This was our September book for book club. (We haven’t met to discuss the book yet. We meet on Monday.) First, I’ll give you the synopsis, then I’ll tell you my thoughts.
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?”
Perhaps you want to know what Mindy thinks makes a great best friend (someone who will fill your prescription in the middle of the night), or what makes a great guy (one who is aware of all elderly people in any room at any time and acts accordingly), or what is the perfect amount of fame (so famous you can never get convicted of murder in a court of law), or how to maintain a trim figure (you will not find that information in these pages). If so, you’ve come to the right book, mostly!
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.
Ok, now on to my thoughts. First, I loved “The Office,” but Mindy’s character was my least favorite. I always found her annoying. I know that she is not the same person in real life, but my perception of her was tainted. I have even tried watching her new show “The Mindy Project”, but found that to be equally as awful as her Office character. So I went into this book not liking her all that much.
On top of that, I have read a couple of choppy books lately. I don’t like that there isn’t much of a story or purpose to the book other than a big fat brain dump. It seems like there are way too many people out there who want to write a book about their lives/thoughts. Just not really what I am into right now.
I don’t seem care for books in the humor/comedy genre either. I must have a strange sense of humor or something, but I just don’t usually find them all that funny. I must be weird or something. Other people love them or laugh hysterically at them. I tend to roll my eyes. Weird, I know.
Also, I’ve been having a hard time being really excited about a book. I think I need to read a few mindless books (or Game of Thrones because Chuck keeps telling me I should read those).
Overall, I didn’t care for the book. That being said, I may not have given it a fair chance considering I went into it not wanting to read it and not being a huge fan of hers. Other people I have talked to have liked the book and thought it was funny. So, if you like her, her shows or comedy/humor books, you may enjoy this one. It just really wasn’t for me.
Happy reading!
