Cindy - I enjoyed Steve and Me ... The writing style is sometimes a bit contrived, and it was a little overly sweet, painting him in an 'oh he was perfect' light, but Terr's love for him is so obvious throughout the book ... it was a very touching read that had me in tears at the end.
Melissa - hope you enjoy it!

The author of "The Color of Water" was at the National book festival this year so I went to hear him talk. He was great! He was promoting the Movie that recently came out on his book about a Buffalo solider and a Boy in Italy but of course most people wanted to talk about Color of Water...It was funny part way through he said... "Look if I knew it would have been so popular I would have written a better book". He feels that he has improved a lot with subsequent works - but I found that comment very endearing.

--
Wife of fantasy author: Michael J. Sullivan
The Crown Conspiracy (Oct 2008) - Fantasy Book Critic Review
Avempartha (April 2009)

I've just added Steve and Me to my TBR and put it on hold at the library.

Allison
I loved Zippy too!! Have you read the follow up? She Got Up Off the Couch?

i enjoy memoirs the most out of the three.
like some others, i tend to enjoy memoirs of not famous people, because then the book is more of a surprise.
a few i've read:
the color of water- james mcbride
devil in the details- jennifer traig
eat,pray,love- elizabeth gilbert
a girl named zippy- haven kimmel (one of my favorites)
his favorite wife- susan ray schmidt
jesus land- julia scheeres (very interesting)
running with scissors- augusten borroughs

I'm looking for a good biography on Ghandi - anyone recommend something?


--
Wife of fantasy author: Michael J. Sullivan
The Crown Conspiracy (Oct 2008)
Avempartha (April 2009)

A few bios/autobios I have enjoyed:
Kate Remembered by A. Scott Berg
Me by Katherine Hepburn
also
Three Dog Nightmare by Chuck Negron in which he writes about his terrible drug addiction.

I also have enjoyed books by Elie Wiesel, Night in particular, and of course The Diary of Anne Frank.

I enjoy reading about the European royal families; in particular, anything by Alison Weir including: all of the Henry VIII books,
Innocent Traitor: A Novel of Lady Jane Gray, and
Mary Queen of Scotts and the Murder of Lord Darnly.

I went on a 'binge' so to speak reading everything I could about Czar Nicholas and Czarini Alexandra of Russia.

and also enjoy bio's on our presidents; The River of Doubt: Teddy Roosevelt's Darkest Journey was a great book.

I also enjoyed reading
Chasing Down the Dawn by Jewel
and read
Eat, Love, and Pray by Elizabeth Gilbert (though I wasn't as impressed as some people, which probably isn't the most popular response!)

Probably one of the most interesting/bizarre books of this genre I have read is titled The Famous Rose Callahan by Patricia Berrington. In Tombstone Arizona, there is an old saloon called the Bird Cage Saloon. When Patricia Berrington went to tour the old saloon, she was 'taken over' by the spirit of Rose Callahan and Rose gave her the words to write this book! Kind of far fetched but the author knew a tremendous amount about the old times, people and events in the town. I found it in one of the bookshops on our visit to Tombstone a few years ago and both the book and the town itself were great fun!

& SuzieR, I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts on Steve & Me!
&
Leppaluoto, I have heard great things about David McCullough's biographies, glad to hear you confirm it!

They're both great! Has anyone read a Haven Kimmel novel? I picked up one, and couldn't get through it. Can't remember the name. It was just kinda boring. But Zippy and Couch are terrific, both of them!

I liked the first one better, Conni, but I was all YGG on the second!

Jenny

Kathy,
I hope you pick them up. (Zippy and Couch) Very good and funny. The second was even better than the first. Highly recommended.
Enjoy,
Conni

Oh I do remember that story Michelle. That was very sad but quite heroic. I'm pretty sure I couldn't have done it!

Heather I can't look up the biography by marilyn Monroe that was the first one i read. I know it was big, thick and black cover with a picture of her. I loved it but also me read it when I was about 15 years old, so more than ten years ago. I also have a small but thick book about her. which tells a lot about different parts of her live which is very informative and clear. Beautiful pictures also. That one is pink.

