Review: Someday, Someday, Maybe by Lauren Graham

Publisher: Ballantine Books
Pages: 352

Received: Received a copy from Random House of Canada in exchange for an honest review

Release Date: April 30, 2013
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Goodreads Synopsis:

A charming and laugh-out-loud novel by Lauren Graham, beloved star of Parenthood and Gilmore Girls, about an aspiring actress trying to make it in mid-nineties New York City.

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 for ugly Christmas sweaters and a degrading waitressing job. She lives in Brooklyn with two roommates-Jane, her best friend from college, and Dan, a sci-fi writer, who is very definitely not boyfriend material-and is struggling with her feelings for a suspiciously charming guy in her acting class, all while trying to find a hair-product cocktail that actually works. Meanwhile, she dreams of doing "important" work, but only ever seems to get auditions for dishwashing liquid and peanut butter 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. Her father wants her to come home and teach, her agent won't call her back, and her classmate Penelope, who seems supportive, might just turn out to be her toughest competition yet. Someday, Someday, Maybe is a funny and charming debut about finding yourself, finding love, and, most difficult of all, finding an acting job.

My Review:

My reaction when I first heard about this book, was "OMG LAUREN GRAHAM WROTE A BOOK! I MUST HAVE IT NO MATTER WHAT IT'S ABOUT." I have such love for Gilmore Girls (I have watched every season so much that I can quote it...) So hearing that she wrote a book, really made my day. I knew this was a name I would be proud to have on my bookshelf... now for her to do a book tour and come to Toronto, I think my year would be made! Okay onto talking about the actual book.

Franny is trying to become an actress in New York City, she has set herself a deadline and if she hasn't achieved her goal by then she will give up. I absolutely loved Franny's character, she was quirky and I loved that she put all this work into achieving her dream. I love a character that I feel I can connect and understand her situation, being young and just out of school trying to get a job. Jobs these days are so hard to find and you just have to keep throwing yourself at whatever you can get until the right thing comes along, and this is what Franny does (within reason).

The secondary characters are just as amazing in this book. Everyone is quirky and I love how they all have different opinions for Franny and keep her from going too far out there. Jane was Franny's voice of reason, helping her to keep her feet on the ground and yet is still her cheerleader, making her believe that the right job will come.

There is also some cute romance in the book, but it doesn't take over the story. This is a story about working towards what you want, and doing something for yourself. There are quite a few times that Franny is ready to give up, believing that she won't make her deadline she has given herself, but she always stays strong (at one point she is compared to the character she is named after from J.D Salinger's Franny and Zooey.

Throughout this entire novel, the one thing that I kept thinking was that I could really hear Lauren Graham's voice in Franny. There was a lot that is reminiscent of the character's you see Lauren play on TV. This is what makes this book even more amazing, it's hard for an author to put so much of themselves in a book that you can recognize them in it, but Lauren is able to do just that.

This book is adorable and a lot of fun, but also it's a story that inspires readers to be like Franny. I was definitely inspired to keep working hard towards what I want. It takes time to achieve your dream and there will be many hurdles in your way, but if you keep trying, one day you will get your start.