I read a lot of blogs and watch a lot of YouTube, and as a result I have read and listened to people talking about this book. My Instagram feed has featured people taking it in the bath with them or on the train for long journeys. If I'm honest I had no clue what this book was about at all, people raved about it and I just assumed that it was beauty related and therefore not an overwhelmingly interesting read. Don't get me wrong I like makeup as much as the next girl but reading a whole book about it isn't my idea of a good read. Anyway for this reason I never really felt the inclination to even Amazon search the title 'Yes Please!' out of curiosity.
How wrong was I! It wasn't until I read Essie Button's blog post called Buttons Book Club! (take a look by clicking here) where she was trying to involve her viewers in a book club this year. 'Yes Please' was this month's book and she was explaining how she was only half way through and found it hilarious. I really like her sense of humour so I came to the realisation that the book wasn't a beauty guru bore but instead was comedic. When she went on to say that she had heard that the audio book was amazing and hilarious and that she was going to listen to it as well. I was hooked on the idea of giving it ago. I love a good audio book me. Don't get me wrong I love the action of reading a physical book, and creating me own internal narrative. But I have found that my obsession with keeping books pristine (which is a while other story by the way) coupled with the fact that I travel to work using public transport, has pushed me towards listening to my books much more often.
Amy Phoehler herself reads it with the help of colleagues and friends on some chapters. She has Kathleen Turner reading the sum up quote or lesson you could say which features at the end of many of the chapters. The fact that Amy reads allows for you to really connect with her and understand how she feels about the sentences she has written through her tone of voice. Unlike a reading of an fiction, the autobiographical nature of this book has you laughing along with her throughout.
Amy focuses on teaching us the lessons she has learnt about life and portrays them using her own experiences and adding a comical connotation to them. She takes you on a journey of how her life has unraveled from the beginning to the present. And gives you an insight into many different aspects of life, from making career choices, handling divorce and emotions, having kids and having sex. She encourages us not to give up on our dreams by using this quote several times throughout.
'It is not the thinking of the thing that's the thing, it's the doing of the thing that's the thing'
A large section of the book talks about her time on the American TV show Saturday Night Live. She was cast on the show for 7 years, it was the job she was working towards throughout her twenties while she was a part of the improvisation group United Citizens Brigade. Although she's a celebrity she stresses the fact that famous people are boring and parties with famous people are excruciating. She gives you and insight into how she is actually a normal down to earth woman with children to look after and a wage to make. The most enticing aspect of her personality as portrayed by the book is how humble she is.
She urges the reader to be a member of the 'good' people of this world. When she talks about helping others there was a quote she highlighted that stuck in my mind....
'People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people with never forget how you make them feel'
It's fun to hear her view on the world and her advice on how to survive the highs and lows it brings.
Imma leave you with my favourite quote from the chapter 'I'm so Proud of You':
'Emotions are like storms you just need to sit down and wait for the rain to stop'