Book Review | Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling

"It makes me cry because it means that fewer and fewer people are believing it's cool to want what I want, which is to be married and have kids and love each other in a monogamous, long-lasting relationship."

Title: Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns)

Author: Mindy Kaling

Genre: Non Fiction - Memoir

Length: 222 pages

Publication Date: November 1st, 2011

Publisher: Crown Archetype

Format: Paperback

Goodreads

Synopsis:

Mindy Kaling has lived many lives: the obedient child of immigrant professionals, a timid chubster afraid of her own bike, a Ben Affleck–impersonating Off-Broadway performer and playwright, and, finally, a comedy writer and actress prone to starting fights with her friends and coworkers with the sentence “Can I just say one last thing about this, and then I swear I’ll shut up about it?” In Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?, Mindy invites readers on a tour of her life and her unscientific observations on romance, friendship, and Hollywood, with several conveniently placed stopping points for you to run errands and make phone calls. Mindy Kaling really is just a Girl Next Door—not so much literally anywhere in the continental United States, but definitely if you live in India or Sri Lanka.

Review:

First of all, funny lady memoirs are my thing right now. It started with Lena Dunham's memoir (Not That Kind of Girl) and is continuing with this one. Bossypants and Yes Please are most definitely next on my list. But anyway, this book is a masterpiece. It is so completely Mindy inside and out, her voice as a writer is incredible. I could hear her saying everything as I was reading it, and I loved it. By the time the book ended I was sad, as it meant I had to say goodbye to a friend. 

Mindy is an inspirational and hilarious woman. First of all, she's not skinny and she knows it. She accepts it. That's something so admirable. One of my favourite parts in her book is when she's talking about her weight, and she says being skinny isn't something she really cares to do. It's low on her list of things to accomplish, and I love that. I love that she doesn't care. She's amazing. 

She's such a hardworking woman, which is something else I really admire. She's gotten so far, knowing from a young age exactly what she wanted to do and going for it-- and she made it happen. I really look up to everything she went through to get where she is today. I just really love this book, it has a really special place in my heart and I've gained so much love and respect for this woman, it's insane. I think I rank this book above Not That Kind of Girl, which is saying a lot. Lena Dunham has been my role model and inspiration for a long time, and now she's sharing the spotlight with Mindy.

Self acceptance is something a lot of people have trouble with (myself including) and Mindy just discusses it so well in this book, without ever really discussing it. I think everyone should read this book, every gender and age could take something away from it, and I love that. 

Have I mentioned that I love this book? 

Rating: ★★★★★

Book Review | The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides

"In the end, the tortures tearing the Lisbon girls pointed to a simple reasoned refusal to accept the world as it was handed down to them, so full of flaws."

Title: The Virgin Suicides

Author: Jeffrey Eugenides

Series: Standalone

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Format: Ebook

Source: Bought

Genre: YA Contemporary

Goodreads

SPOILER FREE

Blurb:

The shocking thing about the five Lisbon sisters was how nearly normal they seemed when their mother let them out for the one and only date of their lives. Twenty years on, their enigmatic personalities are embalmed in the memories of the boys who worshipped them and who now recall their shared adolescence: the brassiere draped over a crucifix belonging to the promiscuous Lux; the sisters' breathtaking appearance on the night of the dance; and the sultry, sleepy street across which they watched a family disintegrate and fragile lives disappear. 

Plot: ★★★.5

I enjoyed the plot quite a bit, it was different from anything else I'd ever read. The book is told from the point of view of a group of guys that are obsessed with the Lisbon sisters, watching them and analyzing everything they do. Even 20 years down the road after the suicides, the boys are still obsessed with these girls, compiling everything they can find that had anything to do with them. This point of view can get creepy at times, especially near the end when you find out that the infatuation never went away. And this POV also results in a sort of disconnect from the characters, making it hard to really relate to the story. The way the story is told is definitely different, and I'm not sure if I liked it or not. Also, there was too much stuff in the story that I didn't care about, and not enough that I did care about.

Characters: ★★★

Like I said, it was hard to connect to any of the characters, it always felt like we were on the outside, unable to break the barrier between us and the Lisbon sisters. I felt I didn't get enough information about them. Cecilia and Lux were the only two sisters that stood out and felt as though they had a personality of their own, the other three just blended in with one another. I often couldn't tell who was who, Also, the guys who were telling the story weirded me out, and I hated the Lisbon parents. They were so useless. 

Writing: ★★★★★

This was the best part of the book. Jeffrey Eugenides has such an incredible writing style. It's beautiful and poetic, and he uses analogies that are so out of the ordinary (some of them were a little too weird, but I still could appreciate them). I definitely want to read his other two books, just because I loved the writing style so much.

Ending: ★★★★

The ending was good, it got real and made me think about everything. The middle dragged on so much that the ending was kind of a relief, it was as fast paced and interesting as the beginning was. I may have cried a little bit. 

Rereadability: I think so. I think it's one of those books you should read more than once. 

Final Rating: ★★★★

[Note: This was the Better Read Than Dead Book Club (x) read of the month! We will be doing a live show on Saturday, January 31st at 3pm EST discussing this book in great detail. Check it out if you're interested.]

