Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kahling

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kahling
Read by Mindy Kahling
Published September 2012 by Turtleback Books
Source: audiobook checked out from my local library

Publisher's Summary:
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.

My Thoughts: Up front let me just be honest that there was very little chance I wouldn’t like this book. I freakin’ love Mindy Kaling. She is funny and smart and self-deprecating but also confident and (did I mention?) funny. This coming from someone who was late to the whole Mindy Kaling party, having never watched an entire episode of The Office. I know, I know, it’s hilarious and I really should just stream the entire series enough times to memorize it (anyway, that’s what my daughter tells me). But I didn’t so I didn’t really know Kaling until I sat down with my daughter one night and watched an episode of The Mindy Project.

But that’s in the unforeseeable future when this book was written and, on occasion, it’s obvious this book was written eight years ago. Like when Kaling refers to Amy Poehler’s great marriage to Will Arnett (they’ve since divorced) or when she suggests that she’d like to do an all-female remake of Ghostbusters (which was made in 2016, although not exactly in the way that Kahling suggested).

Like most collections, this one isn’t all filled with knock-it-out-of-the-park bits and some of the pieces fall flat if you aren’t as familiar with the pop culture Kaling refers to in the piece. Of course, most of that's probably on me since I'm nearly 20 years older than Kaling and almost certainly have never been as in touch with what's "in" as is Kaling.

But most of the book is wonderful – funny, poignant, honest, and often a little bit sad. Life as the daughter of immigrant professionals wasn’t always easy. After all, she points out, what a disappointment she must have been not to have been a Spelling Bee champion given her Indian heritage, thick glasses, and lack of friends. Her stories about getting her career started are hilarious as is her spin on what men need to do so women find them attractive (get a well-fitted pea coat and the right shampoo) and her attraction to men with chest on their hair.

Now I need to go get caught up on The Mindy Project and see if my library has the audiobook copy of Kaling's Why Me?

Sunset Beach by Mary Kay Andrews - A Guest Review

Sunset Beach by Mary Kay Andrews
Published May 2019 by St. Martin's Press
Source: my copy courtesy of the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Publisher's Summary:
Drue Campbell’s life is adrift. Out of a job and down on her luck, life doesn’t seem to be getting any better when her estranged father, Brice Campbell, a flamboyant personal injury attorney, shows up at her mother’s funeral after a twenty-year absence. Worse, he’s remarried – to Drue’s eighth grade frenemy, Wendy, now his office manager. And they’re offering her a job.

It seems like the job from hell, but the offer is sweetened by the news of her inheritance – her grandparents’ beach bungalow in the sleepy town of Sunset Beach, a charming but storm-damaged eyesore now surrounded by waterfront McMansions.

With no other prospects, Drue begrudgingly joins the firm, spending her days screening out the grifters whose phone calls flood the law office. Working with Wendy is no picnic either. But when a suspicious death at an exclusive beach resort nearby exposes possible corruption at her father’s firm, she goes from unwilling cubicle rat to unwitting investigator, and is drawn into a case that may – or may not – involve her father. With an office romance building, a decades-old missing persons case re-opened, and a cottage in rehab, one thing is for sure at Sunset Beach: there’s a storm on the horizon.

My Thoughts:
My sister has long been a fan of Mary Kay Andrews' books and has read and reviewed books by Andrews previously for me. When this book showed up in my mailbox, I knew immediately that I needed to put it in her hands. My sister lives on the banks of a river and I could just imagine her sitting on her dock reading this one as I looked at that cover. Here are my sister's thoughts on this book. Thank you, sis, for your review!

Guest Review:
As a fan of Ms Andrews' writing I was looking forward to reading her latest book, Sunset Beach. My general rule of thumb is to put a book down that hasn’t captured my attention by the end of the first chapter. I made an exception on Sunset Beach because of my fondness for Ms. Andrews' storytelling. I found the the story slow to develop and the characters difficult to relate to.

The primary figure, Drue, returns home to Sunset Beach to restart her life. From there the storyline pulls in several directions, with too many secondary characters. The storylines, while slow to develop, felt rushed to the finish and felt very disconnected to me. I was left waiting for more closure.

There is mystery, suspense, family drama, and a love story.

I will happily pick up Ms Andrew’s next book because of previous reading pleasure; but for me, Sunset Beach was a bust.

The Girls In The Picture by Melanie Benjamin

The Girls In The Picture by Melanie Benjamin
Published January 2018 by Random House Publishing Group
Source: checked out from my local library

Publisher's Summary:
It is 1914, and twenty-five-year-old Frances Marion has left her (second) husband and her Northern California home for the lure of Los Angeles, where she is determined to live independently as an artist. But the word on everyone’s lips these days is “flickers”—the silent moving pictures enthralling theatergoers. Turn any corner in this burgeoning town and you’ll find made-up actors running around, as a movie camera captures it all.

