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Jan 22, 2012

Tanu rated it:

AND ITS NOT MINDY KALING’S FAULT! OR AT LEAST NOT TOTALLY HER FAULT.

TV and I are not best friends. Sure, I own a TV, but it’s more like a piece of furniture in my living rooms. Hindi sitcoms are royally crappy and wildly unrealistic, news channels seem mostly concerned with celebrity gossip, even channels like Discovery and National Geography have been commercialized.

So basically, I and TV have had minimal interaction in the past years.

Anyway! P More...

6 comments like (14 people liked it)

Dec 15, 2011

Catie rated it:

There’s a passage in this book in which Mindy Kaling laments that she will never be the kind of comedian who can get away with really raunchy humor or jokes about race. (She cites Sarah Silverman and Dave Chappelle as examples.) But, here is what she can get away with: writing a book chock-full of lists and stories all about how she’s basically (in her words) a “vain flake” and still coming across as a kind, intelligent woman and an excellent best friend.

I kind of wish that Mindy K More...

11 comments like (49 people liked it)

Jan 19, 2012

Jessi rated it:

I APPLAUD it and Endorse it!

I LOVED this book, Mindy is just a funny gal who is pretty in check with reality. I have trouble writing a review for a book I love. I feel I just wont do it justice. Mindy makes hilarious observations in numerous essays that fill this joy of a book. Instead of trying to articulate what this is and what I find funny I thought I would grab some random quotes as a recommendation.

QUOTES
“I’m the kind of person who would rather More...

6 comments like (11 people liked it)

Nov 14, 2011

Liza rated it:

The moment I finish my literature review I am going to the bookstore to purchase this, because I need to read something that makes me laugh more than articles about amytrophic lateral sclerosis.

And no, I did not laugh while reading/writing about ALS. I'm not the worst person in the world.

3 comments like (10 people liked it)

Jan 04, 2012

traci rated it:

mindy kaling - writer, star of the office - suffers from never having cancer or living in iran for any part of her life. which simply means this: it's hard to write a memoir that lasts more than 70 pages. so they call it a book of essays, which is fine, and she does a good job with most of them. but then she's only up to 150 pages and she's fucked. so she goes to her phone and flips through her photos and thinks, hey, i could just write about these, and other bullshit like it, to satisfy a respe More...

0 comments like (13 people liked it)

Dec 03, 2011

V. rated it:

A quick warning about an otherwise good book: the last third of The Office writer Kaling's memoir is a scattershot, hit-or-miss affair. With short essays like "Why Do Men Put on Their Shoes So Slowly?" and "In Defense of Chest Hair", which graze their topics no more deeply than the titles suggest, Kaling almost sounds like she's half-heartedly trying out for the late and perpetually cranky Andy Rooney's vacated gig on 60 Minutes.

It's a shame, because the first two More...

3 comments like (15 people liked it)

Jan 14, 2012

Nicole rated it:

Ok, I officially have a girl crush on Mindy Kaling. She is just so cool. I love the fact that she is completely honest about all her failings and even embraces them. This would definitely be the type of person I would want to be friends with. This book was extremely funny and a light, easy read. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who wants a good laugh. I especially loved her list for alternate titles to the book (The Girl with No Tattoo, Harry Potter Secret Book #8... hilarious).
More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Nov 19, 2011

Margot rated it:

I'm not usually one to read celebrity biographies and/or memoirs, but come on—this is Mindy's book we're talking about here. OF COURSE I was going to read it.

I love how she goes from hilarious to serious and back to hilarious in a very smooth manner. She shamelessly shares her BlackBerry pics with us, tells us about her life before and during The Office (is Rainn Wilson really her frenemy?), and a lot more. Like my friend Meli said, this book was all over the place, which I absolute More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Feb 02, 2012

nicole rated it:

Short review: Super-duper feel-good funny book. Loved it and can't wait to share it with... every gal I know. Pretty much.

And in a few more words: If you don’t know anything about Mindy Kaling, or you don’t like her character Kelly Kapoor on The Office, or think she is her character Kelly Kapoor on The Office and are therefore expecting this to be a bunch of TMZ gossip/Hollywood garbage, or (like me, tbh) you just don’t watch The Office anymore.. WHO CARES READ THIS ANYWAY! In Kaling More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 09, 2011

Rachel rated it:

I laughed out loud so many times!

As a person who has seen every episode of the office more than once (okay, fine, more than 5 times) I already think Mindy Kaling, writer and actor who plays character Kelly Kapoor, is really funny.

