Biography Books > D Biography Books > L > 5 GBP to 9 GBP

Advantages: It will have you giggling away as you read
Disadvantages: There are some very poignant moments in there

If you haven't read any of Deric Longden's books then you really are missing out on the opportunity to enjoy some lovely writing that will have you chuckling away as you read. He has a lovely style which I have to say appeals to my sense of humour. He can take the most mundane situations and relate them in a way that a good stand up comic will - emphasising the ridiculous things we do in every day life. This little booke entitled "Lost for Words" ...
...eventual decline into old age. You may have seen the film or DVD of this book which starred Thora Hird as his Mum and Peter Postlethwaite as Deric? Even if you have seen the film it is still well worth reading the book in order that you can enjoy Deric's style and humour first hand for, although the film is amusing and touching, it doesn't quite capture the full story in all its glory. I loved this book party because of his writing and partly because ... Read review

Advantages: Heart warming and sometimes harrowing account of life with a chronically ill family member, balanced with lots of humour
Disadvantages: Stock up on tissues...

...times, is a celebration of Diana's life. It shows her strength of character, despite being very ill indeed, her natural warmth, her love for her husband, her wonderful mind and most of all,how this man loved and cherished his wife and wanted nothing more than to ease her suffering and make her life as complete and happy as possible. It tells of the couples' fight and determination to get the medical authorities to take them seriously and how the ...
...her family too. Throughout the book however, are splashes of humour that will have you laughing out loud, and yet the story is so much more... If possible, I would love to give this man the biggest hug, and to thank him for telling what is a very sad and heart wrenching story in a way that made me smile through my tears. Read it....it's wonderful... P.S. I did get a reply back from DL, a hand-written letter full of warmth and modesty and thanking ... Read review

Advantages: Informative
Disadvantages: None

People have the impression of Gordon as an arrogant, foul mouthed chef. However, this is the persona he adopts to achieve his goals successfully, and this read highlights how he has got there. A follow on from Humble Pie, the book goes in to more depth on the business side of his life, where risks were taken to get where he is today. Lessons that he has learnt along the way are both informative and amusing. His plight to go from a well known UK ...
...What we do learn about Gordon is his passion to develop the people who have been most loyal to him. Angela Hartnett is mentioned a few times throughout the book, as it goes from him owning his first restaurant right through to his MNC Gordon Ramsay Holdings. Loyalty is shown to be a key factor in his life, and as he has progressed, so have the people who have helped him get there. A great read and very inspiring! ... Read review

Advantages: Well written, easy to read
Disadvantages: Nothing new, its all been written before

Madonna - love her or loathe her, it seems that everyone has an opinion about her. With a career that now spans over 25 years her rise to fame from the early days when she first arrived in New York, penniless but with huge ambitions has been well documented many times. Madonna - Queen of the world by Douglas Thompson could at first glance quite easily be dismissed as yet another regurgitated account of Madonna's rise to fame but from the sleeve notes ...
...that everyone claims to already know everything there is to know about. Madonna has given many interviews throughout her life. Usually these interviews are carefully timed to coincide with her latest project, be it a new album, movie, book or other project and the new image that compliments the project is always flaunted to its maximum effect. When it comes to being interviewed Madonna always calls the shots, so how can anyone really expect to know ... Read review

Advantages: A true life account of a terrible accident.
Disadvantages: You don't always get a happy ending in real life.

The book I will now review contains probably one of the worst nightmares any parent could anticipate, the fact is a biography detailing the entire scenario makes it even more difficult and heart wrenching to read. The book I will now review is "Shattered", by Mavis Marsh and ghost written by Andrew Crofts. The book starts with the awful words of the doctor that has done the pre assessment on Mavis's son Mathew - "Your son will be a cabbage for ...
...a vegetable, or what-ever you want to call him". From that awful statement the story goes back to Mavis's ( the mother, writer and teller of this somewhat frightening story), childhood, first detailing her parents life, from jobs and home life, through to her father serving in the war and the untold horrors he had witnessed. From this she went on to her school life, until reading further into the book I never quite understood the purpose for all ... Read review