Biography Books

I enjoyed reading sTori Telling, couldn't put the book down. Looking forward to ready any future Tori Spelling books

I loved this book! it was so interesting to learn how Tori Spelling is just like you and me. She was very honest about her life and I could really relate to alot that she discussed about her family. I.m really glad I got a chance to read this book and I'm looking forward to anything else she writes in the future.

Great book ....I love Tori and Dean on TV so I bought this book. Very interesting insight into Tori's life.

Just a great read. You feel like she's a friend. Or just another soul on this planet explaining what life is like in her (unique) shoes. I don't mind admitting that I find her celebrity, rich/poor life pretty darn interesting. I read this while working out on the treadmill and actually WANTED to walk much longer after my time was up, just because I did not want to put the book down. I think that says it all.

This book is fabulous, Tori is fabulous....

I had my own preconceived notions about this book, but after REALLY getting into her reality show I wanted to buy it.
WOW, Fun, excitng and I have a new found LOVE for Tori!

I thought it was an excellent book. It gave me incredible insights into the countries of Pakistan and Afganistan. Greg Mortenson is promoting education for all children, especially girls. Hopefully this will lead to less terrorism in the world. I recommend this book to everyone.

I read many of the negative reviews, just to see what they were all about and yeah, it's a little irritating to read Mortenson's name over and over again but I really enjoyed this book. Plain and simple. You should read it because he does an amazing thing for people who are not only ignored and forgotten by their own country but by the world in general.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book from beginning to end. I learned so much about the country of Palestine and was so impressed with the outstanding descriptions of the countrysides. It was a real eye-opener into the Muslim people as well which, I hate to admit, are misunderstood by most Americans. They are, obviously, not all terriorists. I think every American should read this beautifully written book. Greg Mortenson is a true American hero.

Margaret Blanchard
Houston TX

I've had this book since it was first released having learned about it at a climbing meeting near my home. It wasn't a best seller then, wasn't a book of the month highlight or anything. Actually, it was pretty much unheard outside of my outdoor orientated friends.

I'm so glad that has finally changed. If you haven't stepped into the boat and gotten the book - do so, you really won't regret it. It seems scholarly (and many people describe it that way) but it's really not. The descriptions are vivid, especially the outdoor settings highlighted as only a person who loves the outdoors truly can. The people you meet, both the good and the bad, are shown objectively - their wisdom, courage and failings all laid out for you to be your own judge.

Fabulous story, engaging tale, great pre-travel book and, of course, a great biographical journey of a man's missions - whether he really wanted that mission to begin with or not.

Three Cups of Tea was an absolute joy to read! Greg Mortenson's mission is very admirable and his belief in what he is doing is extremely inspirational. This book gives you an in depth look into the Balti way of life and what's going on politically in that part of the world. It opened my eyes to what the Muslim religion really stands for and an alternative way to defeat terrorism. This book will draw you in and will definitely make you an admirerer of Greg Mortenson and his mission. I'm already convinced to get involved!

Randy Pausch is an incredible human being. Most people faced with his diagnosis would sink into a big pit of self pity. He was amazing before he became infamous with his Last Lecture and even more so now. This book (and his actual lecture) will put your life in perspective. This book provides a little insight to one of the world's true role models. We should all strive to be like him. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. He'll have you laughing through your tears and leave you going WOW!

Randy Pausch is so inspiring. I think everyone should read this book. If the world followed his philosophy what a great, positive and happier place the world would be. If I am ever faced with a terminal illness I hope I can be 1/10 as positive as he is.

I am an eight year cancer survivor and was deeply moved by Randy Pausch's You Tube lecture, as well as this book. Randy gets personal and shares what I feel are invaluable life lessons that we all should live by, whether we are terminally ill or not. It is all about attitude and choices. All ages need to read. It puts your life in perspective. I believe that kids can really see what their future could be as workers, professionals, parents, etc. and what they can pass on to their kids.... I buy this book for friends that are graduating, retiring, etc. I plan on recommending to our school system to be required reading... My prayers are with Randy and his precious family, as I know what a cancer diagnosis can bring. My husband lost his first wife from cancer and his kids were 9 and 13 at the time. Life is a gift. Live in the present and use your gifts to the fullest.

