Best for: Someone who wants to provoke (a bit of) deeper thinking on the ways we live our lives. In a nutshell: A hospice chaplain uses stories from families and individuals she has assisted to make sense of life. Line that sticks with me: “The things you lose do shape who you become. But the losses don’t obliterate what came before.” Why I Chose It: This was an impulse buy only in that it was on my list and I didn’t yet own it. I […]
“I am going to be furiously happy, out of sheer spite.”
For anyone not familiar with Jenny Lawson, she is an internet blogger who goes by “The Bloggess.” She’s known for getting a picture of Wil Wheaton collating paper, surprising her husband with a giant metal chicken named Beyonce, and for talking about her struggles with depression and anxiety. I credit her with one of my favorite quotes, “depression lies.” Furiously Happy is Jenny Lawson’s second book, giving readers a glimpse into her life as a blogger with often crippling anxiety and depression. And it is […]
Timely yet depressing
This book (mine was an early review copy via LibraryThing) was inspired by Atul Gawande’s “Being Mortal”, and since both physicians have worked at the same Boston hospital, I was interested in reading this take on how doctors deal with terminal patients. It’s pretty much of a memoir of how Zitter came to be a doctor and learned to overcome her training to become more of a patient focussed healthcare provider. She’s worked in ICUs around North America and shares deidentified stories about how people […]
From the Siege of Chicago to the Recent Past
An unsatisfied Midwestern suburban housewife abandons her husband and young son, only resurfacing decades later when she suddenly and inexplicably attacks a prospective presidential candidate. Suddenly drawn back into his mother’s orbit, her failed writer of a son finds himself torn between an opportunity to cash in on the notoriety and the chance to finally learn his mother’s secrets. Along the way, the narrative will connect a disparate crowd of characters including video-game playing hoarders, entitled college students, Norwegian evil spirits, bankers, violinists, soldiers, poets, […]