A Little Closer to Home: How I Found the Calm After the Storm

by Ginger Zee

In Ginger Zee's follow-up to the bestselling Natural Disaster, the ABC chief meteorologist takes readers on a much deeper journey of self discovery.

When Ginger Zee opened her life to readers in Natural Disaster, the response was enormous. She put a very relatable if surprising face on depression and has helped lessen the stigma surrounding mental health issues. But Ginger tells us, Natural Disaster was "Ginger Lite" and only scratched the surface.

In this moving follow-up, Ginger shares her truest self. She spent most of her life shielding her vulnerabilities from the world all while being a professional people pleaser. Her stormy childhood, her ongoing struggles with crippling depression, her suicide attempts, and many other life experiences will resonate with readers who are likely to see themselves along the way.

In spite of its serious subject matter, Ginger's positive, life-affirming outlook comes through loud and clear. Written with great heart and quite a bit of humor, Ginger normalizes issues and challenges millions of people face every day. A Little Closer to Home will broaden the conversation around mental health at a time we need it more than ever.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Audiobook, Biography, Autobiography, Mental Health, Biography Memoir

Audiobook

Reviews

[Linden · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't watch morning TV so I had never seen Ginger Zee do the weather on Good Morning America. I like memoirs, though, and this one is intense and candid. She is extremely candid, and no topic, including rape, divorce, suicide, mental illness, domestic abuse, and abortion, is off limits. Ginger realizes that she was lucky, for despite all of the trauma in her life, she ultimately wound up with her dream career and a caring husband. I liked her (meteorological) message to readers, especially to other women survivors of trauma: "The storms don't last forever; they can't and they won't. It's not how the atmosphere works and it's not how life works." Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review this ARC.

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't really know much about Ginger Zee or her last book but this newest memoir is powerful and full of her struggles with mental health. Read with care because Ginger goes into some heavy topics from rape, abortion, attempted suicide, depression and life during COVID. The mental health rep in this book is amazing. I fully believe there are people out there that need to hear her story! Highly recommended and great on audio read by the author! Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing my ALC!

[Kim Wilch · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had no idea Ginger Zee was a GMA meteorologist and television personality until my husband and several friends mentioned it upon seeing the book on the table. That's nice - who cares? Not me. I believe we all put our shoes on, one at a time, and am not impressed with celebrity. Then I read the book and absolutely fell in love with Ginger.
This book is the stuff. I mostly admire her for putting herself out on the table and telling her story. The cold hard truth - no topic, including rape, divorce, suicide, mental illness, domestic abuse, and abortion, is off limits. That earns respect in my book. Her celebrity offers the ability to reach a wide audience - but her story keeps me turning the pages. This is a book of hope and I highly recommend it.

[Meredith B. (readingwithmere) · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fantastic book. If you are a mental health warrior you will want to pick this up. Highly recommend on audio. Full RTC!

[Savannah Hendricks · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't read the first book by Ms. Zee, but she puts just enough information in this current book to not need it. So if you skipped the first book, etc you won't feel lost reading this one. I appreciate the honesty of the memoir and felt I took several meaningful things away from it. **I should note that I don't watch Ms. Zee on TV, I did many years ago when I watched the news/weather, so I picked up this book because it sounded interesting.

[My Nguyen · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars A little scattered but her messages are so intentionally written! Loved her first book and this one was great too!

[Lisa P · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love everything Ginger does. Emotional but lots of humor within.

[Edna B.Clifton · Rating 3 out of 5]

No comment

Got bored with the same story being told over and over. The book could have been shorter. Would not recommend.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A Little Closer to Home
By: Ginger Zee
Publisher: Hyperion Avenue
Pub Date: 1/11/22

Thanks to NetGalley, Hyperion Avenue and Ginger Zee for the ARC of this book.
GMA meteorologist Ginger Zee is back with another book. She has had so much trauma in her short life. She goes into great detail about her depression. I’m so glad people like Ginger who have a larger platform continue sharing their struggles. It helps people relate to each other. I hope she continues to write and speak on this topic.
Ginger has narrated both of her audiobooks. I really enjoy when authors take on that task. The story is just a little deeper with the author narrating their own work.

[Marika · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ginger Zee, ABC News' Chief Meteorologist, has written a follow-up to her first book *Natural Disaster: I Cover Them. I am One.* In this memoir she outlines the factors that contributed to her anxiety, the eating disorder that she battled and more. Ginger holds nothing back as she recounts being raped, her drinking etc. In this book she has written one of the most moving accounts of what it's like to have an abortion and the effect(s) it had on her. Readers will come away knowing that celebrities are just like us, complex creatures.