Although I had expected a print version of the Pausch live last lecture, this little book of uplifting life lessons was a surprise and equally inspiring. I have suggested it for my book club during a season when we are otherwise busy and need a quick read.

I tried very hard to like this little book. I instinctively appreciate Randy and feel sorrow for his plight. He gives the impression as being very much an honorable guy, a good father and the college professor I never had but always wanted. Nonetheless, the book seems to be written for the simple of mind. Perhaps a life with college students had given Randy a fondness for straightforward homilies. There was nothing in the book that is either fresh or profound. The insights presented are Hollywood superficial.

The book's constant regressing to Disney, Star Wars, and Star Trek may be attractive to the college student. However, finding weighty insights from the ethos of a Jedi is an effort in futility. The book does give some comprehensible perceptions of the popular academic culture. Through analysis the book shows that the superficial and fallacies of concept of the Hollywood culture can be misconstrued as being full of deep and profound meaning. That being said, there are those that need such metaphors for a life's anchor and for those this book is ideally suited.

I hope nothing but the best for Randy and his family. If the reader is looking for a light book that reads like a screen play and isn't too mentally tasking than this is the book for them. If on the other hand the desire is for a profound and penetrating analysis of life's lessons and the meaning of existence than the reader will be disappointed.

This was a wonderful story to follow. What a guy, and what a huge loss. He was a wonderful role model, and I loved the lightness and humor of his story.

After listening to the week of tributes to Tim Russert we had to purchase the book. The book is a wonderful tribute to his Father and all the Fathers that instilled the core value in the 40's and 50's born children. After my 63 years on this earth and raising 2 girls, I finally got it. Tim's Father said it all in one sentense. You will always be loved but your never entitled. No matter what age you are, your always going to have to work on gaining the respect and admiration from people you have known for years, as well as the people you meet today and want to have their friendship in the future. this book is a great lesson for young and old. Tim Russert was an honest and truely Great person. He will be missed but his wisdom in this book will be cherrished.

I loved reading "Big Russ And Me" What a wonderful relationship Tim Russert had with his father. He was fortunate to have grown up back when life was simple. Big Russ was quite a father and I am sure is very proud of his son, Tim. I am sure Tim's entire family is quite proud of him...Luke is so lucky to have had him for a father.I miss watching Tim on Meet The Press, I never missed a Sunday morning show...It is not the same without him!

Disappointed that I paid almost twice times the price of a book that is listed for $13.95

Written with love by a son and father himself, Tim shows us that love is what makes you the man you become

This was the literally the best book that I have ever read! I am a 14 year old, and I still enjoyed the book. It has hilarious stories from her entire life, from childhood to adulthood. She is one of the funniest people on TV, so I knew that her book would be good, but I never knew that it would be this good. I never wanted to put it down. It was horrible when I finally finished the book, because I never wanted it to end. Her humor is hilarious, even for teenagers! I highly recommend this book!!

I love the comedy of Chelsea Handler, I am a big fan of hers... This book was just as funny as her first, I loved every moment of reading it and so have my friends... I can't wait to get it back from them so I can read it again! (and I usually don't read books more than once)

For those of us who love and enjoy Chelsea Handler, this is a MUST READ! A funny, relaxing and very "Chelsea-esque" look into Chelsea's life. I bought it at the airport to read on my one week vacation, and finished in on the flight. Fast-paced, and a real laugh out loud kinda book. You won't be disappointed!

I absolutely loved this book I laughed out loud in the doctor's waiting room several times! It's a must read, very entertaining!! Chelsea is a fabulous writer!

Not sure if it's as good as her prior book, which I'd still like to read. But found this to be very disjointed, and more sad than funny. I like to drink as much (if not more) than the next person, but not to the point of repeatedly peeing myself, as she does. That's just sort of pathetic.

