Good Read: Mindy Kaling

I read a lot. A lot of blogs, ebooks, whitepapers and magazines, that is. Not a lot of books. So it is rare that I get to recommend a book to others. 

I picked up Mindy Kaling's book at the airport in LA. I was out of magazines and had already read the Southwest magazine and the Skymall and knew I needed to entertain myself for a couple hours on the plane. (Do you like how I just had to justify a reason for reading? Sad.)

The weird thing is - at the time, I wasn't really impressed with Mindy's new show on Fox, I was never a big Office fan, and the comparisons to Tina Fey do nothing for me because I'm not a big Tina fan (cue the outrage, I know. I'm like the only person on the planet that doesn't think that Tina Fey is god. While I'm disappointing you, I also don't like the Beatles.)

And, like I said, I don't read a lot. I do, however, find that I enjoy books that are more of a collection of short stories. Tucker Max, Chelsea Handler, Flannery O'Connor. And yes, I realize two of those authors are pretty much just about drunken/ridiculous shenanigans. (Come to think of it, Flannery's stories are pretty wild, too.)

Maybe because it is easier to digest a chapter or two at a time, than trying to invest in an entire book. Because I can set it down and if I forget about it for a month, It's not like I will have totally forgotten the whole story. I like that episodic nature.

So I guess that by very structure of the book, Mindy and I were meant for each other. The book is a collection of.... thoughts. Sometimes it is one page. Sometimes it is 20. It's stories and opinions about relationships, about work, about whatever the heck she feels like.

And it's awesome. I found myself nodding along as I read it, like 'I hear ya, sister.' I think we basically have the same brain. Or maybe we're both just unmarried 20/30somethings that really like our jobs and have overactive brains that we can't turn off and form strong opinions about some things that don't really matter in the grand scheme of things (ie random rants).

Anyway, you should read it. Especially if you are a 20/30 something. I think you'll like it.

And for the record, The Mindy Project really grew on me and is now one of my favorite shows.