Included in Time's 100 Must Read Books of 2021 list * A New York
Times Best Seller * One of Audible's Best of The Year * AV Club's
Best Books to Buy
"Funny, tender, and so good." -- Mindy Kaling, #1 New York
Times bestselling author of Why Not Me?
Remember when we hit it off so well that we decided We're Going to
Need More Wine? Well, this time you and I are going to turn to our
friend the bartender and ask, You Got Anything Stronger? I promise to
continue to make you laugh, but with this round, the stakes get higher
as the conversation goes deeper.
So. Where were we?
Right, you and I left off in October 2017, when my first book came out.
The weeks before were filled with dreams of loss. Pets dying. My husband
leaving me. Babies not being born. My therapist told me it was my soul
preparing for my true self to emerge after letting go of my grief. I had
finally spoken openly about my fertility journey. I was having second
thoughts--in fact, so many thoughts they were organizing to go on
strike. But I knew I had to be honest because I didn't want other women
going through IVF to feel as alone as I did. I had suffered in
isolation, having so many miscarriages that I could not give an exact
number. Strangers shared their own journeys and heartbreak with me. I
had led with the truth, and it opened the door to compassion.
When I released We're Going to Need More Wine, the response was so
great people asked when I would do a sequel. The New York Times even
ran a headline reading "We're Going to Need More Gabrielle Union."
Frankly, after being so open and honest in my writing, I wasn't sure
there was more of me I was ready to share. But life happens with all its
plot twists. And new stories demand to be told. This time, I need to be
more vulnerable--not so much for me, but anyone who feels alone in what
they're going through.
A lot has changed in four years--I became a mom and I'm raising two
amazing girls. My husband retired. My career has expanded so that I have
the opportunity to lift up other voices that need to be heard. But the
world has also shown us that we have a lot we still have to fight
for--as women, as black women, as mothers, as aging women, as human
beings, as friends. In You Got Anything Stronger?, I show you how this
ever-changing life presents challenges, even as it gives me moments of
pure joy. I take you on a girl's night at Chateau Marmont, and I also
talk to Isis, my character from Bring It On. For the first time, I
truly open up about my surrogacy journey and the birth of Kaavia James
Union Wade. And I take on racist institutions and practices in the
entertainment industry, asking for equality and real accountability.
You Got Anything Stronger? is me at my most vulnerable. I have
recently found true strength in that vulnerability, and I want to share
that power with you here, through this book.
