Guest Book Review: I'm Your Biggest Fan

By Caryn Strean

As a teenager, I was pretty impressed with my monthly Teen Beat subscription. As I got older, I was sure to subscribe regularly to People and Entertainment Weekly for my weekly dose of celebrity news and gossip. Even though so much is now available online, I still subscribe to the paper copies as something fun to read with my morning coffee.

So when I found out People Executive Editor Kate Coyne had a new book released about her growing up and working with celebrities, it was immediately put on my must-read list. I can easily say I'm Your Biggest Fan was filled with much more gossip than last week’s glossy.

The book starts out with Kate as a "Page Six" reporter for the New York Post, moving to a glamorous editor spot for Good Housekeeping, and finally (after a Conan O’Brien fiasco I don’t want to spoil for you) to her current home, at People magazine. Celebrity interview stories are the focus, as well as cringe-worthy times she has met a celebrity that didn’t end well for her. She includes short stories of her childhood and adolescence, mostly just to give background information on how she became a fan.

With each chapter featuring one celebrity encounter, this would be a perfect book to read by the pool or even read alongside a different book, heading back for just one chapter for another funny anecdote.

Given her current job title, what I love most is that she doesn’t name drop. Because she can. She shares amusing tidbits where she embarrasses herself or a certain mega TV star backs away slowly from their conversation, looking for a quick exit. She is not afraid to hide the truth. And she manages to make it funny. Jen Lancaster fan? Any interest at all in pop culture? Pick up this book.

Kate Coyne, I’m YOUR biggest fan.

Thanks to Hachette for the book in exchange for an honest review.

Caryn Strean is a mom by day and reader by night. Asking her to name her favorite book is like asking her to choose a favorite child. Her friends call her The Book Whisperer. Caryn can be reached on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.