Aliverse

It’s a JENaissance! The New York Times bestselling author of Pretty in Plaid gets her culture on.

Readers have followed Jen Lancaster through job loss, sucky city living, weight loss attempts, and 1980s nostalgia. Now Jen chronicles her efforts to achieve cultural enlightenment, with some hilarious missteps and genuine moments of inspiration along the way. And she does so by any means necessary: reading canonical literature, viewing classic films, attending the opera, researching artisan cheeses, and even enrolling in etiquette classes to improve her social graces.

In Jen’s corner is a crack team of experts, including Page Six socialites, gourmet chefs, an opera aficionado, and a master sommelier. She may discover that well-regarded, high-priced stinky cheese tastes exactly as bad as it smells, and that her love for Kraft American Singles is forever. But one thing’s for certain: Eliza Doolittle’s got nothing on Jen Lancaster-and failure is an option.

I could have read all night, I could have read all night, and still have begged for more… Seriously, I loved this book.  And I did beg for more by the time I got to the end.  I loved it so much, and was so enamored with Jen Lancaster’s wit and honesty, I went and bought the rest of her books.  (Reading My Fair Lazy was my first step into Jen Lancaster’s world.)

Let me begin by saying that Jen Lancaster is someone who makes you want her to be your best friend.  She’s funny, warm, and has a wonderfully sarcastic sense of humor.  She is straight-forward and often blunt.  You know she’s the kind of friend who would tell you if there was something wrong with your outfit or if you were dating a total jerk.

What makes reading her book wonderful, though, is her ability to take you with her on her adventures.  She boldly steps out of her comfort zone and sets forth on her Jenaissance!  Her goal to bring more worldly culture and less pop-culture into her life is a challenge throughout the book.  Jen makes you feel as if you are right there with her when she braves stinky cheese, molecular gastronomy, naked stage performances, and political liberals.

Read My Fair Lazy and you will want to embark upon your own personal renaissance.  You’ll want to taste new foods, read new books, and take in some naked theater. (Ok, maybe not naked, but you’ll want to take in some theater.)

This was my first official galley and my first official book review.  I could not have possibly picked a better starting point.

Buy the book when it comes out on May 4th (2010), and check out Jen’s online home at Jensylvania.

~ 5 out of 5 ~