Thanks for Waiting

The Joy (& Weirdness) of Being a Late Bloomer

De: Doree Shafrir

Narrado por: Doree Shafrir

An honest, witty, and insightful memoir about what happens when your coming-of-age comes later than expected

“Thanks for Waiting is the loving, wise, cuttingly funny older sister we all need in book form.”—Tara Schuster, author of Buy Yourself the F*cking Lilies

Doree Shafrir spent much of her twenties and thirties feeling out of sync with her peers. She was an intern at twenty-nine and met her husband on Tinder in her late thirties, after many of her friends had already gotten married, started families, and entered couples’ counseling. After a long fertility struggle, she became a first-time mom at forty-one, joining Mommy & Me classes where most of the other moms were at least ten years younger. And while she was one of Gawker’s early hires and one of the first editors at BuzzFeed, she didn’t find professional fulfillment until she co-launched the successful self-care podcast Forever35—at forty.

Now, in her debut memoir, Shafrir explores the enormous pressures we feel, especially as women, to hit particular milestones at certain times and how we can redefine what it means to be a late bloomer. She writes about everything from dating to infertility, to how friendships evolve as you get older, to why being pregnant at forty-one is unexpectedly freeing—all with the goal of appreciating the lives we’ve lived so far and the lives we still hope to live.

Thanks for Waiting is about how achieving the milestones you thought were so important don’t always happen on the time line you imagined. In a world of 30 Under 30 lists, this book is a welcome reminder that it’s okay to live life at your own speed.

Very enjoyable

I really enjoyed hearing Doree’s story. She is a fantastic writer. Initially I wasn’t loving her performance but I realized it seemed too slow. I sped it up to 1.2 speed and it sounds exactly how she sounds on her podcasts.

Relatable, refreshing, and highly entertaining!

Absolutely loved this book as I felt that the author was so relatable and wrote her story with the perfect blend of self-deprecating humor and wisdom. Highly recommend!!

Extension of Forever35

Compelling, relatable, joyful, and thought-provoking! If you are a Forever35 listener, this book is truly an extension of the podcast. The book is a chance to get to know Doree even more and appreciate what she’s been through, who she is, and how she helped co-create the community behind Forever35. And we all have a revenge leather jacket and the office stories to go with it! Love all the mini-stories and love the book more! A quick, fun, fulfilling read!
Reviewer- I. Stein

So Relatable

I heard so much of my own life experiences in Doree’s narrative. It was interés to hear how similar circumstances affected her the same way they affected me. So glad to have found this book.

Great book but director stymied the narrator

If you are a fan of Doree, you will no doubt love this book! And when you get to chapter 17, you may instinctively hear a retooled “Maude” theme song with the words, “and then there’s Matt!”

I wish there was a way to critique the director, because i know Doree has the chops to knock the narration out of the park! She already has “her voice.”

But constructive criticism: the narration felt really slow-paced and monotoned. Even the parts where excitement should flow naturally, it felt as though Doree wasn’t allowed to use “her voice.”

To prove my point that she indeed has a great voice, listen to her read the end credits. She sounds bright, enthusiastic, no voice-fry…in other words, she sounds like Doree.

I have listened to dozens of other books read by authors who speak for a living, and their audiobooks sound like themselves. This one, not so much.

Again, i can’t help but wonder what stage directions were given. I guess if the goal was to maintain certain levels, and maintain an even and slow pace, well…mission accomplished.

But it really felt like Doree was done a disservice by not being allowed to use her own, professional voice that’s she developed over the years of speaking for a living.