book report

i mentioned in this post that i have a goal to read thirty books this year. i'm now on book number 23 so i'm feeling pretty good, especially considering last year i basically read nothing that wasn't a textbook (if you're in school and feel like you'll never have a life again, i want you to know it gets better). the last two books i read were why not me? by mindy kaling and all the light we cannot see by anthony doerr, and i loved them both so much that i had to post about them here (even though i already posted these reviews on goodreads) (which you should seriously join if you haven't already).

why not me? came out today and i bought it and read it immediately. i am a devoted mindy kaling fan and i had been incredibly excited about this book since hearing mindy speak about it at bookcon. i love mindy and i loved her fresh, funny take on topics like fame, television, work, friendship, and dating. why not me? felt, in many ways, more personal and mature than is everyone hanging out without me?, and it was exciting and entertaining to be privy to the behind-the-scenes realities of mindy's career, relationships, and life in hollywood. i also found many of the essays inspiring, particularly the titular one, which discusses confidence and hard work, and "unlikely leading lady," in which mindy shares her refreshing opinions on body image and beauty standards. my favorite thing about this book was either that in reading it i felt like mindy's friend and confidante or the approximately two pop culture references included per page. she gets me.

all the light we cannot see won last year's pulitzer prize for fiction and was a new york times best book of the year, so it obviously needs no endorsement from me. but if you thought that was going to stop me from telling you about it, you were wrong! it follows a blind french girl and orphaned german boy as their lives intersect in the chaos of world war II. i couldn't wait to finish and yet i never wanted it to end. the characters are lovely, the story poignant, and the writing masterful. it's beautiful and heartbreaking, and most of all, an incredible, luminous feat of storytelling. i can't recommend it highly enough.

my other favorite reads this year include the martian, spinster, men explain things to me, one more thing, unbroken, and wild. if you have any suggestions about what i should read next, please send them my way!