In this fledgling industry, Frances finds her true calling: writing stories for this wondrous new medium. She also makes the acquaintance of actress Mary Pickford, whose signature golden curls and lively spirit have earned her the title “America’s Sweetheart.” The two ambitious young women hit it off instantly, their kinship fomented by their mutual fever to create, to move audiences to a frenzy, to start a revolution.

But their ambitions are challenged by both the men around them and the limitations imposed on their gender—and their astronomical success could come at a price. As Mary, the world’s highest paid and most beloved actress, struggles to live her life under the spotlight, she also wonders if it is possible to find love, even with the dashing actor Douglas Fairbanks. Frances, too, longs to share her life with someone. As in any good Hollywood story, dramas will play out, personalities will clash, and even the deepest friendships might be shattered.


My Thoughts:
The Girls In The Picture is Benjamin’s fifth novel (I have her sixth, Mistress of the Ritz on hold at the library); I’ve read them all. It’s safe to say I’m a fan. Benjamin always finds interesting women in history to write about and her research is always thorough; I’m always learning when I’m reading her books. The Girls In The Picture was no exception. I’d heard about Mary Pickford, of course, but I had no idea the influence and power she had wielded in the early days of movie making. I had never heard of Frances Marion nor was I aware of how many women were involved in making movies in those early days of silent movies.

While The Girls In The Picture is about two women who helped pioneer the film industry and the rise of movies from “flickers” to “talkies,” it is primarily the story of a complicated friendship that spans six decades.

What I Liked:
Benjamin moves the story back and forth between Mary and Frances and I enjoyed getting to “see” both women’s point of view. It’s always good to be reminded that there are two sides to every story. See more on this, though, below.

Learning about the early days of movie making. Did you know that the actors were originally called “movies,” not the film itself? Or that women were the majority of the “scenarists,” the early screen play writers? Or that Frances Marion was the first writer, male or female, to earn two Academy Awards for writing?

The relationship between Frances and Mary. While they were besties, there was a balance of power issue at play with both women fighting to be at the top of their fields and it gave a spark to their friendship.

Reading about how two women rose to the top of their field in a time when women had very few opportunities to thrive outside of the home. Benjamin had me cheering when Mary was finally able to take control of her own career and when Pickford; her husband, actor Douglas Fairbanks; Charlie Chaplin, and director D. W. Griffiths started their own studio, United Artists. Sadly, both women also had to watch as men took back the power when movie making became a big business and not just an art form.

What I Didn’t Like (As Well):
My dad pointed out recently that I am prone to saying that a book could have, should have, been shorter. I’m afraid I’m saying it again, mostly because it sometimes felt like things got repetitive.

I wished that both stories had been told from the same point of view; Frances’ was first person and felt vibrant, whereas Mary’s was third person and felt much less so. Perhaps Benjamin had more source material she was trying to work into Mary’s storyline and, therefore, less wiggle room with that narrative.

Honestly, I got tired of “listening” to Mary whine about how she was stuck playing a young girl. Not necessarily a critique about the book other than that I might have preferred for the characters to be more equally appealing. And all of the whining made what happens toward the end make it all the more difficult for me to understand why Frances reacted the way she did.

The good far outweighs the things I didn’t like in this book, as always happens with Benjamin’s books. They are always interesting with strong characters I’m happy to have gotten to know. The Girls In The Picture would make an excellent book club selection with a lot to talk about, including friendship, addiction, power, abuse, ambition, the rise of the movie industry, women’s empowerment, and the role the public plays in the lives of celebrities.

Life : It Goes On

The Big Guy and I went and got ice cream cones at McDonald's the other night and went and sat on this dock. It had just gotten dark and looking out over the lake, with its smattering of boat lights, was so relaxing. Except for the teenagers whooping it up in the parking lot - we weren't the only people who thought hanging out at the lake was a good idea!

That's about the highlight of my week. It's been every bit as slow and calm as I had expected and hoped. Except the part where my son got stuck in a flooded town. That'll stress a mom out! More on that later.

Last Week I:

Listened To: A lot of music and a fair number of episodes of podcasts including Happier, The History Chicks, and Nerdette.

Watched: Gone With The Wind, Gentleman Jack, and lots of Fixer Upper.

Read: I finished Karl Marlantes' Deep River and started Caroline: Little House, Revisited. I'm really enjoying Caroline but I'm already convinced it is 100 pages too long.

Made: It's clear that I have utterly lost my cooking mojo. We've survived on salads, simple pastas, chicken salad. We DID have our first BLT sandwiches of the season with tomatoes from our garden!

