Lindsey Stirling is my idol. In addition to the fact that I love her music, she represents so much of who I want to be. She is strong but not perfect. She is quirky but has a focused artistic vision and works tirelessly to achieve it. I think she and I have similar values and I admire her for holding on strong to what she believes in while navigating a difficult industry.
On Tuesday, January 12th, her first book The Only Pirate at the Party was published! It is a memoir that she co-wrote with her sister Brooke. They started their book tour in New York City, and traveled to Brookline, MA on Wednesday to sign books at Brookline Booksmith. When I had looked up the tour information, I expected I would have to travel to NYC but was pleasantly surprised to see that they would be coming to Massachusetts! The stars had aligned!
I had never been to a book signing before and I was so nervous that something would go wrong and I wouldn’t get to meet her! But everything came together and I found myself face to face with the authors! I gave her a letter I wrote explaining how much her work and her spirit mean to me. I didn’t want to get choked up when I met her, but I did. It’s overwhelming to finally meet a role model! I will go into the interaction a little more in another post, but I’ll just say they were both very gracious and I will never forget it.
Now… for my (first) book review!
The writing style was very much like she was sitting on the couch with me at 1 AM chatting about her life. I loved how personal it felt. It made the light stories funnier and the serious stories carry more weight. I read most of the book at night in bed (wearing a headlamp like a nerd!) so I had to contain my laughter to a silent giggle, but it didn’t stop me from letting tears fall when reading the more somber sections.
She highlights parts of her childhood, describes her career path to her current point, and presents lots of self-reflection along the way. I’m sure writing this book was a great experience for her as she contemplated how different life events made her feel at the time, how she feels about them now, and how she grew. And because the book felt like a private conversation between the two of us, the lessons she describes never came across as “preachy”. Even though most people reading her book are not successful musicians like her, I think everyone can take something away from the lessons she’s learned on her journey in the industry because they can relate to all aspects of life.
I feel like it must have been hard to disclose some of the more personal parts of her story, from her relationships to her eating disorder to her religious beliefs, but I applaud her decision to include them. The heartbreaking and difficult times in life are part of what makes us who we are. I have a hard time admitting certain things to myself, let alone publishing them in a book, so I totally respect and recognize the strength it must have taken to confess things to which she is embarrassed or ashamed. She deserves accolades for that! And I personally enjoy hearing about her faith; it reassures me to be unashamed of mine.
As a huge fan of Lindsey my opinion may be biased, but I definitely recommend this book to everyone. Excellent work, Stirling girls! 10/10!
Thanks for reading!
-Rebecca
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