Then Again – Diane Keaton
Then Again - Diane Keaton
An interesting idea for a memoir. Keaton intermixes her mother’s letters with her own story. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. I am not really sure what the point was and if indeed a biography should have a point at all. The book seemed like it was going somewhere, but it never really got there. I think it was meant to tie the lives of the two women together in some deep way, but it never quiet got there for me. I love biographies because they tell me something about the person and I learn from the experience. I grow close to the person and feel sadness and loss when I finish the book. Like my friend has gone. I didn’t feel that with this book. What I learnt about Keaton is that she is an accidental success, despite being kooky and scatterbrained she still managed to be successful. Maybe that’s the learning?
MY RATING – 2 STARS = ANOTHER BIOGRAPHY
First published:
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Worth Fighting for: Love, Loss and Moving Forward – Lisa Niemi Swayze
Lisa Niemi Swayze
I have just finished reading this book and was at first a little worried that it would be sad and depressing. Whilst it was a sad read, it was not depressing with many details of the tender moments shared by Lisa and Patrick Swayze during his long illness.
It is a real story about real people in a marriage that had its ups and downs and which culminated in real growth between them as a couple and as individuals.
Lisa Niemi Swayze provides some real tangible solutions to managing the long term illness of a loved one. Her resilience and love for Patrick and his love for her is clear, and comes through in each page of the book.
MY RATING – 3 STARS = I ‘M GLAD I READ THIS
First published: Great Britain 2012 by Simon & Schuster UK Limited
ISBN 978-0-85720-839-2
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Father Son & Co. My Life at IBM and Beyond – Thomas J. Watson Jr
Father Son & Co
This really is a staggeringly good book! For anyone that loves business, works with large corporations or has worked with global giant IBM, this is a must read biography. The story of the founder of IBM, Thomas Watson Sr, and his successor and son, Thomas Watson Jr. This story is beautifully and honestly told by Watson Jr as he recounts the love of a father and son. It was Watson Jr who took IBM into computers and steered it to the company that we know today as a global enterprise.
This book is more than the story of two men’s lives, it gives an account of the management style, ethics and organizational models used in this super successful business that became the blueprint for many modern day consulting companies.
I brought a 1990 copy of this book second hand, as an ex library book, so mine was already well read before I got it. The latest edition, pictured, is testament to its popularity as it remains a study in organizational management and business culture – well worth studying.
MY RATING – FIRST CLASS
First published: 1990 New York, New York USA by Bantam Books
ISBN 0-553-07011-8
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Philip Dulhunty – Never a Dull Moment
Philip Dulhunty - Never a Dull Moment
What a story and what a person! The photo on the cover shows Philip Dulhunty as an Australian solider in Hiroshima in 1946 so that will give you some indication of the diversity of the contents. A successful business and family man, he is well known in Australia as a leader in the electricity power transmission industry (Dulhunty Power), and has much involvement in the marine and aviation industries too. Now well into his eighties, he can still often be seen flying his Cessna float plane over the Sydney Harbour Bridge on his way to some seaplane gathering or event, a realm he just revels in and is known throughout the country for.
We are fortunate to know Philip personally and have a signed copy of his book which my husband, (also a keen seaplane pilot), purchased. He has read the book, so the review is from his perspective. If you love adventure and love aeroplanes (especially seaplanes) then you will love reading about the amazing life so wonderfully described in this biography.
This is a beautifully produced book, A4 in size and 445 pages. For those that are tactile, like me, it feels nice to hold and the photographs that are included are of very high quality. Written and told in a story like fashion by Philip Dulhunty himself, it is just packed with information about a life lived to the full!
About the Book;
Philip Dulhunty, OAM, has lived a life packed with adventure, narrow escapes from death and truly remarkable achievements in the realms of business, aviation and sailing. A self-taught engineer, his technical innovations and entrepreneurial drive have helped transform the face of the global electricity-supply industry. This autobiography traces Philip’s story from his idyllic childhood at Port Macquarie through to his current role as a doyen of the power industry. Not only does it chart his highly successful career as a businessman, it also covers his army service during World War Two and the unforgettable period that he spent in atom-bomb devastated Japan with the Allied Occupation Forces. Written with Philip’s trademark sense of humour, the book romps along. It’s full of memorable anecdotes, dangerous encounters with hijackers, villains and crashing planes, and ends with Philip’s compelling solution to one of Australia’s greatest wartime mysteries.
