Rebecca's Thoughts

Originally in Beginners Guide to Non Fiction (top 15 ish)

I Want to Be Where the Normal People Are – Rachel Bloom
humour, essay, celebrity memoir

Goodreads Synopsis:
In the vein of Mindy Kaling, Ali Wong, and Amy Poehler, a collection of hilarious personal essays, poems and even amusement park maps on the subjects of insecurity, fame, anxiety, and much more from the charming and wickedly funny creator of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.

Rachel Bloom has felt abnormal and out of place her whole life. In this exploration of what she thinks makes her “different,” she’s come to realize that a lot of people also feel this way; even people who she otherwise thought were “normal.”

In a collection of laugh-out-loud funny essays, all told in the unique voice (sometimes singing voice) that made her a star; Rachel writes about everything from her love of Disney, OCD and depression, weirdness, and female friendships to the story of how she didn’t poop in the toilet until she was four years old; Rachel’s pieces are hilarious, smart, and infinitely relatable (except for the pooping thing).

I think this book is a good comp to I’m Glad My Mom Died and I think that people who like one will like the other! I will say that I prefer this one over Jenette’s but both are really good. Also the audio book for this memoir is pronominal and truly the best way to consume this book. Before reading this book I knew very little about Rachel Bloom (I’ve never seen Crazy Ex Girlfriend…) but that didn’t really matter and I was still able to enjoy this book. It toes the line really well between being funny but also grounded and sad at times. I Want to Be Where the Normal People Are is told through essays and letters to people in Rachel’s life and I think the what she has to say is very relatable and I’m glad she wrote this book. This book is amazing and I can’t recommend it enough! Despite the number on this list, I would not consider myself a memoir lover, but I think this book changed my perception of what a memoir can be. The book is original in the way it tells stories and I think that more memoirs should be written and created like this one!