'kay. I'm back. Here are a few that I don't think were mentioned:

Expecting Adam by Martha Beck
The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio by Terry Ryan
Sleeping Arrangements by Laura Shaine Cunningham
This Is Graceanne's Book by P. L. Whitney
Enslaved by Ducks by Bob Tarte

Fiona, I found Antonia Fraser to be a very engaging biographer. I've only read Marie Antoinette, but it was anything but dry. You felt like you were at Versailles. She really made you feel a lot of sympathy for a woman who, for most people, is nothing more than the chick who said "Let them eat cake" (she never said "Let them eat cake").

Read Screwtape a couple of times - always good (if I may use that word in referance to those individuals).

Jeane/Leppaluto - Of the Marilyn books you've read, do you have a favorite you'de recommend? I would love to read one about her...I find her fascinating.

I have read several biographies by Antonia Fraser and enjoyed all of them. I read Love and Louis XIV earlier this year, and liked it, although I'm still puzzled by The Affair of the Poisons. Read Charles II and The Weaker Vessel some years ago and liked both of them.

I like biographies about Marilyn Monroe.
The autobiorgraphies MY life by Bill clinton was very good. Also I think the last one by Hillary clinton, something like living the history. The one madeleine Albright wrote was really interesting, Madame the minister.
queen Noor her autobiography was very interesting too.

Oooo iIl check those out. I really love sad memiors, do you guys have any suggestions?

A Beautiful Mind by Sylvia Nasar (I never saw the flick, read the book a couple of years before it came out, loved it)
Einstein's Cosmos by Michio Kaku
Bitter Fame: A Life of Sylvia Plath by Ann Stevenson
John Adams by David McCullough
Six Wives : The Queens of Henry VIII by David Starkey
Helen of Troy: Goddess, Princess, Whore by Bettany Hughes

You'll have to let us know about the croc hunter book. I'm not sure I'd read that one either, but maybe it'll be really good!

Ooh I remember reading about him in the paper! I didn't know he'd written book. I'll have to add that one to the pile!

Yeah, Aron Ralston, Between a Rock and a Hard Place, excellent!

Go ahead and promote, Joseph! It sounds interesting!!

Some of the best memoirs are the ones by people you haven't ever heard of. Then you don't know what to expect. That's why I liked Zippy so much.

That's very sad Paula. But reminds me of Aaron Ralston, did I get that name right? The guy who cut off his arm that was stuck in a rock? Very powerful story!

I'm about to read Steve and Me by Terri Irwin - the crocodile hunter guy who died tragically last year. It's for a book group, and I can't say I'm really looking forward to it, but I'll give it a go. I generally like biogs of famous people ... but not keen on the 'tragedy' memoir type book, though sometimes I am in the mood for one.

I enjoy this genre when something catches my eye. I'm reading (as I said above) the Brooke Shields book now. One that has really stuck with me all these years was called "Bear's Embrace" Patricia Van Tighem. Very tragic story of Patricia and her husband hiking in Canada and they are attacked by a grizzly. She is in worse shape than her husband but it tells of the journey to recovery although she never fully recovers. She is riddled with terrible pain throughout the rest of her life, had a disfigurement to her face and she started a group for people with facial disfigurements.

It was in the paper maybe 2 years ago that she had killed herself. Very tragic story.

I hope this doesn't sound like self -promotion , but a lot of people feel my collection, Half-Past Nowhere is a literary memoir.It certainly covers an important part of my life, and is interesting,I believe ,not because I'm famous(I'm not--Yet), but because the experiences are so universal.I'm not very proud of quite a few of them.

I hope I am not out of line.
Best.

Michelle, I have A Girl Named Zippy and its sequel, She Got Up Off the Couch on my shelf to read. I don't know why I haven't gotten around to Zippy yet. I'm putting it on my short list. Also, I will have to read Marley and Me.

Ron Chernow has to be the best biographer. He is so detailed that you feel like you have attended a full year of college about the person when you finish his books.

Can anyone recommend me any good like... biographers. I don't care who they write their biography of. I like Claire Tomalin and will probably read anything by her whether I'm initially interested in the subject or not.

There's Antonia Fraser - is she any good? I have two books on hers, one a bio of King Charles II and another on women called The Weaker Vessel. I know she's written one about Cromwell too...

Julianne, I think I have the exact opposite viewpoint than you! I really enjoy autobiographies and memoirs by people who are NOT famous. I don't care for the ones by famous people at all. The nonfamous ones give me interesting insight into how different people think and live...makes me more sympathetic towards the people around me knowing how different their lives could be.