Enjoyed: Time for reading, dinners on the patio, doing not much more than keeping things tidied up.

Worried About: Yes, I did just add this category. Because worrying it what I do best. I spend a lot of time worrying about my kids. One of the ways I do that is by watching the weather wherever they are at. Except this past week, when I registered that there were torrential rains in central Nebraska resulting in flooding, and neglected to remember that my son was in a town in central Nebraska for work. Until he sent me a picture of flooded streets, saying "I'm not sure we can get back to our hotel or my car."

He and his co-worker made it to Cabelas, bought some hip waders and waded through the waters to their hotel, where they found Mini-him's car sitting in only a few inches of water. He moved it to higher ground shortly before they were evacuated to the University's dorms for the night. They were fine, the car was fine, and they were able to leave the town the next afternoon after the flood waters moved further down river. Not everyone has been so lucky; Nebraska farmers, in particular, are once again being hard it.

This Week I’m: 

It's bold and the paint strip
around the room will match.

Planning: On finally finishing the refinishing projects I've been working on for two weekends. Citrus Strip may be nontoxic and, therefore, great but it also doesn't take six layers of paint off as the toxic stuff. I'll be making a trip to Lowe's in a few minutes to go get some of that.

Also, hoping to get Miss H's mini-refresh done this week. Curtains and bedspread are here and I got the paint I needed on Thursday. Now I just need to get her home long enough to help

Thinking About: All of the things. My brain will not shut off lately nor stay on one topic long enough to make any decisions. Ugh.

Looking Forward To: Book club and a trip south to finally meet my newest great-niece.

Question of the week: I've got very little I have to read the rest of the summer. I'm hoping to knock off some books from my shelves but also wondering if you've got a recommendation for me. What book do I absolutely have to read before the summer is over?

Deep River by Karl Marlantes

Deep River by Karl Marlantes
Published: July 2019 by Grove/Atlantic Inc.
Source: my copy courtesy of the publisher through Netgalley

Publisher's Summary:
In the early 1900s, as the oppression of Russia’s imperial rule takes its toll on Finland, the three Koski siblings—Ilmari, Matti, and the politicized young Aino—are forced to flee to the United States. Not far from the majestic Columbia River, the siblings settle among other Finns in a logging community in southern Washington, where the first harvesting of the colossal old-growth forests begets rapid development, and radical labor movements begin to catch fire. The brothers face the excitement and danger of pioneering this frontier wilderness—climbing and felling trees one-hundred meters high—while Aino, foremost of the books many strong, independent women, devotes herself to organizing the industry’s first unions. As the Koski siblings strive to rebuild lives and families in an America in flux, they also try to hold fast to the traditions of a home they left behind.

Layered with fascinating historical detail, this is a novel that breathes deeply of the sun-dappled forest and bears witness to the stump-ridden fields the loggers, and the first waves of modernity, leave behind.

My Thoughts:
So, guys, Matterhorn. Marlantes' last book? Huge; really big. You'd think there'd be all kinds of reviews about this book out there already, all kinds of p. r. Nope, hardly a peep. And I sort of needed for someone to tell me how I felt about this book. Is that weird?

It will seem even weirder when I tell you that I really liked this book. I'm all over decades long family sagas. I mean, The Thorn Birds was one of my first "grown up" favorite books, after all. And I learned a lot from Deep River and you know how much I love that in a book. The lumbar industry, the labor movement on the west coast, the immigrant experience of the Finns who settled in the west - Marlantes had me going to the internet again and again to find out which characters were real people, what events really happened.

I became very attached to some of the family and the people who surrounded them and felt that they were, for the most part, well developed. Which made me get really nervous when the tension built but Marlantes kept from making this a giant saga of terrible things that happened to this family.

But then...it seemed to drag on forever. It is over 700 pages long but I've raced through books that long before. What made this one feel so different? One reviewer I found used the word "longeur" in his review (which I had to look up which you know I also love!); for those of you, like me, who need a definition, longeur means a tedious passage in a book. Oh yeah, for as much action as there was, for as many beautifully descriptive passages as there were, there were also a heck of a lot of longeurs. In fairness to Marlantes, though, I was balancing several books I needed to get through, including a really long audiobook and I might have become much more engrossed in it if I had devoted myself solely to this book. But part of what made the book drag was that Marlantes included so many characters and tried to cover so much ground with this book - the history of the logging industry along the Columbia River, the history of the labor movement, the salmon and fishing industry, the immigrant experience. Yes, it gave me a lot to learn about but it often felt like it was pulling me away from the story of this family.

I would recommend Deep River, with the proviso that there may be times you'll want to skim over those longeurs. If you read it, especially if you are able to really devote your full attention to it, I hope you'll let me know what you thought of it.