We're Going to Need More Wine by Gabrielle Union

Sit down, grab a glass of wine, and get ready to dish with Gabrielle Union, best known for rolls in movies like Bring it On or TVs Being Mary Jane (or if you are a parent of young kids, the voice of Nala on the Disney Junior series The Lion Guard, but I digress).

We're Going to Need More Wine is part memoir, as Gabrielle tells the story of growing up in a very white neighborhood, with summers spent with her Grandmother in a very black neighborhood, and how she found her way into Hollywood, almost by surprise. Her book is part essays, as she reflects on growing up black, her passion for things like reproductive rights, social justice, cancer research, and being black and famous. Like conversation over wine with a good friend, she never gets preachy, just tells it like it is, and give you facts.

We're Going to Need More Wine is for anyone looking for a book that fills the heart and soul..

Check out We're Going to Need More Wine @ the library.

Scrappy Little Nobody by Anna Kendrick

You may know Anna Kendrick from her starring role in the Pitch Perfect series, or perhaps her Oscar nominated role in Up in the Air. Maybe you recognize her as Jessica, the snarky friend from the Twilight movies. Or maybe you are one of the people who remember her roles in independent films like Camp, where she plays a "scary little girl". No matter what the role, there is no denying that Anna Kendrick is a actress on the rise, and Scrappy Little Nobody gives an inner look at how this all happened.

Anna describes her ascent from tiny Maine theater to Broadway to Hollywood with ease. Her first big break on Broadway was due to trusting parents sending her with her 14 year old brother to the big city on their own. Her breaks in movies come a little harder, as she explains to high school friends that the Sundance she is at, is the SUNDANCE where celebrities go. And while everyone else was staring college, she was giving acting a full on go, which forced her to grow up quickly. Even as her fame started to rise, her budget did not quite reflect that, and there are some regrettable fashion choices along the way.

Scrappy Little Nobody is one of those books you'll race through to laugh with Anna about her life, and ridiculousness of it all. Not quite a celebrity tell all, not quite a rise to the top story, but a life in progress view that will endure you to this performer. Fans of celebrity memoirs, such as Judy Greer's I Don't Know Where You Know Me From and Aisha Tyler's Self Inflected Wounds won't be disappointed.

Talking As Fast As I Can: From Gilmore Girls to Gilmore Girls (and Everything in Between) by Lauren Graham

Perhaps best known as Lorelai Gilmore from the beloved TV show Gilmore Girls, Lauren Graham has put together a collection of essays revealing stories about life, love, her successful career in showbusiness, and quite literally, everything in between. Talking As Fast As I Can starts with Lauren looking back on and sharing pictures from her childhood, her relationship with her parents, and starting out as an actress in small plays and shows. In her essays on life and love in showbusiness, Graham writes how difficult it is to be a female in a male dominated profession, shares what it's like falling in love with former Parenthood co-star Peter Krause, and just exactly how her made-up character Old Lady Jackson feels about the constantly connected world we all live in.

Perhaps most exciting of all in Graham's book are the two chapters she writes about what the Gilmore Girls meant to her. For avid Gilmore Girls fans, the chapter entitled "What It Was Like, Part One" features Graham sharing her thoughts about playing Lorelai, her fellow castmates, and life in Stars Hollow the first time around. In true Lorelai fashion, Graham spends the last chapter of her book fast-talking about Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life and how much it meant to be able to play her beloved Lorelai Gilmore one more time. And whether or not you're pleased with the last four words, take comfort in knowing that Graham continues thinking "that ending was really more of cliffhanger, right?"