Geektastic Thursday: Someday, Someday, Maybe

As you guys have probably pieced together, I love to read.  I was raised on books.  I was one of those kids whose vocabularies never really fit their place in life because I read so often. I loved classics, I loved foreign novels, and I loved anything that people would think was too "advanced" for my age (which is how I read Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf in middle school).  As I grew up I found that I was not the only one who spent their formative years this way.  In fact, it seems that many of the truly great young adult authors, the ones who appeal to both teens and their moms, did the same thing.  Following in the steps of Ann Brashares and Meg Cabot, Lauren Graham's debut novel Someday, Someday, Maybe centers on a strong female heroine who has the wit and sense of someone who spent more than a little time immersed in a good book.

If I am being totally honest I have to admit that I probably would not have picked up this book if it were not for the fact that I am a huge fan of Lauren Graham's acting career.  It's a well known fact that I have watched Gilmore Girls so many times that I have it memorized and Parenthood is an excellent show in its own right.  But Someday, Someday, Maybe is the kind of novel that could stand on its own.  The narrative voice is clearly articulated as a unique character.  Franny is the kind of girl you want to hang out with and the fact that the story is set in the early 1990s gives it a certain amount of charm that a story about a young actress trying to find her way might not otherwise have.

Yet the book also does not suffer from Graham's credentials.  She is not skating by on name recognition, but rather delivers a fun, well-written read that brings laughter with each chapter.  One can hear Lorelei Gilmore and Sarah Braverman in the character of Franny.  It is clear that all of her experience and work has given Graham a close and careful study of storytelling.  There is a structure and intelligence behind the magic that is the key to creating a successful novel.

I bought the Kindle version of Someday, Someday, Maybe, but I will probably purchase it again when it is released in paperback.  Like Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants or The Princess Diaries it is one of those books I want to carry around with me to read over and over until the spine is creased and the pages are worn and curled.  If you are looking for a light read with an intelligent heart to carry with you this summer, give this one a try.  It will bring out that teenage bookworm you still have on the inside.