Review: "Falling for Me: A Memoir" by Anna David

Single and childless, Anna David finds herself contemplating the decisions that she's made that have led here here: in her 30's with a successful career but with only her cats for company. She's certainly not unhappy with her life, she's accomplished a lot of great things and has had some adventures along the way, but she wonders what else is out there for her. Is that perfect guy waiting around the corner? Or is she destined to be on her own?

While seeking answers, Anna comes across the book Sex and the Single Girl, the bestseller by Helen Gurley Brown. Despite the fact that the book was written many years ago, and some of the advice is outdated, Anna decides to follow Brown's advice in an effort to venture out of her comfort zone and possibly meet a man. For the next while Anna spends time updating her decor, dating people that she never would previously have given a chance, and travelling to Seville to expand her horizons, but in the end she ends up meeting someone that she hasn't seen in a while: herself.

Despite the fact that I've been with my husband for almost a decade now, I enjoyed following along with Anna as she sets out to change her life and possibly even herself. Her journey is easy to relate to whether you're married or single. I veered off of the career path when I had my boys, and while I don't regret a single second of the time that I've spent with them, I do sometimes wonder what life would be like now if I had pursued a career instead of motherhood. Instead I find myself rapidly approaching my 30's wondering what it is that I want to be when I "grow up". Anna's revelation is similar, only the opposite. She's got the fabulous career, but is missing the man and possibly the children, so she sets out with the help of Sex and the Single Girl to see if this is something that she even wants.

Anna David is not the first person to write about persuing her goals over a set period of time, and that may be the only thing that took away from the book as a whole for me. I couldn't help but feel that I'd "been there, done that" while I was reading it. Anna David herself could not have written anything any differently that would change my mind about this, it's just simply a matter of the genre exploding over the past year or so. Despite this, I found myself enjoying and relating to this book in many ways. The writing was compelling, her story interesting, and the ending fabulous. The message is one that we can all take home with us: it's worth taking the time to fall in love with yourself regardless of what path you choose to take in life. It's a lesson that we can all take to heart and hopefully apply to our own lives in some way. Falling for Me is an enjoyable journey that you will not regret taking.

For more on Anna David and her books please visit her website, Facebook page, or her blog. You can check out the trailer for Falling for Me here. My thanks to TLC Book Tours for inviting me along!