(I want to throw out a WARNING about this book, similar to what I did when I read and reviewed Tina Fey's Bossypants - If you already don't like Mindy Kaling, if you already don't like The Office, if you already hate female comedians, etc, you More...

1 comment like (15 people liked it)

Jan 30, 2012

Laura rated it:

I really liked this book. I started it while reading Bossypants, which is funny because Mindy refers to Bossypants and some of the same people Tina Fey writes about. But it was too much comedic memoir or something. I set it aside and picked it back up a week later and loved it. Mindy is sarcastic and so dry. I laughed out loud and am tempted to see if there is an audio version because I bet it would be awesome. I also loved all the pop culture references, although the book may become dated More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 15, 2012

Rebecca rated it:

If you LOVED Tina Fey's book, you'll like this this one, it's written for the same audience. Mindy alternates between talking about her working life and her personal life, though it's actually more about her professional life, which was actually kind of interesting, as we are pretty close in age. And it's funny how long I have been working in the media and have been reading things like EW and the trades, that when she talks about this play that she and her college friend wrote called "Matt More...

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Feb 10, 2012

Kathy rated it:

A funny--and at times hilarious--mostly-memoir by comedian Mindy Kaling, actress and one of the writers for The Office. I say mostly-memoir, because about 1/2 - 2/3 of the chapters in the book would qualify as memoir, as she details childhood friendships, being made fun of for being fat, job woes in New York City, and landing a spot for the production team of the Office (all with humor, of course). Yet as she warns in the introduction, "Sometimes it's an essay or story, and sometimes it's a More...

2 comments like

Feb 07, 2012

Lisa rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like

Feb 04, 2012

Heather rated it:

I am endlessly fascinated by the brand of Mindy Kaling, by the way she’s able to publicly position herself outside the Hollywood Machine while very much existing inside the Hollywood Machine. It’s such a coveted ability; every politician in America would set his/her own hair on fire to be able to pull off that whole "I come from you, not to you" thing. I find her clever and charming in interviews and on Twitter, and I got a whole week’s worth of giggles recently from her impromptu Toda More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jan 31, 2012

Marian rated it:

Short Introduction: Most of us know Mindy Kaling as the hilarious Kelly Kapoor on the American version of The Office. In this book she shares stories from her childhood, college years and professional life. With great wit and a good attitude she entertains readers thoroughly.

Plot: I don't know if plot should be a section of this review since it's her true life story. Let's just say that Mindy had a very interesting life! In this book she shares about her childhood & college years, and More...

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Jan 19, 2012

Marilee rated it:

I just finished reading Mindy Kaling's book Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? She's a comedian who is best known for writing, producing, directing, and acting on The Office, one of my favorite sitcoms. Her book is funny, and I relate to a lot of what she says. Here are two excerpts that I really connected with.

"In high school, I had fun in my academic clubs, watching movies with my girlfriends, learning Latin, having long, protracted, unrequited crushes on older guys who didn't More...

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Jan 16, 2012

Mario rated it:

Some people writes trying to criticize the depth of this book. They should re-read who the author is.

As a reader of scholar Philosophy, Politics and overall complicated programming books, let me tell you one or two things:

"Why Do Men Put on Their Shoes So Slowly?" made me realize I do -in fact- tie my shoes quite slowly according to the religious procedure pointed out by Mindy. This is a self-improvement book!

In a serious note, not even my couple h More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 15, 2012

Kim rated it:

What a wonderful book. The Office's Mindy Kaling tells anecdotes about her time living at home with her loving, strict parents, her life in New York after graduating college, and her current life in Hollywood, where she's found her recent success.

All of the stories she tells are engaging, hilarious, and most importantly - relatable. She's a young girl who loves her parents, didn't cause any trouble in high school (instead she was passive about being teased and ditched her "cool More...

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Jan 14, 2012

Mandolin rated it:

Following in the footsteps of Tina Fey, Mindy Kaling turns a random assortment of her childhood memories and experiences going from a Dartmouth superstar to a struggling New York City writer to successful debut as a writer and actress on The Office into a hilariously funny read that will have you cringing and giggling by turns. Mindy's smart, honest voice and ironic sense of humor make even the most mundane things (like karaoke etiquette and rules of friendship) seem laugh-out-loud funny. Thou More...

