I feel like I have a lot of groundwork to lay before I can just start talking about these books so let's get into it.
First of all, I admitted to you on this very blog back in 2017 that I had been sucked into One Tree Hill Land. But to give you even more context: the first friend I made at the tiny little Christian college I went to back in 2006 was a One Tree Hill superfan. Like, literally plastered our suite with posters from the show. So when I finally decided to watch an episode—ten years later—it was all due to her influence. Since watching through all nine seasons back in 2017, I have definitely watched the first few seasons again at various times, always falling off the rewatch before making it to their post-high school lives. I wouldn't call myself a fan, but I appreciate the absolute hit of nostalgia I get just from the music on that show. I feel that giving you my history with One Tree Hill is a bit misleading given that none of these memoirs are technically *about* One Tree Hill, but they're all by girls who were stars of the show and it is because they were stars of the show that I have any awareness of their existence and, by extension, the existence of their memoirs. When Bethany Joy Lenz announced her memoir and started doing all the press for it about her time in a real cult, I immediately added it to my personal TBR and when it finally came out in October, I went to the library and got both of Hilarie Burton's memoirs along with it and read them all back-to-back-to-back.
So now that you know more than you ever wanted to about how these books came on my radar, let's go through them one-by-one.
The Rural Diaries by Hilarie Burton Morgan was the first of these memoirs to be published back in May of 2020. During my ill-fated year on the instagram, she was promoting this book hardcore, and consequently, I added it to my amazon wishlist where it has hung out ever since. Now that I am a proud, card-carrying library patron and have figured out the novel concept that I don't actually have to buy every single book I want to read, I took myself down to my local library and checked out both of Burton's books when I went to pick up Lenz's brand-new release. Hilarie describes The Rural Diaries as a love letter to a town, a farm, and a man, and that's really what it is. In it, she tells her story of leaving Hollywood to establish a life in the Hudson Valley on a working farm with her husband Jeffrey Dean Morgan and their son Gus. Hilarie has a real talent for making the people and things in her life that are important to her, feel important and cherished, and that's a real gift. I found myself wanting to visit her candy shop in Rhinebeck and even feeling a little envious of the community she seemingly has built there. I really like how she incorporated pages throughout this memoir with little gardening tips, recipes, and the like, and this is a book I might actually pick up again in future to refer back to some of those things.
Her second book, Grimoire Girl, was published last year in October of 2023. This one was less of a memoir (in my opinion), and more a collection of essays that heavily emphasize the how-to of living a fulfilling life and being able to leave a meaningful legacy. Burton likes to call herself a witch and she really leans into that in this second book. In Grimoire Girl, Burton writes about topics ranging from the harmless—like the art of letter-writing and keeping a scrapbook—to the more pernicious—like astrology and pagan worship. This book is half benign, half the worst universalist trash I've ever read. If Burton takes an interest or sees beauty in something, she incorporates it into her life in a haphazard and even offensive way, combining Christian and pagan practices willy-nilly with no thought to how these things literally condemn each other. Pretty wild. I would never pick this book up again, and I cannot recommend it.
Dinner for Vampires by Bethany Joy Lenz (who played my favorite character on One Tree Hill) just came out in October, and as the subtitle makes clear, it's all about her life on a cult TV show while also in an actual cult. Kudos to the marketing genius who came up with that. Lenz was part of a high-control group for ten years, and her stated goal in publishing Dinner for Vampires is to show how it doesn't take a stupid or particularly gullible person to fall prey to a situation like this. It was utterly fascinating to read about her experience and the downward spiral she found herself in. I wasn't expecting Dinner for Vampires to be a beautiful portrait of Lenz's journey to cling to her faith and come out the other side of her nightmarish experience with her trust in God still in tact, but that's exactly what it was. It was hard to read at times but ultimately quite moving for me as a person of faith myself.
A post like this, covering three highly personal memoirs, just scratches the surface of so many potential topics to discuss. Obviously the intersection of faith and celebrity culture; cults in general; the amount of made-for-TV Christmas movies I have watched starring Hilarie Burton and Bethany Joy Lenz since finishing their memoirs (five, as of today); the potential Burton/Lenz feud that has the internet buzzing (is it real or is this some kind of trumped up marketing tactic to boost book sales?); how social media and being able to have pseudo-personal access to celebrities' lives affects the culture and the release of memoirs like this—I could go on and on. And my brother will attest to the fact that we have spent hours on the phone dissecting crap like that. But those are blog posts for another day...or possibly another blog altogether because I generally stick to the books I'm reading around here. But if you want to get into it, I'm so here for those conversations.
To wrap things up, I might recommend The Rural Diaries and Dinner for Vampires with a strong content warning for bad language. Do not come crying to me if you pick either of these up on my recommendation and realize you are in for a lot of F-words. Like I alluded to at the beginning of this post, celebrity memoir seems like kindof a niche genre and I would think you'd need to be really interested in the subject matter to pick one up.
