Bookish

Some days, I just don't know what to write.  Admittedly, the invisible pull of my bed isn't currently helping; I just mostly want to be asleep right now.  But also, I'm sort of at a loss.  Normally, I have an idea in mind of what I want to write about, so that even when I'm short on time, I power through because I've got something to say.  Today, not so much. (Eh, we have our days, right?)

So, instead of mumbling and rambling on about my day (work, contractor estimate, volleyball, seeing a friend that moved away, etc.), I'll tell you about the highlight of my day (after the surprise of seeing said friend, of course):

BOOKS

I mean, it's not really that surprising, but yeah, books.  Two books written by two of my favorite comedic writers: Sloane Crosley and Mindy Kaling.

I'd requested their newest books on the library's website a while back, and I was expecting to wait for them for a while longer.  So when I got an email today that both books had come in, I literally yelped with joy.  And then I looked at the clock and tried to figure out a way that I could be both at the library and at home waiting for the contractor at the same time.  Sadly, no solution came to mind.

I waited until I was on my way to volleyball to stop in and pick up my requested items.  They're not the most literary-looking books (both are bright colors, and yeah, I'm a little insecure about that kind of thing), but I'M SO EXCITED ANYWAY!

Maybe you want to read them, too?  I'll let you know how they are when I finish, but here's a quick blurb on each from their respective websites to sate your appetite in the mean time.

Kezia, Nathaniel, and Victor are reunited for the extravagant wedding of a college friend. Now at the tail end of their twenties, they arrive completely absorbed in their own lives—Kezia the second-in-command to a madwoman jewelry designer in Manhattan; Nathaniel the former literary cool kid, selling his wares in Hollywood; and the Eeyore-esque Victor, just fired from a middling search engine. They soon slip back into old roles: Victor loves Kezia. Kezia loves Nathaniel. Nathaniel loves Nathaniel.

In the midst of all this semi-merriment, Victor passes out on the mother-of-the-groom’s bedroom. He wakes to her jovially slapping him across the face. Instead of a scolding, she dangles before him a story she’s never even told her son, about a valuable necklace that disappeared during the Nazi occupation of France.

And so a madcap adventure is set into motion, one that leads Kezia, Nathaniel, and Victor from Miami to New York and LA to Paris and across France until they converge at the estate of Guy de Maupassant, author of the classic short story “The Necklace.”

Heartfelt, hilarious, suspenseful, and told with Sloane Crosley’s inimitable spark and wit, The Clasp is a story of obsession and the pitfalls of modern relationships, of friends struggling to fit together now that their lives haven’t gone as planned, of how to separate the real from the fake. Such a task might be possible when it comes to precious stones, but it is far more difficult to pull off with humans.

In Why Not Me?, Kaling shares her ongoing journey to find contentment and excitement in her adult life, whether it’s falling in love at work, seeking new friendships in lonely places, attempting to be the first person in history to lose weight without any behavior modification whatsoever, or most important, believing that you have a place in Hollywood when you’re constantly reminded that no one looks like you.

Mindy turns the anxieties, the glamour, and the celebrations of her second coming-of-age into a laugh-out-loud funny collection of essays that anyone who’s ever been at a turning point in their life or career can relate to. And those who’ve never been at a turning point can skip to the parts where she talks about meeting Bradley Cooper.