I Really Didn't Have Any Idea

I've just finished reading You Have No Idea by Vanessa Williams and her mother, Helen Williams.

Yes, that Vanessa Williams.

I told my husband that the book fascinated me because I really never stopped to think about her as anything other than the Miss America who had nude photos published back when I was a teenager.  I'd seen her in movies, her song Saved the Best for Last was my senior prom theme, and she was on Ugly Betty.  That was it.

I couldn't stop reading her words, everything that she had been through, how she handled it all.  Add to that the segments from her mother, the commentary and notes, and the story had me crying and laughing.

I miss my mom, and am counting the days to her visit this month.  As I read about the relationship these two women have had, the support and family that they shared, even when they didn't agree, I smiled and realized that their words had brought me in and made me a part of their story.  And that their bond is something I could see with my own mother.

Now, I normally avoid celebrity biographies.  Actually, I think this may be my first read about anyone other than a dead president for a history assignment.  But this book I would read again and again.  It's a story that is beautifully told and easy to get los in.  You should give You Have No Idea a read and join the conversation with the BlogHer Book Club.

This is a sponsored review for the BlogHer Book Club. While compensation will be forthcoming for taking the time to write about the book, the opinions stated are all mine and mine alone.