I read this book in one afternoon and found it to be full of great insights into the brain and how we have the power to direct its impact on the life we want whether we've suffered a stroke or not. The final chapters on choosing to live "right brained" are especially enlightening, but if I were looking for a primer on stroke recovery, this is "Stroke Therapy Lite." Nonetheless, her suggestions on how to be when working with stroke victims are very perceptive and I trust many hospitals/recovery centers will be changing protocols in this area. Jill, in being given a second chance to do life right is indeed "being the change she wishes to see in the world." (Gandhi) We could all take her insights to heart.

I loved it, BUT it may not be so enjoyable to a non-medical person. I was a little disappointed because the reviews said it would teach me how to better use my "right brain." This it didn't do well. A good read, neverless!

I learned a great deal about the basics of how our brains function by reading this book. How the brain can recover from various injuries/illnesses has always amazed me and I love reading about it. I first learned of Jill Bolte-Taylor through her presentation on the TED website. I was completely fascinated as I listened to her tell us about her stroke experience. I knew I wanted to read her book to get an even more detailed account than what she spoke of in her presentation.

All of the wonderful things previously said by the previous reviewers are true. I doubt I can add more to the wealth of information available concerning this book. I will state that I greatly appreciate learning what stroke victims really want or need concerning how they are treated and related too, verses what we think they want or need. Jill gave a very good list of of those wants/needs in the back of the book. Very understandable needs such as, "please don't get upset if I have asked you the same thing 15 times in a row", and "please be patient and gentle with me" sort of things. Caretakers of stroke victims will learn so much from this book since it was written by a brain scientist who later documented her own journey into her right brain. Absolutely fascinating.

I've told all my relatives about this book and Dr. Taylor's unique and amazing experience. The book should be required reading in medical school (even though it is written for the general public) or else its groundbreaking findings should be included in medical textbooks. The manner in which her mother GG re-raised the late-thirties author from infancy again is most inspiring and educational.

I do have a few complaints, but these didn't stop me from giving it 5 stars. There is a lot of repetition of certain themes and vocabulary; I would have preferred more anecdotes about Dr. Taylor's recovery and less emphasis on nirvana (important, but the reader gets the point early on).

I consider this a must-read and hope a second and more detailed book will be available someday.

I have an AVM just like the author and I was really interested in reading about her experiences. I enjoyed the book, but it could have been about 40 pages shorter.

Like most books for a large audience, the technical details about the brain were lacking. In fact, Chapter 2 is called "Simple Science" and anyone with a middle school education could understand it. I really wish authors would treat science as if I actually made it past 10th grade. Also, I was quite surprised that the author, a neuroanatomist, couldn't find better drawings of the brain.

The author recalled her experience via psychotherapy years after her stroke. I was a bit surprised that the author treated her recall of the day of her stroke as if her memories were fixed, as if they were just sitting in a file cabinet and the Gestalt therapy opened the drawers. The author is ecstatic about the plasticity of the brain yet she never acknowledges that memories are much more "plastic" than the brain.

By the end of the book, the author is writing in broad, flowery language:

"If I want to retain my inner peace, I must be willing to consistently and persistently tend the garden of my mind moment by moment." (Uh oh. I think the author is starting to shovel the manure.)

"The focused human mind is the most powerful instrument in the universe." (Huh? Really? Has the author ever considered that there might be other aliens with minds that are more powerful than ours?)

"Paying attention to how you burn energy and how foods make you feel inside your skin should be a top priority." "Let [scents] move you into the here and know." (Ohhh....aromatherapy! Is there a chapter on feng shui?)

This is all fine and dandy but I was expecting something more scientific and analytical from a neuroscientist.

For example, the author argues that everyone has complete control over how they react and behave. Unless, of course, they are are "truly" mentally ill (her word, not mine, see page 157). I disagree with the author on this point--mental illness is not like a switch. There are shades of mental illness, from a bit of depression to manic/depressive.

