I am the biggest fan of Gilmore Girls and was in a state of constant excitement from the moment the new episodes were announced - you can read what I thought of them here. As such, I was also happy to hear that Lauren Graham, who plays Lorelai Gilmore, was releasing a book about her experience of working on the previous series and the new Netflix episodes.
This - and the fact that I'm still sad about Carrie Fisher - meant I chose to read this book first, and I'm really glad I did. In fact, I ended up reading it in four days, two of which were short sessions on the train (I was a bit hungover for one of these too). I'm a fast reader, but you can tell that I am enjoying a book when I literally cannot put it down and devour it so quickly.
You can feel the love for the show radiating from the pages. Literally everything Graham writes about it just shows how much everyone adored being apart of it, what it meant to her and what a profound impact it had on her life. There are some fun little moments that tell you a bit about some of her co-stars without disrespecting their privacy or going into areas where they probably wouldn't be comfortable with her going.
A couple of moments like this that I really appreciated were centered on how much Edward Herrmann was missed during the revival. Graham writes about how much his huge presence was missed and how Kelly Bishop - who plays his wife, Emily Gilmore - dealt with the fact he wasn't there. Not only did she speak to him on her first day on set, but the day they filmed in the Gilmore house with the giant picture of Richard on the wall, Kelly asked Edward for a sign that he was there and a light blew. I know these moments will probably mean a lot to other fans of the show.
Beyond Gilmore Girls, the book contains a lot of anecdotes about Graham's life before acting, how she became an actress, her relationships, family and a lot of other things in between. It is funny and moving in equal parts and - after watching several interviews with her - it is totally in her voice, so much so, I could almost hear her reading it.
She goes off on tangents that are very in-keeping with her personality and stop the book from simply being 'I did this and thought this'. In fact, the lack of a linear plot actually makes the book a lot more interesting and left me wanting to know where she was going to go next, which meant I had trouble putting the book down.
I may not be a famous Hollywood actress who has two long-running shows under her belt, but so much of what Graham writes about is relatable. She isn't full of herself, the story she tells contains just enough self deprecation and I just got the feeling that the whole book was incredibly honest.
I'm not usually one for reading autobiographies as I just don't think I've ever been interested enough about an individual - all I've been too interested and didn't want to shatter any illusions I'd created. However, I'm really glad that I picked this book up and that I actually got around to reading it sooner rather than later. I enjoyed every page and, if anything, it has made me like Graham a lot more than I already did. I also want to read a few more books in this genre - beyond the Carrie Fisher I've also finished (watch this space) so I need to make that happen this year.
Also, I agree with Graham. The ending really is more of a cliffhanger...