Review. Adulting: How to Become a Grown-Up in 468 Easy(ish) Steps

Title: Adulting: How to Become a Grown-Up in 468 Easy(ish) Steps
Author: Kelly Williams Brown
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Release Date: May 7, 2013
Format: eGalley

If you graduated from college but still feel like a student . . . if you wear a business suit to job interviews but pajamas to the grocery store . . . if you have your own apartment but no idea how to cook or clean . . . it’s OK. But it doesn’t have to be this way.
Just because you don’t feel like an adult doesn’t mean you can’t act like one. And it all begins with this funny, wise, and useful book. Based on Kelly Williams Brown’s popular blog, ADULTING makes the scary, confusing “real world” approachable, manageable-and even conquerable. This guide will help you to navigate the stormy Sea of Adulthood so that you may find safe harbor in Not Running Out of Toilet Paper Bay, and along the way you will learn:
What to check for when renting a new apartment-Not just the nearby bars, but the faucets and stove, among other things.
When a busy person can find time to learn more about the world- It involves the intersection of NPR and hair-straightening.
How to avoid hooking up with anyone in your office — Imagine your coworkers having plastic, featureless doll crotches. It helps.
The secret to finding a mechanic you love-Or, more realistically, one that will not rob you blind.
From breaking up with frenemies to fixing your toilet, this way fun comprehensive handbook is the answer for aspiring grown-ups of all ages.—via Goodreads

I really wish this book had been around when I graduated from college and that someone had bought it for me and said, “Here. This will help.”

Because, seriously, Adulting would have been a god-send to 22-year-old me.

Hell, it was helpful for 26-year-old me.

And more than just being helpful, this book is funny. Though it shouldn’t necessarily be treated as a survival guide or a Bible or a the one-and-only book you consult when you need advice, Adulting is a great reference to have for everything from simple recipes to networking to being taken seriously at work to maintaining meaningful adult relationships.

Hint: a lot of it comes down to being thoughtful and conscientious and writing thank you cards.

Even though this book isn’t revolutionary and the advice inside isn’t anything new, it’s a really great starting place for young women (and men! Men could like this!) who have questions on how to operate as “adults.” The voice is young, fresh, understanding, and—I can’t stress this enough—funny.

For real, Kelly Williams Brown is hilarious. If nothing else, read it because it will make you laugh. And! There are amusing illustrations!

Now I’m going to buy lots of copies of this so I can hand them out to people when they come to my apartment. Parting gifts = advanced adulting, right?