* I read an advance copy and was not compensated

[Rachel007 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was a good memoir overall. A little disjointed at times but compelling and well written. Not a full five stars for me because - do we really need to discuss caloric numbers when talking about anorexia? Sigh. Come on. Plus, she kept referencing her first book (something I haven’t read yet) and that would pull me out of the book.

[Lisa Neri · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVED this book, I couldn't put it down!

Gingers brutally honest stories from her past that shaped her into the person she became.... to who she is today is just amazing.

So many parts of her book really shook me. Things she went through. Her home life growing up. Her battles. How she still works on all of this today.

She makes me realize that no one " has it all together'. We are all working on something

My favorite part of the book
Was the chapter "Labels"

[Christie Maliyackel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was 5 stars throughout, but I found my attention waning for the last quarter of the book. I love Ginger’s writing style (she’s a journalist for a reason!) and appreciate her openness and candidness about her struggles. It’s a great follow-on to her first book.

[Ro Behning]

Great book on her story. Easy read

[Tammy Pacenza · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. So honest. That must of been difficult to put into words. Great story!

[Bonnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audio
Read by Ginger Zee

[John Danek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Timely, honest, poignant, introspective. Herein lies wisdom.

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I preferred her first memoir, Natural Disaster.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great, honest and raw story. Thank you Ginger for sharing your story for all to learn and relate to. As someone who had similar struggles with anxiety and depression this is a great read with insight and advice.

Thank you netgalley for allowing me to read an advance copy for a review.

[Amy Moritz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I became a GMA viewer a few years ago which first introduced me to Ginger Zee. I came to love her climate and environmental reporting. I follow her on Insta. She inspires me at times to be a better person and gives voice to important issues in ways that are accessible to those of us without science degrees.

I did not read her first book, and perhaps one of my criticisms in this book is how often she says "wrote about that in my first book" ... but I understand why she did that.

Her story is powerful. And while the specificity of her life story and events are not something I directly share, there is much to relate to here -- especially for women, especially around the idea of identity and healing and finding ways to be.

For the record, I kinda wanted to give it 3 stars because it felt a bit light in places, but I'm coming off reading some heavy duty books so that can be an unfair place to be read/judged against. 3.75 if I could dice it up a bit!

Love the read. Love her. And love her more now.

[Stacie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have really admired Ginger Zee from watching her on “Good Morning America” as well as how she handles the trolls on social media. I’m shocked at what people will say to her (on social media) and about her, but she always, ALWAYS handles disrespect and vitriol with grace and a bit of sass.

Her memoir, her second, chronicles her years of dealing with anorexia and depression as well as the repercussions of choices in her life due to alcohol. Her story includes sexual assault and suicide attempts so if that is a trigger for you, be aware.

Zee narrates the audio version which is why I chose to listen. Her narration was authentic and her story is one for many to learn from and know that no one fights these battles alone. Her memoir only made me more impressed with her and how she chooses to live life. Choose this if you’d like a memoir that leaves you hopeful with a life-affirming message for those who need them. Ginger is a positive role model for teens and young women reminding them you are not your mistakes. You can overcome anything!

[Lynne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read an unproofed advance copy of the book I’d acquired. I love that Ginger lays it all out there about the stigma and struggles she’s had with mental illness. While this is not her first memoir on the topic, she often references her first book so much that I have a FOMO from not reading that first, even though A Little Closer to Home could easily be a stand alone book. While she addressed difficult topics, she was blunt and jumped around a bit too much for me. Overall I’m glad I read it and am happy that someone with some media influence wrote about mental illness, I may not have enjoyed it as much if it had been written by an unknown.

[Lisa Konet · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed GInger Zee's last book, Natural Disaster, and this one is just as raw, honest and emotional. She continues to be honest about who she is, where she came from and how she has coped with such a hard past (rape, divorce, an eating disorder; to name a few). I could not put this down once I started it and have even more respect for her as a woman and a professional.

A highly recommended biography.

Thanks to Netgalley, Ginger Zee and Disney Publishing Worldwide Hyperion Avenue for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Available: 10/12/21

[Julie keener · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really really wanted to like this book more. I read the first one and get the same way. I definitely felt like a second book was needed because it seemed like so much was left out in the first one. I enjoyed how open she was with things she has gone through and makes her more relatable and helps people understand depression that may not get it. But I felt like this book was all over the place with the timeline. I get it’s how her chapters were broken down but it just made it chaotic.