This book will be quite inspirational for both stroke victims and their caretakers. The author recovered so well because of the intense, loving efforts of her mother. And she recovered completely. Quite amazing.

Life with My Sister Madonna by Christopher Ciccone is complete garbage. I can't believe he would write a tell-all about his sister Madonna. Christopher really doesn't add anything insightful or juicy to the table that we already didn't know about Madge, of course she's egotistical, a control freak, and calculated but she's also a hard-worker, talented, and one hell of a performer. I think it's sad when jealous siblings spill the beans about those who have made it big, he plays the victim over and over again. I hope Christopher regrets writing this book one day, it just makes him look small and not Madonna.

I met Christohper Ciccone a while ago at a charity function. A mutual friend had compared our looks and thought we looked like twins. Of course, I was flattered at the time, but he couldn't have been more rude and arrogant in his denial of the similarities. Pig. Now he has to make money off his lucky connection with his sister. He could have made better choices in life but chose to ride her coat tails and then get off. How repulsive. Don't read this book if you don't want your image of Madge tarnished forever.

As a lifelong Madonna fan, I knew many fans were protesting Christopher's book yet I felt the need to read it. The message in this book is clear: Christopher is hurtng for money and whines about being overpowered by Madonna and being in her shadow. I don't care if it's family or friends, anyone with self-respect would not tolerate being treated with less respect than they think-and feel -they deserve.Christopher could have walked away from Madonna,yet he kept going back to her and supporting her. His name dropping towards the end got annoying-if he was as talented as he claims, he would be working with or without Madonna's help. He does not reveal anything that fans already suspect: she's a control freak,etc.So she is full of herself, stepped on people,etc. She's a businesswoman who went after what she wanted and stopped at nothing to get there. She knows how to market herself and stays in the game. If the book was THAT bad, she would have stepped in. It was interesting reading yet nothing too surprising.

The book is alright only because it gives so many details about the Iconic Madonna's private life that nobody knows. I have been a huge Madonna fan since the 80's and everything about her life has always fascinated me. She is a pioneer at what she does and has been able to maintain that way for the last 25 years which is an extremely hard task to accomplish and no other living music star including Michael Jackson has been able to accomplish such success for so long.

I think Christopher has been a clown and a looser for all his life, always following his sister's lead and now using his only resource which is his sister's superstardom and success to make some money of his own. If he wasn't for Madonna he would probably be behind a cashier's counter at a Michigan grocery store and would never had been able to direct a world tour, design homes or even sell any of his paintings and even less to meet and hang out with so many celebrities if he wasn't Madonna's sister sorry (brother). I think he is the biggest opportunist there is. He sticks with his sister for years taking notes on everything that she does including dates and stabs her in the back to make some money.

I found very annoying that Christopher was comparing himself with Madonna all the time; saying we are both this and that and we are similar on how with think and how driven we both are. Well Chris let me tell you something. You will always live on Madonna's shadow and will never accomplish anything else after the book. So you better save and invest that money real well.

Christopher, if you really were talented at all you would have used your talents a long time ago. I mean your sister gave you a huge kick for you to succeed on your own. She gave you the opportunity to travel all over the world, to get experience decorating her homes, even introducing you to gallery owners and important people in your business and this is how you pay her? And now you claim that stabbing her was like a huge orgasm? Get a life looser.

I anticipated reading this book and having sympathy for Christopher Ciccone thinking that Madonna had wronged her brother for years. BOY WAS I WRONG!! This guys is nothing more than a self-centered, narcissistic, spoiled brat who was given soo much by his sister, but was so jealous that he really never amounted to much. If this guys was out to make Madonna look bad it back fired. If Madonna was really the person that Christopher is trying to portray then why didn't she just cut him out of her life years ago?! She gave this guy chance after chance and he squandered it. He is soo jealous of Madonna that it is sad. He has little to no insight about his own horrible behaviour and the horrible way he treats people. This guy doesnt need Madonna, he needs a shrink thats up for a good challenge. If Christopher thinks he made Madonna look bad in this book he is absolutely wrong, he is the one who comes out of this looking much worse. Dont buy this book. If you must read it, get it at the library...trust me you wont be able to finish it because you will be sick of his self absorbed, idiotic drivel.

