Thursday, May 3, 2012

Nonfiction! (Kind of.)

Hola, BookMates fans. Or, you know, person who happened to stumble across our site. (If you stumbled across our site, Kerry and I are AWESOME. You should immediately bookmark us.)

So, lately I've been reading (gasp!) nonfiction. Kind of. Really I'm reading comedian and blogger memoirs, which I feel is equivalent to dipping your big toe in the ocean of nonfiction. I'm not against nonfiction, I just generally don't find it as entertaining as fiction.

I just picked up Jenny Lawson's (aka, The Bloggess) memoir, Let's Pretend this Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir. The reason I picked up Jenny's memoir was because the title resonated with me. There are so many moments in my life (avoidable moments generally caused by me) which I would like to pretend have not happened. For example, I recently went on a date and somehow ended up explaining to my date why I hate music festivals. "Music festivals", you ask? "What could be so bad about a music festival?" (Actually, if you ask this question you've probably never been to a music festival.) Anyway, the reason I hate music festivals stems from my experience at Sasquatch years ago, during which I got stuck in a Port-a-Potty (horror of horrors) for what seemed like five hours but was really probably five minutes until this burly frat boy broke open the Port-a-Potty door, not because he was trying to help me escape but because he was angry that I was taking so long. Soon afterward I lost one of my favorite flip flops in the ten inches of mud covering Sasquatch and was forced to wander around the Gorge with one flip flop, traumatized from the Port-a-Potty experience, fending off a group of dudes who asked me if I wanted to "drink with them in their van" (answer: hell, no) until I found my campsite.

I really wish I could pretend telling that story on a date had never happened.

Now you all know that story! Telling it on our blog seems to make it seem less embarrassing (right?). I also just realized I am poorly imitating Jenny Lawson's mode of writing, but obviously I am not a good writer and she is hysterical and a fantastic writer. Read her memoir. And her blog.

I finally got my grubby little paws on Mindy Kaling's Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns). I have a huge crush on Mindy Kaling. I want to be her bff. Not only is she intelligent and humorous, she also just seems like an awesome person who would totally be down with hanging out in yoga pants, watching bad movies, and eating froyo directly out of the container while listening to Flo Rida (my new workout music love).

I just started her memoir, but so far it's all that I expected it to be: warm, hilarious, and peppered with adorable photos of Mindy as child. Purchase this (or wait for it in the absurdly long library queue, like I did), ASAP. Enjoy!




6 comments:

  1. Oh wow that is one of my worse nightmares getting stuck in a port a potty, I couldn't imagine it!

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  2. Elizabeth, music festivals are in fact the devil, and your story just confirms it!

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  3. Great read, I really enjoyed Kaling's style.

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  4. Ahh come on now, not music festivals are not devils. Surely?

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  5. Some really wild stories, well I can assure you it wont happen again and give them another chance!

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    1. Music festivals are not for me! Unless there is lots of seating and no mud...or dudes with vans. :)

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