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

Advantages: Beautifully written, moving, sharp and tormenting story.
Disadvantages: Slow in parts, not as comprehensive as an "auto-biography"

...he created classics such as the Duncton Chronicles and Skallagrig - one of my all time favourite books. When I discovered "The Boy With No Shoes" I was shocked to discover that this was the painful story of the author's childhood not ever having imagined that he could come from such a harsh physical, and particularly barren emotional background. The story is told set in the fictional coastal town of "Stoning" in Kent during the post Second World ...
...from boyhood into adult life, the place settings and characters are all fictitious but clearly based on the important people in the author's life. I would describe Horwood as a literary artist; the way in which he constructs language so that it translates into "images" is a skill that very few writers possess. The only other writer that I've encountered who stirs such an emotional reaction in me through the way they write prose is Sir Bob Geldof ... Read review

Advantages: Does tell of 3 mundane cases
Disadvantages: The tales are boring and uneventful

I have to admit that I was very dissappointed in this book. It is marketed as 'Three voices no one heard - until someone listened' The three people this story is about are: Casandra 'who refused to speak', this wasn't true, she did speak and was abusive in the main. Torey helped her to talk about her previous problems which we are never actually privy to as Torey stated that she was an habitual liar. Which isn't bad for somebody who doesn't speak. ...
...diagnose or recognise this, she is given a report by a parent of drake. He cannot speak before or after meeting Torey. Gerda, an elderly lady. Has had a stroke and doesn't want to speak. She rambles on about events in the past before dying. In my mind Torey did little to progress these cases and I am left wondering what the point of the book was. Besides raising cash from cases she has already financially gained from. You may ask why I continued ... Read review

Advantages: Excellent to see how shelia is getting along in life
Disadvantages: Can be a bit repetative.

'Tigers Child' written by the great Torey Hayden. Torey is a special needs teacher and psychologist, her stories are true and based on troubled children she comes into contact with via the classroom. 'Tigers Child' is the follow on to 'One Child' which I have written a brief review on. My husband bought this book for me so I'm not sure how much it cost and where he got it from(probably WHSmiths),but the rrp is £5.99. It's quite tricky written ...
...remember Shelia's and Toreys background. The story is set seven years later when Shelia comes back into Toreys life and is needing her help and guidance again. Shelia is now a teenage with masses of orange hair,but no longer troubled like she had been in 'One Child' although she is still searching for some answers.Torey has her work cut out to help Shelia,but this time it is to help her with her teenage years and make her way through to womanhood. ... 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