Read: The Girl With The Lower Back Tattoo

In the past 30 days I have traveled to New York, San Francisco, New York (again) and Los Angeles. This whirlwind month of jet setting and its multitude of flights and train rides has given me ample time to read. Most recently, I finished Amy Schumer's book "The Girl With The Lower Back Tattoo." 

Let me begin by saying, I have read a lot of books by women in entertainment - Tina Fey, Mindy Kaling (book one and book two), Lena Dunham and Shonda Rhimes - so Amy had a lot to live up to. 

The first time I ever saw Amy Schumer was on "Last Comic Standing." My dad and I used to watch together every week and we thought she was very funny. As she became more well known through stand up, TV and movies I always rooted for her, as I consider myself one of her earliest fans. 

Though Amy's public reputation is that she can be crass and hyper sexual, this book is surprisingly honest and vulnerable. I learned a ton about her and found myself respecting her success even more after I'd read everything she has gone through to get to this point. 

As many people already know, Amy's father has multiple sclerosis (MS) which she does address in the book. I discovered many new things about her, including:

- She is attached at the hip to her younger sister, Kim (unlike in the movie "Trainwreck").

- She idolizes her older brother, Jason.

- She has a crew of stuffed animals she sleeps with every night and has moved with her from apartment to apartment her whole life (she even writes an entire chapter about them). 

- She is an introvert (yes, really) and craves alone time. 

- She was in a long-term relationship that became emotionally and physically abusive.

- She is madly in love with New York City and never wants to live anywhere else. 

- She kept a journal for years. In the book she shares real entries, with footnotes on her present day thoughts about those comments. A quick aside - I hate reading footnotes. Junot Diaz does them too and it may be a sign of brilliance, but I can't stand reading them! My eyes ping pong up and down the page and it makes me insane. 

Amy also dedicates a chapter to an experience she had writing for Men's Health magazine in which they wanted to run photos of models next to her column, rather than her photo. Amy, Tina Fey and Lena Dunham all share chapters in their books about the inequitable treatment of women in Hollywood and it makes my blood boil. Reading how Amy stood up for herself made me want to get up and scream, "Yes! You tell 'em, Amy!" 

The reason the book is so readable is because Amy is just as honest, real and hilarious in writing as she is on stage. I wanted to choose one excerpt to give you a taste of her style. In the second chapter she talks about her first and only one night stand. She describes seeing this gentleman for the first time: 

"I got to airport security and there he was: a six-foot-two-inch strapping strawberry blond of about thirty-five years. My first kiss was with a redhead so I've always had a weakness for them. He was the most beautiful man I'd ever seen, and I was immediately turned on just looking at him. Quick side note: THAT NEVER FUCKING HAPPENS. Every day, men look at women walk by in skirts and tight jeans and get tiny erections, or at the very least some sort of arousal. But for women it's a rare occurrence to see a dude and think, Dayummmmmm! I was looking him up and down, trying to find one inch of him that wasn't Gaston from Beauty and the Beast, and there was nothing. All he was missing was the ponytail and the bow on said ponytail."

That Gaston comment had me laughing out loud on the plane! 

If you are looking for a book to bring on your Thanksgiving travels, I highly recommend "The Girl With The Lower Back Tattoo." You will laugh and develop mad respect for all that Amy has accomplished. 

*Home page photo source. Book cover photo source.