A great story!
MY RATING – 4 STARS = I LEARNT ALOT FROM THIS
First published: 2009 Philip Dulhunty (publisher) Australia
ISBN 978-0-646-51982-1
In the Bush at the Beach
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Leslie Ibsen Rogge – Wanted Gentleman Bank Robber
wanted-gentelman-bank-robber
I was extremely fortunate to be asked by author Dane Batty, to review his first biography “Wanted Gentleman Bank Robber”. Dane Batty is the maternal nephew of Leslie Ibsen Rogge and remembers his uncle coming in and out of his own life as a child. He remembers the unconditional love shown to Ibsen by his ( Batty’s) own mother (Rogge’s sister) not realising the full extent of Rogge’s adventures until he was older. Batty has put together this biography of his uncle using letters once written between his uncle and Batty’s mother, as well as first hand accounts from Rogge himself.
This biography is a true account of Rogge, who was one of the FBI‘s most elusive criminals. He was known to rob banks in a “gentlemanly” style, amassing many millions of dollars over a thirty years! All the while managing to live a fairly normal if not adventurous life on the run, evading constant FBI and Police surveillance – complete with a family (or two) and a dog.
This story is clearly told with love by Batty who has a relaxed informative writing style. When I found Batty was a technical writer, I worried that I would find information only and not a story. Beautifully and faithfully told, Batty does give us a story and a feeling of connection to Rogge through this biography. For those of us outside the US and not familiar with the story, I found it a little disjointed in parts and had to re-read sections a couple of times to understand where Rogge was, why he was there and how it fitted with the time line.
I love biographies and for me what makes a really good one is the reader’s ability to get to know the person (the subject) – to understand the person that the book is about. I ask myself “why am I interested?” in this biography. I like to learn something of the person that the biography is about so I would have liked to see a bit more about why Rogge was driven to commit so many crimes, why didn’t he seem to understand it was wrong. I wanted to know more about the other people in his life. There are references to Rogge’s friends and family, many of whom had a hard time with the police and FBI, but I would have liked to know more about the reason’s they protected Rogge and that didn’t come across clearly enough for me. Was this guy so charismatic that people were just naturally drawn to him or was he an expert con artist as well? In an early chapter “Learning to Run” I was not sure what happened to his wife and children when he left the property. Good biographies give accounts of other people’s feelings towards the subject, you get to understand the impact that the subject had on other people through their own account and this gives you an insight into the subjects motivations and character. I didn’t find enough of this information and felt that the book could have been further developed in some areas, so it rounded out my experience of Rogge.
I thought that Rogge was extremely unlikable early in the book and was glad to see that he later had some realisation of the cost to others that his actions had caused. Early on, his lack of care for others was staggering and his inability to see that what he was doing was wrong was amazing.
I have read many reviews of this book where readers love the story – and think that Rogge is likable. In some cases reviewers have wanted him to get away without being punished. Clearly it is an enjoyable read for many. My thirteen year old daughter loved the book and read it the instant it arrived! Note: there are some swear words and parents may want to restrict reading of this book to adults.
All that being said, as a first book by Batty it is a good one. The work involved in collecting and collating all the letters and notes from Rogge has been put together well and they do tell a story of adventure, friendship and love.
Worth a look. If you love crime and adventure you will love this! Check out the trailer for the new movie!
MY RATING – 3 STARS = I ‘M GLAD I READ THIS
First published: 2010-06-30 Hillsboro, Oregon US
ISBN 978-0-615-2684-5-3
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Read more about Dane or Rogge http://www.nishpublishing.com/authors/
NEWSLETTER October 2011
In The Bush At The Beach
See the In the Bush at the Beach Lifestyle Newsletter for October 2011 here!
The Biography Review one of the blog sites and online stores of
In the Bush at the Beach Lifestyle portal.
At the store you will find some gorgeous zippered silk clutches, just perfect to carry that favourite biography in style!
