VICTOR: What if I became a zombie? Huh, smart-ass? I'd be a pretty shitty zombie if they took my eyes out. I'd be biting poles and cats and shit. In this first installation Jamie has developed a jealous homoerotic obsession with one of the girls in her class, Angeline. Jamie is constantly comparing herself to Angeline, copying Angeline, insulting Angeline, drawing caricatures of Angeline in various humiliating circumstances, scheming of how to get Angeline in trouble, being twisted over how simultaneously heavenly and devilish one person can be, while Angeline barely knows who Jamie is. Even as a kid, I knew something was strangely neurotic about Jamie's obsession and wasn't your usual case of popular kid envy. Just another way this series is different from most. P.P.P.S – Here are a few quotes from inside the book. Because seriously had I read some of these I probably would have read her book sooner. Or at least followed her blog. Seventh, the stories Jenny Lawson tells are, in turns: crushingly honest, funny, witty, sweet, heartbreaking, and delightfully bizarre. Likewise, "bonus" chapter titled "Balls" was a delight, and perfectly captures oddball humor and the even odder people around her. She balances the laughs created by her naivate, the ridiculous extrapolation of a situation (think tongue-on-ice and short-shorts) and compassionate (their vengeful Sno-cone fund-raiser).

From the very beginning though, I realized it would be far from the book I expected. I have no idea who this individual(Jenny Lawson) is, but the whole book was one big mess, full of stories that were meant to be funny and unique (but were neither). Every single story felt forced and exaggerated. The author couldn’t stop herself from constantly reminding and insisting her childhood was unique and that she’s gone through SO MUCH and so on and so on…Last week we got a one-star review that was so accidentally entertaining to the team that they decided to share it with the world: Even when I was funny, I wasn’t this funny.”—Augusten Burroughs, author of Running with Scissors and This Is How Power Mom 50 – Nielson Online". Archived from the original on July 26, 2011 . Retrieved June 29, 2011.

The Mystery Guest by Nita Prose – When I finished Nita Prose’s The Maid I was like, “Can we get a sequel?” AND WE GOT A SEQUEL. When an acclaimed author dies at the Regency Grand Hotel, it’s up to a fastidious maid to uncover the truth, no matter how dirty—in a standalone novel featuring Molly Gray.Sixth, she made me cry reading this. Three times. Now admittedly, I seem to be rather soppy lately. But even given my recent emotional fragility, that's a mark of good writing some good writing. The crazy is almost always played for laughs, and while I get smiling through the pain, appreciating uniqueness, holding one's head high, making lemonade, sharing the pain, etc., etc., I just don't know. It was a thin line that sometimes felt closer to laughing at someone with cancer than with them. (No, no one in the book had cancer. That's just my metaphorical way of saying laughing at mental illness' oddities is a lot like laughing at someone struggling with cancer. It can be all-consuming, can come endowed with lots of symptom baggage and can be a constant struggle. And they probably had about as much choice in the matter. So even if they play the clumps of hair falling out for laughs--and many people do--it still represents a whole lot of hurt behind the smile. And, now that I think about it, there is that same sense of trying to conceal the horror as I watch it happen). YOU: *sigh* "Yes. I should have done that. I see that now. I am going to not discuss this with you any further because you are a freakin' psychopath." i had never heard of jenny lawson before, but now i can't stop thinking about her. in a non-creepy way. i think. it's hard for me to gauge my own creepiness when "enthusiastic" can often come across as "creepy." i am pretty sure i am just enthusiastic. And, again, the random and bizarre music, the random and bizarre sound effects...it's just poorly executed and after those blaring horns while I was in the intersection...well, I'd like to see those sound people poorly executed, too.

Mimi’s Tales of Terror by Junji Ito – Nine true stories and urban legends brought to you by the master of weird horror. Alternately it is very honest and touching. We all have our struggles, what makes us strong is our ability to laugh at them. Thankfully I do not suffer from depression like Jenny, but I do have anxiety (inherited from my mother, and her mother before her, and before that it was Vikings, and I doubt they were ever anxious about anything…), and I have very severe IBS. It’s not fun, but I get through it, because later I can laugh about it. It’s good to see other people doing the same. The Manor House Governess by C.A. Castle – This spirited debut pays homage to the British classics—with a genderfluid protagonist and 21st-century twist—perfect for fans of Emily M. Danforth and Andrew Sean Greer. Lawson’s mother was a great believer in the idea that what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger. She took this to the extreme by bathing her children in radon-poisoned well water. Although Lawson questioned her mother’s logic, she sees now that if she could survive these deadly baths, she can survive anything life throws at her.Is this me giving up on literature? Or just finally accepting things as they clearly are and learning to stop bitching already and live with it? Lee, Amy (January 3, 2011). "Today's HuffPost Greatest Person: Jenny Lawson, The Bloggess". The Huffington Post . Retrieved June 28, 2011.

The author's youthfulness helps to assure the inevitable comparison with the Anne Frank diary although over and above the sphere of suffering shared, and in this case extended to the death march itself, there is no spiritual or emotional legacy here to offset any reader reluctance.The Favorites by Rosemary Hennigan – This book was listed as “dark acadamia” and I thought that meant boarding school horror but turns out it was about the abuse of privilege and power and I liked it even though I kept waiting for the vampires who never showed up. I could not be more different from Jenny Lawson - taxidermied animals scare me, for one thing. Though not as bad as mannequins. Lawson, Jennifer (January 8, 2011). "This doesn't really fit here. It doesn't really fit anywhere". Good Mom/Bad Mom. Archived from the original on October 18, 2011 . Retrieved August 20, 2011. Skull and crossbones on this one if you're easily offended. So no whiners, okay? I mean it. Just....no whining.