Mowry-Housley is former child star and current working actress. Viewers may know her from; ‘Sister, Sister’ which ran from 1994 to 1999 as part of the TGIF Friday lineup on ABC, the TV movie ‘Twitches’, the Lifetime TV show ‘Strong Medicine’, ‘Tia and Tamera’ the reality TV show she starred in with her sister, and ‘The Real’ talk show.

Synopsis

More about life advice than a traditional memoir, Mowry-Housely gives a brief overview of how she became a child star working in LA – Her family flew out from Texas and they had exactly 30 days to make it happen.

The book moves on to how she vacillated between a ‘normal’ civilian life or continuing on with acting. Unsurprisingly she chooses acting. The life advice portion really starts to kick in as the memoir turns to her young adult years, the misspent relationships, and the marriage to her husband Adam. The later half gets into the difficulty of the time on talk show ‘The Real’ and how it turned out to be a very bad fit for her personality, where a simple comments or conversation could be taken out of context and turned into internet fodder.

Some parts of her life are noticeably absent. Shockingly she doesn’t delve too deeply into being a child star and a twin in the 90s when broadcast still had significant ratings pull over cable. 

Surprise Revelation

After  ‘Sister, Sister’s run ended initially, Tamera thought about quitting acting and becoming a child psychologist. 

Is it Worth Your Time

In this conversational and light-hearted book, the reader is literally greeted in the first pages, regaled with stories of a decades-spanning career, and even taken on a tour of the author’s closet. There is a delicate balance of sweetness and snark as the author can go from recounting her days as a beauty pageant contestant, noting the ludicrous notion that the young contestants should compete in evening wear, to the fanciful, as the author casts a series of dates as a movie pitch. 

The title may be a bit of a misnomer as if her book contains grandiose or shocking revelations within. In fact, the reader will find quite the opposite.  The memoir is more an opportunity to sit, take time to enjoy the journey down memory lane, and grab your favorite cookies while you are at it. Readers will find a series of comforting stories in vignettes that will be a breeze to finish and is the rare book that makes one feel better for having read it.

Title: You Should Site Down For This. A Memoir about, Wine, Life, and Cookies
Author: Tamera Mowry-Housley
Published: 2022
Pages: 178

Photo Credit – Legacy Lit Books