One of the very funny stars and writers of the Office, Mindy Kaling has just published Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) (Crown Archetype, $25, 9780307886262). Here she offers an annotated list of her favorite books:
On Beauty by Zadie Smith
Zadie Smith is such a funny writer, and just, well, so cool. I want to be in a Christmas Gap ad with Zadie Smith.
House of Mirth by Edith Wharton
My first favorite book, chosen in 10th grade. I was a dramatic kid. I considered myself my high school's Lily Bart.
Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri
I am half-Bengali and grew up on the East Coast, so Jhumpa Lahiri’s writing resonates so much that it's eerie. Sometimes I get confused when re-telling a story of my family: is this a memory of mine or something Jhumpa Lahiri wrote?
Freedom by Jonathan Franzen
I hope I never meet Jonathan Franzen because he is such a keen observer of human flaw. I never want to know what he thinks of me. Am I Patty? Am I Richard Katz? Am I Connie? He is so good with character. Too good.
American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld
Why is this not a movie? I love this book and its complicated, lovely, dark heroine.
A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley
I love this book so much that when I found out it was based on King Lear, I read the play. But A Thousand Acres is so much better than King Lear! Sorry, Shakespeare!
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Completely frightening, gruesome at times, but a moving love story between a father and son. One of the only totally "male" books that I love.
Sense & Sensibility by Jane Austen
Pride & Prejudice gets the most attention, but my favorite set of sisters is Elinor and Marianne Dashwood. You can see yourself in both the Dashwood girls.
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon
When I was 22, I read this on three consecutive Chinatown bus rides from Boston to New York, one of which broke down. I didn't even care. It's such a vivid adventure; I forget this isn't a graphic novel.
Sphere by Michael Crichton
I read this when I was 10 years old and thought Michael Crichton is the best writer in the history of the world. I skimmed through it recently: still amazing.
