Biographies...do you have any favorites?

I love reading biographies/autobiographies. My favorites are of film/tv actors and popular musicians, especially those who were famous from the 40s through the 60s.



Here are some that I've read, including my rating out of 5*, in ascending order of my appreciation for them:


I'm Chevy Chase... and You're Not: Revised & Updated 
by Rena Fruchter 3*

I've always loved Chevy's acting.
After reading this book my lasting impression of him is that he always seemed to have an excuse when something turned out to be a box office failure; he never took ownership of any failings.






Here's the Story: Surviving Marcia Brady and Finding My True Voice 
by Maureen McCormick 3*

Maureen McCormick is not Marcia Brady.












Like a Lampshade in a Whorehouse: My Life in Comedy 
by Phyllis Diller 3*

Upon reading this I found out she became an outspoken advocate for plastic surgery. Want to see why? (here's my favorite photo of her:
http://tinyurl.com/PhyllisDillerPlayboyShoot )
(there's a hint of a nude bottom; it's more suggestive than anything)






After All 
by Mary Tyler Moore 3*

Mary's book is laid out chronologically. She doesn't sidestep any of the tough or ugly parts of her life, having come to terms with such things over the years. She has lost her niece, her son, and both of her parents, as well as having gone through two divorces. 'AfterAll' she appears to come out of it okay.




Nobody's Fool 
by Martin Gottfried 3.5*

I was disappointed by this book. Not really the book, though, as much as the subject. Danny Kaye must have been a very depressed and searching man to have behaved in the curious manner in which he did. I have to say that I am sorry that it destroyed the false vision that I had of him.

The Tom Hanks Enigma: The Biography of the World's Most Intriguing Movie Star 

by David Gardner 3.5*

The author never convinced me that he had ever spoken directly with Tom or had his permission to write the book. This is the most poorly edited book I have read in many years! The quality of book construction was also the poorest I have seen in years. Both were so severe that I contacted Amazon to give them feedback and to request the ability to send the book back for a total refund. I have to believe that my affinity for Tom Hanks must have added 1/2 to a full 1* to my review of this title.

Here's the Deal: Don't Touch Me 

by Howie Mandel 3.5*

Howie Mandel has OCD; I didn't know that before reading this book. While being a talented and loving guy he admits to not thinking through the results of his actions fairly often...and he apologizes for the things he feels he should apologize for (for the most part).






Ball of Fire: The Tumultuous Life and Comic Art of Lucille Ball 
by Stefan Kanfer 4*

 I learned a lot about Lucy, Ricky and even Cuba from this book. 

A Pirate Looks at Fifty 

by Jimmy Buffett 4.5*

I enjoyed this book a lot. It gives a lot of insight into his life.

Cash...The Autobiography 
by Johnny Cash 4.5*

Cash writes in a very relaxed, conversational tone. He told truth as he saw it without it seeming as if he was gossipping. In fact, he told most stories about himself. He was frank and open about his wrongful trek into drug abuse. He was also open about his faith in Jesus Christ as Saviour. I hope to meet him, one day, in Heaven.




Lucky Man 
by Michael J. Fox 4.5*

This selection has great depth. He explores his life in general as well as his battle with Parkinson Disease. I truly enjoyed the section about his role in the Back to the Future films.

We've reached the middle of the year. How many books have you read?

So, we've reached the beginning of July 2011.


I have to say I haven't read nearly the number of books I normally read by this time of the year.
Reading a certain number of books hasn't been as much of my focus this year though.
I intended to focus on reading more classics this year.


Last year, for instance, I read 78 books. That would be 39 books by mid-year.


So far I have read 25 books in 2011.
One contributing factor to that is that I have read five classics this year.
Last year I read six classics but two of them were very short and not even equal the effort of one complete classic.


Here is the breakdown of the books I have completed reading this year:


Memoirs ~ 4
Non Fiction ~ 4
Classics ~ 5
Humor ~ 2
Juvenile Fiction ~ 5
Fiction ~ 3
Biography ~ 2
______________
25 Titles


Classic titles I've read this year:
Emma by Jane Austen
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
My Man Jeeves by Wodehouse
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens


 

I'm not very good at reading as a member of a book club.

