Rhoda returns to her parent’s home and the Mennonite community she ran away from. At this point in the book, for an unknown reason I glanced at the front cover and saw the glowing review of this book from Elizabeth Gilbert. After not being able to make it through “Eat, Love, Pray” I almost threw the book down and moved on. . .but, I was on vacation and didn’t have many other book options.

Hesitantly I started reading again. . .and found myself laughing out loud whenever Rhoda talked about her mom. She is one fiery, opinionated woman, who has never lived anywhere but in the Mennonite community her entire life but boy does she have some hilarious perspectives and thoughts that I had to share with my friends.

In spite of Elizabeth Gilbert’s review, I too have to recommend this read. You don’t even have to know anything about the Mennonite community to enjoy this book because I sure didn’t.

In case you didn’t guess I gave up on Eat, Love, Pray. I hate not finishing a book, but I just couldn’t bring myself to finish this one. Maybe I’ll take it on vacation with me and if I run out of anything else to read I’ll force myself to read it; but no promises.

Friday I got a delivery from Barnes & Noble, but because I went to float the river I didn’t get it until Sunday. Last night I started reading Sliding into Home by Kendra Wilkinson.

I’m not going to lie, I love those trashy reality shows on E! like Keeping up with the Kardashians, Kourtney & Khloe Take Miami, Pretty Wild & Kendra. So naturally I was really looking forward to reading Kendra’s book.
After the torture of trying to read Eat, Love, Pray this is one easy read. I’m already halfway through the book and really just started it today. I enjoy a good biography and reading about how people got where they are today.

What I like about this book is that she gets straight to the point and tells you her story without a lot of extraneous details that don’t enhance the story; instead she just drops in a little humor. You definitely won’t be learning any rocket science with this one it’s just feel good story about how a trouble teen pulled herself out of her drug addiction, became Hugh Hefner’s girlfriend and then found fame.

This is definitely one book I recommend. Now enough of my yakking I want to get back to reading.

I just finished reading Julie and Julia. Shockingly I was inspired to read this book because the movie was about to come out. Unfortunately I didn’t quite finish the book before the movie came out, but I tried.

This was a fun read. As you read it you really feel like you get to know Julie Powell. She is definitely a no-holds bar author that lets you fully engage in every detail of her life. Though if you’re offended by the F word, consider yourself warned.

While I by no means consider myself a cook, I do enjoy an occasional endeavor into the culinary world, this book almost inspired me to take on the challenge of cooking through Mastering the Art of French Cooking. . .ALMOST! But don’t hold your breath because. . .

Where do I even start? There are so many things I could never do. I don’t see myself cooking liver, deboning a duck or making aspic anytime soon. . .none of those sound in the least bit tempting.

Despite having finished the book I’m still not sure what Julie thought she would accomplish by taking on the challenge of cooking every recipe in Mastering the Art of French Cooking in a year. . .though I admire her determination to stick with the challenge even though the situation appeared dyer on more than one occasion.

I can’t wait to see the movie because I’ve heard that while it has some obvious changes, it is still really good. Plus I absolutely adore Amy Adams. Who wants to go with me?

This week I am finally reading, “Same Kind of Different as Me,” by Ron Hall and Denver Moore; I was supposed to read it last summer but never did.

I am so glad I finally picked this book up, it is sooooo good!

Ron Hall is a wealthy man whose wife dragged him to the Union Gospel Mission in downtown Fort Worth, TX, who met an unlikely friend Denver Moore. This book is about how their friendship unfolds and the reader sees at that end the Denver taught Ron more than Ron taught Denver.

Denver was a slave in Louisianna into his early adulthood, the only way he could imagine escaping his life of slavery was to hop a train and try to make it to California. After a short stint in California, he headed back East and made Ft. Worth his new home.

After months of trying to get Denver to drop his guard Ron was successful and able to actually develop a friendship with Denver. I found it interesting that when Ron told Denver he wanted to be his friend, Denver had to think about it. And two weeks later, told Ron he would be his friend as long as Ron wasn’t planning to “catch and release” their friendship. If they were going to be friends it would be for life.

I am right at 30 pages from the end of the book and I must warn you, you are going to need some Kleenex as you near the end, but so far it has been so worth it.

There is even talk that this will be made into a movie; the screen play has been sold. If you want to keep up with that possibility, check out the book’s website.