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I'm Just Happy to Be Here: A Memoir of Renegade Mothering Audiobook
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"A refreshingly raw, contrasting perspective on the foolproof idea of motherhood." -- POPSUGAR
"By turns painful and funny... A searingly candid memoir." -- Kirkus
"Far from your cookie-cutter story of addiction . . . [I'm Just Happy to Be Here] describes Hanchett's journey to recovery and sobriety in imperfect and unconventional ways." -- Bustle
In this unflinching and wickedly funny memoir, Janelle Hanchett tells the story of finding her way home. And then, actually staying there. Drawing us into the wild, heartbreaking mind of the addict, Hanchett carries us from motherhood at 21 with a man she'd known three months to cubicles and whiskey-laden domesticity, from judging meth addicts in rehab to therapists who "seem to pull diagnoses out of large, expensive hats." With warmth, wit, and searing B.S. detectors turned mostly toward herself, Hanchett invites us to laugh when we probably shouldn't and to rejoice at the unconventional redemption she finds in desperation and in a misfit mentor who forces her to see the truth of herself.
A story of ego and forced humility, of fierce honesty and jagged love, of the kind of failure that forces us to re-create our lives, Hanchett writes with rare candor, scorching the "sanctity of motherhood," and leaving beauty in the ashes.
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"Whilst we are all fighting some sort of inner battle, few of us have the honesty, humor, and heart to describe our struggle like Janelle Hanchett. Her memoir, I'm Just Happy to Be Here, is not just for those touched by addiction, but for anyone who has ever felt like an outsider, which is everyone. I could not put this book down."
— Firoozeh Dumas, NewYork Times bestselling author of Funny in Farsi and LaughingWithout an Accent
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“Far from your cookie-cutter story of addiction and recovery…Describes Hanchett’s journey to recovery and sobriety in imperfect and unconventional ways.”
— Bustle -
“Unflinchingly honest.”
— Health -
“Witty, heartbreaking, and enlightening, Hanchett’s memoir will resonate with parents and nonparents alike.”
— Booklist -
“[A] raw and riveting memoir…Readers will cheer Hanchett toward her triumphant recovery.”
— Publishers Weekly -
“By turns painful and funny, [I’m Just Happy to Be Here] explores the pressures of modern motherhood while chronicling one woman’s journey toward acceptance of her own limitations and imperfections. A searingly candid memoir.”
— Kirkus Reviews -
“Hanchett here demonstrates how the overidealization of modern family life makes it difficult to emerge from a damaging cycle of addiction…An inspiring message about recovery that resonates through its emphasis on the imperfect progress of life.”
— Library Journal -
Amazon, "Best Books of the Year So Far (2018)
— Bustle, "14 Debut Books By Women Coming Out In 2018 That You Need In Your TBR Pile -
Far from your cookie-cutter story of addiction and recovery, I'm Just Happy to Be Here: A Memoir of Renegade Mothering describes Hanchett's journey to recovery and sobriety in imperfect and unconventional ways.
— Bustle -
By turns painful and funny, [I'm Just Happy to Be Here] explores the pressures of modern motherhood while chronicling one woman's journey toward acceptance of her own limitations and imperfections. A searingly candid memoir.
— Kirkus Reviews -
[Hanchett's] memoir is a refreshingly raw, contrasting perspective on the foolproof idea of motherhood. She proves that the right support system can pull you out of even the darkest places.
— POPSUGAR -
Janelle Hanchett...counters the popular idea that children are the solution to all of life's problems and that motherhood is picture-perfect all the time.... Candid [and] self-deprecating.
— Brit + Co -
Janelle Hanchett presents motherhood as we seldom see it: with irreverent humor, brazen honesty, deep love and loss. Her story is about finding peace right in the mess of motherhood, and that's what makes it wonderful.
— Jill Smokler, NewYork Times bestselling author of Confessions of a Scary Mommy -
Fiercely talented word-warrior Janelle Hanchett grabs your guts with her frank, brutally funny, and moving memoir of modern motherhood and addiction. You won't want to let go of this book.
— Ann Imig, editor of Listento Your Mother: What She Said Then, What We're Saying Now -
Relatable to any outside-the-box parent.
— BUST -
Hanchett offers a startling account of her struggles with alcohol and drug addiction in this raw and riveting memoir.... Readers will cheer Hanchett toward her triumphant recovery.
— Publishers Weekly -
Witty, heartbreaking, and enlightening, Hanchett's memoir will resonate with parents and nonparents alike.
— Booklist -
An inspiring message about recovery that resonates through its emphasis on the imperfect progress of life.
— Library Journal
Awards
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A Library Journal Editor’s Pick of Mothers & Others Memoirs
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A BookRiot Pick of This Month's Best Audiobooks
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About Janelle Hanchett
Janelle Hanchett created the website “Renegade Mothering” in 2011 because she needed to know if the rest of the mothering world was crazy or she was. Writing after her kids went to bed and while she was supposed to be working, she attracted an audience of hundreds of thousands of readers. She holds a BA in English from University of California at Davis and an MA in English literature from Sacramento State.