I’ve been a member of Jenny Lawson’s ‘Fantastic Strangling Book Club’ from her bookstore Nowhere Book Shop since March 2020.
I will admit that I am the worst book club member ever, I get distracted easily, I read slowly, I’ll get too busy with work for days to read. . . But part of my New Year’s Resolution for 2021 was to read for 30-minutes every day. So far I’ve been successful at it, but I still read these books unbearably slow and can’t keep up with my best friend who is also a member. That’s why it’s near the end of April and I’m choosing to slow write a review that won’t be seen until May, that nobody asked for of March 2021’s book from the Fantastic Stranglings Book Club. For March they sent out Luvvie Ajayi Jones’ latest book, “Professional Troublemaker: The Fear-Fighter Manual.”
Let me tell you, I have never felt so personally called out in my life. This book is brutally honest and makes you feel like you are being hyped up each page you turned. It’s also very witty and will make you laugh and smile. It will hit you to your core and make you smile on the same page.
Pretty much every day I went over my 30-minute reading timer because I just wanted to keep going. I wanted more amazing wisdom, more truth-telling, more brilliant ways to overcome fear, and just bask in the witty anecdotes.
What was the most delightful part of all the honesty, was the honesty that Jones has in her work about her own mistakes, hurt, embarrassment, but it isn’t overbearing or cringey. This is her second book, her first book was, “I’m Judging You: The Do-Better Manual.” (I will admit that I have not read her first book, but after reading her second, I definitely plan on going back and reading her first one!) Jones states in the book that she’s writing this in the middle of COVID, in my opinion, that itself is brave when it’s so easy to just want to roll over and do nothing but cry and drink wine. It makes her writing more relatable and like you are sitting there with a long-time mentor giving you advice on how you should ask for help more, stop taking people’s shit, draw boundaries, and accept that not all friendships are created equal and all serve their purpose.
Her book is broken up into three sections: BE, SAY, DO.
An oversimplification of what is contained in the three sections is a guide to being you in the most you way possible, saying what is your truth, and then living your truth. The overarching theme to this fighting your fear, getting around the things that hold you back, and being a troublemaker. Just to clarify that if you were looking for a strict self-help book that will direct you step by step on how to have confidence and be awesome, this isn’t it. What it is, is an honest to good motivational book that can be a useful tool to help you realize that you are already awesome and help pull the awesome out.
This book came to me at a time where I was actually feeling pretty sorry about myself, very unmotivated, and like I was a fraud along with being a failure. Her book was a slap in the face and reminded me that I needed to go do what I do and rock it. It also made me want to buy this book for everyone that I know going through the same feelings as me. I highly recommend this book with every fiber of my being, I don’t even know what people are doing with their lives if they aren’t reading this book.
Other works by Luvvie Ajayi Jones:
“I’m Judging You: The Do-Better Manual”
Websites:
The Gremlin Chronicles 