Review: "Permission Slips" by Sherri Shepherd

I have to admit that I've never watched The View. I might, someday, but for right now my daytime television watching is dominated by Treehouse TV, a great channel for my 2- and 4- year- olds. My knowledge of Sherri Shepherd prior to reading this book was limited to the fact that she was Robert's partner on Everybody Loves Raymond and that she voiced the character of Ben Stiller's (the lion's) mother on Madagascar 2: Escape to Africa. However, Permission Slips caught my attention, especially because the subtitle is Every Woman's Guide to Giving Herself a Break. As a woman, a wife, and a mom, it's not often that I do give myself a break and I thought that Sherri Shepherd may have some advice on this.

Boy did she ever! Sherri Shepherd has been through so many things in life so far, including (but not limited t0) abortion, giving birth to a premature son, divorce, infidelity, dating men who were in jail, and infertility. This woman has seen and experienced more than I ever want to! Throughout this book she shares her personal story, and uses her own experiences to encourage other women to give themselves a bit of a break. Every mom and wife and woman feels the pressure to be "perfect" (I know that I do!) and Sherri is here to tell us that we will never be perfect. All we can do is do our best without losing ourselves in the process. She tells us to go ahead and make mistakes, as long as we can learn from them (or laugh at them) later.

I really loved this book. It was the perfect balance between a really interesting memoir and a self-help book. Through it all, she makes it known that she is a Christian, and that although this is how she chooses to live her life, she's not preaching at anyone about how they choose to live theirs. She's been there. Above all, I found that this book was positive and uplifting. What I took from it is that I will never, ever be perfect, but I can certainly try every day to be the best me that I can be. This book would make a great gift for a friend who could use a pick-me-up or for yourself when you're just having a down day (did I mention that Sherri is hilarious?).

Thank-you to The Hachette Book Group for this review copy. While you're here, make sure that you enter my contest to win 1 of 5 copies of this book! The contest runs until October 25, 2009 at midnight, so hurry! You can also check out Rundpinne's review of this book here!