That Funny Girl from 'The Office'

“No one wonders what I’m like in real life, because they assume I am Kelly Kapoor,” writes Mindy Kaling about her character, an effervescent, celebrity-obsessed customer service representative, on NBC’s The Office. In her new book, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns), Kaling dishes about her childhood, breaking into television, and her experiences as a writer and producer. Here are 10 things from her book that you won’t learn from watching The Office.

You should probably read what John Hodgman thinks about wine, baseball and the end of the world.

1. To put it ...

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Ellen Knows

Some people rely on their mothers for advice. Personally, I rely on Ellen DeGeneres (sorry, Mom). In her new book, Seriously…I’m Kidding, the comedian and talk show host extraordinaire laces personal anecdotes with indispensable tips on how to make the most out of life.

Get more celebrity advice from Jane Lynch's Happy Accidents.

Here are 10 pieces of advice to take from Ellen, which don’t involve washing behind the ears or looking both ways before crossing the street:

1. Embrace who you are. Literally. Hug yourself. Accept who you are. Unless you’re a serial killer ...

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Oprah’s Book Club: Authors Share ‘What It Meant to Me’

Since its inception in 1996, getting selected for Oprah’s Book Club has been a very big deal. So big, in fact, that it could be considered the Holy Grail of authorhood—being picked pretty much guaranteed bestseller status and that you never had to worry about your publisher dropping you again. Over the years, Oprah has selected 65 books that have changed the course of many lives—from those who wrote them to those who adored them. Here, we talked to a few authors who made Oprah’s reading list and asked—what did it mean to you?

Read ...

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Gwyneth Paltrow's Penne Puttanesca

Oscar-winning actress Gwyneth Paltrow shows off her culinary prowess with her new cookbook, My Father’s Daughter. Centered around sophisticated yet healthy eating, the book features simple recipes that can be enjoyed by the entire family. Her recipe, below, for Penne Puttanesca is one of many from the book that's perfect for a quick weeknight meal.

How well do you know Gwyneth? Take our Qrank quiz and find out.

This is really, really good. If young kids are involved, just serve theirs with the tomato sauce. I throw in some olives for my daughter—she loves olives in just ...

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David J. Smith and the Global Village

The earth is home to 6.9 million people, and David J. Smith wants young readers to get better acquainted with their global neighbors. In the second edition of If the World Were a Village, originally published in 2002, Smith offers statistics on what the world would be like it if were a village of just 100 people. Its new companion book, This Child, Every Child, takes an even more in-depth look at the lives of children around the world, from the games they play to whether boys and girls are treated equally. Smith reminds readers not only that people ...

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Mike Sacks talks e-books, the art of delivery and 'Your Wildest Dreams'

In Mike Sacks’ collection of humor pieces, Your Wildest Dreams, Within Reason, it’s often technology that serves as a catalyst for comedy: One man accidentally sends a mass e-mail to his co-workers, revealing that he’s created a fantasy kingdom where he rules over them as a talking horse. Another Tweets from bed on his wedding night about chocolate doughnuts and Law & Order.

While technology has the power to inspire what we read, Sacks also sees its potential to change how we read, especially with the increasing popularity of digital books and readers. He recently spoke to Kirkus about ...

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'Everyday Icon': 10 Tips on Dressing Like Michelle Obama

Move over, Jackie Kennedy, there’s a new style icon in the White House. Kate Betts’ Everyday Icon takes an in-depth look at Michelle Obama’s impeccable sense of style, from her student days at Princeton to her strolls across the White House lawn with Bo. There’s plenty to learn from a First Lady who shops at J. Crew but isn’t “afraid to admit to a passion for handbags, manicures, and designer belts.” Kirkus has culled 10 style tips inspired by Michelle Obama that every woman should know.

Adopt a signature look: “Michelle Obama made floral prints one ...

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'Zita': An Out-of-This-World Debut

In his debut graphic novel, Zita the Spacegirl, Ben Hatke takes readers on the ride of a lifetime. Dark-haired Zita touches an object she finds in a meteoroid and is transported to a faraway planet with her friend Joseph. A tentacled Screed kidnaps Joseph, and Zita rushes to his rescue, meeting an eclectic cast of characters along the way.

While Zita travels from Earth to outer space in the blink of an eye, her creation took a bit longer. Here, Hatke reveals the story behind Zita and what lies in store for the young heroine.

 Find more adrenaline inducing books ...

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10 Lines from 'True Whit'

For the low, low price of a reality-TV show contract (or trust fund), you, too, can live it up a la The City alum/fashion designer Whitney Port. Her new book, True Whit, is a “road map to discovering what you want in life and how to make it happen.” Here are 10 nauseating pearls of wisdom from Port that will teach readers to handle the highs and lows that accompany the good life—that is, if you’re lucky enough to afford it.

WANT MORE CELEB GOSSIP? Check out Johnny Weir and Lo Bosworth.

On being fashionable: “Whitney, you ...

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Sixth Grade, Chinese-American Style

What’s a girl to do when her plans to have the perfect year begin to crumble? That’s the problem 11-year-old Lucy faces in Wendy Wan-Long Shang’s debut novel, The Great Wall of Lucy Wu.

With her annoying older sister finally away at college and basketball season about to begin, Lucy’s positive that sixth grade is going to be the best year yet—until she learns that her grandmother’s long-lost sister, Yi Po, is coming to stay with the family, which means sharing her bedroom and enrolling in Chinese school.

