Goal #70 - Book #1 - The Girl's Guide to Absolutely Everything by Melissa Kirsch

The Girl's Guide to Absolutely Everything by Melissa Kirsch was the book I decided to read in January as part of my 12 books in 1 year goal. It was given to me as a gift for Christmas by my friend Juli.

I enjoyed the book because it divided "life for a 20 something" into categories such as relationships, health, family, friendships, fashion, religion etc. Kirsch was funny yet informative when she wrote. I thought it was going to be mostly funny anecdotes without any actual information, but it turns out I got a lot out of the book, while also laughing.

Some of the topics particularly interesting to me were the ones regarding friendship, money, love and home.

The friend chapter talked about how to differentiate your different friends and realize that friends you were once close with, may for whatever reason, not fit into your life anymore. Admitting that people grow and mature out of their high school mind frames was also a key topic I liked. You have tiers of friends, whether consciously or subconsciously and you need to know where these people fit and tend to them accordingly so as to not drop the ball on a friendship that is very important to you.

The home chapter had tips and tricks for around the house things, such as super easy recipes and quick fixes for things in the home. It acknowledged that 20+ year olds do not have a lot of money and therefore have to be creative.

The money chapter was a big one for me because I have none and it is a constant source of stress for me. It talked about how to start an IRA, which is something I'm desperately trying to do. It also broke down in very basic steps, how to buy a house, another endeavour I would like to accomplish. It talked about budgeting which I am always working towards, yet have not mastered yet.

The love chapter was nothing new or spectacular, yet it's always refreshing to read empowering "Love isn't everything, you don't HAVE to have a boyfriend, keep your standards high" type of chapters. And that is exactly what it was. And I loved it.

Overall, it was a great book and I'm glad it was the first one I chose to read at the start of this new year. I'm already half way through my 2nd/February book and I also am loving it.

Live. Laugh. Love.