Biography, Autobiography, Memoir discussion
Biography, Autobiography, and Memoir read in 2025
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https://youtu.be/CfkBb0iW-mY?si=Dl1Xu..."
Book reviews are par..."
I find animal abuse more traumatic than human abuse, except children. I don't know why.
Koren wrote: "Karin wrote: "Nicholas wrote: "She read the entire book and said she loved it. She gave it 3 out of 5 stars only because it made her sad. https://youtu.be/CfkBb0iW-mY?si=Dl1Xu..."
Book r..."
I find human abuse more tragic because someone is abusing their own species, but all abuse is tragic.
by E. Jean Carroll
At first I could not believe I really was going to read Not My Type: One Woman vs. a President by E. Jean Carroll. After all I had read a memoir ghostwritten for Monica Lewinsky many years ago. Instead of an innocent-ish intern who fell for Clinton and has been smashed into infamity, we have a powerful writer who knows who she is and what she is about who was just enjoying a delightful comedic moment that went all wrong. Now in this book we see how she made sure to use her power to get honest legal assessment of the sexual assault, to most use monies received to help causes E. Jean Carroll supports and Trump despises, such as women's reprodoctive rights, voting rights, climate protection and more.
She closes with:
Fate loves the Fearless.
Indeed.
The Story of ABBA: Melancholy Undercover
by Jan Gradvall
4/5 stars
Interesting story about the group musical ABBA, from their early beginnings to when they split up! I enjoyed this book! Non-Fiction
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3 stars
You can bet from the title that this is a rather depressing story. A young man (22) gets cancer. He is engaged and gets married during his battle. I was interested in the story when I saw that he had lymphoma, which is what I had. I would have liked to have read more about the medical aspect of his battle. The book is 24 years old and a lot has happened in the field since he had his cancer. His cancer had spread when it was discovered and he initially had a great deal of pain. I was told that lymphoma is easily treatable with the chemo drugs they have today. The young man in the book was told if his lymphoma came back it would be a death sentence, but that is not true anymore. This book looks more at the spiritual side of his battle and not as much the medical side.
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3 stars
Not as much a medical memoir as a spiritual memoir. I felt bad that she was diagnosed with cancer so soon after having a baby that she tried for years to conceive, so I did a google search and found out she is still alive and in remission.
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3 stars
Once I got used to the writing style, then I liked the book more. It is like she is talking to her younger self. At first it was very confusing and at times I was still confused as I went along. Most of the book is about anorexia and how what people say, especially those closest to us, can shape how we see ourselves.
Jesus Freaks: A True Story of Murder and Madness on the Evangelical Edge, by Don Lattin3 stars
It's hard to give a high rating to a book that left me so heartsick and disgusted, but it's as well-researched as the author could manage and the information seems to have been handled very responsibly. The one sentence that brought all the fragments together for me as I read was somebody's statement about how we need to stop thinking of the Family as a religious cult and see it instead as a crime syndicate. Ricky is only the highest-profile victim. RIP Ricky.
Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection
John Green
4/5 stars
This fascinating book is about tuberculosis, which is one of persistent and deadliest infection in the world. Green tells the story of Henry who has TB. Well written and interesting! Non-Fiction
Julie wrote: "[book:Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection|220..."
Wow. My dad actually worked with a man quite a bit older than him who was one of the leading TB experts in the States back in the day and had done surgeries for that. My dad didn't do anything like that.
In the 1950s one of my late aunts and her husband each had part of a lung removed for TB; their eldest daughter spent a year living with our mutual grandparents; their son was born after it was all over, so they're four years apart (my cousins.)
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5 stars
It scares me to think about how companies put the lives and health of its workers and the public in general to make tons of money. In this case, it is the lead in gasoline, but also other things like paint, plastics, etc. Scary that in America the companies do not have to prove something is safe, it's up to others to prove it and take action. Thankfully, today, there are agencies that monitor safety in products and workplaces, but there is still much to be done. If you read and liked The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women, then you will probably like this book and the case against radium is actually mentioned in this book.
