User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
Am I allowed to rate my own book? Because *technically* I have read it so I think it still counts. I'm giving it one star for every year I thought I'd never finish it and if you are reading this and struggling with your own story, know that you are not alone. We all have stories inside of us that grow and change and inspire and mortify and serve as warning sign or guideposts. Thank you for listening to mine.
Rating: really liked it
Just started it and I'm already laughing!
Rating: really liked it
In the last two pages of “Broken (In the Best Possible Way),” Jenny Lawson explains that the cover illustration was done by an artist named Omar Rayyan. His collection contains “whimsical paintings of people carrying their own baffling little monsters.” To her, this embodies how she feels about her battles with depression and anxiety. “I take mine out in the sun and try to appreciate that the flowers it rips up from the garden can sometimes be just as lovely when stuck in the teeth of its terrible mouth.”
As fans of Jenny AKA The Bloggess know from either her previous two books or social media accounts, she suffers from not only mental illness but ailments such as rheumatoid arthritis, pre-diabetes, and anemias. In “Broken,” she really takes those monsters by their horns. One chapter is a painfully-relatable letter to her insurance company, another details her many months going through experimental treatments. While her wit can be found in these sections, they’re just not… funny. And that’s OK, it doesn’t appear they’re supposed to be.
The unique thing about this book is that intermixed with these more stoic chapters are laugh-out-loud ones. That is, if your brand of humor includes things like toddler-sized tiny condoms for your dog to use as boots, buttworms, and bearcat hot buttered pee. (Yes, you read that right.) There are lists of mortifying things she’s said, mortifying things strangers have done and tweeted to her, and mortifying corrections she’s received from her editors.
It’s been a few years since I read her other books, but I don’t recall their ranges of emotion being so vast. As a whole, reading “Broken” is a bit like doing laps in a pool. Start in the deep end with illness, swim to the shallow end to LOL, flip turn and head back to the deep. Seems fitting, since I think she’d agree that to deal with the depths of life, you have to just keep swimming.
My thanks to Ms. Lawson and Henry Holt & Co. for the opportunity to read an advanced review copy via NetGalley. “Broken” is now available.
Blog: www.confettibookshelf.com
IG: @confettibookshelf
Rating: really liked it
I am definitely in the minority here but I did not really like this book at all. There were a few random sections throughout where she gets real and talks about her mental health issues that I thought were interesting, but overall the book just felt really forced to me. It felt to me like she was going out of her way to be really absent-minded and scatterbrained in order to seem cute and funny. her stream of consciousness writing style is not my type of humor at all and seemed a bit ridiculous. I guess it just wasn't for me.
Rating: really liked it
Broken: In the Best Way Possible is the third collection of comical, every-day-life essays by Jenny Lawson (also known as The Bloggess). Ms. Lawson is one of the few people on this planet willing to share self-deprecating stories, not just for a laugh; but to show those who feel alone that they really aren’t.
Most of us have felt the frustration of our own forgetfulness. Ms. Lawson’s recollection issues provide perspective. Her open letter to her health insurance company highlights contradictions in their policies along with procedures that are almost nonsensical. Relatable, if you’ve ever been baffled by insurance.
Some chapters surprised me with anxieties and odd decisions so very similar to mine. Finally, someone else who waffles between answering the door when the mail-carrier requires a signature or just ignoring it and driving to the post office on another day. Hoping to feel up to face-to-face communication in the future.
To me, one of the most challenging aspects of clinical depression is not being to explain how it feels. I cannot emphasize enough how validating and exactly-what-I-needed-right-now this book is. It isn’t written to a specific, clinically-depressed audience, though. Ms. Lawson bravely speaks to absolutely everyone. Even those with brilliantly-balanced chemistry will be amused by these anecdotes.
Oh! And I learned what kintsugi is. When Ms. Lawson’s husband suggested it, he was so spot-on that he must have felt like a rock-star for a moment.
Reading Broken is like receiving a desperately needed hug from the person who knows you best and loves you anyway. And, I absolutely adore the new name she gives to the Acknowledgements section.
This review was written by jv poore for Buried Under Books, with huge “Thank You!” to Henry Holt & Company and Goodreads for the Advance Review Copy.
