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

Advantages: excellent
Disadvantages: none

Laurie Lee was a poet, musician and traveller who came from Gloucestershire. He was born in the early twentieth century and departed from this world not so very many years ago. "Red Sky at Sunrise" is a colelction of his three autobiographical works, which I'll outline in turn. "Cider with Rosie" is a recounting of Lee's youth in the Slad valley near Stroud. In the time before cars were common, and children were not confined to hosues, he roamed ...
...poor but happy life. Slightly nostalgic, slow paced, virtually no plot but much attention to the details of ordinary people's lives. A beautiful peice of writing. "As I walked out one midsummer morning." As a young man, lee shoulder a knapsack, took his violin and, like a character from a fairy story, set out to find his fortune. His travels took him to London, and then he spent a year walking across Spain, busking for his bed and board. Vivid, ... Read review

Advantages: Interesting, entertaining, warm, endearing, honest
Disadvantages: Some sections are not as in-depth as you might wish

...is out in paperback too. Our Betty – Scenes from My Life by Liz Smith was published in hardback last year, then in paperback this March. The hardback version is available from Amazon for £7.50 at the moment, with the paperback copy at £3.93. I read a lot of biographies and autobiographies, so I am used to a variety of styles, but found Liz Smith’s book very different to others of this genre. It is pretty much chronological, but otherwise, it might ...
...own autobiographies too. Our Betty is never sensationalistic or bitchy. Liz writes frankly about her own life with modesty and a dry wit which displays her warmth and personality very well. When she mentions other actors or directors, it is usually with admiration and respect. She does not reveal secrets that others might wish to keep. The only secrets she reveals are those of her own past. This was also refreshing. Another thing which makes Liz ... Read review

Advantages: Written as a user guide, wide audience, humour
Disadvantages: none

Author This book is written by Luke Jackson, a 13-year-old boy with Asperger Syndrome. He has also written another book, A User Guide to the GF/CF Diet for Autism, Asperger Syndrome and AD/HD. Luke has 3 brothers and 3 sisters. One of his brothers has AD/HD and another one of his brothers has autism. He writes this book as a user guide for other people with Asperger Syndrome and their families. Asperger Syndrome Asperger Syndrome is ...
...in which speech development and IQ are normal, but in which social disability can be compounded by depression or other mental health problems." Autismspeaks.org.uk People with Asperger Syndrome have difficulty: · Understanding gestures and facial expressions · Understanding jokes and Sarcasm - they take things iterally · Making friends Asperger Syndrome is complex and there are lots of characteristics, which affect people differently. Because ... Read review

Advantages: Beautifully told, brilliantly researched, you can't go wrong with this one
Disadvantages: I really cannot find any, even if I wanted to.

...story starts in 1849 amd Lizzie is described as being "tall and slender with large dark eyes and long hair the colour of pale copper. Striking, rather than beautiful, especially with those huge, heavy-lidded eyes in such a small face, Lizzie did not conform to the contemporary ideal of beauty". As the narrative continues, we learn about the youth of the subject, her family and parents, the roots of her father in Sheffield (he was convinced that ...
...been. When Lizzie first met her future lover/husband she was working as a hat-maker/shop assistant for a Mrs Tozier in Cranbourne Street, London. The two were introduced through Walter Howell Deverell, who first met Lizzie through his friend the poet William Allingham. As the story continues we learn of the relationship that becomes a can't-live-with-can't-live-without pairing, fuelled by jealousy and manipulation. We are told of some of the possible ... Read review

Advantages: Great inspirational reading
Disadvantages: Bit long winded when she laks about other race competitors

Black White and Gold is the biography written by 2 times Olympic champion, Dame Kelly Holmes. She starts the book in March of 2005 as she is sitting in a limousine driving towards the gate of Buckingham Palace. She is off to receive her Damehood and she says how surreal it felt and how she had to pinch herself to make sure it was really happening. She tells how she joked with the other people who were also their receiving their Damehood and Knights', ...
...to have the Queen place the sword on each of her shoulders, she tells them all she is going to kneel down anyway! As we all know she did not and she received her dame hood in the correct way! We are then taken back to her early years and she tells how when her parents found out she was pregnant and had split up from her boyfriend they did not want her to have the baby but she went ahead and when Kelly was born her mother was given the choice of ... Read review