Why Not Me?

Loved the reading - laughed out loud while driving in a lot of places. Sometimes full-on cackles, even. Deducted a star for the weird interminable story about her alternate-universe Latin teacher self, which was really predictable and got monotonous quickly. Probably read better than it came across in the audio. Loved basically everything else!

This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader as part of a post about both of her audiobooks (at least so far).
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These are technically two books – and you can identify different themes in each, but really, they could be one book, so let's talk about them at the same time. These are collections of humorous essays – some autobiographical, some not – from the pen of writer/actress Mindy Kaling. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? covers her childhood and early career, while Why Not Me? focuses on more adult concerns, and her post-The Office career.

I thought the stories about her personal life and career entertaining, and well-told. But the other essays tended to be more creative and more amusing. But I found myself grinning or chuckling throughout. I've liked her before, but these books made me a fan.

My gut tells me that this is too brief, and I should say more – but I'm not sure what to get into. If you're a fan of her TV work, or like intelligent and funny women (who can write), these are good reads.

Kaling is, naturally, the best narrator possible for these books – and probably many others (really, think Stephanie Plum as read by Kaling!). I think I liked the performance she gave for Is Everyone a little more, it felt less practiced? More energetic? I'm really not sure, but I wondered several times while listening to Why Not Me? why I didn't like her narration as much. I could ‘t put my finger on it – but, it doesn't matter, she was great with both. Just slightly less great.

Funny, heart-felt, maybe a little inspiring – these essays hit the spot.