Getting Real: A Book Review #FCBlogger

**I received an advanced copy of this book for this review. All thoughts are my own.

When we invite people into our homes through the TV, we sometimes start to feel like we really know these people and sometimes, we really do get a pretty good idea of who they are. Other times, we make assumptions on the brief glimpses we are given to their lives. We often see someone with good looks and money and assume they must have it pretty easy. Add in a title like 'Miss America' and perhaps that assumption really hits home. Of course, we know- logically- that we shouldn't make this quick judgment, but we're only human, right?

But do you ever wonder about the real story? Do you ever question what goes on beyond those glimpses or what brought these individuals to this point? Perhaps it's my natural curious nature, but I love hearing people's back stories- celebrity or not! I feel like our history is part of what makes us the people we are today. Our experiences shape our values and opinions- for good or for bad. I often feel like when you know where someone is coming from, you can better understand why they make the choices they make today. And when it comes to celebrities, it also makes them seem a little more human. Take Gretchen Carlson for instance! Former Miss America turned Fox News anchorwoman? What was her story?

In her new book, Getting Real, she shared it all:

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.

First and foremost, I found Gretchen to be a great story teller. As she shares recollections of her childhood in Minnesota, I found myself picturing and feeling the whole thing as if I were there watching. Her experiences were much different than my own, giving me nothing in life to draw off of, but she uses such detail that that really didn't matter! I've always found when telling a story, the story truly is in the details and that certainly proved to be the case here.

Through the great story telling, I learned that there was a lot more to this former Miss America than meets the eye. I learned that it was not her beauty that got her ahead in her life and career but that she had worked hard to have those opportunities. At a very young age, Gretchen was trained as a classic violinist. It was that training and passion that pushed her forward and helped her to take home the crown. She talks often about how she was often not taken seriously because of those assumptions of being a pretty blond Miss America, and how she hoped to change those preconveived notions that are often placed upon every girl and woman, whether they are in the public eye or not. Her story does this beautifully. Gretchen is a role model for girls not because she became Miss America, but because she worked hard and earned everything she was given.

If you'd like to read more about Gretchen Carlson, Getting Real will be available June 2015! But you can preorder now at Family Christian!

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