Big Mushy Happy Lump

Big Mushy Happy Lump by Sarah Andersen
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I liked this one a tad better than the first collection. Maybe 3.5. I especially liked the latter half which had additional commentary with the comics on the theme “I don’t know how to be a person.” That style continued with “Sadie (how I learned to get over myself and love cats)”, “The Sweater Thief”, and “19th Century Painters.”

Description: Sarah Andersen’s second comics collection picks up right where the first left off – huddled under a pile of blankets avoiding the responsibilities of the real world. These new comics (and illustrated personal essays!) follow the ups and downs of the unrelenting self-esteem roller coaster that is young adult life: budgeting woes, cramps, the nuances of sweater theft, and the joy of staying home all day with a box of pizza. All aboard.

Adulthood is a Myth

Adulthood Is a Myth by Sarah Andersen
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A pleasant enough way to spend 15 minutes, but I’m probably not the audience for these. Mainly about being a young adult woman, coping with the every day stress of living, having periods, boyfriends, self-esteem issues, and social anxiety. As an introvert and a single woman I could identify with some of it and got a few chuckles. I picked this up because I do think the expectations we place on adulthood is “over-rated” and unrealistic, and I like bunnies. Wasn’t sure if the bunny was a pet, a stuffed animal, or a figment of her conscience, but since it talks to her I’m going with the latter.

Description: These comics document the wasting of entire beautiful weekends on the internet, the unbearable agony of holding hands on the street with a gorgeous guy, dreaming all day of getting home and back into pajamas, and wondering when, exactly, this adulthood thing begins. In other words, the horrors and awkwardnesses of young modern life.

Corduroy Mansions

Corduroy Mansions by Alexander McCall Smith
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Typical McCall Smith. A collection of people / characters with some connection to an apartment block in Pimlico called Corduroy Mansions. Originally serialized on the internet, the rambling structure lacks any sense of a plot. If there is a theme at all, each of these characters is trying to find a sense of connection and companionship in their lives, whether it is the companionship of flatmates, family, pets, co-workers, neighbors, etc. After one book, it has not captured me the way the 44 Scotland Street series has, but I will continue with it and see how it develops.

Description: Corduroy Mansions is the affectionate nickname given to a genteel, crumbling mansion block in London’s vibrant Pimlico neighborhood and the home turf of a captivating collection of quirky and altogether McCall-Smithian characters. There’s the middle-aged wine merchant William, who’s trying to convince his reluctant twenty-four-year-old son, Eddie, to leave the nest; and Marcia, the boutique caterer who has her sights set on William. There’s also the (justifiably) much-loathed Member of Parliament Oedipus Snark; his mother, Berthea, who’s writing his biography and hating every minute of it; and his long-suffering girlfriend, Barbara, a literary agent who would like to be his wife (but, then, she’d like to be almost anyone’s wife). There’s the vitamin evangelist, the psychoanalyst, the art student with a puzzling boyfriend and Freddie de la Hay, the Pimlico terrier who insists on wearing a seat belt and is almost certainly the only avowed vegetarian canine in London.