Reviews for Hoda : how I survived war zones, bad hair, cancer, and Kathie Lee

Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

The autobiography of 46-year-old TV reporter and anchor Kotb. She's the one with the odd name perched next to Kathie Lee Gifford.The author hails from the Oklahoma heartland, where her Egyptian parents arrived not long after their wedding. After traveling the world with her family, the author did the same in her nascent career as a journalist, though she first reported the news in local TV markets. She enjoyed her New Orleans gig and is inspired still by the spirit of the Big Easy. Then came Dateline NBC in 1998, where she relished assignments overseasthough she admits she was apprehensive amid gunfire, while seasoned colleague Jim Maceda was simply irritated by the racket. Since 2007, she has been the regular convivial sidekick on the fourth hour of The Today Show. Kotb's narrative of recent years gains strength as she looks at her diagnosis of breast cancer, her husband's infidelity and the divorce proceedings. Throughout the book, the author is relentlessly upbeat, and she relates her story with simple declarative sentences that occasionally enter cringe-worthy territory. Hair is a major problem, Mom's baklava is the best and "Stone Phillips issoincrediblyhot. He just is." Kotb is fond of Beyonc, as well as "Matt, Al, Meredith, Ann, Natalie, the producers, and the crew." Ready to date again, she notes that she loves her family and music, but dislikes neatness and haute couture.Unremarkable showbiz farefrothy, easy optimism from a TV performer.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.


Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.

To millions of loyal viewers, she's Hoda Woman, Kathie Lee Gifford's slightly more restrained sidekick on the fourth hour of the Today show. Still others know her as a correspondent for Dateline, for which she has traveled from Baghdad to Burma and covered everything from hot zones to hurricanes. Now Kotb tells her own story, beginning with her Egyptian immigrant parents' embrace of the American dream right to her nightmare year battling breast cancer and dealing with divorce. Throughout, Kotb's voice is as infectiously enthusiastic as her trademark smile, each episode imbued with stalwart courage and sincere charm. From her fondness for the music of James Taylor to her fierce loyalty to New Orleans, Kotb's memoir of life on the road, on the air, and in the trenches is not only an absorbing inside look at the high-speed world of high-stakes journalism, it is also one charismatic woman's story of how a can-do attitude and caring family have provided the foundation and support for an exhilarating life.--Haggas, Carol Copyright 2010 Booklist

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