Feel Good Books: The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher

Hello, Fellow Book Worms and Book Dragons!

  I am often asked what book left me smiling ear to ear and delivered all the feels. Look no further than Carrie Fisher for that.

 

  Tenacity. Bravery. Strength. 

   This is how I describe Carrie Fisher to people as I explain to them the significance that she has played in my life. As someone who has dealt with depression for many years, it had always been refreshing to see someone as famous as Carrie Fisher tell her tale of depression and substance abuse as candidly as she had. She proved to those diminished by their inner demons that they could also emerge triumphantly. With her bestselling memoirs Wishful Drinking and Shokaholic, Fisher laid bare her pain, frustration, and hopes to her readers. She even took Wishful Drinking on the road as a one-woman show from 2006 to 2010. This became a hilarious HBO special that was viewed by millions. Every joke. Every word. Every emotion that Carrie gave us in her works showed us how witty, loving, and determined she was. 

  When I read her last book, I have to say that I had thought that I had read the best of Carrie's works. I was wrong. The Princess Diarist is the best that I have read from her. 

  
  The Princess Diarist is written by Carrie Fisher based on diaries that she had created while she was filming Star Wars Episode IV in the late 1970s. It is published by Blue Rider Press, a division of Penguin-Random House Books. 

  When reading a Carrie Fisher memoir there are a few things that you must do prior to beginning. A) choose a comfortable place to read, because you will be there a while B) have a drink handy, I chose coffee C) always have the audiobook available to read along with. Because Carrie reading Carrie is a lot better than any voice your mind could come up with. Then get ready for a vivid journey through Hollywood and the mind of a brilliant woman.

  The Princess Diarist is filled with often funny stories from the filming of the original Star Wars back in 1976. She takes us on a journey from dropping out of high school to touring with her mother, Debbie Reynolds (also sadly not with us anymore) to moving overseas and finally reading for Princess Leia. It is a journey that may parallel many a person's life: a young woman on her own who gets a dream job and falls in love with a ruggedly handsome man. There are drunken nights, star fights, and pages of prose lamenting her feelings of confusion and exhilaration pertaining to her affair, which is revealed to be with her co-star, Harrison Ford. 

  As the book progresses, we are introduced to the actual pages from Fisher's diary. She shows us that even in her late teens, she was very well-read despite her exiting school. Her wit and the often heart-crushing narrative takes the reader into the world that was hers during this amazing and overwhelming time in her life. And after the diary pages are presented, Fisher sits down and thanks to her fans with stories of fan meetings. And in this, we see how much she loved and appreciated her fans.  

  I read the Princess Diarist with the narration of Carrie Fisher and her daughter, Billie Lourd. Lourd delivers an amazing reading of her mother's diary entries, giving broader insight into what Carrie was feeling when she wrote her journals. Carrie Fisher delivers another fantastic and no-nonsense narration, often diverging from the book to add in a few new tidbits for her listeners. The pair give us a wonderful send off for a beloved woman whose love for her fans surpasses any celebrity of our time.

  Carrie Fisher admits in the Princess Diarist to wanting to be that one person who induced so much joy into the lives of those she met, that it would be like fireworks. She succeeded in that aspect of her life. She brought billions of fans the fireworks they craved and left us all with fond memories and the strength to combat through our own struggles.

  I give the Princess Diarist five out of five stars. As hard as it is to say goodbye, this book helped with my sadness of her loss. Of course, a box of tissues was needed for the Rise of Skywalker which used footage of Fisher to add her to the story and said goodbye to Princess Leia. She last series Catastrophe (with doggie pal, Gary) on Amazon Prime.  

  Have fun reading this week. Let me know in the comments below what you are reading this week.

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2020 Reading Challenge (blank version)
 2020 Reading Challenge (my challenge)

 Because there is always time to read,

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