Bookish Thoughts

Mindy Kaling's second book of essays is just as light and smart and quick and fun as her first book. This one focuses more on her adult life, and particularly on her time working on The Mindy Project . Kaling talks about work and her attitude towards working hard (which I deeply disagree with, but I'm also not as successful or driven as she is). She talks about dating and fashion and not being traditionally thin, especially by Hollywood standards. And she does it all with her trademark humor. I'm not sure I would ever want to be friends with Kaling. She's a very intense person, and it would be a lot for me to handle in person. But she's exactly the kind of person whose work I enjoy, and who I'm confident will continue to produce funny things.

Of the funny TV-lady memoirs I've read, this one is easily my favorite. Mindy Kaling is effortlessly funny and matter of fact. She's just a bit crazy, but seems aware of it. There's more than a little of her in her character on The Office , after all. This book is organized as a series of short essays. Mindy talks about her childhood, her college experiences, and her early jobs. She reveals a lot of herself, while also holding just a bit back, which I understand and appreciated. You can tell there's a part of her life that she wants to keep private, and she does this by easily sharing all the other parts. I laughed a lot while reading this book, and I also appreciated how close Mindy was to her parents. So often you get stories of broken homes and distant parents who just don't understand. But there was clearly a lot of love and affection in Mindy's home. It's almost a relief to read about happy families, even if they aren't as interesting as the unh...