“I hope these essays have been comforting to someone reading it if for no other reason than to watch me openly admit I have no idea what I’m doing.”

Caitlin_D reviewed this one a while back, and said that you don’t need to be a Sara Bareilles super-fan to enjoy it. Not that I don’t like her or anything, she’s just not really on my radar. But it popped up on my Overdrive dashboard last week, so I thought I’d give it a shot. It’s definitely a well-written, interesting book by a very talented woman.

“You are overwhelmed and haven’t learned to be your own friend through this yet. You will. Your fear of jumping without a net is so valid, and the trick that you haven’t learned yet is that that’s life, always and everywhere. There are no nets. Life is a big, long free fall, and the sooner you can embrace what is beautiful about that, the sooner you will start to enjoy the ride.”

Bareilles breaks the book into sections, starting with her childhood, where she was teased for being heavy (she includes quite a few pictures and looks like a totally normal child in every one, but kids sucks) and found inspiration in performance. She talks about her pre-fame time, and how things have changed for her. The main message, and it’s a good one, focuses on believing in and standing up for yourself — as an artist, as a person. She’s a good writer and the book, while possessing some funny moments, comes across mostly thoughtful and sincere.