I am listening to The Glass Castle right now and reading Books by Larry McMurtry. Have to run right now...I'll see about posting some of my favorites later tonight.

I like bios, autobios, memoirs (is there a diff between an autobio and a memoir, or just two words for the same thing?)

Bunch of years ago read "Postcard from the Edge" and Finding Fish: A Memoir, both of which I liked, even though they are completely different approaches to the genre. Also read a few things by Gore Vidal, but it was during the period of my life when I don't remember anything (nothing serious, just lack of sleep from new motherhood...) and I have the vague idea that I didn't like his style overly much, but I couldn't possibly tell you why.

I have Maya Angelou's "Caged Bird" coming in my box from Amazon, and will let you know.

by John Elder

I think it was called look me in the eye

I wasn't aware of such a book. Do you remember the title?

Awesome, ive heard of Augesten Burroughs, and i want to read that book by his older brother who has aspurgers syndrome

Of the three, I lean towards memoirs, and I'd second the Augusten Burroughs recommendation.


Also Craig Thompson's graphic novel Blankets, which is semi-autobiographical, I believe, and a very moving story.

I wanna read Three Little Words a memior and Her Last Death a memior they both look rllly good. Im going to the booksellers tomorrow to see if i can get some new books, you guys have any recomendations?

Have you read the Screwtape Letters by CS Lewis? It's an interesting take on Satan himself.

David McCullough - good stuff, just started reading his work/listening to them on disc - so far, very good.
Any interviews with Lucifer? Milton & Mark Twain did a good job on him with their works - any suggestions?

Hey Ken
Don't forget that one you read about Janis Ian....You seemed to like that one.

I read 1776 by McCullough. It was OK. It was kinda boring....

I can recommend David McCullough unreservedly - his biographies, like his histories, are excellent.

Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln is an excellent biography of Lincoln as president.

And I've enjoyed James Thurber's My Life and Hard Times ever since I was a child. It was "The Dog That Bit People" that got me hooked, I think, on Thurber generally.

I'm going to add one to the list:

The Chris Farley Show: A Biography in Three Acts -- the entire book is comprised of interviews with friends, family and colleagues, so it is very broken up, but I feel you get the true story of Chris Farley that way.

I'm really enjoying reading everyone's posts! There have been a lot of great books mentioned and I look forward to checking into the ones I'm not familiar with.

It's fun to see the different tastes that we all have in this particular genre!

Okay, I'm gonna plug Three Cups of Tea again here too! Maybe not the most fantastically written biography, but certainly one of the most amazing stories of an incredible man who persevered and made some serious changes in the world! The book will change you!!

I just finished Rockabye: A Young Mom's Journey from Wild to Child by Rebecca Woolf. I loved it, even though I usually don't like this genre. She was just so easy to relate to. I follow her blog and she's very funny and real.

David McCullough is a great author, good choice.

JG, I thought the Hiding Place was fantastic. It's nice to know there are others out there who have read it.

I also read Dreams from My Father and the Audacity of Hope, The Glass Castle and am listening to Audition.

Winning Ganar|5562]

I Give You Oscar Wilde

Leppaluoto-

Thanks! David McCullough will be the next new author on my TBR

Okay, I'm gonna give my two cents here (if it's even worth that...). There are certain types of biographies I like, but I think I have to like the person about whom it is written. I loved Stephen King's book On Writing. The first 3rd is his mini-autobiography, the middle third is about becoming a good writer, and the last 3rd is about his accident in 2000 (or was it 2001).

One thing I have found I don't like is memoirs that are written by nobodies that make them famous. I liked Tim Allen's and Steve Martin's, but HATED Running with Scissors and The Glass Castle (couldn't finish either and just felt incredulous when reading them).

I have also tried I Was Told There'd Be Cake and Me Talk Pretty One Day, but felt "ho-hum" about both.

For me, I think biography/memoirs serve to introduce me to "the other side" of famous people. If you're not famous, I'm seeing "your only side" and it's usually not entertaining to me. If it's supposed to serve to teach human-kind (aka-A Child Called It) maybe I'd feel differently.

I know this is just my opinion, but I feel like I've given the memoirs genre the "old college try" and it hasn't worked for me.

But, I'm reading more and more non-fiction, and feel like I've found the style I do like, so there's hope for me yet.