Book Review: My Jeans Fit Well & The Ice-Cream Didn’t Melt

Book Name: My Jeans Fit Well & The Ice-Cream Didn’t Melt
Author: Manali Desai

Publisher: Ukiyoto

Genre: Humour (Non-fiction)

My Jeans Fit Well & The Ice-Cream Didn’t Melt by Manali Desai is a humorous treat to her life’s raw and unfiltered moments.

 

Review

The book is a collection of 150+ moments and gestures from the author's life, reflecting glimpses of joy, happiness, the mundanity of her life, and little junctures that are often overlooked in the race of life. Each anecdote comes with a whimsical illustration depicting a real-life moment from the author's routine.

Two things make this book stand out: the first is that readers can relate to many anecdotes, and the second is the simplicity with which each anecdote is written and portrayed with illustrations, featuring a communication bubble between the characters in the illustration and sometimes it’s just the author thinking out loud in those bubbles.

However, there is one thing that can divert readers from the book: some anecdotes appear too personal, which readers may not wish to explore. Still, they stay with the book for the humor the author has integrated and for the illustrations, skillfully designed by AI and masterfully edited by the author herself, adding a layer of customization.

There will be many anecdotes that readers would want to annotate just like I did. I will be sharing a few of them later to make you curious to pick up the book. But before that, let me tell you one reason to explore this book at least once in your life.

Did the title catch your attention? I bet it did. It captures the complete essence of what the book holds: the little joys of life that we often miss for various reasons and regret later. It points toward finding joy and meaning in simple moments from everyday life. Through this book, the author wants to remind you to reflect on the simplest pleasures to live your life to the fullest. She does not shy away from portraying every little thing from her life that makes her happy—incidents from her professional life, family moments, and shared moments from her social presence. One such example features me and other friends as well, where we were discussing a book in the #FabulousFour monthly discussion episode.

Here are a few annotations from my reading experience:

  • Scrolling old pics = A walk down memory cringe + questioning 90% of my life choices

  • Fixing life’s problems one random idea at a time

  • If only I could be paid for the number of times I predicted the correct outcome, I’d be making more money than I do as a writer

  • If these flowers could talk, they’d probably ask, “Are you done yet, woman?”

There are more to my list, but what fun if I share them all here. You gotta check it out in the book.

To someone who wishes to reflect on how they are living their life—read this book, live through the words of the author, and later reflect on your own life to see if you are living the life you wish to live.

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