pipread Posted February 21, 2009 Author Share Posted February 21, 2009 Don't usually read autobiographies.. I`ve read very few myself but sometimes if it`s a person you`re interested in they can be good. I also needed a little change of genre. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kell Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 II also want to read that man's from Back to the future. It's so bad, I've forgotten his name! That would be Michael J Fox's Lucky Man: A Memoir, which I can highly recommend - it's excellent (and this coming from someone else who doesn'r read many autobiogs!). I plan to get his next one, Always Looking Up, which is out later this year too. I also loved both of Chrstopher Reeve's autobiographies - Still Me and Nothing is Impossible: Reflections on a New Life. Absolutely inspirational! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 I`ve read very few myself but sometimes if it`s a person you`re interested in they can be good. I also needed a little change of genre. Yeah it's good to change around from 'comfort zones' so to speak. I might give an autobiography a shot at some point in the future, but don't know when. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pipread Posted February 21, 2009 Author Share Posted February 21, 2009 That would be Michael J Fox's Lucky Man: A Memoir, which I can highly recommend - it's excellent (and this coming from someone else who doesn'r read many autobiogs!). I plan to get his next one, Always Looking Up, which is out later this year too. I also loved both of Chrstopher Reeve's autobiographies - Still Me and Nothing is Impossible: Reflections on a New Life. Absolutely inspirational! I might have to look out for those, especially the Christopher Reeves ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BookBee8 Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 That would be Michael J Fox's Lucky Man: A Memoir, which I can highly recommend - it's excellent (and this coming from someone else who doesn'r read many autobiogs!). I plan to get his next one, Always Looking Up, which is out later this year too. Thanks, Kell! I think I might add this to my wishlist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pipread Posted February 23, 2009 Author Share Posted February 23, 2009 Finished reading, That`s Another Story ~ Julie Walters, today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexiepiper Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 Was it good? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pipread Posted February 23, 2009 Author Share Posted February 23, 2009 Was it good? , That is so difficult to answer! In all honesty it was a book of two halves I think. The first half ( the earlier days) was so well written, the descriptions were good and Julie Walters humour really came through, I was crying with laughter at times! The second half, the later years, of film,theatre and TV, seemed to lack something, it was as though she was rushing it through, or at least that`s how it felt to me. So the answer is.....? Overall it was ok, worth reading for the first half! I`m happy I borrowed it rather than buying it though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexiepiper Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 Ohh okay, I may see if our library has it then Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pipread Posted February 28, 2009 Author Share Posted February 28, 2009 That`s Another Story an autobiography ~ Julie Walters The first few pages seemed to drag and I began to wonder how far I`d get with this book! However this soon changed and I began to really enjoy reading it. Julie Walters wonderful sense of humour started to come through and at times I was crying with laughter. I found the description of her earlier years, her school life, working as a student nurse and studying drama well written and entertaining and it was hard to put the book down. Unfortunately though, as she started to write about her television, film and theatre work, for me the book seemed to lose something again. It almost felt like Julie Walters was rushing to get the book finished and I began to struggle with it, it was a bit of an effort to continue reading. On the whole this book felt as though it had two halves, the first half was really very good, humorous and entertaining. The second however fell flat, and I became bored with what began to feel like a list of acting jobs and little else. I felt a bit cheated really, as I feel the second half could have been so much better. 6/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pipread Posted March 3, 2009 Author Share Posted March 3, 2009 If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things ~ Jon McGregor About the book This is Jon McGregors debut novel and it is a beautifully written, almost poetic story. The story is set on an ordinary street in northern England over the course of a single summers day. The streets residents go about there normal business, children play, a group of young men struggle to light a barbecue, another man is at the top of a ladder painting his windows. Perfectly ordinary events, until something awful happens to change things. For the most part we`re not told any names, we get to know people by the wonderful descriptions of them and the number of their house. We know that something dreadful happened, which affected the people who witnessed it, but we are kept in suspense until the end of the book. We get to know the characters and something of their lives, we hear it from the characters themselves, from neighbours and from the