Generally I find that I simply read much more quickly than everyone else.
If I try to keep apace with everyone else I tend to lose interest.


But, hey, even if I've been looking forward to reading a title I tend to lose interest once I "have" to read it. 


That's a bit different this summer. Actually, it's really different and I'm happy for it.


I told my best friend about a book I knew would be perfect for her. She said "I'll read it if you read it again, with me." And so I am reading it a second time. I am really enjoy it. It's the right time for me to reread it.


I am rereading another title. This one is because my husband and I decided I would homeschool our 16 year old in literature and writing this summer. I gave him ten titles from which to chose two or three depnding on their length. We are in the midst of the first selection. We'd be finished but we postponed our reading while he took a summer Russian course at the local university; his first college course. We are both really enjoying the book; him for the first time and me for the second.


Our daughter has a summer reading assignment for her upcoming sophomore Honors Literature course. She's been assigned a book that I previously read and really appreciated. The book was on my list of books that I would suggest our kids read during high school. That would be a "must read" list if I were still homsechooling. 


The results of all of my joint reading adventures will eventually be posted here!


Titles:


A Fraction of The Whole by Steve Toltz


I Am the Messenger by Marcus Zusak


The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak


(It's just a coincidence that two of the titles are by Zusak! In fact, both titles were given to my son as part of his ten titles for choice. The two titles are so very different from each other in writing style. Both were really terrific books in their own, differing ways.)

For the love of words...

Reading is all about the creative use of words. Words convey messages between people. They allow a person to speak their thoughts or to convey their imagination to people across time and space. They're about the closest thing we have to time travel.


I not only enjoy reading, I also enjoy words in general. I love the creative use of words. I love wordplay. I love words.


Do you have favorite words? I know I do. Sometimes it is simply the sound of a word that garners interest. Often, for me, my love of a word is attached to its ability to convey deep meaning.


Developing a list of those words would be a challenge. I think I will just list my top favorite word.


Comment and tell us your favorite word/s.


serendipity ~ I love the meaning of this word:   the phenomenon of finding agreeable things not sought for...

The man behind the curtain...(at Barnes and Noble).

I had no knowledge of the exact genius behind Barnes and Nobles' successful move into the ereader market. I have been impressed by their transition into the market though.


My search for information led me to this article:
RobertBrunnerAndBarnesAndNoble


Robert Brunner was director of industrial design for Apple in the late '80s and early '90s. 


It is interesting that he wants to make ereading more of a social event; possibly allowing people to connect with other people who are reading the same book, or even the same passage. I love the teaser in the final paragraph about the lack of corners on human beings and his wonder at why ereaders seem to require rectangular formats! What alternate shapes can you imagine? I can't wait to see something develop from this!

Ereader news...

Some interesting facts gleaned from the link I'll give at the lower part of this page:

Ereader sales have increased 105% over last year.

NOOK Color has ousted the Kindle as the top-selling ereader; this being the first that Amazon has lost that distinction.

Rumor is that Amazon will release its own version of a tablet device in a few months.

http://venturebeat.com/2011/07/08/idc-tablet-sales-slow-nook-color-ousts-kindle-as-lead-ereader/

If Amazon comes out with a tablet and it's priced right I will have to try to determine if our 10 yr old son would be better off with the Amazon product or with the NOOK Color that tops his Christmas wish list...

If You Ask Me...And Of Course You Won't by Betty White

I love reading memoirs and autobiographies and biographies.


I think I prefer autobiographies because  I think there is a greater chance you will pick up on the feelings of the person the book is about.


I didn't learn a lot about Betty White from her book... The book seemed like a long chat with a friendly person more than anything. It progressed easily and without compulsion other than her obvious compulsion regarding animals. She loves animals.





I also learned that she never had children but does have step-children who she enjoys very much. She deeply loved her husband who has passed away.


