Book Review: Mommywood

Ok so I realize this may destroy any credibility I have by reviewing Tori Spelling’s second book instead of say something else, maybe something a little bit more of a challenge. But hey, why not stick with a good thing.

I didn’t mention I’m kind of a speed reader. My mom jokes about it. My husband jokes about it – actually he jokes about anyone that actually reads. Still I don’t think it’s a stretch for people who read at normal speeds to finish this book in a day or two. It’s an easy read.

I liked it. I’m not sure I like it better than her first book. She trashes her mom more in this book and at some point you want to say, “Ok Tori, I got it, you and your mom don’t get along.”

I’m not a mom, I don’t have any plans to be a mom in the near future and most of her book (hence the title) is about being a mom and Tori Spelling/famous. Even still, I think it’s funny. What’s not funny about random people staring at her at the pool, or her obsessing about a neighborhood block party, or her son grabbing her boobs at the playground. Her stories are funny and she isn’t afraid to embarrass herself. She strikes me as goofy and normal. She could be your neighbor if your neighbor lived in a gated community and was in a reality TV show.

I have always felt sorry for celeb moms or celebs in general where an ideal body weight is that of a pre-pubescent girl. It’s not realistic that a new mom can catwalk down the Victoria Secret runway a few weeks after giving birth (Heidi Klum is some kind of genetic anomaly). Spelling confronts this issue head-on. Talking about the pressures of looking her best and losing the baby weight before someone publishes her picture next to a comment about being fat or pregnant. No one needs that kind of pressure.

So, my advice, if it's cold and dark outside, go to the libary and pick up sTORI Telling and while there grab Mommywood. It's a nice escape.

Book Review Number 1: sTORI Telling

So let’s start by saying I love to read. I will read just about anything. So a big part of my blog will be to review my current read of the moment – the good, the bad and the ugly.

My theory for selecting books is to go to the library and roam. I walk up and down aisles until a title or cover catches my eye and I pull the said book down and scan what it’s about. All the nonsense about not judging a book by its cover goes out the window with me. You don’t have an eye catching cover – then why should I waste my time?

So for my first book to review I should probably pick something very “smart”, something like Jane Austin perhaps? Well I’ve read Jane Austin and love them (Persuasion is my favorite in case you are wondering) but that’s not my current book of the moment. In fact I’m not sure I want to admit what I just finished reading for fear that you might stop right here and never read another review again. But I’m going to take a leap and announce that the book I just finished is Tori Spelling’s sTORI Telling.

Coming from the fact that my mom would not let me watch 90210 growing up I knew very little about Tori Spelling aside from what was on various entertainment blogs or in the tabloids. I had seen her cable show a few times and it was funny. The only reason I picked up the book was I felt like I needed a break from the more serious reads I had just finished and hers seemed like a decent choice.

In case you live under a rock, Tori Spelling is Aaron Spelling’s daughter – she was on his show 90210, she’s done TV movies, a VH1 show and her latest venture is a reality TV show with her husband. Spelling is the person you want to not like, she grew up in the lap of luxury, got on a hit TV show, cheated on her first husband, fights publicly with her mother… I’ll admit I even went into the book thinking I wouldn’t make it past the first few chapters.

The good news for Spelling is she takes all of those things people know about her and still makes you care about her. You find yourself rooting for her and feeling sorry for her. She tells it like it is and doesn’t sugarcoat anything. She talks about insecurities, bad relationships, love, friendship, etc as if catching up with an old girlfriend. Working in her favor is the fact she very carefully crafts everything as how she was feeling or how she perceived it, leaving her ex-husband, mother, cast members, etc. to tell their own version of the story in their own book. This was a plus to me, she could have very easily talked trash about a vast number of people I’m sure but then she’d probably just come across as biter or vengeful.

In fact, my only problem with the book is that the end dragged a bit. I will also say it’s not the type of book I want to willingly announce to co-workers who ask what my latest read is – it doesn’t exactly scream brilliant employee.

Would I say this is the best book I’ve ever read? No. Would I read it over and over? No but I’m not a huge Tori Spelling fan and there are very few books I would read over and over. But this book is surprisingly a good read. An even bigger endorsement for Spelling – I went to the library and got her second book… but that is a different blog.