"Missed Connections: Love, Lost & Found" by Sophie Blackall

128 pages


This book is exactly what it looks like. Blackall took real missed connections from Craigslist and drew illustrations for them (If you don't know what "missed connections" are, google it. You can thank me later). Some are sad, and a lot are funny. The illustrations are perfect--fun but sort of whimsical as well. On the other hand, I don't think Blackall did as well at picking the ones she featured. A few were hilarious, but most weren't any more entertaining than ones I see on Craigslist when I log on. Still, the book is a great idea and I enjoyed it. 

White Girl Problems

White Girl Problems
by Babe Walker
273 pages

This is a memoir that started from a blog. Babe Walker is an LA debutante who doesn't have to worry about money or getting a job or...anything really. She's *kind of* a bitch and you really want to hate her. But it was actually her bitchiness that I kind of admired. She had a "sorry I'm not sorry" sort of attitude and didn't really care about what other people thought. Me being a "yes" person, it was refreshing to hear a voice that wasn't afraid to say "no".

Now, none of Babe's "problems" are really relatable (she went to rehab because she spent $250,000 at Barney's in one day), but they're kind of funny. Here are my faves:

#6: My major in college was picking my major with a minor in being really bored

#7: I'm too pretty to be crying right now

#10: Sorry for texting you 93 times last night

#12: My waxer knows me better than I know myself

#14: I miss you, unless you miss me, in which case I'm over you and into me being me

#21: Every job I've ever had is the worst job I've ever had

#22: I'm never drinking again, except for the occasional glass of white wine, vodka sodas, on holiday or my   birthday month

"The Book of Holiday Awesome" By Neil Pasricha

179 pages

Wrapping a gift with that tiny leftover piece of wrapping paper. When the lights from last year all work. Successfully regifting an item. All of these happy observations are made in the latest "Book of Awesome" collection of books inspirited by Pasricha's blog, www.1000awesomethings.com. In the blog as well as his other books, Pasricha writes short, charming essays on all of the little things that make life beautiful. This collections consists of similar mini essays; the dfference is that, obviously, these entries are all devoted to the holidays. Christmas, Hanukkah, Valentine's Day, Independence Day, you name it. After I read this book, I totally found myself more aware of the wonderful little things that happen everyday. This is a great coffee table book, as it can be read in increments.

"Damn You, Autocorrect! Awesomely Embarrassing Text Messages You Didn't Mean to Send" by Jillian Madison

277 pages

The title pretty much says it all with this one. Madison collected submissions from followers of her well-known pop culture blog (I started to say "popular pop culture blog" but thought that sounded a little weird). The text messages are divided into categories like Parents, The Office, Love, etc. While I thought that about half were just ho-hum, there are some that totally cracked me up. This is obviously a quick read, and it provided a nice little bit of humor to my reading list. Since it can be read in tiny increments, I'm going to recommend it to my friends who are still in school or new parents because it can give them a quick laugh when they only have a minute or two.

"The Book of Even More Awesome" by Neil Pasricha

390 pages

A few years ago, Neil Pasricha was struggling. Soon after his marriage failed, one of his best friends committed suicide. After feeling depressed for a while, Neil started a blog called 1000 Awesome Things (1000awesomethings.com) to celebrate the little things that make life better, such as the smell of bakery air, snow days, and finding money you'd forgotten about in your pocket. He did it to pull himself out of his funk, but it turned into much more than that. Before long he had a book deal for "The Book of Awesome," which became a bestseller, and now there's "The Book of Even More Awesome."

I totally love 1000 Awesome Things and "The Book of Awesome," and this second book didn't fall short of my high expectations. However, I think I liked the second "Book of Awesome" slightly less than the first because it seemed more cheesy at parts. I think a little cheese fits with the style of this book and I'm okay with that, but there's a line. Still, I loved this volume. Over and over I found myself thinking, "Oh yeah, I love that!" The little essays that Pasricha writes for each item on the list never fail to cheer me up when I'm having a bad day, and they've made me more appreciative of the little things in general.

Here's a little sample of the things you'll find in "The Book of Even More Awesome":

• When batteries are included
• When a cop finally passes you after following for awhile
• Getting in the fastest line at the grocery store
• Getting a hug from someone you didn’t know you were in a hugging relationship with
• When the person you're meeting is even later than you
• Finally peeing after holding it in forever
• Looking at how much dirt came off something you just cleaned
• When a work friend becomes an outside-of-work friend
• When a social event you didn’t want to go to gets canceled
• An extra hour of sleep for the end of Daylight Savings Time
• A day with nothing on your schedule