Biography Books > H Biography Books > M

Advantages: original, well-written
Disadvantages: Subject matter may not have a wide appeal, bit disjointed in parts

Julie Myerson is a novelist living in Clapham, South London. Whilst researching for one of her books set in Victorian London she came across the home, she and her partner and three children were living in, listed on a census and started on a remarkable labour of love researching its history. As I enjoy researching my family history I thought this sounded a very interesting read. The book is basically a biography of her home. She starts in the logical ...
...tracks down their adult children and asks them for their memories regarding their former home, and invites them for a visit. Obviously as time goes by it becomes harder and harder to track down past residents or their descendants and Myerson and her long suffering partner, Jonathan, send out lots of speculative letters to people and Julie spends many hours in various public records offices. Whilst I knew this was about the people in the house, I ... Read review

Advantages: A very thorough, honest look at his life and career
Disadvantages: Becomes a Little too religious towards the end, but not too much of a bad point

I've been a big fan of WWE wrestling ever since we first got cable TV at home back in the early 90's. Of course my enthusiasm and desire to watch it has lessened over the years I used to watch it every week without fail. Around about the same time Shawn Michaels was really starting to make a name for himself. He was one of the first wrestlers I really started to support, even though he was being portrayed as one of the bad guys, or heels as he refers ...
...his autobiography I decided to borrow it off her and give it a read. I had heard that a couple of the wrestling books in previous years had been pretty good but this was actually the first one I'd gotten round to reading. The book looks at a number of aspects, from Shawn's early life, through his career to date and also how his personal life was going throughout. I also thought that he gave a good insight into how professional wrestling or Sports ... Read review

Advantages: Entertaining, authorised biography, informative
Disadvantages: Lacking some warmth

...have been a fan of Hattie Jacques for as long as I can remember. I loved the Carry On films since I was a young child and I also watched her in Sykes on TV and live on the stage twice in Lincoln and Blackpool. So when I heard that there was a biography out on her, I bought it as soon as I could. Hattie by Andy Merriman is an authorized biography too, so this isn't some gossipy, muck-raking kind of life story. It has been written by Andy Merriman ...
...and private life, but reading Hattie really brought out her personality and character. She comes across as warm, funny, generous, loving, caring and willing to help as many people as she could - whether by fund-raising for charity or offering a bed, a meal or a friendly ear for any friend who needed one. Her career is also detailed from her early days to her work with the Player's Theatre to her more famous roles on radio, TV and the stage. Along ... Read review

Advantages: Cheap, fun and easy to read
Disadvantages: I want her life

I bought this book on a spur of the moment shopping trip, basically because I was interested to see how Coleen went from being a schoolgirl to a WAG in such a short space of time. I was amazed to read her story and see how down to earth she really was, even after being catapulted at amazing speed into the limelight. She was even thoughtful enough to come back to her book and update it with her wedding plans for the release of the paperback edition. ...
...quick life update, within which she includes girly pages with tips on make-up, fashion, nights out and quizzes, making it so much more like a diary. It is really easy to read and highly enjoyable to learn how down to earth she is and how she enjoys nothing more than snuggling on her sofa watching the soaps just like the rest of us. ... Read review

Advantages: Shows a reverse perspective.
Disadvantages: Heartbreaking at times.

...six, makes this sometimes a little difficult to read and comprehend. ( I have a six year old daughter and the idea of her seeing the atrocities that the author did is heartbreaking to me). Amongst all the fear, desperation, hunger and complete and utter exhaustion is the story of the true hero's of this book……. The people. The true humanitarian feeling you get throughout the entire book is astounding, the people who have nothing and nowhere to ...
...a stranger, the people who fear for their homes due to the "invasion" of the English and like, who at a moments notice, will have someone "billeted" to them, ( this is what they called the refugees, after they were allocated a bed or home in the village they happen to come across) and show the refugees unforgettable kindness by providing a warm bed for the night and a delicious meal to boot. This book is full of sadness, and the stories of the complete ... Read review