Jennie Garth says a seagull book shaped her path to self-acceptance

By AI, Created 5:01 PM UTC, June 04, 2026, /AGP/ – Jennie Garth reflects on how Richard Bach’s Jonathan Livingston Seagull influenced her life, from adolescence in Arizona to the message behind her New York Times bestseller I Choose Me. In a new conversation with Books That Changed My Life, Garth ties the book’s themes of belonging and self-trust to her own career, personal reinvention and decision to put herself first.

Why it matters: - Jennie Garth is connecting a childhood read to the personal philosophy behind her bestselling memoir I Choose Me. - The story gives fans a clearer look at how Garth’s ideas about self-worth, change and belonging evolved over decades. - Garth is also framing self-acceptance as a practical takeaway, not just a celebrity anecdote.

What happened: - Jennie Garth discussed Richard Bach’s Jonathan Livingston Seagull on the YouTube series Books That Changed My Life with host Chris Collins. - Garth said she first read the book at 13 while unpacking her mother’s home office after her family moved from central Illinois to Arizona. - The conversation traces how the book’s themes lined up with Garth’s life, including her restlessness, career choices and later self-discovery. - Garth’s memoir, I Choose Me, was a New York Times bestseller. - The title comes from a line Garth delivered on 90210 when her character, Kelly, chose herself instead of choosing between two suitors.

The details: - Garth grew up in a book-heavy home. Her father founded the first adult-education center in Illinois, and her mother was a teacher. - Garth said she read Bach’s 1970 parable in one sitting, but she did not fully understand it as a young person. - Garth said the book stayed with her anyway and shaped her thinking in ways she only recognized later in life. - Garth revisited the book the week before the conversation and said the story felt “so profound” and “real and accurate” to her own journey. - In Bach’s book, Jonathan Livingston Seagull rejects the flock’s rules and is banished for wanting more than survival. - Garth said she identified with that urge to push past convention and explore “what that more is.” - Garth said people have often told her she changed after making new choices in friendships and in life. - Garth said she stopped apologizing for that change and now tells critics, “Yeah, I have. I hope you do, too.” - Garth said acceptance became clearer during a visit to a Buddhist temple, where a mantra about the Buddha as an “everlasting friend” helped her realize, “I am my everlasting friend.” - Garth said that realization ended a feeling of loneliness. - Garth said the title I Choose Me grew out of the 90210 line and the audience response it generated from women who felt permission to put themselves first. - Garth said writing the book required including painful personal stories, including a time when she no longer wanted to be alive. - Garth said the book is meant to show readers that they do not need to reinvent themselves because they already are themselves.

Between the lines: - The interview positions Jonathan Livingston Seagull as a kind of template for Garth’s public and private life: leave the flock, learn the lesson, then return with something to share. - Garth’s message is less about transformation through escape and more about recognition through acceptance. - The memoir angle matters because it turns a familiar TV moment into a longer argument about identity, survival and self-approval.

What’s next: - Garth is promoting I Choose Me as a book about returning to oneself rather than starting over. - The full conversation is available through Books That Changed My Life. - More information is available in the company’s announcement.