Book Review - Jeneration X by Jen Lancaster

 Jen Lancaster has cracked me up through the years with her humorous essays on her life. I thought I read all her books, but came across Jeneration X at the library book sale. For one  dollar, I laughed out loud multiple times.

cover blurb - Here the author gives herself and her generation a kick in the X, by facing her greatest challenge to date: acting her age. 

She's embracing investment making, mortgage carrying, life insurance having adult she's become. With each rite of passage she completes, she'll uncover a valuable - and probably humiliating- life lesson that will ease her path to full-fledged, if reluctant, adulthood. 

 Her long suffering husband, Fletch, is a hoot as he  often guides or tries to keep her on the right path. She'll admit she's selfish. She'll admit she's vindictive. And often the funniest bits are her footnotes at the bottom of the page - she can let loose the snark. 

p 212   Chapter 18 title  The One About the Monkey      (trust me, funny as hell)

and  the Reluctant Adult Lesson Learned in this chapter - You are not too cool for the Fair, but you are  too old not to practice moderation. 

I am way older than Gen X, but absolutely enjoyed Jen's Jen X journey. 

Book Review - The Best of Enemies

Jen Lancaster is a hoot and her latest novel The Best of Enemies does not disappoint.  The cover blurb says it all – Bridesmaids meets Big Little Lies in a novel told from the alternating perspectives of two women who define the term frenemies.

Jacqueline Jordan is a journalist who likes a very spare life. In contrast her childhood friend, Kitty Carricoe, is a beast in the world of carpools and minivans and the latest in clothes, kitchens, and panic. However, a joint friend Sarabeth keeps the two connected. Sarabeth’s wealthy husband dies in a suspicious plane crash. Now Jack and Kitty “must bury the hatchet and hit the road for a trip that may just bring them together – if it doesn’t kill them first.” (cover blurb)

The Best of Enemies is fast paced froth. Lots of product placement, PTA, and uber woman drama. Can women have it all?  It’s tough, but these ladies manage to pull it together when they aren’t pulling their hair.  Jen Lancaster has amused me ever since her memoir self-effacing book Bitter is the New Black. Her style cracks me up. If you want a quick read with plenty of laughs, you can’t go wrong with this author.

Book Review: The Tao of Martha

Jen Lancaster is so funny and her latest book The Tao of Martha is a new winner. Jen is constantly seek to improve -from Bitter is the New Black to My Fair Lazy, her humor shines, and now she’s tackling the diva of all house issues – Martha Stewart. Jen plans to organize, bake, cook, and party plan based on Martha’s advice. “Maybe she can go four days without giving herself food poisoning if she follows Martha’s dictates on proper storage. Maybe she can finally rid her workout clothes of meatball stains by using laundry tips…maybe she can discover the key to happiness lies in perfectly arranged cupboards…or maybe not.” (cover blurb) 

The opening line will grab you – “You think Martha Stewart shoves her clutter in a gun cabinet?”   Aaah, Fletch – Jen’s long suffering husband is constantly amused by his wife’s antics and he tends to have cleanup duty. in the Tao of Martha, the reader is engaged in the author’s life and year as she over glitters everything, seeks the perfect pumpkin, and almost forgets Thanksgiving. Meanwhile she is meeting book deadlines, dealing with a very sick dog, and making the perfect toffee.  

There are so many laugh out loud lines in this book. If you want to giggle your way through a book, The Tao of Martha will bring you joy. And Jen Lancaster’s writing blurts from her heart – by the end of the year she can reflect and be glad that “I know where my shoes are and I don’t miss the Drawer of Shame.” (p.332).

Laugh Riot Read

My sister introduced me to Jen Lancaster's writing and I'm hooked. I'm also envious. Her style is my style only on steroids. Funny, snarky, colorful - her sentences are laugh out loud snortingly hysterical, and her footnotes are not boring.

Pretty in Plaid follows her life in fashion - through Girl Scout days, Jordache jeans in the eighties, and the ubiquitous navy suit for all upcoming career gals. Yes, comparisons to the Love Boat are made, and slowly Jen works her way in shoes to almost the Manolos. I laughed out loud as she, the political science major, realizes college never prepared her for collating and faxing. How do these machines work?

If you are looking for a light summer read and chuckles galore, I recommend author Jen Lancaster's collection:

Bitter is the New Black: Confessions of a condescending egomaniacal, self-centered smart-ass, or why you should never carry a Prada bag to the unemployment office.

Bright Lights, Big Ass

Such a Pretty Fat

and her latest, which I have not read yet: My Fair Lazy

Enjoy!

(Her blog is funny too: http://www.jennsylvania.com/ )