How about you? Do you like celebrity memoirs? Or have you ever read one based solely on the fact that the celebrity in question was part of a project you liked?
Might read BJL’s memoir one day, but have no interest in reading Hilary’s. I started reading a memoir/collection of essays written by Mindy Kaling once, but I never finished it (though parts of it had me literally laughing out loud). So now the real question is: have any other actors from OTH written memoirs and if so, will you be reading them?
ReplyDeleteI've heard Mindy Kaling's books are really funny.
DeleteAnd that's a good question. 🤣 I don't think anyone else from OTH has written a book yet, and I doubt I would read any others. I was specifically interested in The Rural Diaries and Dinner for Vampires, and Grimoire Girl ended up in the mix just because timing and the possible Burton/Lenz feud. 🤣
What if Mouth wrote a memoir? Would you read it? I think I might. 🤔
DeleteHm, probably not. It'd have to have a killer premise. Although he does have the double-whammy advantage of being a child-star on Boy Meets World.
DeleteWith Nia Vardalos' memoir, the adoption hook got me.
With Lauren Graham's, I was curious to see if she shared anything more illuminating about the Year in the Life GG revival which I considered an absolute trainwreck. (She didn't.)
With Beth Moore's, I was personally invested after years of doing her Bible studies and going to LPL events.
With Britney Spears', I was soooo curious about the conservatorship.
So unless Mouth was marketing it with an out-of-left-field hook (being in a cult, for example!), I don't see myself reaching for that. 🤷🏼♀️ What is it about him that would potentially interest you in reading it?
You know, the reasons you’re giving make total sense. For me, I think it would be the headspace I’m in when I try to “read” it and whether the audiobook version is available and if they’re narrating it, if it’s a good narration, and if it’s clean. I tried listening to Malfoy’s memoir as narrated by him, and while he was entertaining and fun to listen to, I couldn’t get past the profanity.
DeleteThat's a bummer about Tom Felton's memoir. ☹️
DeleteThank you for remembering his real name 😂
Delete😂😂😂 I remember seeing a bunch of people on Goodreads reading his book. I think I may have even entered a Goodreads giveaway to try to win a copy. But I'm not sure I'll ever read it.
DeleteI only listened to part of the first chapter, but it was interesting. I just remember profanity right off the bat, so I’m not sure how much was in the memoir to know if it’s worth reading despite that.
Deletechecking out a celebrity memoir is an exception for me, not the rule. but I have read a few, reasons being both interest in the person and interest in their projects. Anthony Daniels, Carrie Fisher, Mike Nichols, Amy Poehler are the ones that are springing to mind
ReplyDeleteHow was Amy Poehler's? I have Tina Fey's sitting on my shelf that I picked up for free somewhere but haven't read it. The first true celebrity memoir I clearly remember reading was Nia Vardalos' Instant Mom which I read during our adoption process and it was fantastic. I also read Lauren Graham's Talking As Fast As I Can when it came out but was underwhelmed with that one.
DeletePoehler's was great. she's so sharp and clever. recommend.
Delete✏️Noted.
DeleteSpeaking of Lauren Graham…do you enjoy any of her work/movies outside of Gilmore Girls?
DeleteIt's a mixed bag. I liked her in The Pacifier 😂; hated Because I Said So. Loved The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, but that was a pretty small part. Tried watching Parenthood, couldn't get into it. Was interested in The Mighty Ducks series she did recently but never ended up watching any of it. Might check out the Z-Suite. 🤷🏼♀️ We also own the movie Max that she was in and Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs but I don't have a strong memory of her performance in either.
DeleteI forgot about The Mighty Ducks series!! I started watching it when it first came out and never finished it. I need to check that out again. Pacifier - yessss, agreed!! Why did you hate “Because I Said So”? Have we talked about this already? I watched all the way through Parenthood and while it felt like a slog at times, I’m really glad I finished it, but I don’t think I’d ever watch it again. I loved her relationship with her daughter (played by Mae Whitman) in the show. Never even heard of Z-Suite! Never seen “Max” and I don’t even remember her being in “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs”!
DeleteI'm not sure if we've ever talked about it. I know it's a movie you like. The problematic elements in it are just too much for me to get past. Namely, Mandy Moore dating and sleeping with two guys at once; Diane Keaton being sooooo annoying (Mandy Moore too, for that matter); the way mental health issues are treated as a joke (don't even get me started). The whole movie just makes me cringe even thinking about it. lol
DeleteBut update: I did watch the first two episodes of The Z-Suite (which is a tubi original) and it's pretty over the top but I think it has potential!
You’re right; DK is pretty over the top in the movie, and sex is talked about pretty often and flippantly. I see what you mean there. When you’re talking about the mental health issues, are you referring to the patient of hers that keeps threatening suicide and has anxiety issues?
DeleteYes! And they basically are making fun of him the whole movie! (from what I remember) Don't they even dump a cake on him or something?
DeleteNot intentionally. It just happens. I have a different perspective on his storyline in the movie. I’ll add it to my next MP update (along with my speech class story lol)
Delete