Rating: really liked it
NOW AVAILABLE!!
this might be my favorite one yet, but i am too broken to review it RN. go get it, though - you will not be disappointed!
*************************************************
apparently,
because jenny lawson is the vaccine that will protect me against anything 2021 has in store is an acceptable response to the question "why are you requesting this book?" over on edelweiss.
WHOLEHEART THANK YOUS TO J-LAW AND E-WEISS!!!
Rating: really liked it
**Many thanks to NetGalley, Henry Holt & Co., and Jenny Lawson for an ARC of this book! Now available as of 4.6!**
You ever had that friend that who not only can make you laugh, not only can make you cry, but can make you laugh from crying AND cry from laughing?
Jenny Lawson is JUST that wizard.This is Jenny's third book, and those familiar with her humor realize she will be discussing everything from some 'interesting' (and not G rated) product pitches for Shark Tank to embarrassing and ridiculous anecdotes from some of her blog and Twitter followers that will have you have you snickering, if not full-out belly laughing. Jenny loves taxidermy and tangents, and her frick-and-frack banter with husband Victor is always a treat. What I love most about her comedic essays (and this is just in their written form) is that they are the weirdest stories where the beginning of the chapter can leave you saying "Huh? How exactly is she going to circle back to receiving a bag of dicks at the post office?" But lo and behold. She always does, and once you've actually heard the story, you think "Well of course. Why WOULDN'T she have received a bag of dicks? Perfectly logical."
The juxtaposition to the wild and wacky, however, is Jenny's discussion of her mental health struggles, which are heartbreaking in a sense, but also so relatable at times she takes my breath away. The essays in this book were particular poignant and interesting, since Jenny also discusses her experience with TMS (transcranial magnetic stimulation) therapy, which I had only heard of prior to reading this book. Other than Matt Haig, there is nobody who discusses depression and anxiety with such acuity as Jenny Lawson. The few essays on these topics alone provide enough advice (including a top ten list of what techniques work best for Jenny), empathy, and insight to put her alongside some of the best self-help writers I've read, like Brene Brown. There are so many passages I wanted to go back and highlight in this book, and as an avid fan of her blog and all other social media, I can say some of the email newsletters she sends are just the right words you need to hear on a particularly bad day.
I am so proud to call myself a Jenny Lawson fan, because she is one of the most unflinchingly authentic, unique, intelligent, and real bloggers I've ever come across, and her essay about being Broken is one of the best of the bunch here. If you need a cry-laugh, a laugh-cry (and let's face it, you could probably use at least one of those!), PLEASE pick up this fantastic book! She is quirky, gifted, funny, and empathetic...in all the best possible ways! 4.5 ⭐
Rating: really liked it
I got as far as page 59. I literally couldn’t read another word of this shit book. It was like listening to a crazy person ramble on and on about nothing. This author thinks she’s funny, but she is not. Who reads this kind of nonsense????
Rating: really liked it
Jenny LawsonJenny Lawson - born and raised in Texas - is a journalist, blogger, author, and humorist who suffers from mental illness, attention deficit disorder, clinical depression, anxiety attacks, rheumatoid arthritis, autoimmune problems, and more. This makes Lawson's life challenging, but her medication - as well as her husband and daughter - help Jenny cope.
Jenny tries to see the 'funny' in life, and shares her observations with her readers.
I'll give some examples of Jenny's anecdotes, to provide a feel for her humor.
Jenny tells a story about constantly losing a shoe, because one foot is slightly larger than the other. So Jenny walked out of a shoe in a hotel elevator, waited for the elevator to return.....and no shoe! Turns out someone reported it to security. Jenny vowed to stop losing a shoe, but proceeded to do it again and again. Thus Jenny once had to pretend wearing one shoe was an Avant-garde fashion choice, once lost a shoe in a public toilet, once lost a shoe in a storm drain, and so on. (I'd advise fashionable sneakers. 😃)
***
Jenny writes about being so uncomfortable at parties that she gets verbal diarrhea and makes terrible small talk, like comparing dog poop and human poop. Ick!!