[Terri · Rating 4 out of 5]

The memoir of Ginger Z is candid and emotional. Her raw experiences and self discovery in the face of personal disasters- abusive relationships, rapes, abortion, and two suiccide attempt makes for revealing, almost embarrassing reading. She bares all in this memorire and takes the reader along for the ride.

[Hannah Hedgepeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great memoir by an amazing woman! Her story is so inspiring and it's amazing to see the challenges she has faced and overcome in her life. I admire her so much.

Trigger warning for suicide, abortion, sexual assault, and substance abuse.

[Sarah Ewald · Rating 4 out of 5]

I knew Ginger Zee when she was doing the weather at Channel 5 in Chicago. Liked her. Didn't follow her journey to GMA in New York, and I vaguely remember her being on Dancing with the Stars. I had read her 1st book, and my review at them time was that I liked it, and admired her for showing a bit of her foibles.
This book seems to expose her dark side all the more. I don't know how I feel about that, but I do admire it when someone is honest about their past and their shortcomings. She deals with a lot in this book, for which she 'labels' herself at the beginning of each chapter (much like how you see someone on the TV and there is a short label telling how they are related to what they are talking about, as in Professor, or expert in such and such)
She has gone through a lot in her life, and I am somewhat astounded that she was so naïve about so many things in her early years. One could put blame on parents for divorcing, but she seems past that and accepting of her step-siblings and her parents' partners.
Other things: date rape, abortion, suicide attempts, alcohol abuse... wow. You would never know it from her 'shiny' exterior. You really never know what someone has gone through and has overcome.
She recalls how she listened to the Brett Kavanagh hearings, and the testimony of Christine Blasey-Ford, and how it close it was to her memory.
"I heard Christine Blasey-Ford's voice echo in my ear and then worm deep into my brain and memory. Her intimate description of sexual assault was so vivid and hit more than a little close to home. My cheeks flushed, I looked around to see how many people were in the studio because I knew I was going to cry. The tears started flowing and I couldn't stop them. I didn't want to. I knew in that moment it was important to feel. No matter what happened at the hearing, I felt that testimony evoke emotion and trauma in me that I had not addressed but knew I needed to. I realized that not only had I never dealt with my experience of rape, but it had spiraled into years of other traumatic events and a horrible habit of ignoring them all."

She talks honestly about her suicide attempts, and how for a long time she wore a 'mask of a smile' to cover up how she was really feeling, and how it really hit home when she read a FB posting from a group of female meteorologists about how one of their own had died by suicide. Not that the profession is prone to those acts, but because their profession was encouraged to smile constantly. (no one wants to hear the weather from a person who frowns)
"Mental illness is not something you can see, and it's extremely complex when it comes to diagnosis and treatment. For example, many people are never diagnosed (owing mostly to the stigma attached to it). And these people may spend years finding the right treatment or medicate that works for them."
In light of the recent suicide of Naomi Judd, we should all be more understanding...

There's a lot to unpack in this book, and that many not be to the liking of some, and it did make me a bit uncomfortable reading some of the details. But then, life can be messy sometimes.

[Kimberly Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars, which I will round down to 3 stars overall.

I think like most people on here, I did not read Ginger's first book. I had it saved on my Bookoutlet Canada wishlist but this one came up for cheaper first so I got it, not realizing it was the second book from this writer. I am not sure it matters that I did not read the first book though. A few times Ginger will make a reference after a story that she talked about this in the first book but, she also left a good account of the story anyway so, in my opinion, you don't need to read the first book before this one.

This book reads like a bunch of short stories, or essays, put together. The title of each chapter is what story or stories are being talked about. In a way, I like this kind of book because the chapter focuses on the particular topic but, at times, like this one, I do not like it as much. I found the chapters to be disjointed. They did not flow and some chapters, like one on Hugs for example, did not seem to need to be there. Spoiler alert, Ginger did not grow up in a home with hugs and a friend of hers said this might be a problem when she was a teenager for her future romantic relationships. It is not though, for Ginger or anyone else I know who is not a hugger.

On the flip side, some chapters, or stories, are more relevant to Ginger as a whole person. You learn about her experience with divorced parents who do not like each other. You learn about her stepmother, who she had a good relationship with in the beginning and then no so much later on. You learned about her need for perfection, which drove her towards an eating disorder. It also affected her mental health and she discusses living with depression here.