(I mostly post only books that I would give four or five star ratings to but as memoirs go this will suit some and not others and that's okay. For me it was about a 3.5 out of 5*. I didn't love it, but I also didn't despise it. If you love and fight for animal rights this book will have greater appeal for you.)

Have you heard of "Make a Reading Promise"?

Alice Ozma's father promised to read to her for 100 consecutive nights. 
Eventually the number of nights they read together reached 3,218 nights!




Alice wrote a book documenting their reading adventure:
The Reading Promise: My Father and the Books We Sharedby Alice Ozma
(I hope to read her book at some point!)

She also has a website:
http://www.makeareadingpromise.com/




I try to frequently read to our kids.
We have five.
Life sometimes gets in the way...but sometimes reading is the thing we are most looking forward to so it sometimes happens during the busiest of times and when it really is least convenient.


I can become somewhat compulsive with such quests so I think I am not going to make an unretractable promise to read with/to our kids. I think I'll just keep on keepin' on... I set a good example. I buy them books. I help them find books that will be interesting to them. Right now our three youngest children are reading frequently on their own as well as appreciating it when I read to them. I like that they look forward to the times that we read together.


Our second oldest, our almost fifteen year old daughter, has been taking a summer course in history to claim extra credits for high school. We've just decided we have to pull her from the course though, due to a health problem that will require many physical therapy appointments and doctor visits. It became apparent that she would have to miss more than the allowable two classes or portions of class. This means that her schedule is suddenly more free. She will use her time to begin reading the book she has chosen for her summer reading assignment for school. She is going to read The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak, a favorite of mine. I will try to reread that as she reads it (where will I find the time!)


Our oldest, our sixteen year old son, has a lot of my attention right now!
I am homeschooling him in literature for this summer. I'll be posting about that soon!

Want to upgrade your ereader?

Barnes and Noble is offering an upgrade promotion that began 1 July 2011.


If you take in an old ereader and purchase a new one you will receive thirty free ebooks on a pre-loaded microSD card. No choice, but hey, it would get you started, especially if you were going to give the new ereader as a gift.


I haven't found anything on Barnes and Noble's site about this but I've seen it posted on other sites; here are a couple:


CNetNewsDigitalHomeB&N


GeekDotComB&N


Since I haven't seen this deal on B&N's site I can't discern any real specifics about it.


It looks to me as if you only have to prove that you own an ereader and wish to buy another ereader.
It does not appear that they are taking possession of your old ereader as a trade-in.
It appears that the deal really consists of the incentive of thirty free digital titles of B&N's choice.


I'd post a direct B&N link if only I could find one...




(I wrote this post late last week but have been too busy to post it online.)

The Sex Lives of Cannibals by J. Maarten Troost

I enjoyed this book though it wasn't quite what I expected. It was fun and light reading and taught about a culture with whom I was not familiar. I just bought the sequel. Getting Stoned with Savages. His writing style is one I enjoy.


The book follows Troost through two years of life on a South Pacific island; Tarawa, an island of the Republic of Kiribati. He headed there with the belief that it was a hopelessly romantic thing to do...


What he really found was disillusionment: bugs, heat, danger...you name it. I still laugh out loud when thinking of the bug incident he wrote up in one of his books. 

Here's a bit of the blurb from the back of the book:


"He and his stalwart girlfriend, Sylvia, spend the next two years battling incompetent government officials, alarmingly large critters, erratic electricity, and a paucity of food options (including the Great Beer Crisis); and contending with a bizarre cast of local characters, including "Half-Dead Fred" and the self-proclaimed Poet Laureate of Tarawa (a British drunkard who's never written a poem in his life).


If you've ever though of moving to a tropical island or you've just had any really, really bad vacations...you might enjoy reading this book. 


(I read this in Jan 2007 and did not note whether it includes any gratuitous sex or language.)


Troost's follow-up project is "Getting Stoned with Savages" in which he chronicles his time on Vanuatu and then Fiji.