*****
After repeatedly mentioning genitals in a chapter about a cockchafer maggot, Jenny looked to Twitter for gender-neutral words for private parts. Hundreds of responses poured in, some of Jenny's favorites being niblets, no-no zone, Area 51, the south 40, the Department of the Interior, my hoopty, my chamber of secrets, my bidness, fandanglies, and the good china.
*****
In a chapter about editing her books - which Jenny does with a gallery of professionals - Jenny acknowledges that the process is awful and painful and hilarious and mortifying...but not boring. For fun, Jenny describes conversations she had about her books with a variety of editors.
Some examples:
◙ Jenny confuses the pirates Blackbeard and Bluebeard because they have the same last name. Editor: I don't think "Beard" was their last name.
◙ Jenny: Let's change "butt" to "buttonhole." Editor: Are you sure you want to do that? Jenny: Oops, that was autocorrect. I meant let's change "butt" to "butthole."
◙ Jenny: Can I just leave a poop emoticon to say sorry for being shitty at words. Editor: The poop image is an "emoji." An emoticon is a typographical display of facial representation using text only. Jenny: Jesus, I can't even use poop correctly.
*****
Jenny has a knack for fun animal names. Her dog is called Dorothy Barker; her suggested monikers for a neighborhood owl are Owl Roker and Owlexander Hamilton; a yard rat is dubbed Boo Ratley; and a squirrel who steals peanut butter crackers is named Squirrelly Temple.
Dorothy Barker
*****
Jenny also tells stories about her husband Victor, her daughter Hailey, and her parents and grandparents. Much of this is amusing, though stories about pulling off chicken heads, eating goats roasted in ground pits, and snacking on gerbil jerky can be stomach-churning.
Ground Pit Oven*****
In a serious vein, Jenny excoriates her insurance company, which avoids paying for her medication and treatments....a phenomenon that's probably familiar to much of the general public.
Jenny also talks about contracting tuberculosis because she takes immunosuppressant drugs for her rheumatoid arthritis; getting panic attacks; having childhood anxiety attacks that were so frequent her mother had to change jobs to work in her school; having regular suicidal thoughts; and experiencing extended periods of depression. Jenny goes on to describe the transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) she received to relieve her psychiatric symptoms - treatments that are extensive and painful, but which helped.
Jenny getting TMS treatmentJenny's books do good by helping others who suffer from mental illness. Jenny writes about being on a book tour and meeting wonderful people who dealt with some of the same issues she had. Many folks shakily told her that it was the first time they'd left their house in weeks. Jenny was proud to be able to talk to each person, though it was VERY draining for HER, because she gets anxious being around people. A difficult conundrum indeed.
Jenny signing booksI like Jenny's humor, and there are some REALLY amusing chapters in the book. However, many sections feel forced, like the author was trying too hard to be funny.
Still, the book demonstrates that mentally ill individuals can have good times and enjoy life, which is a lesson worth learning.
Thanks to Netgalley, the author (Jenny Lawson), and the publisher (Henry Holt and Company) for a copy of the book.
You can follow my reviews at http://reviewsbybarbsaffer.blogspot.com/
Rating: really liked it
Completed second reading. Review to come...
Jenny Jenny, you're the girl for me,
You don't know me but you make me so happy...
We could all use a little Jenny Lawson right this very minute.
I finished reading this four months ago. It has been sitting on my currently reading shelf ever since, because I kept meaning to go back and read it a second time when my life had settled down a bit.
Finally starting the re-read today.
Rating: really liked it
Many thanks to Henry Holt & Co for the ARC!!um
yes
i need
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Rating: really liked it
Jenny Lawson never fails to deliver—both laughter and tears. She balances humor and sincerity
so well and seems like such a darn good person that I'd love to be friends with. If you have read and enjoyed her two previous memoirs, you'll love this one just as much. She is consistent, if not a bit repetitive, but honestly I can't fault her for that because her voice is so strong and she always has the most ridiculously amazing stories to tell. How does she have so many mishaps in her life?! Also the animal encounters never end. I loved it. I'd highly recommend reading all of her books, in order preferably, but you definitely can just dive into this one if you're interested!
