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4.1 AVERAGE
4.1 AVERAGE
A great story, by a great storyteller. Shonda can spin it all, even her own journey. I loved this year of hers.
This is easily one of the best non-fiction books I've read this year. Maybe because Shonda is a writer and I feel an affinity to her, but I cried through the last few chapters because her personal transformation is extraordinary.
feels like a good & inspirational conversation with a friend
2.5
it was fine, though I did have to skip the chapter about her weight loss since it was kind of triggering for my body dysmorphia.
it was fine, though I did have to skip the chapter about her weight loss since it was kind of triggering for my body dysmorphia.
First, get the audio book. No one plays Shonda like Shonda does, and the original audio of the quoted speeches is a bonus.
If you want to get out of your rut but you side-eye affirmations or inspirational quotes or fake drama or people with blessed lives that try to paint their story as rags to riches (Girl…Just. Stop. Talking.) then THIS is the “self-help” book for you. Real. Funny. Introspective but never taking itself too seriously. I’m not a fan girl and I’ve only seen a few episodes if that of any of the shows she’s actually famous for writing - I liked this book for what it is and not what I’m making it out to be.
FWIW, I tried to read it a few years ago and didn’t make it more than a few pages in. Guess that wasn’t my year - it wasn’t what I was looking for. This year, maybe I’m ready to say Yes to whatever I’ve been avoiding.
If you want to get out of your rut but you side-eye affirmations or inspirational quotes or fake drama or people with blessed lives that try to paint their story as rags to riches (Girl…Just. Stop. Talking.) then THIS is the “self-help” book for you. Real. Funny. Introspective but never taking itself too seriously. I’m not a fan girl and I’ve only seen a few episodes if that of any of the shows she’s actually famous for writing - I liked this book for what it is and not what I’m making it out to be.
FWIW, I tried to read it a few years ago and didn’t make it more than a few pages in. Guess that wasn’t my year - it wasn’t what I was looking for. This year, maybe I’m ready to say Yes to whatever I’ve been avoiding.
funny
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
I love her shows and she seems like such a delightful person. It was heartwarming to hear of her transformation and growth. I enjoyed listening to the speeches she included because they were so well spoken and resonated with me.
So I listened the audiobook. I wasn't a huge fan of the tone at first, but I kept going due the good reviews. Somewhere around the middle of chapter two it hit me, Shonda Rhimes and I have something in common. That was not what I expected. She is writing a book for people like me who are introverts and have anxiety saying she sees us, she knows us, she IS one of us.* I also appreciate that she also didn't write it like a self help book, saying you need to do this and that to love your life. She tells her personal story and acknowledges that her life is different from a lot of people's, so this might not work for everyone. I doubt I will do a year of yes anytime soon, but seeing Shonda succeed on such a grand scales gives me the faith I can get through more of my anxieties than it feels like right now.
*paraphrased from somewhere in the book. Audiobooks make proper citations much trickier.
*paraphrased from somewhere in the book. Audiobooks make proper citations much trickier.
A disclaimer of sorts: I have watched at least the first several seasons of every Shonda Rhimes show, but I have given up on all of them. They stress me the hell out. The drama always feels fresh at first, and then it's like all the shows start to cannibalize themselves, more and more people die, no one ever stays together for good, etc. There's no stability. That's a primetime soap for you, and why I don't watch them anymore, but I've always admired her for her engaging, at times batshit, storytelling style, and her ability to get you to care for her characters, even if I can't watch her shows anymore (seriously, I never got over the airplane crash).
(That said, I will fully watch the hell out of her Netflix Bridgertons show because REASONS.)
Anyway, all this to say I went into this with mixed feelings about her creative output, but positive feelings towards Shonda herself. And the idea behind the book was really intriguing: that she set a goal for herself in 2014 to say "yes" to everything instead of "no," as she had been doing up until then. This mission was sparked in her head when her sister Delorse while preparing Thanksgiving dinner in 2013 muttered to herself, "You never yes to anything." This stuck in Shonda's head until one day about a month later, she realized she wasn't actually very happy, despite all her success and her three young daughters.
Unsurprisingly, her commitment to this goal legitimately changes her life. She talks extensively about her introvertedness, and how her habit of saying no (or rather, saying yes to comfort and safety) had kept her closed up tight to bad things, but also good. She began doing the things that scared her, learned not only to yes to opportunities, but to her family, to her friends, and how to yes to "No". That last one is key, because of course you shouldn't always literally say yes to everything. She learns how to set up healthy boundaries in her life between her work and home life (she's a workaholic big-time), and her new positive attitude and happiness in her life, along with her new ability to engage in tough conversations she would have previously avoided, actually weeds out toxic people from her life personally and professionally.
It was all pretty inspiring, and honestly, anxiety-inducing. I was right there with her as she talked about being the best at getting out of things, saying no, shutting herself up in her imagination pantry (it's a thing in the book I don't have time to explain), and "putting food on top of it." These are things that I am also very good at. Thinking about not doing them made me very, very anxious. I'm going to have to ponder this book.
This is definitely worth reading. It feels genuine to me, and not just because Shonda's voice leaps off the page. (This is something that may get to some readers. Her writing style is extremely conversational, and like her TV writing, is very dramatic and full of repetition. It worked for me, but I can see how it might not work for other people.) The things she is saying are not really revolutionary, but put all together, they are undeniably compelling.
(That said, I will fully watch the hell out of her Netflix Bridgertons show because REASONS.)
Anyway, all this to say I went into this with mixed feelings about her creative output, but positive feelings towards Shonda herself. And the idea behind the book was really intriguing: that she set a goal for herself in 2014 to say "yes" to everything instead of "no," as she had been doing up until then. This mission was sparked in her head when her sister Delorse while preparing Thanksgiving dinner in 2013 muttered to herself, "You never yes to anything." This stuck in Shonda's head until one day about a month later, she realized she wasn't actually very happy, despite all her success and her three young daughters.
Unsurprisingly, her commitment to this goal legitimately changes her life. She talks extensively about her introvertedness, and how her habit of saying no (or rather, saying yes to comfort and safety) had kept her closed up tight to bad things, but also good. She began doing the things that scared her, learned not only to yes to opportunities, but to her family, to her friends, and how to yes to "No". That last one is key, because of course you shouldn't always literally say yes to everything. She learns how to set up healthy boundaries in her life between her work and home life (she's a workaholic big-time), and her new positive attitude and happiness in her life, along with her new ability to engage in tough conversations she would have previously avoided, actually weeds out toxic people from her life personally and professionally.
It was all pretty inspiring, and honestly, anxiety-inducing. I was right there with her as she talked about being the best at getting out of things, saying no, shutting herself up in her imagination pantry (it's a thing in the book I don't have time to explain), and "putting food on top of it." These are things that I am also very good at. Thinking about not doing them made me very, very anxious. I'm going to have to ponder this book.
This is definitely worth reading. It feels genuine to me, and not just because Shonda's voice leaps off the page. (This is something that may get to some readers. Her writing style is extremely conversational, and like her TV writing, is very dramatic and full of repetition. It worked for me, but I can see how it might not work for other people.) The things she is saying are not really revolutionary, but put all together, they are undeniably compelling.