We got a lot of books at The Book Report Network. In fact, "a lot" is a bit of an understatement --- we get a TON. No bragging or extreme hyperbole here. We open at least 20 packages a day, each stuffed with books in all kinds of varying genres --- from Women's Fiction, to Amish Fiction, children's picture books and an abundance of Young Adult (YA). So many of the books can easily be filtered into different categories, but every once in awhile, a book comes in solely for the 20something crowd.
Alida Nugent's DON'T WORRY, IT GETS WORSE: One TwentySomething's (Mostly Failed) Attempts at Adulthood is just that. I tend to hoard any of the books that fall under this category, and very slowly, but in due time, I will eventually get through them all. **As a side note, the book collection on my desk is very telling of my personality...as is everyone else's in the office. One day, I hope to hear about some of your book collections and how they define us. That said, when DON'T WORRY, IT GETS WORSE landed on my desk, it creeped its way up to the top of the "TO-READ" pile.
From cover to cover, Nugent is engaging, humorous and downright honest. Easily said, she tells it like it is and has been for years through her blog, "The Frenemy." Reminiscent of a GIRLS episode, Nugent "writes" how Lena Dunham "shows" (btw, who is holding their breath for Dunham's $3.7 million-worthy tome? GASP!). Told in a similar Brooklynite, 20something voice, we get a glimpse into the life and struggles of a young female as she navigates her finances, the NYC dating scene, her Netflix account and how to throw 30something-like dinner parties in a 20something-like dominated social crowd. She completely fails, at almost all of these. As Nugent transitions from 20something college girl to 20something post-college adulthood, she shines a snarky, yet sincere light on what it's like to finally be in the real-world --- in which you can't bring your laundry home to mom during school breaks, you must pay your own electric bill and your metabolism is starting to significantly slow down because with each blink and each breath you age. Depressing, isn't it? If you are patiently (or anxiously) awaiting Dunham's projected fall release, I am 100% confident that in this extended gap, DON'T WORRY, IT GETS WORSE fulfills the 20something dire need for the brutal truth, a truth that only your closest friend would share with you.
