I have to say, while I did especially love the cover on her last book, there was nothing as great as opening my phone each day to that crazy Raccoon when I played this audio book. I do love Lawson's taste in taxidermy. As a fan of her blog and a twitter follower, I think she just keeps getting better. Hearing her read these stories is like having a conversation with an old friend; running the gamut from laugh out-loud funny to heartbreakingly sad. The fact that Lawson gets up every day and keeps writing and touring and driving Victor crazy despite the many demons she battles is truly amazing, and I am moved at how she offers hope and understanding to all those who face similar challenges.

So according to BL, I started reading this December 16, 2017. That means it took me 9 months to finish this wonderful book. Since Jenny Lawson discusses her struggle with depression and anxiety disorders at length (in the best, funniest way possible) I had to take several long breaks when my anxiety and depression were not putting me in the right head space to enjoy reading it. But really, this book is hilarious and just what I needed during these past two weeks of total chaos in my life. 

I am not exaggerating when I say my "vacation" was surrounded with nothing but Murphy's law. Car accident, cancelled concerts, delayed flights, stomach flu, etc, etc. All unrelated to this review, but whatever, I'll do what I want. Furiously Happy does remind us to laugh at the absurdity of our lives and most of all, to remember that the lows eventually get better. 

For more reviews, check out my blog: Craft-Cycle

As Lawson clearly states in the beginning of this book, if you don't like funny books about mental illness, do not read this book. Pretty simple. If you are looking for a serious discussion on mental health and how to "fix" yourself, look elsewhere. This is not that book.

Now onto what this book actually is. This book is hilarious. Everything about it is so absurd and ridiculous. It is extremely funny and very entertaining. From arguments with her husband to weird childhood stories, Lawson takes the reader on a side-slitting journey to learn how she became furiously happy (and you can too!). 

Mixed into the hilarity are real discussions about her own mental health and serious talks about feeling alone, self harm, thoughts of suicide, and other dark times. But Lawson does something amazing with this. She makes people feel less alone. It's nice to see that other people feel that way too and, though her work, Lawson has created a sort of community of those struggling with mental illness. It's a fun sort of group that makes the world a little brighter. So even though this book is funny, she does get serious about certain things and makes the reader feel welcome, flaws and all. 

Lawson's humor is pretty intelligent. She starts off with something true, then twists the logic and semantics around in such a ridiculous way to end up with a crazy conclusion that actually makes a weird sort of deluded sense. It is highly entertaining and actually pretty impressive. Each chapter has a super weird title and it's almost like a scavenger hunt or a Where's Waldo page figuring out what the title refers to. When you get to the part in the chapter where the title comes from, you're like, "Aha! That makes a weird sort of sense." It makes for a very fun reading experience.

I didn't read Lawson's first book, but after reading this one, I'd like to go back and read it at some point. 

While I didn't necessarily agree with everything Lawson says and there are some offensive statements and jokes in the text, it is overall a funny story that is all about being true to yourself, saying "yes" to trying new things, and being furiously happy. 

Not too much to say except I loved every part of this memoir. It made me think and also laugh which is always welcomed. 

Lawson suffers from depression and anxiety disorders and just generally has a body that does it best to make her have to duke it out to win against on a daily basis. She has a life that doesn't sound real, but she has the pictures to back up everything and a lot of those pictures I found to be freaking hilarious.

I don't have much else to say except that we need more memoirs out here about things like depression and social anxiety. I think a lot of times people just don't understand telling a person to just "cheer up" is enough to make the other person on the receiving end of that not helpful at all comment want to curl up and say fuck it. Having a mental illness is every day telling your inner voice or voices to shut the fuck up and you are a liar.

I am doing much better now in my 30s than I was in my late 20s. Being diagnosed as clinically depressed was shocking. I felt like I had let down my family, friends, and even myself. Having a great doctor who made me feel okay with that and let me see it was no shame to have to take medication for a while also helped. There are things that I do now when I can feel a "blue" period coming on. I do love Lawson's idea of doing things that make you "Furiously Happy" though. 

I will say though that this book jumps around a lot and there doesn't seem to be an overall linkage there. For example, when I usually have a memoir to read it is focusing on something, an event, time period, etc in an author's life. This read like hilarious journal entries from Lawson. I can't tell you the time period at all though especially since her daughter's age at times jumps around so I am a little lost about what years this stretches from. 

Definitely a great read for me.