I Want To Be A Part of It — New York, New York!

I Want To Be A Part of It — New York, New York!

• Apr 29, 2013

Someday, Someday, Maybe by Lauren Graham

Release Date: April 2013
Publisher: Random House | Ballantine Books
Pages: 352 pages
Source: NetGalley; e-ARC
Amazon | Goodreads

Summary (from Goodreads)

It's January 1995, and Franny Banks has just six months left of the three-year deadline she set for herself when she came to New York, dreaming of Broadway and doing "important" work. But all she has to show for her efforts so far is a part in an ad for ugly Christmas sweater, and a gig waiting tables at a comedy club. Her roommates - her best friend Jane, and Dan, an aspiring sci-fi writer - are supportive, yet Franny knows a two-person fan club doesn't exactly count as success. Everyone tells her she  needs a backup plan, and though she can almost picture moving back home and settling down with her perfectly nice ex-boyfriend, she's not ready to give up on her goal of having a career like her idols Diane Keaton and Meryl Steep. Not just yet. But while she dreams of filling their shoes, in the meantime, she'd happily settle for a speaking part in almost anything - and finding a hair product combination that works.

Everything is riding on the upcoming showcase for her acting class, where she'll finally have a chance to perform for people who could actually hire her. And she can't let herself be distracted by James Franklin, a notorious flirt and the most successful actor in her class, even though he's suddenly started paying attention. Meanwhile, her bank account is rapidly dwindling, her father wants her to come home, and her agent doesn't return her calls. But for some reason, she keeps believing that she just might get what she came for.

Thoughts on Someday, Someday, Maybe

I don't even know how to describe the moment that I realized Lauren Graham, as in THE LAUREN GRAHAM, had written a book. It all started with the cover. I saw the pretty little thing calling my name on NetGalley, and I immediately fell in love with the cover. Clicking on it for more information, I think I might have shrieked and done a little dance when I read the author biography section.

One of my very favorite actresses - the woman who played my favorite characters on one of the best TV shows ever, y'all - had written a fiction book. Not a self-indulgent memoir. Oh no, a real live book about a girl living in New York and trying to become an actress in the 90s. There it was - just winking at me, taunting me with its loveliness. I clicked "Request" and sent up a little prayer that I'd get the chance to read this book a little early and be a part of telling everyone else to read (only if it was awesome, obviously). And when I got the email that I'd been approved? Yeah, I basically ran around work and made all my friends there read it and celebrate with me.

I know that's a ton of build up, but I need you to know just how excited I was for this book so you know I had high expectations. It did occur to me at one point that I might be disappointed or only like the book, but I put those thoughts out of my head and dove in. Thankfully, there was nothing disappointing about this book. I loved it so much I wanted to hug it, except it was on my Kindle and that would be weird. But you better believe I'm going to give my hard copy a hug when it arrives (because yeah, I totally pre-ordered this baby the minute I finished reading it).

In Someday, Someday, Maybe, you get to meet Franny Banks. There are so many things to love about Franny - her optimism, the way she follows her dreams, her quirkiness, her relationship with her friends... I could go on. But my favorite thing is that this girl is so inside her own head and overanalyzes EVERYTHING. This may sound like a strange reason to love a character, but I adored that quality about her because I identified with it. I kept thinking, "This is what it's like inside my head!"

Let me give you one of the book's earliest examples of Franny's overactive brain:

"His canvas book bag hit my canvas book bag just as he passed. It's like our shoulder bags kissed. The thought of our shoulder bags kissing and eventually falling in love and moving in together makes me smile a little, which is bad, because finding myself amusing is taking up the space I need in my brain to conjure a way to be charming."

See what I mean? Instead of being annoying, it's totally and completely endearing. I just kept smiling at her antics and her ability to laugh at herself and not take things too seriously. I think it's this quality about her that has led some to say that Franny reminds them of Lorelei Gilmore. While I don't think it's an exact comparison, I do think that the way Franny is kind of an unfiltered narrator is reminiscent of that aspect of Lorelei's character.

Here's another example:

"I'm pretty sure he just told me he's not with [her] any more which would normally be exciting information, but my brain hurts, I'm hungry, and my contacts are dry and itchy. I'm done for the night."

See? Lauren Graham is seriously awesome and has created a character that will have you laughing, cheering and just smiling at the pages. Franny stole my heart, and this book will absolutely be one of my favorite reads of the year. This debut is adorable, quirky and just a little bit meta (in the best kind of way).

I know I haven't said much about the story itself, and that's only because everything fun and memorable about the plot was all tied up in my love for Franny. If you're nervous when a celebrity writes a book, especially a celebrity you love and admire, get over that fear and buy this NOW! It's a celebration of New York, acting and having the courage to follow your dreams. And what's not to love about that?

So Quotable

"Something better could come along tomorrow. You only start out once. If you compromise now, at the very beginning, before you've really given yourself a chance, where do you go from there?"

*I received a copy of this book from Random House in exchange for an honest review. I was not compensated in any way for my review.