Biography Books > T Biography Books > D > less than 5 GBP

Advantages: Interesting read, great anti-drugs message, informative.
Disadvantages: Needs to be proof-read better, could do with more details on her life in general.

...So I checked round for the best prices and found it available on Ebay, brand new for only £5. I started reading it the day it arrived and had finished it all in two days, but could easily have read it all straight off, if I'd had the time and no distractions. I love reading autobiographies, but The Other Side Of Nowhere isn't exactly an autobiography. Danniella was interviewed on This Morning last week and explained that it wasn't a kiss-and-tell ...
...Danniella's book isn't only about the topic covered. We do get to find out quite a lot about her childhood, her upbringing and family and her career. She describes her comfortable middle class background, her time at the famous Sylvia Young school and her break as she joined EastEnders as Sam Mitchell in her teens. There was a lot I didn't know in this part and it was the most interesting section of the book for me, especially as my eldest daughter ... Read review

Advantages: a true insight of the daily life of a hero
Disadvantages: it is not just about M.Ali but also about what the writer goes through

...Mohammad Ali because I find the character truly amazing : the first modern icon, the first brand, the most recognisable face on Earth, and one if not the best boxer ever (especially in his early days). I bought the book out of curiosity five years ago and from page one it grabbed me. I did read the book in one go. Davis Miller's style is crystal clear, to the point; it sounds as if he is writing a letter to you. His life is as boring as anybody ...
...makes this book work is the paralell between the life of a star and a life of a fan : they nearly have the same age but they couldn't be more world apart if it wasn't for the dedication in the training they both had. One day the aged fan meets his star and his life takes another spin : he has at last found his way, he will write about the only thing he knows that is Mohammad ALi. Mohammad Ali is miles apart from the bragging Cassius Clay he once ... Read review

Advantages: Giggle-out-loud funny, charming, immensely accessible, honest.
Disadvantages: Unusually, absolutely nothing!

...that it was one of the best literary investments she could ever have made. This charming little tome drags the reader on a lovely journey of enlightenment and discovery, as writer Deric Longden comes to the wonderful realisation that he is, in fact, a Cat's Best Friend. It all begins when he spots his next door neighbour's new kitten sitting on an upturned bucket in the yard. When the day turns rainy and the little mite is still out in the cold, ...
...new love affair culminates in the sneaky adopting of the kitten, and the story runs from there. Fears of sheepskin rugs, drunken misbehavior with spilt wine, climbing trees, a pet sultana called Ralph, and all sorts of other scrumptious quirks and mishaps ensue as Deric and his kitten bond, culminating in Aileen - who is almost blind - shutting him in the fridge with a pack of Danish bacon. The wonderful image of Deric thawing him out in a shrunken ... Read review

Advantages: Appendices make this a useful reference work
Disadvantages: No real insight as the author was kept at a distance.

The list of rock stars who have been taken from us early is a long one. Many have lived the rock 'n roll lifestyle to excess and paid the ultimate price. Others have died through no fault of their own, their deaths a tragedy. Far fewer are those who have deliberately snuffed out their own spark. Kurt Cobain of Nirvana is perhaps the highest profile of these but more than a decade for he killed himself there was Ian Curtis of Joy Division. Deborah ...
...to talk about Ian Curtis' life, as she shared many years of it as his girlfriend and wife. She knew him from when he was just schoolboy with big dreams and was with him during his rise to fame, through until his sad end. She would see every side of Ian Curtis but, like many, would believe that the depressing lyrics he wrote were just something he was writing, not something he was feeling. Deborah Curtis takes us through her own life as it intersects ... Read review

Advantages: Educational
Disadvantages: Heartbreaking

“The Girl in the Picture” is the story behind the subject of one of the Vietnam War’s most shocking images; that of nine year old Kim Phuc, who was badly burned, and was captured on film running naked from her village back on 8 June 1972. the picture itself was shown around the world and won a Pulitzer prize for its cameraman. There were in fact many pictures of this terrible war, but this picture more than any other around the world, made people ...
...Phuc lived in the village of Trang Bang, north of Saigon in South Vietnam in 1972. She was the middle of nine children, born in 1963 to parents Nu and Tung. It was widely reported that she lost two brothers in the napalm attack, although the two boys in question were in fact cousins. Kim’s life was never to be the same again, not only for the injury and the devastation on her country and family, but for the fact that she was an unwilling celebrity, ... Read review