Latest Read: Someday, Someday, Maybe

Here are the basics ...
Someday, Someday, Maybe by Lauren Graham
Publication date: April 30, 2013
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Category: Adult Fiction - Contemporary
Source: Netgalley (Thanks!) // Also purchased

Summary: Franny Banks is a struggling actress in New York City, with just six months left of the three year deadline she gave herself to succeed. But so far, all she has to show for her efforts is a single line in an ad and a waitressing job. She lives in Brooklyn with two roommates - Jane, her best friend from college, and Dan, a sci-fi writer - and is struggling with her feelings for a suspiciously charming guy in her acting class. She dreams of doing "important" work, but only ever seems to get auditions for commercials. It's hard to tell if she'll run out of time or money first, but either way, failure would mean facing the fact that she has absolutely no skills to make it in the real world. (Adapted goodreads.com)

My thoughts…

The good: I have to admit - before I started reading Someday, Someday, Maybe, all I could think was: Lorelai Gilmore wrote this book! Gilmore Girls was (and still is) one of my favorite shows. I have fond memories of watching it with my college roommates, plus I own all the DVDs and if SoapNet happens to be playing an episode, I'll leave it on. Needless to say, I am a fan. So I might as well say this now. If you're a fan too and you like to read and you like books with great female main characters that take place in NYC, you'll enjoy this. I definitely did.

It's a little slow to start but in hindsight, it makes sense because we're not only getting introduced to the protagonist Franny Banks, but also her world and everyone in it. It's New York City, the year is 1995 and Franny is trying to make it as an actress. She's given herself three years to succeed and there are only 6 months left until her deadline. She lives with her best friend Jane and their other roommate Dan. She works a waitressing job on the side, takes acting classes but she hasn't had a big break yet (aside from a single commercial). It's been a relentless cycle of auditions for little commercials and a whole lot of rejections. But she's determined to make these next six months count and really fight for her dream.

I thought the setting was great (of course, it's NYC!) and it was interesting to learn about all the behind-the-scenes work (and drama and pains) that go hand-in-hand with becoming an actress. But the best part of the book were the characters. Franny is so funny and her rants and ramblings had me laughing or smiling many times as I read. Even though I've never wanted to be an actress (can you imagine?!), I related to her feelings of being lost and wondering what she was doing with her life. Wondering if she could succeed. I think almost anyone can relate to that. She's got a great best friend (who I wish we had seen more of) and she's also got a pretty great friend in Dan who quickly became my second favorite character in the book. I really enjoyed being along for the ride and watching Franny's character evolve and move forward with the help of these two people (not to mention a couple others).

(Minor) reservations: There were just a couple things I wanted more of. Like more time with Jane and Dan. Her father also plays a big role although he's not actually in the book much. He leaves her a lot of voicemails and we know he used to take her to the theatre all the time as kid but we only get to see them interact face-to-face briefly.

Do I recommend?: I do! It's an enjoyable, fast read that left me wanting more. It's actually a good thing Estelle told me there's a sequel because I might've been a tiny bit upset about the ending. Not in a bad way though. Just in a this-can't-be-over-yet kinda way. I'm looking forward to seeing more of all the characters.

Happy reading!