The other day I was sharing autobiography recommendations to one of my girlfriends. While we were talking, I thought it was a good idea to share some of my favourite autobiographies! I love a good autobiography, especially if they're a lighter read. I typically pick up a good autobiography if I can read it in a day or two and don't have to put my focus onto the book.
Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me (and other concerns) by Mindy Kaling
This is definitely in my top three favourite autobiographies. There's something about Mindy Kaling's writing in this book that just got me. It is based on her rise to fame and stories from The Office. The one thing that I love about this book, and that sticks out to me, is that it's written more as a comedic self-help book compared to the typical autobiography. My favourite part of this whole book? When Mindy shares the alternative titles she had for the book. My two favourites are: "There is no sunrise so beautiful that it is worth waking me up to see it" and "Sometimes you just have to put on lip gloss and pretend to be psyched."
And of course, my absolute favourite quote from the entire book:
"I’m only marginally qualified to be giving advice at all. My body mass index is certainly not ideal, I frequently use my debit card to buy things that cost less than three dollars because I never have cash on me, and my bedroom is so untidy it looks like vandals ransacked the Anthropologie Sale section. I’m kind of a mess."
Why Not Me by Mindy Kaling
This is Mindy Kaling's second autobiography, that's just as good as the first. This book is written as a series of personal essays including ex-boyfriends, secrets for the beauty industry and the fixation of weight on women in the entertainment industry. One of my absolute favourite parts of the whole book is when she talks about proper tailoring; she explains a time when she wore an Old Navy dress that she had properly tailored and received more compliments on it than expensive dresses she bought.
My favourite quote from the book:
"Playful arguments would become fits of uncontrollable laughter, and, like magic, that experience would be crystallized into a private joke, and the private joke would get boiled down to a simple phrase, which became a souvenir of the entire experience. For years to come, the phrase alone could uncork hours of renewed laughter. And as everyone knows, the best kind of laughter is laughter born of a shared memory."
Talking as Fast as I Can: From Gilmore Girls to Gilmore Girls by Lauren Graham
If you've read my blog for a while, you know that I'm a diehard Gilmore Girls fan. I loved this book so, so much. It shares Lauren Graham's story from when she was young until the Gilmore Girls revival. Plus, she includes some great pictures from behind the scenes at the revival. She also shares little details from her time on Gilmore Girls, from meeting Alexis Bledel for the first time in Toronto to stealing a jacket from the set. There's so many great tales from her GG and Parenthood days. It's definitely a great, quick read. I've read it four times now and can typically finish it in a day or two.
My favourite quote from the book:
"In my experience, there’s no secret to accomplishing almost any goal worth pursuing."
Scrappy Little Nobody by Anna Kendrick
I'll admit, I didn't love this as much as I loved Mindy Kaling's books but it did have some funny moments. Similar to Why Not Me, it's a series of personal essays about Anna Kendrick's personal and professional life. I think one thing that I love about Anna Kendrick is that her filmography is so wide - from movies like Pitch Perfect to movies like Drinking Buddies; she has such an appeal to her. It genuinely feels like you're spending an afternoon with your bestie when you read this book.
I have to share two quotes I loved from this book:
"Wear the Spanx. You might not want to squeeze them over your ass in the morning, but when you see that mac and cheese at lunch (do it, you beautiful monster) you’ll be glad they’re there, doing the lord’s work."
"I gave up on being nice. I started putting more value on other qualities instead: passion, bravery, intelligence, practicality, humor, patience, fairness, sensitivity. Those last three might seem like they are covered by 'nice,”'but make no mistake, they are not. A person who smiles a lot and remembers everyone’s birthday can turn out to be undercover crazy, a compulsive thief, and boring to boot. I don’t put a lot of stock in nice. I’d prefer to be around people who have any of the above qualities over “niceness,” and I’d prefer it if that applied to me, too."
