SARAH'S SCRIBBLES: A REVIEW

Sarah’s Scribbles: Adulthood is a Myth
Written by: Sarah Andersen
Paperback: 109 pages
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
Language: English
March 2016
Genre: Humor/Comics

Are you a special snowflake?

Do you enjoy networking to advance your career?

Is adulthood an exciting new challenge for which you feel fully prepared?

Ugh. Please go away.

This book is for the rest of us. These comic 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.

+++++++++++++

Sarah Andersen is amazing. For a while now I’ve been following Sarah’s Scribbles online because Sarah might be my spirit animal or a long lost twin or some such. I read and I relate. I laugh. I smile and I’m comforted that I am so not alone in my thoughts and feelings. Of course the moment I saw that a nice collection would be available for me to buy, I totally bought it because this is me.

Things I liked: It is hard to review a book like this because you need to read it for yourself and glory in all its awesomeness. I loved this because it has some of my favorite strips like the one above, but also ones like this.

I loved it, because I get it. There are some big societal expectations when you reach a certain age. I feel it even more living in the Bay Area sometimes. Society expects certain things once you’ve reached this elusive adulthood. Admittedly, adulthood always seemed like once I got there everything would be easy and make complete sense. I would be the working soccer mom with a clean home, social butterfly skills plus five, and constantly doing all sorts of fun chic things. Except none of those things happened. Let’s face it, adulthood will always be a myth to me.

I’m never going to have the perfectly clean house. I probably will never decide on one thing I want to be when I grow up. I am going to relish the sheer feeling of release when I get home and it is no pants or jammie times instead of going out and partying on the town(Because my idea of a great weekend is playing videogames and watching Netflix with the Rogue). I’m always going to be an introvert and a giant geek. I will probably never have the power to eat only one Oreo or not buy something when I walk into a bookstore. And I am always going to overthink and overanalyze everything.

Sarah seems to understand these things if her comics are any indication. She is an introvert who likes to be social on occasion and then run back home to recuperate for three days. She collects notebooks like me, understood the perils of having long hair, and changes her toenail polish as often as I do. Through her strips I know that she feels my pain when people try to initiate small talk, holding hands with a new love for the first time, and how one chapter can turn into 15.

I like the art and its simplicity. It makes me smile. It somehow makes the whole thing even more relatable to me. If she ever wants to hang for an hour, I am available. I know a few cool bookstores, some bubble tea shops, and a geek place or two. I loved this book. I love her strips and I think you will too.

Things I didn’t like so much: I wanted it to last longer. I want more. It’s too short. Never stop doing your art thing Sarah. Your comics make my day. Thankfully for us, she has another one coming out next year.  Yay!

Buy or Borrow: Buy. If you can relate to any of this, I think you will love this book.

Part of: Standalone.

Also Recommended: For more great comics that an introvert or a book lover might relate to try Allie Brosh’s Hyperbole and a Half or any of Lucy Knisley’s books.

4 out of 4 happy bibliosnark bookmarks