If you liked MWF Seeking BFF, you might like…
Well, it depends.
If you liked MWF because you love project/year-of memoirs:
You’ll absolutely love the hilarious AJ Jacobs. The Know-It-All, about his quest to read the entire Encyclopedia Brittanica, is a book that made me think, “Wait, I should be doing this kind of writing, too.” I loved The Year of Living Biblically, too, and I can’t wait to read his latest, Drop Dead Healthy, in which he spends two years trying to be the healthiest man alive.
Other suggestions: The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin; The Science of Single by Rachel Machasek; Julie and Julia by Julie Powell
If you liked MWF Seeking BFF, because you love books about friendship:
Try The Girls from Ames by the great Jeffrey Zaslow. This true story about the 40-year friendship between 11 best friends gets at the heart of why we need our besties, and will make you laugh, cry, and pick up the phone to call your oldest pal. Zaslow, who tragically died in a car accident earlier this year, portrays female friendship with an admiration and understanding you don’t always get from men.
Other suggestions: Girls in White Dresses by Jennifer Close; Friends Like Us by Lauren Fox; Beaches by Iris Rainer Dart
If you liked MWF Seeking BFF because you think we could be friends:
Read Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling. When she starts talking about her obsession with fad diets or why men take so long to put their shoes on, you’ll forget you aren’t besties already. I’m totally still waiting for her to call me for our BFF date.
Other suggestions: I Was Told There’d Be Cake by Sloane Crosley; Let’s Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson; Someone Will Be With You Shortly by Lisa Kogan
Warning: These women are all much cooler than I. But if you think we could be friends, you’d definitely want to be friends with them.
Do any of you MWF Seeking BFF readers out there have other similar suggestions? I’m always looking to add to my reading pile!
I am not a big reader of memoir, usually, but I love the concept of A.J.Jacobs’s and have had them on my TBR pile for a while. *sigh* so many books, so little time.
Great list, Rachel – I didn’t know about some of these.
I have to say, the AJ Jacobs books feel less memoir-y to me, and more just plain fun. I laugh out loud A LOT when I read his stuff. Girls in White Dresses and Friends Like Us are fiction, so hopefully this list has something for everyone! And Joanne you are so right — NEVER ENOUGH TIME!
Looks like a great list to me, Rachel! I haven’t read many memoirs, but now that MWF Seeking BFF has shown me how entertaining they can be, I’ll have to branch out and include more.
Thanks Linda! Sometimes I think memoirs get a bad rep — there are so many different types out there. Even if one doesn’t like the “read about my screwed up childhood” types, then there are the funny one like AJs, or the big reader-takeaway types like The Happiness Project. Memoir is such a broad genre, I really think there is something for everyone!
First off, I WAS TOLD THERE’D BE CAKE is pretty much the best title ever. (Wasn’t that a Deb Dish? Is it too late to change my answer??)
I have been wanting to read Mindy Kaling’s book for a long, long time. Thanks for the reminder, Rachel!
Erika! I think I actually used I Was Told There’d Be Cake as my answer for that Deb Dish… Essay collections all have such great titles these days…