Biography Books > P Biography Books > S

Advantages: A great read
Disadvantages: A bit to graphic

I was recently given this book to read by a family member, and to be honest when I asked her what the story was about I was quite dubious as to whether I wanted to read it or not as this is not the type of story I would personally go for myself. I must say though that once I started reading I could not put it down and had completed it in two days. This book has twenty chapters, an acknowledements page and an Introduction which goes : " There are ...
...abuse on a daily basis. You can turn a blind eye and consider this too nasty to read about, or you can take a courageous step forward and share a few moments from my world. We can only bring about change by doing something postitve and being prepared to listen. This is my story." The book as a whole, is a mans biography of how he spent his childhood being abused both mentally and sexually by his step father. All he wants is for his father to love ... Read review

Advantages: Enjoyable read
Disadvantages: Parts repeated from previous novel

Plonkers, Plaintiff's and Pleas, is a novel by Stephen D. Smith, a practising solicitor in Rotherham, in which he recalls his life both inside and outside of the legal world. These are told in an easy to read style and the authors' down to earth manner, sense of humour or disdain is regularly portrayed throughout the book in both his spoken comments and even more so, unspoken thoughts, which give the reader a portrait of him. There is a short foreword ...
...who extols the authors ability to tell a tale, whether funny or sad. For me, praise indeed from such a wonderful entertainer. Having read the first book, Ballcock's, Boozers and Bail, I found that this book was out of print, however, I luckily found one on e bay and successfully won it. After impatiently waiting (the Mrs will testify to that!), it duly arrived and I immediately settled down, oblivious to everything around me. The very first sentence ... 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

Advantages: vivid and real
Disadvantages: none

"Cider with Rosie" has to be one of my most memorable, poignant and haunting reads. I discovered it when I was 16 in an English class whilst learning about descriptive writing and use of imagery. I didn't have to read it, I was just shown an example of his work, but it lured me in hook line and sinker and I couldn't put the book down. The book is an evocative memoir of his childhood growing up in a Cotswold village. He captures the time and the ...
...in such a manner that conveys reality - he paints a picture with his words and he excels in this art. I think the opening paragraph is simply magical, "I was set down from the carrier's cart at the age of three; and there with a sense of bewilderment and terror my life in the village began. The June grass, amongst which I stood, was taller than I was, and I wept. I had never been so close to grass before. It towered above me and all around me, each ... Read review