sTori Telling by Tori Spelling

I confess. I’m a fan of Tori Spelling. I was a huge fan of 90210 (oh Dylan) and now my guilty pleasure is Tori’s reality show, Tori and Dean: Inn Loveon Oxygen. So of course I wanted to read her autobiography. And I was not disappointed. It’s short (276 pages with acknowledgements) but covers her childhood, the alleged feud with her mom, her first marriage, her relationship with Dean, basically it’s her side of everything we’ve seen play out in the tabloids for the past 3 years.

Her writing style is direct, she doesn’t pull any punches and it rings true to me. Also I totally appreciate how she didn’t just name drop the entire time. And I appreciated her candor about money. I would’ve liked to hear more about how she feels about “her gays” and being a cult figure in the gay world. Her brother Randy is conspicuously absent. This isn’t a trashy tell-all. This her really her side of the story, focused primarily on the past 5 or so years. When talking about her relationship with Dean McDermott, (who was married when they met & fell in love) she says nothing negative about why his marriage broke up/wasn’t working/the custody battle basically nothing negative about his ex-wife. And I totally respect her for that. As she says, it’s not her story to tell.

All in all this book just made me like Tori more and confirmed what I’ve thought for awhile – she’s smarter than everyone gives her credit for.

Late Night Talking by Leslie Schnur

I enjoyed the author’s first book, The Dog Walker, and so when I saw this on the shelf at the library I pulled it off.

Jeannie Sterling is the host of a light night New York City talk show about ethical behavior. Then her long absent father shows up, the friend she’s loved for years finally wants to be with her, and her best friend is acting hinky. Then her radio station is bought by mogul Nicholas Moss and her career descends into chaos as well.

This was an interesting read due to the way it’s written. There are short chapters (with great titles) and transcripts from Jeannie’s radio show. The viewpoint switches a lot and sometimes it’s hard to tell where you are until the second paragraph. I didn’t feel completely vested in Jeannie (In fact in my head I referred to her as Jennie) and I kept waiting for the big plot moment. And when it came I was a tad disappointed. I didn’t believe it.

However, I didn’t hate this book. I guess I feel indifferent. It was ok. I’m sure some people really liked it. Sort of smart people’s chick lit with a little family drama and friendship thrown in.

edited to add: I forgot until I re-read the author’s comment that a part I did enjoy was the ethical dilemna of not returning library books. That was a great part. I should make a list of books that have great librarian/library sub-plots. And yes, I did return my library book!