Shang recently talked to Kirkus about ...

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Johnny Weir: 10 Fabulous Revelations

It’s the moment ice-skating fans have been waiting for—Johnny Weir is finally sharing his “glamorous, gritty, heartbreaking, hopeful, and just plain fabulous life story.” Here are 10 tiny gems of fabulousity from his new memoir, Welcome to My World, because you can only wish your life was half this fierce.

WANT MORE FABULOUSITY? Check out our Q&A with Lo Bosworth and ‘Make it Rain’ Russell Simmons.

“Figure skating, where jealously runs as rampant as rhinestones, is a fucked-up place to find your romantic future.”

“A fan of Sex and the City since the show started, I have ...

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The Lo-Down from Lo Bosworth

MTV’s The Hills might be over, but don’t think that’s the last you’ll hear of Lo Bosworth. She’s poised to make the jump from reality-TV starlet to author with her new book, The Lo-Down. Inspired by the relationship drama from the show (ahem, Justin Bobby), the book serves as a guide to help girls cope with boy woes of their own. Here, Bosworth dishes about what her friends think of the book, the worst date she ever went on and cooking for her man.

WANT MORE CELEB-FUELED FICTION? Check out Nicole Richie's Priceless or ...

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Dirty Secret: Inside the world of hoarding

For years Jessie Sholl had a secret—her mother, Helen, was a compulsive hoarder, stuffing her house with secondhand sweaters and broken appliances. In her memoir, Dirty Secret, Sholl reveals her struggle to clean her mother’s house while coming to terms with her turbulent childhood. Kirkus recently talked to Sholl about how her life has changed since she let out her “dirty secret.”

In the book’s dedication, you wrote that your mother asked you to use “radical honesty.” Now that the book’s complete, has your mother read it?

I sent her a galley, and she really liked ...

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2010 Best Books: Fame, by Daniel Kehlmann

Usually a book inspires a movie, but for German author Daniel Kehlmann, it was the other way around. “I love films that do not have one main character,” says Kehlmann, who was intrigued by how the separate narratives in both Magnolia (1999) and Babel (2006) intertwined. “I thought, ‘I want to do this in a novel.’ So the structure was first, all the themes and topics came afterward.” Throughout Fame, which is billed as “a novel in nine episodes,” the characters affect each other in big—and often unexpected—ways. In one story, a computer technician finds a more exciting ...

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Kirkus Q&A: Lauren Myracle

In Luv Ya Bunches (2009), Milla, Yasaman, Katie-Rose and Violet became not just BFFs, but FFFs—Flower Friends Forever. Now the girls are back in the second book of the Flower Power series, Violet in Bloom, and they are determined to use their flower power for good. But doing good is a lot tougher than they anticipated with all the distractions—cute boys, nefarious girls, squirmy hamsters—that pepper their fifth-grade existence. The book brilliantly contrasts the thrills of adolescence with the realities of life beyond the playground, like social activism and mental illness. Lauren Myracle delivers a charming read ...

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2010 Children's Best: The Extraordinary Mark Twain, by Barbara Kerley

“Mark Twain was a project I’ve considered for years,” says Barbara Kerley. “I remember being fascinated with him in college and ever since then hoping I could tell a story about him in a way that kids would find accessible.” When she discovered that Twain’s 13-year-old daughter Susy Clemens had written a biography of her father, she was intrigued; she knew from raising her own daughter that 13-year-olds “just tell it like they see it.” In this large-format picture book, Susy has a chance to “set the record straight” about her famous father. The narration is filled with ...

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2010 Children's Best: Departure Time, by Truus Matti

Curiosity inspired Truus Matti to write her debut novel, in which two stories—one fantastic, the other realistic—intertwine. Told in alternating chapters, the book begins with a third-person account of a girl named Mouse, who arrives at a dilapidated hotel run by a fox and a rat, unable to remember her past. “I wrote…the first scene in the book more or less by accident; it came out of nowhere, and I had no idea what it was about,” says Matti. “The girl made me want to know who she was and what she was doing…So I followed ...

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Arlington: Our Nation's Cemetery

Chris Demarest isn’t your typical children’s book author. His work as an official artist for the Coast Guard has sent him as far as the Persian Gulf to document life on patrol boats, producing nine paintings that are now part of their permanent collection. However, it’s Arlington that has a special place in his heart. As the son of a veteran who’s interred there, Demarest’s latest book, Arlington, traces the history of the nation’s cemetery, giving young readers an insider’s view.

INTERESTED IN OTHER GREAT STORIES ABOUT OUR NATION? Check out books about ...

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Sterling's Gold: Wisdom from "Mad Men"

Are you that person? The one who hasn’t seen a single episode of Mad Men?

Now you too can be enlightened thanks to silver fox Roger Sterling’s new book, Sterling’s Gold. Faux memoir it ain’t, but it does round up Roger’s most memorable sayings. These quotes might not catch you up on the Joan/Roger drama, but drop them into casual conversation, and you’ll look like you’ve been watching Mad Men since before Miss Blankenship went belly up at her desk.

1. “I told him to be himself. That was pretty mean, I ...

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Here's the Situation...

It’s no secret that MTV’s Jersey Shore has become a force of reality TV to be reckoned with. Unfortunately, that means book deals for a few of its cast members. And now, we present 10 lines from Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino’s book, Here’s the Situation, out today on Gotham Books, guaranteed to have you fist-pumping with joy.

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