More Reading Challenges?

I felt like pushing myself this upcoming year with some more reading challenges (keep in mind that I will still be working on the Rory Gilmore reading challenge... slowly but surely), and I found this one online. The link to the actual website is right here, but I'll be copying and pasting the list to this post so I can cross them off as I complete them, and let you know exactly which books I read for each challenge.

• A book with more than 500 pages
• A classic romance
• A book that became a movie
• A book published this year
• A book with a number in the title
• A book written by someone under 30
• A book with nonhuman characters
• Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson
• A funny book
• Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling
• A book by a female author
• A mystery or thriller
• A book with a one-word title
• Anthem by Ayn Rand
• A book of short stories
• A book set in a different country
• Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
• A nonfiction book
• A popular author's first book
• The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
• A book from an author you love that you haven't read yet
• A book a friend recommended
• A Pulitzer Prize winning book
• A book based on a true story
• A book at the bottom of your to-read list
• A book your mom loves
• A book that scares you
• A book more than 100 years old
• A book based entirely on its cover
• A book you were supposed to read in school but didn't
• A memoir
• A book you can finish in a day
• Socks by Beverly Cleary
• A book with antonyms in the title
• A book set somewhere you've always wanted to visit
• A book that came out the year you were born
• A book with bad reviews
• A trilogy
• A book from your childhood
• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling
• A book with a love triangle
• A book set in the future
• A book set in high school
• A book with a colour in the title
• A book that made you cry
• A book with magic
• Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carrol
• A graphic novel
• A book by an author you've never read before
• A book you own but have never read
• A book that takes place in your hometown
• A book that was originally written in a different language
• A book set during Christmas
• A book written by an author with you same initials
• A play
• A banned book
• A book based on or turned into a TV show
• The Walking Dead Vol. 1: Days Gone Bye
• A book you started but never finished

Total Challenges Completed 9/50

December Wrap Up!

1. The Retribution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

Wrapped up this series at the very beginning of December, and I'm very happy with this conclusion to the haunting trilogy. You can see my full series review here with a spoiler-free section and a part discussing some spoiler-y things!

Rating: ★★★★★

2. If I Stay by Gayle Forman

I really enjoyed this! It was sad and heartfelt, and I really enjoyed the flashback aspect of this book. We got to learn so much about Mia and her family that way, and I just found the whole thing interesting. I didn't really connect to any of the characters in particular though, and I did find the writing immature. Still debating on whether or not to do a full review - I might wait until I read the sequel.

Rating: ★★★★

3. Amy and Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson

Lots of YA this month, huh? This book was absolutely amazing, though. It was beautiful and cute and heartwarming/heartbreaking. It was just as happy as it was sad, with a great ending. It just dealt with a lot of topics in a way that I have really seen before in YA - including sex. Sex was treated as though it wasn't a huge deal, which I really liked. It was just done in an excellent way, and I loved the scrapbook and playlist aspect of the book! Time to read more Morgan Matson.

Rating: ★★★★★

4. Judging a Book by its Lover: A Field Guide to the Hearts and Minds of Readers Everywhere by Lauren Leto

Thought I'd throw in a non-fiction to mix it up, since I don't read nearly as many as I would like. This book I enjoyed a lot, it's nice to read from the perspective of someone who loves books equally as much as I do. Books about books are a dream come true. However, the author's voice was very... pretentious. She came off as though she was bragging the entire time, and it was hard to get past. The first half of the book I loved, but I found myself skimming through the last half. It was getting boring and repetitive, and I just wasn't into it anymore. If the book was written with a less condescending and arrogant voice, I think I would have enjoyed it more. But hey, did you know Kurt Vonnegut coined the phrase "flying fuck"?

Rating: ★★★

5. Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover

I've never been a big fan of new adult, and the first half of this book I had a lot of problems with. I didn't like the writing, the the story seemed cliche, and it was pretty predictable to me at first. I find a lot of new adult books seem like they're more fanfiction that actual novels, just because of the writing style. This one wasn't an exception at first, but then it got so much better. The story took a turn I wasn't expecting, the main character became so much easier to relate to, and it broke my heart. I was sobbing near the end, the characters were so great and their development was perfect. If you're trying to read this, I highly recommend you stick with it, because it gets so much better near the end.

Rating: ★★★★

6. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery

This was a weird one... I don't really know how I feel about it. I found myself skimming some parts of it since it didn't really make sense to me. But then there were some parts that were really wise and I think overall, the book had a good message. It just wasn't really for me.

Rating: ★★★

Those are all of the books I finished this month, but I also wanted to talk about one that I started and did not finish.

My True Love Gave To Me: Twelve Holiday Stories edited by Stephanie Perkins

I ended up reading the first three stories from this anthology before I got bored, so I'll tell you my ratings of those three.

Midnight by Rainbow Rowell: ★★★★★

The Lady and the Fox by Kelly Link: ★

Angels in the Snow by Matt De La Pena: ★★★

I don't know, I enjoyed this for the most part, but I think I'm going to put it down. I'm just really not in the mood for this any more with the end of the holidays, and I don't feel like it's worth carrying over into the new year. 

That's all for this month, guys! I hope you all had a fantastic new year :)