 |
| I received an advance copy of the book from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions are 100% my own. |
About the book-
A candid, funny memoir from the charismatic FOX News channel anchor and Miss America Pageant winner
Celebrity news anchorwoman Gretchen Carlson shares her inspiring story and offers important takeaways for women (and men) about what it means to strive for and find success in the real world. With warmth and wit, she takes readers from her Minnesota childhood, where she became a violin prodigy, through college at Stanford and her in-the-trenches years as a cub reporter on local television stations before becoming a national news reporter. She describes her rise to anchor of The Real Story with Gretchen Carlson on FOX News channel as a testament to personal strength and perseverance.
Carlson addresses the intense competitive effort of winning the Miss America Pageant, the challenges she’s faced as a woman in broadcast television, and how she manages to balance work and family as the wife of high-profile sports agent Casey Close and devoted mother to their two children. An unceasing advocate for respect and equality for women, Carlson writes openly about her own struggles with body image, pageant stereotypes, building her career, and having the courage to speak her mind. She encourages women to strive for their goals, never give up, and always believe in themselves.
In Getting Real, Carlson emerges as a living example of a woman not afraid to chase her dreams and embrace life fully.
Celebrity news anchorwoman Gretchen Carlson shares her inspiring story and offers important takeaways for women (and men) about what it means to strive for and find success in the real world. With warmth and wit, she takes readers from her Minnesota childhood, where she became a violin prodigy, through college at Stanford and her in-the-trenches years as a cub reporter on local television stations before becoming a national news reporter. She describes her rise to anchor of The Real Story with Gretchen Carlson on FOX News channel as a testament to personal strength and perseverance.
Carlson addresses the intense competitive effort of winning the Miss America Pageant, the challenges she’s faced as a woman in broadcast television, and how she manages to balance work and family as the wife of high-profile sports agent Casey Close and devoted mother to their two children. An unceasing advocate for respect and equality for women, Carlson writes openly about her own struggles with body image, pageant stereotypes, building her career, and having the courage to speak her mind. She encourages women to strive for their goals, never give up, and always believe in themselves.
In Getting Real, Carlson emerges as a living example of a woman not afraid to chase her dreams and embrace life fully.
My thoughts-
I must confess it is a rarity for me to tune into the news at all. The constant focus on negativity is more than I can take most days. Still, you would have to live under a rock to not have heard of Gretchen Carlson. Because I haven't watched a lot of news in the last few years, I am not super familiar with her, but from reading the description of Getting Real, it sounded like she has had quite a varied and fulfilling life thus far and I wanted to know more about that. The thing I was most interested in was Gretchen's childhood, specifically her time spent as a child prodigy with perfect pitch playing the violin. She got to work with some world renowned violin teachers and play with some really good orchestras. I was surprised to learn that she was a musical prodigy because most stick to their craft and she obviously isn't focusing on violin at this time. Carlson explains in the book what it was like to be a prodigy and the struggles she went through. The middle part of the book was about her foray into the Miss America pageant. A constant theme throughout Getting Real is that once Ms. Carlson puts her mind to something, she will work her hardest to achieve that goal (and most times manages to come out on top)! I found it fascinating to learn from an insider what goes on during the Miss America pageants. I was absolutely one of those little girls that tuned in every year to see the new winner crowned. I always enjoyed the talent portion, so I loved reading that Gretchen Carlson's talent at violin is what kind of led her to enter in the first place. The final section of the book focuses on Carlson's marriage, children and career as a tv news anchor. There were some sad tales here of higher up execs doing her wrong (or at least trying to), but she shares about how she came to have a career in broadcast journalism. What I got from this book is that Ms. Carlson is a well educated woman, full of confidence who always perseveres to meet the goals she has in mind for herself. She may be one of the most interesting people I have ever read about. As I was reading this book, I remember thinking more than once that this is the kind of woman I want my daughter to look up to. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves learning about other people or anyone who has preconceived notions about Gretchen Carlson from the image you see on your tv, there is a lot more than meets the eye!
Getting Real will be available for purchase on June 16th. You can pre-order your copy on FamilyChristian.com.
Enter Below via the Rafflecopter for your chance to win a $25 gift certificate from Family Chrsitan Stores!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
