Adulthood is a Myth and Big Mushy Happy Lump: Sara’s Scribbles collections by Sarah Andersen

I usually try to read books in order, even if I don’t have to, but I honestly didn’t know that Herding Cats: A Sara’s Scribbles collection by Sarah Andersen was the third book in a series when I picked it up.

And it was awesome.

So Adulthood is a Myth and Big Mushy Happy Lump (books 1 and 2 respectively) went on my Christmas list, and I was thrilled to get them both.

Adulthood is a Myth is Sarah’s college-years book, as at the end the protagonist graduates, but it doesn’t concentrate on college and it isn’t a story-based comic. Sarah’s scribbles are definitely comics of the one-shot variety. Still, themes around social anxiety, introversion, figuring out how to get things done and grow up all develop through the book.

Reading this is like “OMG I’M IN THIS! OMG MY FRIENDS ARE IN THIS! EVERYONE NEEDS TO READ THIS! wait is she spying on me?”

Big Mushy Happy Lump is post-graduation, but like most of us, the protagonist didn’t suddenly figure out adulthood just because she’s not in college anymore.

Like Herding Cats, this book is mostly comic strips, with an illustrated section about Sarah at the back. The protagonist is still an introvert, still socially anxious, but we see more of her with her beau, more of her interacting with people she’s not sure how to deal with, and we start to see a kitty show up.  In the back half, Sarah teaches herself to become more open to new opportunities, and we learn about the kitten she borrowed from her mom for a month. (She also steals lots of sweaters throughout the book.)

Both of these books are quick reads; I covered them in a half hour. They’re also delightful stick-them-on-the-coffee-table-and-flip-through-them-regularly books. As one-shot comic strips go, Sarah Andersen brings me joy.

Herding Cats: A Sarah’s Scribbles collection by Sarah Andersen

The first half of Herding Cats, A Sarah’s Scribbles collection is filled with Sarah’s comics and they’re so good I’m already threatening to send it to a friend.

The second half I didn’t expect at all: it’s a well-written explanation of what it’s like to be an artist on the internet in 2019 and how crazy-ass and required the internet is. (Said explanation has comics illustrating the main points, which is awesome.)

I’m definitely not a millennial, but I’ve seen everything that Sarah talks about on the web and it’s all true. If you want to give good advice to someone young who wants to be an artist (or writer or maker of any sort) and also wants to occasionally put those things somewhere that other people can see them, you can’t do much better than this primer on what to expect.