My Next Breath
Jeremy Renner
4/5 stars
This is the story of the actor Jeremy Renner who went out on New's Year Day when he was crushed by a fourteen-thousand-pound snow cat nearly killing him. This was a fascinating and scary tale about his will to survive. Biography
The Haunted House Diaries: The True Story of a Quiet Connecticut Town in the Center of a Paranormal Mystery
William J. Hall
4/5 stars
The title actually gives away the story line. This is the true story of a haunted house in Connecticut. I thought it was very well written. Horror
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5 stars
If you were a teen girl in the 60's and early 70s I think you will enjoy this memoir of an editor of Tiger Beat magazine. She interviewed and was friends with all of the major teen idols of the days: Bobby Sherman, David Cassidy, the Osmonds, the Monkees, the Bee Gees. It was interesting to read about how the stories were written on the level of a pre-teen or young teen level and if the idols weren't always what we imagined it was covered up, but that's not really surprising. This is more a "look who I know" memoir, but entertaining to those who grew up during that time and had major crushes on those guys.
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4 stars
I really didn't know much about Valerie Jarrett, in fact had never heard of her before the incident with Roseanne Barr and was curious why Roseanne had so much hatred for her. I still don't know what Roseanne's problem was. The incident is actually about 2 paragraphs in the book and Valerie just calls her a celebrity without mentioning her name. She seems like a nice lady, who was super intelligent and a lot of times just seemed to know the right people and had a lot of luck, along with hard work. Initially she met Michelle Obama through her work and later became a trusted advisor to President Obama. An interesting lady who led an interesting life.
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4 stars
I can't imagine how hard it would be to go through 3 deaths in a very short time. And yet the author keeps her sense of humor and doesn't sound like she is straining to keep things light-hearted. First her father dies, then her young husband died from a brain tumor and then she has a miscarriage. That would be a lot for anyone.
The Gas and Flame Men: Baseball and the Chemical Warfare Service during World War I
Jim Leeke
4/5 stars
This is the true story of the men who went to WWI to work in the Chemical Warfare Service and who were baseball players. Some of them lost their lives in the service. Sports
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4 stars
I was amazed that someone who was raped years ago would want to embark on an investigation of the man's family. She also wanted to interview the man himself, but he had passed away. Her investigation reveals many years of trauma and abuse and also poverty in the man's past. Some food for thought.
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4 stars
I am the same age as Donny Osmond, so have followed the Osmond's music since I was 12 or 13 years old. While most of my friends had a crush on Donny, my favorite was Merrill. A lot of people probably consider Donny the lead singer of the group, but actually Merrill was the lead on most of the Osmond's songs. Most of us probably know that the Osmond family are active Mormon religion, so it shouldn't be a surprise that there is a lot of spirituality talked about in this book. It was refreshing to read a book about the entertainment industry that didn't have a lot of drug and alcohol use and sex. Merrill talks a lot about his upbringing and family. Even at the end, the last two chapters are taken from his mother and father's journals. I think all Osmond fans will like this book, even though there are no earth-shattering secrets here.
Koren wrote: "Black Bear: My Life Story by Merrill Osmond4 stars
I am the same age as Donny Osmond, so have followed the Osmond's music since I ..."
That makes complete sense to me. First of all, he's older than you (I usually had crushes on older boys, but not always when I was 12) and secondly he was the lead singer on many songs and once I started getting more into music it was lead singers I was attracted to if I was attracted to any of them.
I didn't start of watching them on TV and loved Donny's voice plus he had songs on the radio. You and my husband are born the same year but he was never a fan of the Osmonds (how many boys were as compared with girls? Plus he wasn't into that style of music.)
Biography, Autobiography, Memoir
Books mentioned in this topic
Black Bear: My Life Story (other topics)Black Bear: My Life Story (other topics)
I Will Find You: A Reporter Investigates the Life of the Man Who Raped Her (other topics)
The Gas and Flame Men: Baseball and the Chemical Warfare Service during World War I (other topics)
It's Okay to Laugh (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Jim Leeke (other topics)William J. Hall (other topics)
Jeremy Renner (other topics)
John Green (other topics)
Jan Gradvall (other topics)
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https://youtu.be/CfkBb0iW-mY?si=Dl1Xu..."
Book reviews are partly subjective; I personally wouldn't rate a book down based because it was too traumatic for me to read. I might not finish it because of that. At this point in my life I don't read traumatic memoirs (or most memoirs) anymore, so don't even pick those up.