Rating: really liked it
Made me laugh at my depression. #winning
Shortest Summary Ever: Jenny Lawson battles many things - depression, anxiety, cock chafers... say whaaaa? Life is tough, yo. Yup, welcome to Lawson’s world where she combats mental illness, conquers her fears (um... ok maybe one), and engages is a war of words with her hubby Victor (spoiler: Lawson always wins). Strange and hilarious thoughts are discussed in her irreverent, hysterical way.
Thoughts: Jenny (I pretend we cool like that in my mind) is my bestie... she just doesn’t know it. Now she’ll read that and think a) psycho who is “my biggest fan” and hide the sledgehammer or b)she hears this A LOT and smiles. I assure her it’s B (FYI I don’t own a sledgehammer. And I have 2 beagle rescues so ya’ know I’m trusty). I think many people FEEL Jenny Lawson - particularly those who suffer the same afflictions. Those who don’t - I’m gonna’ guess you haven’t traveled this path and pray you never do.
I am sadly one of those path people. I spent 7 years of my life homebound with panic disorder w/agoraphobia and Major Depressive Disorder, but then found out along the path I had some serious physical medical issues, namely - Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency, GSID - a sucrose intolerance. Anemia, Gastroparesis, Diabetes, and Hashimoto’s. And in the middle of all this? Pre-cancer of my vulva known as VIN III. Yep I had to have a piece of my vagina - removed. Thankfully not the crucial bits. I battled insurance, a doctor who told me to “push through “ my issues... all of it.
Yeah, Jenny and I are simpatico. And my hope is that she’s reading this and going “OMG well I never lost a lady part, so that’s SOMETHING.” And I hope the loss of that lady bit makes her feel better about her problems. If they had let me save that lady bit I’d give it to her as a medal and pin it on her so she could wear it and tell people how much her new bestie appreciates her. I mean what did you give YOUR bestie? Bet those flowers are looking lame right now. All Because she made me feel better about my problems. And damn that feels good.
I think we’d sit down and agree that the true hope is that neither of us has to have the loss of lady bits or excruciating procedures anymore. That’s some truth.
This book spoke to me in ways that left me laughing out loud or crying. But most of all Ms. Lawson (because I’m nasty) has inspired me to document my own battles. She lays out her life in a raw, unfiltered way. She’s fearless though she talks of her fears. She’s brave while explaining how she’s feeling anything BUT brave. She’s human in every sense of the word. It’s true for me that if I lose my laughter I’ve lost everything. That’s when I know
It’s all over for me. Thank God for my bestie Jenny.
All my reviews available at scrappymags.com around time of publication.
Genre: Non-fiction Humor
Recommend to: all my chronic illness peeps and those who love a good bawdy joke. Bette Midler fans.
Not recommended to: angry people with no souls or tolerance for swear words.
Thank you to the author, NetGalley and Henry Holt and Co for my advanced copy in exchange for my always-honest review and making it almost worth losing the lady bit so I could laugh over this book (no, not really... that really hurt, but you have my love).
Rating: really liked it
Real vulnerable and real ramble combined with humorous shortcomings and triumphs. 🤗 Jenny never fails to lay it all out there- the good and bad. The fact that she can joke about her life and daily struggles is fantastic. 👍
Rating: really liked it
I loved Broken (in the best possible way). This book is real and unfiltered. Broken is similar to her other books where she says what she thinks. It is very honest and comes out like a stream of conscience. Lawson does a great job bringing the reader inside her head and explaining what she is thinking. Sometimes this results in long tangents. I found Broken to be refreshingly honest. Lawson talks very openly about her depression and anxiety. She even describes how difficult book signings are for her but how worthwhile she finds meeting her fans. Broken is a mix of funny and serious. Lawson will make you laugh with a hilarious story and then talk openly about her loneliness and depression. I think the world needs more people with Lawson’s honesty.
I recommend Broken (in the best possible way) to fans of Jenny Lawson and anyone that thinks the idea of a mix of funny stories and serious discussions of depression would be interesting.
Thank you Libro.fm, Macmillan Audio, Henry Holt & Company and NetGalley for Broken (in the best possible way).
Full Review: https://justreadingjess.wordpress.com...
