7:100 Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher

Carrie Fisher's first memoir based on her hit stand-up routine (and for some reason the third of her memoirs that I read).  Her wit and style changed very little between the three (this, Shockaholic, and Princess Diarist) and is refreshingly honest and droll.  She talks about her childhood as the child of two Hollywood icons, their divorce and subsequent remarriages, her stepparents, growing up Fisher, how she found drugs and how they got their hooks into her, you know, the usual stuff.

I grew up with Princess Leia being MY Princess.  The one who stood up to Tarkin and Vader, the one who strangled Jabba, the one who would save herself or die trying but not just give up easily.  I wasn't even 3 when Star Wars came out but she inspired me and now as an adult and reading about her life and her struggles, she inspires me even more. I only wish she were still here but her words live on and they will continue to inspire.  She has become more than our Princess, she is now our General.


Page count: 177p/1,230p ytd/293,251p lifetime

114:120 Shockaholic by Carrie Fiscer

Carrie Fiscer's 2nd memoir (apparently I'm reading these in reverse order) opens with her frank discussion of her mental illness and the history of and her views on electroshock therapy which she has used and has helped her tremendously.  She then goes into how that treatment can cause memory loss and why that is a reason for her to write down what she remembers while she still does. This leads into the rest of the book which has stories about her relationships with her father, Michael Jackson, Senator Edward Kennedy, Elizabeth Taylor, and many others through the years. The stories are told in her usual irreverent fashion and it's very easy to hear her voice in your head as you read.  They aren't dolled up or candy coated, they are just her stories as she remembers them which helps keep it real.  I truly enjoyed it.


Page count: 162p/20,632p ytd/292,035p lifetime

43:120 The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher

Carrie Fisher recently found her old journals written during the filming of Star Wars: A New Hope and that wash of memory led her to write this, an intimate look at her thoughts during that time and what was happening behind the scenes.  It includes many excerpts from her diaries during that time which offers an incredible look at her thoughts in an uncensored way.  She writes with wit and humor about her naivete but with candor about her relationship with her co-star, Harrison Ford (ok, a lot of naivete there as well) and all of that when writing about how being Leia changed her life and what those changes meant.  Having grown up with Star Wars (I was 2 when it came out in theaters) and looking up to Princess Leia as my role model through my childhood, I loved hearing from her directly about her thoughts on the experience.


Page count: 267p/9,396p ytd/283,799p lifetime