This Will Only Hurt a Little
(Libby/OverDrive eAudiobook)

Philipps, a character actress and onetime Dawson's Creek star, is among the current crop of writers who've landed a book deal on the back of a popular social-media feed in her case, an Instagram account with more than a million followers. Like her feed, Philipps' book is filled with celebrity, children, and candid self-disclosure. In prose marked by all-caps, exclamation points, and the names of those who've wronged her, she takes readers through her life, starting with a bumpy Arizona adolescence, a tumultuous time distinguished by a lousy relationship with her parents, intoxicants, date rape, and far less grievous betrayals. One especially poignant chapter recalls her first romance, a story of infatuation, abortion, and Pope John Paul II. Philipps excavates the early days of her career and relationship with Tom Hanks' son, then moves on to the vagaries of life as a mid-career actress: Hollywood parties, misogyny, snubs, backstabbing, real estate, and frozen yogurt. Last comes marriage and children and, with them, a midlife resolution: THIS IS WHO I AM NOW. --Eugenia Williamson Copyright 2018 Booklist

Comedic actress (Freaks and Geeks; Cougar Town), Instagram star, and now late-night talk show host (Busy Tonight) Philipps recounts her formative years, countless failed auditions, and her hit-and-miss career in this candid memoir. Philipps admits that when she was growing up in Scottsdale, AZ, her chief goal was to get attention. She knew early on that the Hollywood route would be her path to success. She reflects on her often painful teenage years (date rape, abortion, peer pressure) with emotion, but her stories also contain doses of humor (her imitations of her mother are very funny). In Hollywood, she has faced sexism and body-shaming, and she is not afraid to name names (James Franco and Steven Levitan are chief among them). Philipps also discusses her marriage to screenwriter Marc Silverstein, her pregnancies, and children with brash candor. VERDICT Fans will find much to delight them here. ["Philipps paints a picture of what it's like to be a woman in the world of acting...juggling parenthood and career in a celebrity memoir that stands apart in a crowded field": LJ Xpress Reviews 9/28/18 review of the Touchstone hc.]-Phillip Oliver, formerly with Univ. of North Alabama, Florence © Copyright 2019. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

A highly candid, tell-all memoir from the cult-favorite actress.In a book that often reads like a Real World confessional or an open diary, the Cougar Town star bares all in recounting her rise to fame: from childhood passion to become an actress to fraught teen years getting in with the wrong crowd and terminating a pregnancy to facing sexism in Hollywood to dating Colin Hanks to landing a role on Dawson's Creek to countless failed auditions to falling in love with and then considering divorcing her husband. While the honesty is refreshing, much like her Instagram persona, the narrative occasionally comes across as narcissistic. Philipps is open about her overwhelming need to be liked and included, a sentiment that provides the throughline of the book. For example, she chronicles the time she dislocated her knee at a middle school dance because she wanted to see why boys where moshing to "Smells Like Teen Spirit." "That is what I get for wanting to know what was going on," she writes, "for wanting to be a part of things, for wanting more.It's too bad I didn't realize the life lesson I was being handed. Because maybe, possibly, it would have saved me from even more pain in the years to come." At the same time, Philipps is happy to dole out some literary retribution, calling out some of those who have wronged here.g., she calls Freaks Geeks co-star James Franco "a fucking bully" and Modern Family director Steven Levitan "a fucking asshole" who enjoys "the joy of being an oblivious super successful white man" in showbiz. But while the author is quick to point the finger, she's also her own harshest critic. In explaining her Instagram use, she writes, "the reason I started the storieswas because I was lonely."Ultimately, the book is a page-turner, albeit one in which the need for the readers' approval is felt on nearly every page. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Philipps, a character actress and onetime Dawson's Creek star, is among the current crop of writers who've landed a book deal on the back of a popular social-media feed—in her case, an Instagram account with more than a million followers. Like her feed, Philipps' book is filled with celebrity, children, and candid self-disclosure. In prose marked by all-caps, exclamation points, and the names of those who've wronged her, she takes readers through her life, starting with a bumpy Arizona adolescence, a tumultuous time distinguished by a lousy relationship with her parents, intoxicants, date rape, and far less grievous betrayals. One especially poignant chapter recalls her first romance, a story of infatuation, abortion, and Pope John Paul II. Philipps excavates the early days of her career and relationship with Tom Hanks' son, then moves on to the vagaries of life as a mid-career actress: Hollywood parties, misogyny, snubs, backstabbing, real estate, and frozen yogurt. Last comes marriage and children and, with them, a midlife resolution: "THIS IS WHO I AM NOW." Copyright 2018 Booklist Reviews.

Starting with her childhood and moving chronologically through to her future aspirations, actress Philipps presents a candid look at her life in and out of the spotlight, all told through her unflinchingly authentic, no-filter voice. As Philipps details her accident-prone youth and painful teenage years of bad relationships and an abortion, readers get an insider's look into her notable roles on the TV series Freaks and Geeks, Dawson's Creek, and Cougar Town as well as her not-so-well-known gigs, including performing as a real-life Barbie doll at a toy fair and creating the original story idea for the film Blades of Glory. She discusses the ups and downs of her relationships, including dating Colin Hanks; being besties with Michelle Williams; and her marriage to Marc Silverstein, never shying away from her own mistakes or sugarcoating the truth. VERDICT Philipps paints a picture of what it's like to be a woman in the world of acting, from sexism to body shaming to juggling parenthood and career in a celebrity memoir that stands apart in a crowded field.—Jenna Friebel, Oak Park P.L., IL (c) Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.