It's Never Too Late by Kathie Lee Gifford

It's Never Too Late by Kathie Lee Gifford

Published by Thomas Nelson ISBN 9780785236641

Hardcover, $26.99, 208 pages

Kathie Lee Gifford has been a part of popular culture for many decades. Most of us know her from her fifteen years cohosting with Regis Philbin on Live! With Regis and Kathie Lee, a daily talk show that revolutionalized daytime television, and then her eleven years cohosting the fourth hour of the Today Show with Hoda Kotb.

But she has done so much more in her life. In her new book, It's Never Too Late- Make the Next Act of Your Life The Best Act of Your Life, Kathie Lee Gifford takes us through each stage of her life and the lessons she learned that brought her to a happy place, and can do the same for you.

After a Foreword written by Dolly Parton, who wrote of the importance of having dreams for your life and working hard to achieve your dreams and goals, Kathie Lee writes 35 short chapters each titled with It's Never Too Late to... and then things like Never Give Up, where she decribed leaving college before graduation and moving to Los Angeles to become an actress. She struggled, going on many auditions (and usually losing out to Nancy Morgan, John Ritter's future wife), but finally she got her first big break on Name That Tune, where she got to use her beautiful singing voice.

She recounted a tough year in 1995, which began with her thrilling appearance singing the National Anthem at the Super Bowl, moved on to her being accused of using sweatshop labor for her women's fashion line at WalMart, and then her husband was caught cheating on her in a highly publicized tabloid scandal. 

In Change the Ending, Then Change It Again, she shares her tale of landing in Scotland ready to film the movie she wrote for Craig Ferguson and herself, Then Came You. Ferguson tells Kathie Lee that she has to change the ending of the movie- just as they were to begin filming. When director Adriana Trigiani shares  Ferguson's opinion, Kathie Lee reluctantly agrees to change it. Then in the middle of the shoot, Gifford writes a song with her writing partner that convinces her to change the ending yet again. (Oh, poor Adriana Trigiani!) If you have seen the wonderful movie, you know the ending works perfectly. 

Kathie Lee shares funny stories- like the time Al Pacino came to her home for lunch and they tried to top each other with crazy celebrity true encounters (Kathie Lee won), frightening stories (her sister Michie nearly dying), and disappointments (the Broadway show she wrote closing after three weeks), and through it all her faith in God sustains her. 

Kathie Lee Gifford reminds of Joan Rivers- they both worked hard, followed their dreams through good times and bad, picked themselves up, and never let anyone stop them from achieving their goals. People have strong opinions about both of these women, and I respect each of them for being true to themselves and never giving up.

It's Never Too Late is a must-read for Kathie Lee Gifford fans, and people who have strong faith in God will get an extra level of appreciation from this book. It's inspirational and enjoyable, and it's good to be reminded especially during these troubled times that you can change your life for the better, no matter where you are in life.

My review of Kathie Lee's movie, Then Came You, is here.

Thanks to TLC Tours for putting me on Kathie Lee Gifford's tour. The rest of her stops are here:

Review tour:

Monday, March 1st: Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Tuesday, March 2nd: Bookchickdi

Thursday, March 4th: From the TBR Pile – excerpt

Friday, March 5th: A Bookish Way of Life

Saturday, March 6th: Leighellen Landskov and @mommaleighellensbooknook

Tuesday, March 9th: The Sketchy Reader

Wednesday, March 10th: @queeninbetween and The Queen in Between

Thursday, March 11th: Seaside Book Nook

Friday, March 12th: Well Read Traveler and @wellreadtraveler

Monday, March 15th: Christian Chick’s Thoughts

Tuesday, March 16th: Living My Best Book Life and @livingmybestbooklife

Thursday, March 18th: What is That Book About

Friday, March 19th: Tabi Thoughts

Saturday, March 20th: @fashionablyfifty

Monday, March 22nd: Diary of a Stay at Home Mom – review and excerpt

Wednesday, March 24th: Running Through the Storms

Friday, March 26th: View from the Birdhouse

BEA- Part #4- The big draws

BEA was an interesting experience for me, as it was my first one. I was checking out who were the big draws, and I came to a few conclusions.

Celebrities, not necessarily authors, were popular. One of the first signings I attended was early Friday morning, and it was for The View co-host Sherri Shepherd, whose book Permission Slips publishes in October. She had a long line, but she took time to chat with everyone and take photos. (see above)

Late Late Show host Craig Ferguson had a very long line that kept snaking around for the signing of his book, American on Purpose. There was one man trying to trade three tickets to the Kathie Lee Gifford signing for one Craig Ferguson ticket, but he didn't appear to have any luck. Ferguson was the moderator at a BEA breakfast, so I had the chance to hear him speak. I can tell you he is as funny at 8am as he is at 12:30am, and he really woke up the crowd.

Julie Andrews was very popular, with a long line that they had to move when they ran out of time. I saw Miss Andrews everywhere, at the Borders booth being interviewed, at C-SPAN booth being interviewed. She is so lovely, and she and her beautiful daughter have written many children's books, so she really is an author and celebrity.

Big selling authors were big draws The line for James Patterson, probably the biggest selling author out there now, was huge. He signed in two different places, and both had huge lines. Candice Bushnell, the Sex and the City author had a long line for a book signing for a book that came out months ago.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid author Jeff Kinney was so popular, they ran out of books and he signed book plates. Ditto the Top Chef chefs; they signed recipe cards when they ran out of books.

Literary authors were popular too It was good to see that more literary authors, like Michael Connelly, George Pelecanos, Joyce Carol Oates, and Jonathan Lethem also had many, many people who wanted their autographs.

The panel discussions had many fans The one on Book Reviews in 2010, sponsored by the National Book Critics Circle, was standing room only. The panel had book reviewers for print publications, as well as a representative from GoodReads.com, discussing where book reviews are headed. It was a lively discussion.

Book bloggers took center stage at the first ever Book Bloggers:The New Buzz Builders panel, moderated by Jennifer Hart, who blogs about books for Harper Collins Publishers at bookclubgirl.com. Even though this panel was not publicized as much as the other panels, the room was overflowing. There were six other popular bloggers, BethFishReads, The Written Word, Booking Mama, My Friend Amy, Maw Books, and She Is Too Fond of Books, on the panel, and the discussion was insightful, informative and interesting. There were lots of great questions, and it probably could have gone on for much longer if time allowed. The bloggers were mobbed like rock stars at the end of the panel. I think they were surprised by their popularity!