What I really liked about this book was that Ginger almost normalizes some things that have happened to her. When she talks about her eating disorder, she discusses what it was like, her family's reaction, and how she lived with it. I liked that Ginger was very honest about it and notes that, while she is not "anorexic" right now, she still lives with eating issues and she has to be mindful of that. I like that she mentioned that. Too often someone says they are cured, when really it is something you live with and have to continue to deal with. The same could be said for her stories about living with depression and her suicide attempts. She could have hid all of that from the writers but, she put it out there and said she always has to live with these feelings and her story.

The reason for my 3.5 stars, which I rounding down to 3 stars, is because I did not love this book. I wanted to. I was very invested right in the beginning but, as it went on, I was less interested and started skipping pages. While all of the stories might be relevant to Ginger and shows her growth as a person, some of the stories presented here felt like there were there to add to page count rather than to show any growth or learning as a person.

[Andrex · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two attempted suicides, one abortion, two likely drug induced rapes, anorexia, promiscuity, poor choices, love and healing. Those are just a few of the issues you will read about as you delve into Ginger's story. NONE of Ginger's story is about pointing fingers. She makes it very clear from the beginning that she does not want to politicize abortion nor take sides. Instead Ginger hopes to open up the conversation, share the guilt and share her experience with others. After two failed suicides and having heard other's tell of the ones who did not survive, she wants to bring suicide into the light, and get the people who suffer with mental health issues the help that they need. What about the major hormone drop after her abortion? No one warned her about that. She wished that she she had been given more information on the safer, more reliable forms of contraceptive. Whilst the anorexia and depression are still with her to some degree she says that she is high functioning and living at peace. Is she still going to therapy? Yes!

Ginger's childhood was not a happy one. Her parents divorced when she was young and didn't talk to each other for 12 years! This was VERY difficult for Ginger and her brother. I am sure many of you will identify with some of what these two children experienced during this harrowing time. Ginger longed for affection and so turned to other men. Then came rape. Promiscuity was her answer to attempt to cover up the trauma. Did it work?

Ginger was a victim of some horrible happenings. She could have chosen to live life with that victim mentality. Instead she finally came to the place where she sought help. It's been a long, many times rough journey, but she knows she is a much better person today. She is still on the road to healing and likely will be for a long time but that's okay.

Most of you reading this review and considering purchasing this book probably already know who Ginger Zee is. You may also be shaking your head in disbelief that a famous person ever experienced some of what you or a loved one has or is going through. There is NO arrogance in this book or a "I told you so" attitude. Whilst the book is well written grammatically etc. it is also VERY real. Ginger shares her heart, her hurt, her traumatic childhood, her abusive relationships and more. She desires for those suffering in silence to have the courage to speak up and get the help needed. She doesn't want anyone to suffer in silence like she did for many, many years.

It's not all gloomy! You will also read about some of her career and the stories she has covered in various parts of the world. Whilst harrowing at times, this was a good book to read. I was provided a copy by the publisher. Thanks, Liz

[Rajiv · Rating 4 out of 5]

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“A Little Closer to Home” is the new memoir by ABC meteorologist Ginger Zee, and I found it entertaining and impressive.

To begin with, I didn’t know much about the author because I had not seen her on television. Yet, I could not put it down as soon as I picked up the memoir. I liked how candid the author is about her life experiences dealing with mental health, anorexia, and rape. From her parents’ divorce to her relationship with Pam, the author writes in a matter-of-fact manner where you feel like you are reading the life of a close member. Each chapter deals with a particular story of how the experiences made the author grow and deal with her inner turmoils, which was interesting.

What’s also sweet about this memoir is how the author makes the book lighthearted in a few chapters. I loved reading about Camp Hug-A-Lot and her friendship with Liz and Alysha. Similarly, some chapters also made me emotional, like how the author talks about abortion or hides her insecurities behind her smile. Some of the memorable chapters for me in the book were “It Really Doesn’t Matter and Nobody Cares” (which is so true), where the author talks about Renee and Ginger and the pageant experience. Moreover, I did not know about the concept of fire chakra until I read this book.

The author touches on subjects that made me connect with the changes I unconsciously made with my life, especially in the chapter about labels and meditation. Similarly, the author also gets personal about her relationship, like Michael and Leo, and her husband, which I thought added a nice touch.

Overall, “A Little Closer to Home” is a beautiful memoir that inspires you to look forward to life no matter how challenging it gets.