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Audition: A Memoir

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Biographies and Memoirs
by: Barbara Walters

May 06, 2008
I wish I could tell Barbara myself how much I liked her book. It sounds like she is sitting right there telling her memoir. Good read.

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Merle's Door: Lessons from a Freethinking Dog

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Biographies and Memoirs
by: Ted Kerasote

July 02, 2007
Merle's Door is probably my favorite dog book ever and I've read many dog books! What a beautiful story of a man/dog relationship! I have already given this book to several dog lover friends and will purchase more.

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The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Civil War (Politically Incorrect Guides)

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Biographies and Memoirs
by: H. W. Crocker III

October 21, 2008
The PIG series is of course a brilliant money-making idea; this book will outsell almost all academic histories by a wide margin, but popularity and value are two different animals. Mostly this book is harmless and often quite funny. Typically the attacks against "Yankee" straw-men are baseless. No serious Civil War historian wants to keep you from reading Jefferson Davis's memoir, or Robert Selph Henry, or Freeman and Emory's biographies of Lee; they just don't want those to be your only sources for the history of the war. Please do not think this book will make you an authority on the Civil War. If you want to know about Davis or Lee just don't read their memoirs or selected letters, read all their speeches, read the words of DeBow's Review of New ... Read More:

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Mrs. Astor Regrets: The Hidden Betrayals of a Family Beyond Reproach

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Biographies and Memoirs
by: Meryl Gordon

December 03, 2008
The life and death of wealthy philanthropist Brooke Astor and the ultimate showdown between her son and grandsons make for compulsive reading in this well-researched book. Astor was an interesting woman, well loved by millions and liberally generous with her money. On the other hand, she was cool and stingy about sharing it with her family. Her only son, Tony Marshall, now in his 80s, is set to stand trial in 2009 for elder abuse and making changes to her will after she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease. So the ending of this debacle is yet to come. After reading this book, the actions of Marshall and his wife certainly come across as corrupt and circumspect but since they didn't talk to the author as much as those on the other side, the book ends ... Read More:

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Me Talk Pretty One Day

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Biographies and Memoirs

December 03, 2008
This is Sedaris' best collection of short stories/memoirs/autobiographies. His writing is wonderful, in part because it's hard to separate fact from fiction. He has a true gift for writing. My favorite story is the title one but all are great. These stories are great to read all at once or one at a time!

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George, Being George: George Plimpton's Life as Told, Admired, Deplored, and Envied by 200 Friends, Relatives, Lovers, Acquaintances, Rivals--and a Few Unappreciative ...

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Biographies and Memoirs
from: Random House

October 21, 2008

The reputation of George Plimpton (March 18, 1927 - September 25, 2003) was well-established prior to the publication of this oral biography of him five years after his death. However, dozens of those who knew him best will help others who only knew of him to gain an even better understanding of who and what he was...and wasn't. Credit Nelson Aldrich with a brilliant job of obtaining, organizing, and editing the abundance of material. The book's title could not be more appropriate as a prefix to various personal accounts.

For example:

1. "George, being George," he once talked the Detroit Lions into letting him participate in their pre-season program and was even allowed to play (as QB, of course) in one of the team's scrimmages ... Read More:

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Yes We Can: Barack Obama's History-Making Presidential Campaign

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Biographies and Memoirs
by: Scout Tufankjian

December 08, 2008

The reputation of George Plimpton (March 18, 1927 - September 25, 2003) was well-established prior to the publication of this oral biography of him five years after his death. However, dozens of those who knew him best will help others who only knew of him to gain an even better understanding of who and what he was...and wasn't. Credit Nelson Aldrich with a brilliant job of obtaining, organizing, and editing the abundance of material. The book's title could not be more appropriate as a prefix to various personal accounts.

For example:

1. "George, being George," he once talked the Detroit Lions into letting him participate in their pre-season program and was even allowed to play (as QB, of course) in one of the team's scrimmages ... Read More:

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Infidel

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Biographies and Memoirs
by: Ayaan Hirsi Ali

April 01, 2008
Ayaan Hirsi Ali's story is not a novel, even though we find the lives she describes to be unimaginable in the 21st century. We in the West need to read this shocking book to help us understand the intense devotion of millions of people to beliefs that are militantly hostile to our Western world view. This is the most courageous woman I have ever met.

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America's Hidden History: Untold Tales of the First Pilgrims, Fighting Women, and Forgotten Founders Who Shaped a Nation

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Biographies and Memoirs
by: Kenneth C. Davis

April 29, 2008
America's Hidden History: Untold Tales of the First Pilgrims, Fighting Women, and Forgotten Founders Who Shaped a Nation

This is a very interesting book and sure opens up a lot of what really went on in our early history. Not all was as well as we were told in school, or what the history books we had told us.

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sTORI Telling

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Biographies and Memoirs
by: Tori Spelling

March 11, 2008
This book is okay. Although I thought it made Ms. Spelling appear to be a self-absorbed narcissist who is completely out of touch with the real world. She spends an inordinate amount of time talking up her "accomplishments" and trying to dispel the perception that her success is directly attributable to her family ties. Additionally, the constant complaints she lodges about her life and her overwhelming desire to be "normal" has the unintended effect of justifying the fact that she really is a "poor little rich girl." Overall, the book is irritating, shallow and confirms exactly what it tries so hard to dispel.