Shelf Life: Mindy Kaling

Welcome to Shelf Life, ELLE.com’s books column, in which authors share their most memorable reads. Whether you’re on the hunt for a book to console you, move you profoundly, or make you laugh, consider a recommendation from the writers in our series, who, like you (since you’re here), love books. Perhaps one of their favorite titles will become one of yours, too.

Mindy Kaling had her third child this year, but her imprint Mindy’s Book Studio—in partnership with Amazon Publishing, which gives voice to emerging and diverse authors—turns two this month. Kaling has long been the change she wants to see: An Emmy-nominated writer, actress, and director on The Office at age 24, before becoming the first woman of color who was creator, writer, and star of a primetime sitcom, The Mindy Project. NYT bestselling author of two books, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me (And Other Concerns) and Why Not Me?, plus Nothing Like I Imagined (Except Sometimes), a collection of six Kindle short essays. Co-creator, Never Have I Ever for Netflix, The Sex Lives of College Girls for HBO Max, and Running Point with Kate Hudson, about the owner of a pro basketball team for Netflix. Actress, including Ocean’s 8 and Late Night, which she also wrote and produced. Writer—she’s at work on Legally Blonde 3 (Reese Witherspoon asked her to write it) and Murray Hill for Hulu. Broadway producer, for Strange Loop, which won the Tony for Best Musical. She started her showbusiness career as a PA on psychic show, Crossing Over with John Edwards, and turned down a writing job on SNL because of The Office.

The Cambridge, MA-born and -raised, L.A.-based founder of production company Kaling International (it has a deal with Warner Bros.) was born Vera Mindy Chokalingam (from the show Mork and Mindy); did undergrad at Dartmouth; made dosas with Vice President Kamala Harris; was a Jeopardy! clue more than once; invested in Lion Pose skincare company; hosted a night at the DNC in Chicago; called Prince Harry “my friend’s husband”; collaborated on two lines with Andie Swim; narrated Heart of New England for Boston’s Museum of Science, along with Uzo Aduba; starred in a Maybelline ad and two Super Bowl commercials; received the National Medal of Arts and sat next to Gladys Knight at the White House; is sampled on a Billie Eilish song; worked at a video store as a teenager; got a Steinway from NBC when The Mindy Project ended.

Loves: Fashion, cosmetics, and skincare, running, walks on the beach (she got a beachfront home as a 40th birthday present to herself), and silence, soup, noodle kugel, sour candy, incorporating Indian influences in her home and hosting, and snacks.

Good at: Complaining and explaining; traveling with carry-on only, making an Entenmann’s raspberry danish dupe; shopping (she bought a bright pink Birkin during COVID), applying blush.

Bad at: Keeping gardens alive, having good hair during an East Coast summer, eating well when traveling (hence packing a plane salad, a tip from Jessica Biel), folding dumplings.

Fan of: Beyoncé (she asked for Renaissance tickets for one birthday) and Depeche Mode, Ethiopian restaurant Meals by Genet in L.A., Chainfest (chain restaurant food festival), Rajiv Memon Contemporary Art Gallery, soundtracks (especially when cooking), L.A. Lakers and the NBA, TKees sweatpants, Hans Christian Andersen, and sticky toffee pudding.

Not so much: An unmade bed and flowers as a hostess gift (give her jam or a holiday ornament), sleeping with makeup on; coffee, overnight oats, and meditation. Let her book picks below guide your TBR list.

The book that:

…kept me up way too late:

My company, Kaling International’s logo, is a little girl reading a book with a flashlight under the covers. This was my experience reading Sphere by Michael Crichton as a kid. It was so fun finding authors like him and John Grisham as an adolescent, reading them way past my bedtime, and picturing the movie version of their stories in my head.

…made me weep uncontrollably:

When I first read The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri in 2003, it was startling, like looking into the mirror. The novel follows a Bengali couple who immigrate from India and start a family outside of Boston. The observations about immigration and being the child of immigrants resonated so much with me, and made me look at my own family in a new way! Tears!

…I recommend over and over again:

One of the most epic and romantic books I’ve ever read is the iconic Americanah by Chimimanda Ngozi Adichie. Like many of my favorite books, it centers on the story of an immigrant, in this case, the lovely and unforgettable Imefelu. I love the non-linear structure and its observations about love, prejudice and assimilation.

…currently sits on my nightstand:

Is a new one from Mindy’s Book Studio, Danielle Prescod’s debut novel, The Rules of Fortune, coming soon! The Rules of Fortune is a book about power, greed, and family secrets that unravel after the death of a wealthy patriarch. It’s brilliant, and I can’t wait for everyone else to read it. Bonus: Danielle is also the author of Token Black Girl, one of my favorite memoirs!

…I’d like turned into a TV show:

Amy Lea’s Woke Up Like This. I love funny, romantic, coming-of-age stories, and this one has a supernatural twist. It lends itself perfectly to the screen.

…I last bought:

After watching both seasons of Pachinko, I bought the book [by Min Jin Lee], because I loved the show so much and needed to know what happened next! See! TV can make you smarter!

…sealed a friendship:

When I finished shooting a movie with Natalie Portman, her wrap present to me was On Beauty by Zadie Smith. It’s the kind of book where the observations about these incredibly personal things like appearance, self-worth, and fidelity, almost made me need to put it down, it hit so close to home. And it made me love Natalie for life!

…features the coolest book jacket:

The A Little Life cover is “a lot” in a way that perfectly conveys the journey of one of the main characters, Jude St. Francis. This book about the close friendship between four college classmates was so gripping and heartbreaking, and I can’t stop thinking about that cover. Great choice, Hanya Yanagihara!

…surprised me:

I didn’t think a re-telling of King Lear set on an Iowan farm would be such a page-turner. A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley is one of the beautifully written stories about a dysfunctional family I’ve ever read.

…I consider the ultimate memoir:

Sorry for the Inconvenience by Pakistani-American author Farah Naz Rishi. In a followup to her viral TikTok video, Farah shares her modern-day love story in a captivating memoir about upending family expectations and giving in to the unpredictability of love.

…made me laugh out loud:

Drop Dead Sisters by Amelia Diane Coombs is a laugh-out-loud mystery about three estranged adult sisters who accidentally kill someone and have to scramble to dispose of the body while on a family camping trip. If you like dark comedy shows like Dead to Me and Bad Sisters, you have to pick this up.

Bonus question: If I could live in any library or bookstore in the world, it would be:

The Shop Around the Corner from You’ve Got Mail, of course! But since it’s not real, I love McNally Jackson on Prince Street in New York.

Riza Cruz is an editor and writer based in New York.