I found this book a wonderful read. Leaving herself open to the world, the author shares her journey to self-awareness. She seeks something that some in this world will probably never understand for she has a desire to heal herself from within. Through her search, she finds that the Divine has been living inside of her all the time, just waiting for her to find the "bliss" of connection. As a pastor, this is a message that I would gladly share with the great majority of people who are hurting deep inside, those who don't know yet that if they reconnect with their Maker (whatever they call their Maker!) those hurts can be healed.

From beginning to end I was fascinated with this book. I think it is a great book for any woman to read. Immediately after I finished it I mailed it to my mom to read and told her when she was finished to give it to another woman. It was insightful,funny, and easy to relate to. I cannot wait to read another one of her books!

I love travel, personal search for meaning books and although, this wasn't a great book, it was entertaining and I think she grew as a person, some of the country observations were nice. A nice book--don't agree that is has great spiritual insight, but we are on a search for meaning. This is one woman's search.. Perfect for plane travel

This is the best book i've read in a while. I could not let it go. She has great sense if humor as well as honesty.
I can't recommend it more.

I made the mistake of buying this book to take to the hospital where my 10 year old daughter was "living" for two months while they figured out how to eradicate an infection threatening her spinal fluid. So, to be fair, only something very profound could have matched the situation, but, this, decidedly, was a grossly shallow and unfortunate miscalculation on my part.

The woman is a garden variety neurotic. Irritating. Period. And reading her journey is about as appealing as digging into a steaming bowl of entrails. They look good, but, in the end, we know what they are and that makes them hard to swallow.

I wish a publisher would say, screw the money...Elizabeth dear, get thee to a shrink and quit boring us all. (By the way, I never made it to India with this woman...I ran screaming midway through Italy) I would have given it one star, but I found the tiny strings of Italian palatable.

This book is hilarious! It had me laughing out loud the entire time. It's a must read, for those of you who can handle it.

Chelsea Handler is great at telling stories. I laughed out loud a lot. She really gets herself into hysterical and sometimes sticky situations. Sounds like she's living a pretty interesting life. I can't wait for a 3rd book...

This book is hilarious. I briefly saw another reviewer's comments on the title of the book and it not necessarily following through with an actual one night stand in many cases. But SO WHAT! The book is great. I adored it and found my self laughing out loud.

A friend of mine told me I just HAD to read this. I had no idea who Chelsea Handler was, but I trusted my friend would not recommend a ridiculous book. This is one of the most ridiculous books I've ever read, but I loved every minute of it. Hilarious!

The book was an easy read...Finished it in a couple of hours... It was funny. Was I ROTF LMAO?... eh..Not realy..But ...it was pleasant and produced some giggles..

This is a very well written, easy to read book that I enjoyed very much. I highly recommend it and also Big Russ and Me.

Arrived, promptly, in great condition. Is a wonderful book! It made me laugh, cry, contemplate about "Fathers"! I couldn't put it down...

These warm and very humane stories telling of the interaction between father and son or daughter are thought provoking. How could Mr. Russert know when he wrote this book that the response would be so overwhelming? He couldn't, but he had his thumb on the pulse of so many of us who related to his first book and the flood gates opened. A terrific read.

I am almost finished reading this book and I have cried several times. It is funny how we take so many things for granted and how once our love ones are long gone to better lives we will remember all those little moments. This book reminds me that it is now that we have the chance of spending time with our children. It is now that we can tell our parents that we love them. If we wait until tomorrow we may not have the chance to express what we truly need to express to those that we love.

I loved this book. It is full of lessons, smiles, tears, and warm fuzzies. Share this book with someone you love.