52 {Books} in 52: If You Were Here

If you have never heard of Jen Lancaster you need to look her up now and pick up one of her books. Most of her books are memoirs but I promise you all of her books will make you laugh until it hurts. If You Were Here is Lancaster's first attempt at fiction writing and what impressed me the most was how she managed to make something like renovating a dilapidated house into an interesting topic for a book. Maybe it's that the protagonist, Mia, was a writing for a Twilight-like zombie teenage romance series, or maybe it's the obsession with all things John Hughes, or maybe it really was all the crazy things that happened to Mia while renovating her house (getting stuck in a panic room? check! finding your husband soldered himself in under your bathroom? check!) but the book was so entertaining that I found myself laughing out loud so often. Lancaster managed to turn something that is normally reserved for an HGTV show into something you could actually read and enjoy.

Note: Judging by some of the reviews on Amazon.com, this book might not be the best introduction to Lancaster so if you do choose to look into her I recommend reading her first memoir, Bitter is the New Black.

Here's what I've read for my 52 {Books} in 52 challenge:

1. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
2. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
3. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
4. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
5. Bad Mother: A Chronicle of Maternal Crimes, Minor Calamities, and Occasional Moments of Grace by Ayelet Waldman
6. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith
7. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
8.  Misery Loves Cabernet by Kim Gruenenfelder
9.  The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
10. Are You There Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea by Chelsea Handler
11. Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
12. Best Day of Someone Else's Life by Kerry Reichs
13. The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson
14. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Steig Larsson
15. Linger by Maggie Stiefvater
16. The Weight of Silence by Heather Gudenkauf
17. Sundays at Tiffany's by James Patterson
18. Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang by Chelsea Handler
19.  The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
20.  Bossypants by Tina Fey
21. Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris
22. Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
23. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John Le Carré
24. The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson
25. Maze Runner by James Dashner
26. Now You See Me by S.J. Bolton
27. The Magicians by Lev Grossman
28. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
29. Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi
30. Bras and Broomsticks by Sarah Mlynowski
31. Frogs and French Kisses by Sarah Mlynowski
32. If You Were Here by Jen Lancaster