Biography Books > A Biography Books > by Title (First Letter)

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: Compelling
Disadvantages: N/A

This is the first book I've read from Anya Peters, my daughter-in-law gave it to me to read. Through reading it all my emotions surfaced, parts of it shocked me, other parts amused me and it also made me cry, but I couldn't stop reading it although I was sickened by events in the book. Anya Peters has captured what it was like to be an outcast and to not belong to a family unit, although she suffered mental and physical abuse from her cousins, who ...
...loved them and wanted to be a part of their family, but she was never really accepted. This book is not for the faint hearted and if you don't like to read of cruelty, deprivation and hate then you had better leave it alone because this is real life, Anya's real life and it wasn't pretty. She was abused by her Uncle in a very depraved way and this book tells it as it was in sickening detail, it also deals with a family's shame about what has happened ... Read review

Advantages: Well compiled, frank, moving and often amusing autobiography
Disadvantages: Sports fans will naturally find this more interesting but retains some general appeal.

...sums up this experience comes from the Irish Mail on Sunday. 'Whether you're a fan of the game or the man, his tale is a tale well worth reading. He may be a right b*****d, but miss him. Snooker misses him terribly.' Traditionally snooker in the United Kingdom has its roots entrenched in dingy, windowless halls where shifty characters rest their beer to play their shot, trying desperately to see the other end of the table through the thick clouds ...
...for their hedonistic exploits away from the baize. Without doubt Higgins, in his prime, was the wilder. It seems strange then that White, six times the losing finalist in the World Championships, put so little into his book regarding his career as a snooker great, choosing to allocate a disproportionate amount of pages to his binges and pub tales. Higgins, of course, has to include much of the same type of fare but to his credit he does a better ... Read review

Advantages: Interesting, easy to read
Disadvantages: Don't read if your easily offended

The blurb on the back of the book reads:- Abby Lee is smart, sassy, and perpetually single. Frustrated with her love-life, she's now looking for the kind of sex she's always wanted. This is the intimate diary of her extraordinary journey. Never one to turn down an opportunity - even if it does include the use of a whip, the thrill of the outdoors, or the involvement of a third party - Abby enthusiastically romps her way through a series of one-night ...
...in her sexual quest, Abby meets Blog Boy and begins to wonder: will she ever be able to give up the bed-hopping and finally settle down? I wasn't sure whether I would enjoy this book as I have read other erotic memoirs such as The Sexual Life of Catherine M and The Butcher, The Baker, The Candlestick Maker by Suzanne Portnoy. However, I was pleasantly surprised. Aby writes with extreme frankness so if you are easily offended, I would not advise ... Read review

Advantages: In English, Very Interesting
Disadvantages: A lot of hard work to read!

Mein Kampf - My Struggle, written by Adolf Hitler. I am lucky enough to own a first edition (in German obviously) and the english translation version by Jaico Publishing. Mein Kampf was first published in two volumes in 1925-1926 and sold between 8 and 9 million copies during Hitlers lifetime, as well as being widely translated. The contents are most evil, and being quite a chunky read, it takes some time to work through it, least of all because ...
...In Mein Kampf, Hitler uses the main thesis of "The Jewish peril", which speaks of an alleged Jewish conspiracy to gain world leadership. The narrative describes the process by which he became increasingly anti-Semitic and militaristic, especially during his years in Vienna, Austria. Yet the deeper origins of his anti-semitism remain a mystery. He speaks of not having met a Jew until he arrived in Vienna, and that at first his attitude was liberal ... Read review