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Before I start the review, I just wanted to say that I’m sorry I’ve been away from the blog for a while. I’ve been suffering for my art in the form of a painful wrist, which the doctor informs me is from too much typing and piano playing AKA nerd injury. I have to type one-handed now and that is slowing down my WPR to Nanna-speed. Anyway, I hope you don’t think I’ve abandoned you. I’m told two weeks of wearing my fancy wrist splint will have me back typing like something that types really fast. (This injury seems to have also affected my ability to create similes).

Now, to the book; Someday, Someday, Maybe…

I bought this book without giving it much thought. I loved Lauren Graham as an actress, especially in Gilmore Girls. She is always really funny and very personable. And I thought I couldn’t go wrong. When I got the book home, I told a friend of mine about it and then I didn’t feel so confident about my purchase. My friend mentioned that lots of actors try to write books, but not many of them can pull it off. ‘They need to stick to what they do best and leave the writing to someone else.’ I started to wonder if they were right…

The book has a pretty typical plot: girl living in New York, struggling actress, actually works as a waitress, waiting for her big moment, has a college sweetheart, but her roommate is really cute… Will her career take off? Now, I don’t want to say the book was bad, because it wasn’t. But it also isn’t a book that is going to change your life forever. It’s a comfort read. A book you read on holidays whilst sitting under sun umbrella. And the book does what it is meant to do – entertain you and comfort you. And I love these kinds of books. Sometimes, I feel like I can get so bogged down with heavy literary texts that I start losing faith in humanity and the meaning of life. Sometimes it’s nice to have a girl meets boy, love triangle (or octagon… you’ll have to read the book to get that reference), and see characters you feel like you could be living next door to.

So Frances, or Franny, Banks is the struggling actress who lives with her cool roommates Jane and Dan (Dan is the cute tall handsome guy who’s shy and Franny doesn’t know how she feels about him…). Franny feels stuck. She has been trying to make it as an actress and so far, all she has managed is a lame-o commercial. And I can totally relate. I think anyone who is artistic knows what it’s like to try and try and feel like you’re going no.where. Trying to explain to someone your dreams or aspirations can feel daunting and you often feel silly. Franny constantly feels like she isn’t quite sure of the person she is, or wants to be. She often has to explain her hopes and her dreams to many different people along the way, but they often don’t get it and she can’t really explain it like she wants to.

As you can guess by now, Franny gets some breaks here and there with her acting career. She also gets a lot of let downs and makes some mistakes along the way. But does it end all fuzzy and warm? Does she end up dating Dan and do they ride off into the sunset on white stallions? Not quite. The ending of the book is rather open-ended and you don’t know where Franny’s life is going to take her. It’s sort of refreshing in that sense. It’s not the typical love-story ending.

Lauren Graham as a first-time writer has done a great job. She definitely doesn’t fit into the category of actors who should stick to what they know. It’s always a risk to try something new and many people don’t always succeed. Just look at Tyra Banks singing career. What? You haven’t heard of it? Yeah, refer to above statement. Graham’s writing is fun and fast paced. It feels real and there is a really nice flow to it. Franny is a well-rounded character, flaws and all. Her passions and fears are very real and she feels like a friend. This is my favourite quote from Franny:

So I pretended it wasn’t happening to me. I imagined it was happening to someone else. I’m not sure if that had anything to do with me becoming an actor, but that’s the first time I remember realizing that it was easier to think about what I’d do in someone else’s shoes than mine, and that pretending was a way to feel better.

Have you read Someday, Someday, Maybe? What did you think of it? Remember to share the reading love!