narrator. With his words the author captures the street, the people and events, it`s almost like watching a film, the descriptions are so clear. All the way through we are wondering what happens? is it....? or is it ....? This never affects the enjoyment of the story, and for all the description, it is never dull. To say I enjoyed this book is an under statement. I thought the use of language to describe people and seemingly insignificant things was wonderful. Even when I finished reading this book I kept thinking of it, the characters are so real, it`s impossible not to care about them. It made me realise how little we know about what goes on around us on our own street, just because we haven`t got the time or because things don`t seem important. Like The Book Thief, I think this book is something special. I thought it was brilliant and I will definately re-read it again one day. I really recommend it. 10/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 Even when I finished reading this book I kept thinking of it... It affected me in exactly the same way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BookBee8 Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things ~ Jon McGregor Your review made me add this to my wishlist. That's the first review on BCF that has made me do that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pipread Posted March 3, 2009 Author Share Posted March 3, 2009 (edited) Janet, You`re the only other person I know who`s read it I still keep thinking of it, I can`t remember a book having such a lasting effect on me. I must try more of his books I think. Oh that`s brilliant BookBee! I hope you won`t be disappointed. Edited March 3, 2009 by pipread Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pipread Posted March 8, 2009 Author Share Posted March 8, 2009 Anne Frank Remembered ~ Miep Gies Synopsis (from the cover) Anne Frank Remembered is the story of a tragedy, of a world gone mad with hatred, but it is also, finally, a story of hope and of human courage and kindness that will never be forgotten. Since they were published soon after the end of World War Two the Diaries of Anne Frank have been read and loved by millions of people throughout the world. Now for the first time the story of Anne and other members of the Frank family, who hid from Nazi persecution in the secret rooms of their office building in Amsterdam, is told from the outside by the woman who, with others, helped to hide them and acted as their link with the outside world. My thoughts I didn`t even know this book had been written until a few weeks ago, when I read a review of it on BCF. It sounded so interesting to me, a lover of The Diary of Anne Frank, that I reserved it at the library, and I`m very glad I did. Miep Gies is an incredible lady, she says in the prologue, "I am not a hero, I stand at the end of a long, long line of good Dutch people who did what I did or more - much more - during those dark and terrible times years ago, but always like yesterday in the hearts of those who bore witness. Never a day goes by that I do not think of what happened then." In my mind she was most certainly a hero. In this book she tells how she worked for and became a friend of Otto Frank and his family, and when Otto Frank asked for her help, when he was preparing to go into hiding, Miep Gies didn`t hesitate, she knew the risks involved, but helped anyway. She risked her life on a daily basis, searching for food for so many people, having to go further and further from home to find as much as she could when supplies got lower and lower and on more than one occassion she broke the curfew, because she couldn`t get home in time and was in danger of being caught. She spent time with the Frank family in their secret annexe, because she knew they craved the company and the news. Miep Gies carried the weight of their dependence on her but she carried on, even though it got increasingly difficult. Whilst doing all this - and more - she helped to run the business, and helped keep it going throughout the war. On the day The Annexe was discovered and the prisoners were taken away, Miep Gies took another risk, she went up into the annexe and picked up Annes diary, she placed it in an office drawer to keep it safe for Anne, when she returned. Reading this book and the horrors within it, of life during the Nazi occupation, I found it hard to comprehend how life went on at all, and how people found the strength to carry on. Many people joined the Nazis, but thankfully many helped support the jewish people. I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anybody who has read and enjoyed, The Diary of Anne Frank, but also to anybody interested in the history of this period. "My story is a story of very ordinary people during extraordinarily terrible times. Times the like of which I hope with all my heart will never, never come again. It is for all of us ordinary people all over the world to see to it that they do not." Miep Gies. 8/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BookBee8 Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 Thanks for this review, it's made me interested! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 Great review. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pipread Posted March 9, 2009 Author Share Posted March 9, 2009 Thanks Ben and BookBee. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pipread Posted March 12, 2009 Author Share Posted March 12, 2009 Went to the library today and picked up, The Bodies Left Behind ~ Jeffery Deaver The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society ~ Mary Ann Shaffer Mummy Come Home ~ Oxana Kalemi ( a true story) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesilbeach Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society ~ Mary Ann Shaffer :jump:Ooooh, I love it when I see this book on a reading list - I adored it, it was a lovely, lovely read! Hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pipread Posted March 12, 2009 Author Share Posted March 12, 2009 :jump:Ooooh, I love it when I see this book on a reading list - I adored it, it was a lovely, lovely read! Hope you enjoy it as much as I did. thank you, I can`t remember who wrote about it on here, could it have been you? Anyway, it was because of seeing it mentioned on here that I put it on my wish list. I`m looking forward to reading it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pipread Posted March 18, 2009 Author Share Posted March 18, 2009 Say Goodbye ~ Lisa Gardner About the Book (from the cover) Young women are disappearing.....girls no one will notice are gone: prostitutes, runaways, high-risk teens. One night they exist, next morning they`ve vanished. For Kimberly Quincy, FBI Special Agent, it all starts with a pregnant hooker. The story Delilah Rose tells Kimberly about one of her clients seems too horrifying to be true - but prostitutes keep disappearing, one by one, with no explanation, and no one but Kimberly seems to care. Dead hookers aren`t exactly Kimberly`s speciality. The young agent is five months pregnant - and she has more to worry about than an alleged lunatic who uses spiders to do his dirty work. But Kimberly`s own mother and sister were victims of a serial killer. And now, without any bodies and with precious few clues, it appears that someone has found the key to the perfect murder.... The only lead - a man who gets his kicks in the creepiest of ways; a twisted sadist with a brutal past. Kimberly knows she mustn`t get caught in his web, but as the trail leads her closer, it seems she must become the prey if anyone else is to survive. My Thoughts I really like Lisa Gardners books, I`ve never been disappointed - and Say Goodbye is no exception. This is another of her very good crime novels. I found this book hard to put down, I was totally gripped from the word go. I found it a very chilling story, quite disturbing infact. The subject matter in this book isn`t pleasant, child abduction for one, but I won`t say more than that, I imagine some people would find it difficult to read though. It was fast paced, edge of the seat stuff, that left me thinking a great deal about things brought up in this story. If you have a phobia of spiders, this book is not for you - don`t say I didn`t warn you! I recommend this book. 9/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bethany725 Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things ~ Jon McGregor 10/10 Pip, Thanks for this review.. I'm adding this book to my list right away. It sounds wonderful! (I'm stealing ideas shamelessly again today.. I can't help myself! ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pipread Posted March 19, 2009 Author Share Posted March 19, 2009 Pip, Thanks for this review.. I'm adding this book to my list right away. It sounds wonderful! (I'm stealing ideas shamelessly again today.. I can't help myself! ) Glad to be of service! I thought it was a beautiful book to read, and when you read it I hope you will too. (Since joining BCF I`ve done exactly the same - authors I`d never heard of but now love, and books I would never have read otherwise!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pipread Posted March 22, 2009 Author Share Posted March 22, 2009 The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society ~Mary Ann Shaffer Synopsis (from the cover) It`s January 1946, and writer Juliet Ashton sits at her desk, vainly seeking a subject for her next book. Out of the blue, she recieves a letter from one Dawsey Adams of Guernsey - by chance, he`s acquired a second-hand book that once belonged to Juliet - and spurred on by their mutual love of Charles Lamb, they begin a correspondence. When Dawsey reveals that he is a member of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Juliets curiosity is piqued, and it`s not long before she begins to hear from the other members. As the letters fly back and forth with stories of life in Guernsey under the German Occupation, Juliet soon realises that the society is every bit as extraordinary as its name......... My Thoughts I read a review of this book on the forum, liked the sound of it and ordered it from the library. I don`t think I would have given this book a second glance if I hadn`t read that review, so thank you who ever it was wrote it! This is, I think, one of those books that has that certain something which makes it extra special. I loved it from the word go. It is written in letter form, between Juliet and friends old and new. Through these letters we learn how hard life was for the Guernsey residents during the occupation, so much harder than one might think, and we learn about the society and how it came to be. The characters are so well written, everyone of them an individual who you get to know so well. Whilst reading this book at times I was laughing, and other times I was crying, it was happy, sad and poignant. This book was so beautifully written, I am just sorry there can be no more from this author ( she died in February 2008 ) I highly recommend this book, it is one of the very few that I will definately re-read one day. 10/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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