Donna Martin's All Grown Up: 'sTori Telling' Worth The Read

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Can’t say that I’ve seen this kind of selling tactic before on a book, but that’s why I had to pick it up: “New York Times #1 Bestseller-Really.” (It really said really.) 

It was as if to say, “You actually won’t be sorry despite your preconceived notion that this book is crap.” Despite all odds, Tori Spelling’s memoir, sTori Telling got my undivided attention and I found myself toting the celebutante's book home. 

As an old-school 90210 fan and Tori & Dean Home Sweet Hollywood some-time viewer, I was excited to have some of the questions answered about things you always hear in the media. Did she really grow up in a mansion that had 123 rooms? Is her mother really a money-grubbing she-devil? What was it like working on 90210? Did she really run off with a married man?  Is she really broke as she leads on?

After the first few pages, I was hooked. It was so well written! So I abruptly stopped, turned back a few pages and read the inside jacket. Ah, it made sense: written by Tori Spelling with Hilary Liftin. Of course, it was good because she has a professional writer helping her tell her story. So be it, I dived back in… sole author or not.

Right off the bat, Spelling (with Liftin) painted a clear picture of what it’s like on the inside the life of a famous Hollywood family. Extravagant parties were had, fake snow deliveries for the holidays was a normal occurrence and yes, she had a nose job as an adolescent.

Spelling also disputes her perceived nepotism, explaining how she used an alias to audition for the cast of 90210, which her father, the late Aaron Spelling, notoriously produced.

Juicy details about 90210 cast hookups are also revealed, as well as well as her "disinheritance" of her father’s billions. Her ongoing feud with her mother is also quite a trip (if you ever thought your parents were unfair, you’ll be in disbelief at the antics of Spelling's mother, Candy.)

After all of the burning questions are answered, the focal point of the book then becomes the day-to day-struggles of her life as an actress and her quest to define herself as a person. 

The book definitely set the record straight concerning the hoopla that has been circulating in the tabloids for years; Spelling dispelled the Hollywood glitz and glam version of her life and showed that her heart is much deeper than her pockets.

sTori Telling is a light, enriching story that is definitely a good read for any person who doesn’t mind indulging in what it means to be Tori Spelling by Tori Spelling (and Liftin.)  

I'd give it 3.5 out of 5 bookworms.