Derek Hough

I honestly just picked this up to annoy my friend Nikki, who is not the world's biggest Derek Hough fan, and then somehow found myself reading the whole darn thing. There is nothing bad about the book per se - it's just not particularly good, either. It's just the working definition of bland. I don't fault Hough for the lack of depth - I just don't get the sense that he has fully internalized many of the "life lessons" he tries to impart to his readers. Probably only a good choice for show more die-hard Derek Hough or Dancing With the Stars fans. show less

Of course like any one else in the world, I am familiar with who Derek Hough is. In fact, my one co-worker and I like to talk Dancing with the Stars (DWTS). So I wanted to read this book. First off what I learned but already knew is that Derek is humble, kind, a hard-worker, and talented. In essence, Derek is just like the person you see on television. This is so refreshing. A big part of this comes from his family upbringing. For example there was a quote by his mother that I liked:

"Derek, show more I don't care what you do. You can be a garageman, a mechanic, a plumber-whatever you want! Just be the best at it."

While this book was a memoir, it was also a guide book or rule book on how to live your life. One lesson at a time. It was nice to read all of the different people share their experience being and working with Derek. Of course, if you are a fan of DWTS and are looking for some juicy gossip, you will be disappointed. This is not that type of book. show less

3.5 stars

The life advice parts were kind of cheesy. The mentions of ladies seemed forced (ahem), but I really enjoyed the Hough family history and all the DWTS stories. He's also one of the most driven people I've ever read. It's inspiring.

I don’t generally watch Dancing with the Stars (DWTS). If I watch, it’s usually on YouTube. I know who Derek Hough is and I’ve enjoyed watching quite a few of his routines. When I saw he’d written a book I was curious. Mostly I’m in complete awe of his abilities. I’m not a great dancer. I have no rhythm and my moves are pretty spastic. My family tends to make a lot of Seinfeld jokes if I happen to dance.

I didn’t realize just how much Derek Hough does. He has a lot of irons in show more the fire and seems to juggle everything with ease. The fact that he does it all with a positive attitude is what really impresses me. If I get stressed out and have too many things going at once I get snappy and really quite bitchy. No positive attitude found here.

Taking the Lead is full of stories giving you background on Hough. I really liked how it was broken up. Each chapter gives you a few short stories with a centralized theme, simple wrap ups (Leading Lessons) and then a passage from a former DWTS partner (Reflecting on Derek). Hough’s lessons from his life so far are helpful. Some of his advice is pretty obvious, but sometimes that’s exactly what you need to hear. There were other bits of advice that I found inspiring and have actually started to implement into my own life. Here are a few of my favorite Leading Lessons (without the full explanation; you have to read the book for that):

“The only disability you have is between your ears.”

“Free yourself to have bad ideas.”

“Excuses hold you back.”

“Rejection is an illusion.”

“Everyone has an inner warrior.”

Overall, I enjoyed reading Taking the Lead. I learned a lot about Derek Hough in the process and got some pretty awesome life advice. Some of the stories were a bit jumbled and all over the place, but it kind of gave it a stream of consciousness feel which I enjoyed reading. I would recommend Taking the Lead, especially if you’re a fan of Dancing with the Stars and/or autobiographies.

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