Diane Cilento – My Nine Lives
Diane Cilento My Nine Lives
I read this biography with interest and bought it when it first came out thinking that Diane Cilento would have had such a fascinating life that I wouldn’t be able to put it down. Written by Ms Cilento, I found that the reading was hard going and I must admit not as interesting as I thought it would be. Maybe that is because being an Australian myself I wanted to hear about more of her life over seas, I don’t know for sure.
She certainly had an interesting life! The book doesn’t dwell as much on her life with Sean Connery as I thought it might and focuses on her life back in Australia after that marriage broke down. Ms Cilento was certainly a survivor who chose to live her life according to her own rules. The cover and photographs are really high quality and the writing is also good and easy to read.
Sadly, Ms Cilento died on October 6 2011, at the age of 78 in far north Queensland where she lived after a long illness and will be missed by many. See news article here from the Australian for more details.
MY RATING – 3 STARS = I ‘M GLAD I READ THIS
First published: 2006 Australia by The Penguin Group
ISBN 13-978-0-670-02937-2
Buy Online
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The Wolf of Wall Street – Jordan Belfort
The Wolf of Wallstreet
I haven’t read this book personally, but I friend of mine said that it was a great read, and was keen enough on the book that he was tweeting about it whilst reading it, so that says to me that it is worth a read.
“By day he made thousands of dollars a minute. By night he spent it as fast as he could, on drugs, sex, and international globe-trotting. From the binge that sank a 170-foot motor yacht, crashed a Gulfstream jet, and ran up a $700,000 hotel tab, to the wife and kids who waited for him at home, and the fast-talking, hard-partying young stockbrokers who called him king and did his bidding, here, in his own inimitable words, is the story of the ill-fated genius they called…” [Amazon].
MY RATING – UNRATED
First published: 2008-08-26
ISBN Unknown
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Scar Tissue – Anthony Kiedis
Scar Tissue Anthony Kiedis
When I first saw this book cover I was amazed. I was in an airport travelling to a work assignment and couldn’t believe a biography could have such a cover! I had never heard of Anthony Kiedis and was so fascinated by the blurb on the cover that I just had to have it. This was one of the first biographies that I brought and it started me on a journey that still continues today – I love biographies and this is a great one.
“In SCAR TISSUE Anthony Kiedis, charismatic and highly articulate frontman of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, recounts his remarkable life story, and the history of the band itself. Raised in the Midwest, he moved to LA aged eleven to live with his father Blackie, purveyor of pills, pot, and cocaine to the Hollywood elite. After a brief child-acting career, Kiedis dropped out of U.C.L.A. and plunged headfirst into the demimonde of the L.A. underground music scene. He formed the band with three schoolfriends – and found his life’s purpose. Crisscrossing the country, the Chili Peppers were musical innovators and influenced a whole generation of musicians. But there’s a price to pay for both success and excess and in SCAR TISSUE, Kiedis writes candidly of the overdose death of his soul mate and band mate, Hillel Slovak, and his own ongoing struggle with an addiction to drugs. SCAR TISSUE far transcends the typical rock biography, because Anthony Kiedis is anything but a typical rock star. It is instead a compelling story of dedication and debauchery, of intrigue and integrity, of recklessness and redemption.” [Amazon].
This is a truely gutsy read, what a story this man has to tell. How he is still alive is amazing, but more amazing is the story of his friends and family and their conviction to seeing him through the dark days. It’s not just a story about Kiedis, although that is story enough for any lifetime – it is a story of friendship, of love and of determination. It is beautifully written with the words just flowing across the pages, which hardly suprising given Kiedis skill for writing poetry. You won’t regret reading this book.
MY RATING – FIRST CLASS
First published: 2004 Great Britain by Time Warner Books
ISBN 0 316 72672 9
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Darling Judy, A celebration of Judi Dench
Darling Judy [Dench
With contributions from people such as Billy Connolly, Bill Nighy, Barbara Leigh-Hunt to name a few, the book provides you with intimate snapshots of her life and her achievements. Well worth reading.
MY RATING – FIRST CLASS
First Published: 2004 Great Britain by Weidenfeld & Nicolson
ISBN 0 297 84791 0
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