Audiobook Review: Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns)
Author and Narrator: Mindy Kaling
Published: November 1, 2011
Genres: memoir, humor
Audiobook: 4 CDs (4.5 hours)
Source: borrowed from the library


My Rating: 4 stars


Synopsis (from GoodReads): Mindy Kaling has lived many lives: the obedient child of immigrant professionals, a timid chubster afraid of her own bike, a Ben Affleck–impersonating Off-Broadway performer and playwright, and, finally, a comedy writer and actress prone to starting fights with her friends and coworkers with the sentence “Can I just say one last thing about this, and then I swear I’ll shut up about it?” 
 
Perhaps you want to know what Mindy thinks makes a great best friend (someone who will fill your prescription in the middle of the night), or what makes a great guy (one who is aware of all elderly people in any room at any time and acts accordingly), or what is the perfect amount of fame (so famous you can never get convicted of murder in a court of law), or how to maintain a trim figure (you will not find that information in these pages). If so, you’ve come to the right book, mostly!
 
In Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?, Mindy invites readers on a tour of her life and her unscientific observations on romance, friendship, and Hollywood, with several conveniently placed stopping points for you to run errands and make phone calls. Mindy Kaling really is just a Girl Next Door—not so much literally anywhere in the continental United States, but definitely if you live in India or Sri Lanka.

My Thoughts: There is something that I have probably neglected to mentioning here on my blog, which I will go ahead and tell you now: I am a HUGE fan of The Office. I have loved it since the first day that it came on the air and will continue to watch it until they can it (which is hopefully never). Mindy Kaling in one of the writers for the show and she protrays a character called Kelly Kapoor, a ditz in every sense of the word. I think that Mindy is a great actress and she has written some of my favorite episodes from this series, so it was only a matter of time until I got around to reading her book. I stumbled upon the audiobook and figured, "Everyone loved Tina Fey's book in audio form, so the same must be true for Mindy's Book." (This is how I think about things in my head sometimes) And, let me just say, it was hilarious. Like, I spit pop out of my nose at one point as I was driving because it's so funny.

Mindy takes you through her life, from growing up with successful parents and how they raised her all the way to her present success. I felt like I could be best friends with Mindy after listening to this book because she is pretty unaffected by her fame (except for her chapter on giftbags at awards shows, but it's still funny). She is down to earth and tells her story with humor. She doesn't bash anyone, but just looks at the world as a great place to have a laugh. This was a great audiobook to listen to and definitely kept me entertained on my 6 hour drive. I hope that Mindy will continue to write in the future because these books are relateable for every woman, regardless of age.