One of my guilty pleasures in life is looking at all the celebrity gossip – from tabloids at the grocery store checks to a mid-week check-in of E! News. I like seeing what lies behind the mask of celebrity, the character they play on the screen. Plus, when I’m having a bad week, it’s a good reminder that it could be worse.

Almost by accident, I started venturing into celebrity autobiographies – Holly Madison, Nia Vardalos, Amy Schumer and more. Which celebrity you want to look into may depend on what’s going on with you in your life.

Without further delay, here is my first installment of celebrity autobiographies for when you…

Are feeling discouraged…

There are a lot of couples out there who are struggling every day with infertility. Women and men who are monthly scrutinized, analyzed, poked and prodded only to be faced with a negative pregnancy test yet again.

Some couples come out on the other side of this journey holding their brand new biological child. Nia Vardalos and her husband had to face the fact that this would not be how their journey ended – but it would end with a child in their arms.

Nia’s honesty regarding her physical and emotional journey into motherhood along with her uncanny Greek humor that we have grown to love in her movies makes Instant Mom an interesting read. And whether you’re struggling with a setback at work or are going through the exact journey that Nia describes, this book is inspiring and reminds us that there is always light at the end of the tunnel.

Are feeling nostalgic…

Remember that time we all got drunk and… The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo is a compilation of essays written by comedian Amy Schumer. Most of her stories involve drinking or having sex or drinking and having sex… But not all. In between you’ll find essays about Amy’s family, her struggle with public scrutiny and her whirlwind road to fame.

While I found some of Amy’s stories to be somewhat repetitive and tedious, there’s a little of Amy in all of us Gen Xers. It made me nostalgic for the times when it was just us girls going out and tearing up the town. I’m glad to hear that recently Amy has settled a bit and black-out stories are becoming harder to come by.

If you’re not much of a reader, you can get most of these stories on Amy’s new The Leather Special now available on Netflix.But what kind of bookworm are you if you don’t read it?

Are feeling bitter…

What do you do after your ex-boyfriend pops the question to a younger, newer version of you? Down the Rabbit Hole: Curious Adventures and Cautionary Tales of a Former Playboy Bunny is the story of The Girls Next Door as told by a still bothered Holly Madison. It pulls the curtains back on the Playboy Mansion and points out the frays on the carpet and the old-fashion curfew for the bunnies.

Holly takes us back to the beginning when she was an awkward, young girl trying to make it in Hollywood when the call of the Playboy Mansion promised her a fast-track. Unfortunately, she got sidetracked instead in this “Wonderland” and it took her a while to find the looking glass that would lead her away from this life detour.

Just remember to keep skeptical as you read this memoir. Holly looks at some people with rose-colored glasses and others with the sting of bitterness. This is one perspective of a story that calls for a minimum of five different viewpoints.

Really Get The Story…

I recommend reading these books via audio book. The authors themselves narrate the stories and so there’s no mystery to the inflection, lightheartedness or sarcasm that comes across in their voices during their stories.

Have you read any celebrity autobiographies lately? What did you think? Leave your comments below and keep the conversation going.