Sunday, September 20, 2009

"sTori Telling" by Tori Spelling with Hilary Liftin


sTori Telling by Tori Spelling with Hilary Lifton
Before I start my review I need to preface this with a few things. Although I did watch 90210 for a long time I have never seen either of Tori Spellings reality shows and actually got kind of sick of the back and forth feud in the tabloids between her and her mother. That said I was intrigued when I came across this book on the shelf at the library and checked it out and I am very glad that I did. The first two chapters were nothing special and I put the book down and, as mentioned in a previous post, I might not have picked it back up again except that it was due back on Tuesday and I knew it was a now or never kind of deal. Yes, I could have requested it and waited for it be returned or looked for it again, but if I check a book out once and don't get to it chances are I won't be bringing it home again unless there is some reason why I have to read it and this one would have been unlikely to be a book I would have to read for anything.This book was a great read, after the first two chapters the pacing moved very fast and I could almost hear her voice in my head telling the story. It was like she is talking to her friend and dishing about her life, catching up with someone she hasn't seen in a while and filling in the gaps left between what came out in tabloids and what really happened. Although celebrities may deal with slightly different problems than most of us encounter every day (when was the last time you had to worry about being photographed in the same outfit you had worn on a different shopping trip) they still worry about money and safety and their families and health. They still get their hearts broken and make mistakes and instead of being able to nurse those wounds alone they also have to deal with it being written about and speculated about. Tori covers a lot of moments from her childhood on up to after her son was born. She did release another book about motherhood probably after this one but I've never read it (I guess I'll need to be on the lookout for that at the library!). I know that this story is just told from her perspective so it would be unlikely for her to paint herself too negatively, but she does take responsibility for things she did during her first marriage, she does admit to making mistakes, and a lot of times she tries to see where her mother was coming from when they disagreed about things. One of her big points is that she grew up in a family with a lot of money and as a child and young adult she never thought about it or how much she was spending. No one at home taught her how to be responsible because there was always enough for everything. When she went into debt she had to change her way of thinking and living and learn how to be fiscally responsible which is tough for everyone. She is at time funny as well as candid and easy to read. A fun escape from everyday life!

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