Kelly Williams Brown – …on the B.L.

Read Yes
Length 256
Quick Review A comprehensive overview on how to be gracious… Or, as I would phrase it, being gracious is easy but takes a little bit of thought, and if you have a hard time being a good person, this will help you get there. It’s also incredibly funny in an honest kind of way.

Full of unwaivering grace, humor, and optimism, Kelly Williams Brown forgoes asterisks for pineapples. This is just the beginning of all the wonderful tidbits, side notes, anecdotes, interviews, opinions, and solicited (because you’re reading it sans force, hopefully) advice. I had high hopes after her debut best selling book Adulting, and she exceeded my expectations: Brilliant!

Gracious is an important book on how to be a decent, if not good, person in this world full of hardships and less than pleasant cohabitants. Brown spent, what I imagine to be, a good amount of time talking to the gracious people surrounding her; from those she’s looked up to since childhood to those she encountered through her career. Giving credit where credit is due, she mentions so many beautifully souled people I wish I knew.

She writes exceptionally well. Maybe it’s because I connect so thoroughly to her topics (shameless plug: I wrote a thing about living through kindness before I read her book, but KWB did it so much better. You can read it if you want at: Living Out of Kindness). Basically, I think we could be best friends because reading her book is like having a one way conversation with your close friend over cake and adult beverages on a comfy couch. She has a remarkable sense of candid humor. Fearlessly Gracious tackles awkward situations such as how to be gracious when a lover (teehee) spends the night. Let’s be honest, there is no guide book on how to make that not awkward, so tips on grace are always welcome.

Gracious is a straightforward easy read with an incredible amount of depth and brevity. Vacation season is just around the corner, so if you have a beach or pool in your future, this will be the perfect companion.

I will recommend Kelly Williams Brown to anyone and everyone. Go buy it; link is below! Or it is available at Target, in case, you are out of toilet paper and going on a late night run today. I’ve never been there…

Side note about the publisher. I love that Rodale is eco friendly; meaning Gracious was printed on acid-free recycled paper. So buying this book is good for the environment! She’s even gracious in publishing.

Memorable Quotes
“It’s a word that is both feminine and divine, unlike most ancient feminine words, which often seem to be something along the lines of root vegetable/soil/something to put a penis into, etc.”
“The 1800’s, ladies and gentlemen! Definitely not as long ago as we’d like.”
“Our lives are filled with beeps that don’t stop, and each time we hear that sound, we hear that someone needs us, which means we exist.”

Title: Gracious; A Practical Primer on Charm, Tact, and Unsinkable Strength
Author: Kelly Williams Brown
Publisher: Rodale, Inc.
Copyright: 2017
ISBN: 9781623367978

Read Yes
Length 273
Quick Review Easy, breezy, beautiful, might as well be Covergirl. It’s a hilarious step by step introduction into the wonders and horrors of standing on your own two feet.

Kelly Williams Brown is not afraid to be funny, young, energetic, readable, or covers literally any topic in Adulting: How to Become a Grown Up In 468 Easy(ish) Steps. It’s a great read if you want to laugh and have a learn a few things. I like to think of myself as a fairly self-sufficient adult with quite a bit of experience under my belt, but I still learned a few things. It’s like having a discussion with a friend. She shares her adulting tips in a non-pushy, non-judgemental, hey this worked for me kind of way.

One of the more poignant moments that reverberated deeply in my soul is the commentary on how nothing whacks you into the reality of adulthood quite like the comprehension of having to repeatedly buying toilet paper. Many years ago, when I realized I was truly an adult was the moment I was sitting on the toilet with no toilet paper because for some reason it no longer magically appeared. Since then, I tell every newly branded adult to buy two packs of toilet paper in order to delay this instance. This touching moment occurs within the first twenty pages of the book. It was the moment I knew Kelly and I could be best friends, and I committed to finishing the book.

She’s full of the kind of advice your mom won’t necessarily hand out like: don’t hook-up with people in your office or HPV is a thing or friends with benefits isn’t always bad or sometimes you have to kiss ass. Then again she’s full of advice your mom (or someone) did tell you but you didn’t listen to because they’re old like: clean your cuts don’t suck them or know how much money you have coming in or RSVP it’s polite or send thank you notes.

In my opinion, she’s a successful adult. She has a job, a place to live, a cat, a bestselling novel, and another on the way all by the age of 27. I wish I were that good at adulting, but a girl can dream.

Memorable Quotes
“Oh love. It’s great, except when it’s awful.”
“Nothing is beneath you, right now, except doling out handjobs by the water-cooler. That is beneath you.”

Title: Adulting; How to Become a Grown-Up in 468 Easy(ish) Steps
Author: Kelly Williams Brown
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Copyright: 2013
ISBN: 9781455516902