Books Books Books

I've been reading and you know how I like to bore peeps with my reviews. Here goes.

Lets start with the biggest DUD. Wendy Harmer has written some good books this is not one of them. In fact I bet she got a bazillion $$$ to write this fiction book and basically just dialled it in. Very Very Boring.

Wow my pics of these books are crap. It's hard to cyber steal good work.

Gordon Livingston is a psychologist who writes the best self help books because basically his advice is "Harden Up".

And never stop dancing: 30 more things you need to know now is his latest book and in it he explores

"a clear and deep understanding of the hidden hypocrisies, desires, evasions, and emotional tumult that course through our lives."

I stole that quote too. This book is easy to read and wakes you up to some of the issues in life we should be more aware (and thankful) of.

Judith Lucy is a comedienne who always felt like a bit of a misfit in her (KRAZY) family. This makes a bit more sense to her when an in- law tells her she is adopted...in the middle of a family dinner...when everyone is drunk...on Christmas Day. I loved this autobiography. It wasn't too self pitying or too "lets gloss over all the crappy bits in my life" happy. This story made me care about JL and I hope by writing this book she has found a bit of peace.

In very much the same vein as Judith Lucy's book Lily Bragge's autobiography is the story of a person trying to live her adulthood with the albatross of her childhood slung firmly around her neck. She doesn't get very far obviously. In fact she becomes a drug addict and losses custody of her son. What happens in the end of this book still astonishes me.

I have read both these bad boys in the last couple of weeks and except for a shameless self reference in The Fifth Witness (name checking the fact that Matthew McConaughey plays the lead character in The Lincoln Lawyer movie) they were both interesting, easy to read and very enjoyable.

This book was NOT easy to read or enjoyable but I am still glad I read it.

Madeleine McCann was taken from her out hotel room in Portugal in 2007. Her parents were eating dinner at the hotel restaurant about 300m away and between the time her father checked on her and her siblings and the time her mother checked on her about 45Min's later she was kidnapped. She was 3. This book is her mother Kate's account of the living nightmare that has followed.

I knew the story of the kidnapping but was shocked to learn that no one other than her parents are actively looking for this child. The (very deficient) Portuguese police investigation has been closed and whilst the British Police have advised and shared some resources its not their jurisdiction. In fact Kate McCann says that part of the reason of writing this book was to raise funds for the on going self funded investigation of her daughters kidnapping. I felt bad as I borrowed this book from the library but there is a paypal donation button on their website.

I know when children are hurt or go missing it is usually connected to their parents but this case seems like two loving parents who naively thought as they were holidaying with other Britons in a British run hotel and as they never left the resort their children would be safe. They have paid a very high price for this naivety. Kate McCann also goes into detail about being named as a suspect by the Portuguese police and all the nutters who routinely try to contact them. As if not knowing where in this grubby shitty world your baby was wasn't bad enough. I really don't know how some people live with the circumstances life dishes up to them.

I have saved the best to last. This fiction story is about a mother of three who has a car accident that leaves her unable to "see" or use her left side. The reason why this is such an interesting book is the authors ability to convey what real life is like for parents with young children and then for someone recovering from a brain injury. There isn't too much sugar coating and I was pleased to see a main character of fiction having such a strong voice especially about the issues of being a working parent and striving for career advancement and financial security.

So how about you? Read anything good lately?

Was Brook really up herself and who names their baby Track?

I am such a Nosy Parker. Autobiographies are some of my favourite reads. I love getting to know (riffling through drawers, reading their mail, watching their arguments)a famous person better. Bios allow me to do that...without stalking charges. Sometimes. Sometimes the bios are just a huge made up marketing ploy or the writer is deluded about real life and their role in it that you gain no insight into an interesting life. I have just finished two book that demonstrate this.
This one is the bomb

Mr Agassi is indeed very open about his life as a professional tennis player. This book has everything: domineering controlling cruel sports father, good looking professional athlete, marriage to a movie star and then true love and personal happiness at the end. Agassi delivers the juicy stuff in a self deprecating style that makes you forgive him for being a tool for most of his life.

Ah the polar opposite of good bios.

Let me say from the get go I admire Sarah Palin as a female in a industry not know for its tolerance of family and life balance. I was intrigue by her ability to raise 5 children WHILST running a state government and then campaigning for one of the top jobs in the US.
This book reveals very little about the real Palin family. It gives some facts and a huge amount of spin. After finishing it I still didn't know how SP managed her kids (Nanny I presume) when she commuted to her job running Alaska or how she and her family coped in the sometimes ugly theatre of the presidential campaign. This book was a waste of time as a bio... it was sanitised... which makes sense if SP hasn't finished her political career. I understand that SP has no right to tell her daughters story... but come on pages and pages of how she took the good fight to big oil in Alaska is ok ONCE in the book not in every chapter.
Lastly nobody makes people write bios, so if you want to keep your family private that is your prerogative... BUT if you take the huge $ for writing your story then by like Andre, admit your mistakes and tell it like it really was.

PS If you are at all interested : Brook - yes she was according to Andre and Track apparently was named after the "Track and Field" sport his parents love.