Celebrity – Feed The Bookworm

🎧 Audio book Review: The Third Gilmore Girl by Kelly Bishop

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

It’s safe to say that I added this book to my TBR as soon as I saw it was published. I practically grew up with Gilmore Girls—Rory and I are only a year apart in the show, and as a fellow bookworm, I strongly identified with her. (Not so much watching the show as an adult, but that’s another story/rant.) Having already devoured Lauren Graham’s book a few years ago, I was excited to see a side of the show from the perspective of the iconic Emily Gilmore. To say I didn’t fully appreciate who Kelly Bishop was and what she meant to the world of theater and performing arts is an understatement. Also, how did I forget she was Baby’s mom?! I thought it was pretty cool that she was actually supposed to have a small role in Dirty Dancing, but when she got there, the actress they hired to play Marjorie Houseman was let go and she was offered the role.

When you’re attached to a character, especially one from a show or movie that has been so defining in your life, it’s hard to see them as anything else. I was particularly eager to get to the part of the book where Kelly discusses Gilmore Girls. However, I soon realized that she had lived an incredibly rich and fascinating life long before the show, which was just as compelling to read about. Kelly is upfront and brutally honest, admitting to mistakes and experiences that Emily would never have dreamed of.

When we finally reached the portion of the book dedicated to Gilmore Girls—what I consider to be the “meaty” part—it was heartwarming to hear how she talks about Alexis Bledel and Lauren Graham. It’s clear that although they were a TV family, they remain a real family to her. Her description of the kindness shown to her by Ed Herman’s wife in his final days brought tears to my eyes. I was also delighted to find out that some of my favorite Emily Gilmore scenes, such as when she tears down Shira Huntsberger and has a meltdown over Trix’s funeral arrangements, are also Kelly’s favorites.

This book is a must-read for all Gilmore Girls fans. I’m truly blown away by the life this amazing woman has lived. I grappled with whether to get the audio book or a hard copy and ended up choosing the audio book. It felt like Emily Gilmore was reading to me the entire time, and it was incredibly relaxing to listen to. I will eventually get a physical copy as a shelf trophy—it’s just too good not to. Kelly Bishop is an incredible lady, and I’m so glad she decided to share her life with us. Some of the things Kelly did in her life are so un-Emily-like that I couldn’t help but laugh, imagining how Emily would react if she knew just how scandalous the actress playing her really was!

On sale now, you can grab your physical copy here or the digital copy here!

Perez Hilton: TMI: My Life in Scandal

Please note that this post may contain affiliate links, which are no cost to you but do give me a small payout if you choose to purchase via the link on the page.

The Rundown: that really mean guy (who is now super nice) who used to draw penises on celebs on his celerity gossip site promises to give all the dirt, then falls short.

Written and Narrated by Perez Hilton

Oh, where oh where do I start with this one. Well, this is hard, because I genuinely like Perez Hilton. Not that I know him, but I came of age in the era of the internet, and followed his site from the beginning. His site used to be really funny and full of raunchy. Then he got called out for being on online bully because he posted a video against bullying. He promised to stop writing nasty things about people. I haven’t visited in eons though, as my penchant for celebrity gossip isn’t what it used to be, and lets be honest, we now have Facebook for all of that.

Mario Armando Lavanadeira aka Perez Hilton ushered in (or so he claims) the beginning of the very first internet influencers, before it was even a thing. I found the beginning of the book about him growing up informative and entertaining, although a little dry. Then, we get to the good part. All the dirt. Wrong.

This book swung and missed on delivering anything we didn’t already know. I was hoping for some more juicy details on his fall out with Gaga, but again, no such luck. In fact, Perez confirms fall fairly huge fall outs with 3 different big name celebs, but manages to deflect any blame. Instead he claims “they got too famous for him.” As they said, there are three different versions, his, hers and the truth. Clearly here we are only getting a very one sided account.

He goes into extreme detail when it comes to his two big TV appearances, which I don’t ever remember seeing. He claims his appearance on Big Brother UK made him the most famous (or popular I can’t remember) contestant in the history of the show. I wouldn’t know, I don’t watch it, but I didn’t know he was on there until this book.

I appreciate how Perez repents in his book, mostly for being the worlds first online bully. He also apologized to Ariana Grande and her mom for a previously undisclosed slight, however I think it would have been more effective if he said it to them directly, first, before publishing it in his memoirs. Who knows, maybe he did, but the way he wrote about it makes me think otherwise.

Another reason I’m only going 3 stars on this book is because I found him to be an unlikeable narrator. I listen to his podcast and enjoy it. His TV hosting gigs that I’ve seen, I’ve liked. However I’ve been listening to a lot of author narrated memoirs lately, and this was not a good one. Perez’s narration style did nothing to make the book more likeable. I’ll admit, it was one I had to power through.

Over all, if you’re looking for a quick and moderately entertaining read, this book is for you. Just don’t expect to be left speechless by the new tidbits of information. There aren’t any.

This audiobook was downloaded for Audible using The Audible Plus Catalog

Jessica Simpson: Open Book

Please note that this post may contain affiliate links, which are no cost to you but do give me a small payout if you choose to purchase via the link on the page.

The Rundown: Celebrity writes a book about their life.

Written and Narrated by Jessica Simpson. Published 2020.

I’m going to give Mrs. Jessica Simpson a five star rating on this book based on enjoyability alone. Full disclosure, I listened to the audiobook version which she narrated herself. I’ve been a fan since I watched her on The Newlyweds, which seems to be about 100 years ago. And even though she doesn’t sing my preferred kind of music, no one can deny the lady is a power house. Open Book brings us through her life from the very beginning and doesn’t skirt around the dirty details. She speaks openly about her abuse as a child, treats her marriage to Nick with respect, and shows the love she feels for music. As someone who is not religious, I was a bit nervous as anyone who is familiar with the singer knows how strong her faith is. An while it was a prevailing theme in the book, it isn’t pushy or in your face. I was also floored by the dirty details of her relationship with John Mayer and Johnny Knoxville (my teenage crush), and I also completely forgot she dated Tony Romo. I’m a little miffed she didn’t talk about Ashley’s SNL fiasco, but I guess that isn’t her story to tell.

Listening to the audiobook of this was like sitting down for a chat with an old friend. She plows through the tough stuff like abuse, supporting her family, divorce, breakups and addiction with such force and finesse you can’t help but be impressed with her.

I’ll admit, I didn’t go into this book thinking it would be anything of substance, but I was proved wrong over and over again. Now, if you’ll excuse me I’m off to watch Dukes of Hazzard (which is on Netfilx at the time of the publication of this review) and drool over Knoxville and Jess’s legs.

This audiobook was borrowed from my local library using the Libby App.