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  • Your Own Kind of Girl

  • A Memoir
  • By: Clare Bowditch
  • Narrated by: Clare Bowditch
  • Length: 11 hrs and 28 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (3,018 ratings)

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Your Own Kind of Girl cover art

Your Own Kind of Girl

By: Clare Bowditch
Narrated by: Clare Bowditch
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Publisher's Summary

Award-winning singer and actress Clare Bowditch confronts her inner critic in this no-holds-barred memoir.  

This is the story I promised myself, aged 21, that I would one day be brave enough - and well enough - to write.

Clare Bowditch has always had a knack for telling stories. Through her music and performing, this beloved Australian artist has touched hundreds of thousands of lives. But what of the stories she used to tell herself? That 'real life' begins only once you're thin or beautiful, that good things happen only to other people.  

Your Own Kind of Girl reveals a childhood punctuated by grief, anxiety and compulsion and tells how these forces shaped Clare's life for better and for worse. This is a heartbreaking, wise and at times playful memoir. Clare's own story told raw and as it happened. A reminder that even on the darkest of nights, victory is closer than it seems.  

With startling candour, Clare lays bare her truth in the hope that doing so will inspire anyone who's ever done battle with their inner critic. This is the work of a woman who has found her true power - and wants to pass it on. 

Happiness, we discover, is possible only when we take charge of the stories we tell ourselves. 

©2019 Clare Bowditch (P)2019 Story Baker Pty Ltd

Critic Reviews

"The words that kept coming to me over and over again as I read this book were authenticity and decency. Clare Bowditch made me feel how wonderful and difficult and amazing it is to be a human." (Leigh Sales)  

"Brutal at times but funny as f**k. This book will change a lot of lives for the better." (Bernard Fanning)  

"Reading this book felt as intimate as having a long, heart-breakingly vulnerable yet hilarious conversation with Clare by a fire with wine in hand. It is a celebration of the human struggle, how we can learn to befriend (and say "f**k off" to) our demons, and ultimately write our own story. There is so much hope in this book." (Missy Higgins)    

What listeners say about Your Own Kind of Girl

Average Customer Ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    2,310
  • 4 Stars
    440
  • 3 Stars
    137
  • 2 Stars
    62
  • 1 Stars
    69
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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    2,285
  • 4 Stars
    247
  • 3 Stars
    86
  • 2 Stars
    34
  • 1 Stars
    49
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    2,053
  • 4 Stars
    402
  • 3 Stars
    124
  • 2 Stars
    46
  • 1 Stars
    66

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Couldn't get past the first 30 minutes.

As this is a memoir, I found it annoying that she starts every sentence with I remember. I lost count how many times she said this in the first 5 minutes. And then it continues the same for the next 25 minutes so I gave up. The stories may be good but so far the writing is not. I am returning this title.

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45 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Sorry Clare

I’ve really enjoyed everything I’ve seen of Clare Bowditch and her musical and acting talent but I couldn’t get into this book. I didn’t enjoy it, couldn’t finish it and probably haven’t given it enough of a chance to unfold but I found it depressing and self indulgent and couldn’t be convinced to see it through. Disappointed and sorry I bothered. Love your music though Clare. You’re incredibly talented.

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28 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Best Book for all women

I heard about this book from crappy to happy podcast when Cass Dunn interviewed Clare Bowditch. She recommended the audio book which was read by Clare. I’ve listened to several audio books and by far this was the best one. Not only it’s narrated by the author but she incorporated songs introducing the chapter, she also played some of the tape recordings she mentioned.

Now the content was also amazing. She made me feel that it was okay to have someone like Frank inside my mind, doubting everything I do. This book was not just a memoir but it really resonated with me and I would listen to it again and again. Thank you Clare for writing this book. You are truly amazing.

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26 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Couldn't get past the second chapter

Clare has an incredible voice and I don't know much about her aside from her stint on Offspring...and so it shall remain.

I nearly gave up several times in the first chapter, pushed through till some way into the second chapter and had to call it quits.
Tedious repetitive "I remember..." and then mundane childhood memories over and over and over again, read in a slow story book telling voice like you would expect from your favourite kindergarten teacher.

A very "soft" book from what I tried...

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14 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Just What I Needed to Hear.

Deeply moving. So easy to relate to the feelings conveyed in her story. And it was as if Clare herself was sitting in my kitchen, talking to me, while I worked. Loved this rollercoaster.

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13 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Let down by a lack of editing

Honest, brave, sad and funny but also a little too flabby in the second half. I found myself wishing your editor had knuckled down and weeded out the long windedness and (what I thought was) unnecessary detail in this part of the book which I found a bit of a slog to read.

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11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A fabulous authentic work of art

Thankyou Clare, for such an honest expression, this book made me laugh and cry.. she’s a fantastic story teller.. so authentic, it’s the kind of book that just makes you feel so ok to be you.. and immediately after you want to get her album.. and listen to it with deeper understanding.. because it’s like you know this beautiful person and everything she overcame to be able to share that treasure of a voice with us. Thanks Clare.. by far the most engaging audio book I’ve ever listened to 🙂

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10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

simply depressing

couldnt handle hearing about how sad she was and it weighed so heavy in the woow is me, it became really annoying and irritating. I co6ukd identify alot with her struggles but im struggling to get on the self driven pity train to hell. not for me i cant finish it. the point is dragged out way yoo.much. like a bad movie. i cant watch her tragedy. i just want to shake her out of her drama. life seems to have worked out. disnt even make it to the cake recipe....

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Never Trust Reviews

...which also of course goes for my review. I realise that books are a bit like movies and you can "never please all the people all of the time".

I managed to get half way through this book and could not continue. The narrator's voice sounds like it is constantly full of saliva..sorry but it does...the half laughs, the funeral march monotony ...and the fact that it's just a normal everyday person with nothing particularly special to write about. I know countless people, myself included who have suffered way more grief and personal loss....but none of it is worth writing a book about. I really couldn't care less about someone's ordinary life with their share of ups and downs...that's life! To think that some reviews said that "its life changing"...really! Maybe it should have been called a self help book then? I should have looked into the book a bit deeper but it's back to fiction for me for a while.

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Life changing

Loved every minute of this book. Made me understand so much about my children’s lives as siblings to a special needs little sister. Heartwarming and heartbreaking.

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8 people found this helpful

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