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Jan 09, 2012

Constance rated it:

In addition to her autobiography Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? includes essays written by Mindy about various topics. In the autobiography portion of the book Mindy’s describes her childhood as a chubby, sensitive kid with weight issues and a love for comedy. We also learn how about Mindy’s first ‘real’ Hollywood job and how she got her current gig on The Office. The essays included in the books range from Mindy expressing her love for hairy men to explaining why John Mellencamp’s ‘Jack an More...

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Jan 07, 2012

Casey rated it:

I do not like The Office. I think it's a mediocre sitcom with something occasionally funny in it. I had not considered that before reading this book from one of the writers of the show; I thought I'd enjoy this because a bunch of my friends enjoyed it. A bunch of friends who probably like watching The Office. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone who doesn't like The Office, in the same way I wouldn't recommend Bossypants to anyone who doesn't like 30 Rock.

And she made me laugh more than More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 04, 2012

Emily rated it:

I picked this up because I stumbled upon Mindy's blog somehow (I think through The Hairpin?). Her blog is clever and has just the right amount of sarcasm and nerdiness. Just my kind of gal. This book was entertaining (it is a collection of essays about her life thus far) but I have to say I was constantly comparing it to Bossy Pants-which I adored. Had I not yet read Bossy Pants I probably would have loved this book more. It was a fun read and it made me admire Mindy Kaling even more. I love tha More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 04, 2012

Lisa rated it:

Of all the books I've read in the past few months, this is the book that has me wondering several things. A) How did it get so much pre- and post-release publicity and b) why do so many people like it? No offense, but this book can't hold a candle to 'Bossypants'by Tina Fey, or 'Are You There Vodka, It's Me Chelsea'By Ms. Handler or 'I know You Are, But What Am I' by Samantha Bee. Or any number of funny-memoir type books I've read. Which is weird, because I usually finish a book like this no mat More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Jan 04, 2012

Kater rated it:

I wanted to like this book more than I did, because a person whose taste I agree with gave it to me as a gift. If you know and like Mindy Kaling's work, and you want an inside view into what sort of person she is in real life, this book will probably appeal to you. I think that reading this book without having watched The Office is like reading "Wishful Drinking" without having seen Star Wars.

I haven't seen any episodes of The Office, so I have to take it on faith that Kal More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 03, 2012

Meagan rated it:

I loved this book. There were so many parts that made me laugh out loud. This book is very well written and very hilarious. Mindy shares her quirks and experiences without trying to give advice.

I read the chapter on one night stands out loud to my friend because it was great: "So, this is what I’m like: if you come over to my house, I need to know your first and last name. I need to have your phone number and a person who we both know so you can’t disappear forever in case you More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Jan 03, 2012

Crystal rated it:

This review first appeared at Persephone Magazine.

In the past five years or so, a new sub-genre of the memoir and humor sections has sprung up: female TV comedy writers writing semi-autobiographical collections of essays. From Amy Sedaris to Chelsea Handler, just in the past year there’s been Tina Fey’s Bossypants, Hilary Winston’s My Boyfriend Wrote A Book About Me (which I still haven’t decided whether I liked or not), and, this month, Mindy Kaling’s Is Everyone Hanging Out Without More...

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Jan 02, 2012

Maya rated it:

First book read in 2012, only because that is when the library hold list said it was my turn. Twas an excellent way to start the new year.

I sort of have a lot of comments on the book, her stories, and could go on for a while . . . she includes many of my favorite reading themes: strong friendships, writing, being a daughter, etc.

But, my aha moments were reading about a) one night stands and how she totally agrees with me on the subject. How satisfying it always is to read som More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 01, 2012

Kelly rated it:

1. Really interesting discussion at book club about whether this book suffers because of Kaling's own body-shaming. And yeah, some of the things she has to say about her body aren't ... great, but I think what she was trying to do was speak objectively about her own body (and the only thing that our society hates more than women speaking positively about their bodies is women speaking objectively about her bodies) -- but it's nearly impossible to speak objectively about yourself. Still, Kaling m More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 01, 2012

Amy rated it:

Under much protest, my mother purchased a Kindle for me for Christmas. She's anti-e-reader. She's old school. She likes BOOKS. I get that. But I'll still read and buy actual physical books. And I'm still reading, mom. It's not my like my brother who has added books-on-tape to his repertoire. I haven't sunk THAT low just yet.

So back to Mindy Kaling's book. This was in my first bundle of purchases for my e-reader and the first book I read. She claimed early on it would take me only two d More...

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