5 comments about Free Gift with Purchase: My Improbable Career in Magazines and Makeup.

1. I almost felt guilty that I had so much fun reading this book. I read it in one day--couldn't put it down. I felt like I was spying on someone (and something) that I wasn't supposed to know about. Highly entertaining.



2. This is one of the funniest books I've ever read. Jean Godfrey June's humor is wry, self-deprecating and totally spot-on--she made me actually laugh out loud several times while reading it. It reminded me of Diana Vreeland's autobiography, which is really insidery, yet also totally clear-eyed, down-to-earth and witty. Plus, her beauty advice is almost freakishly honest (cellulite creams don't work, all makeup comes from the same four factories, no matter the price), which I appreciate.



3. While there are some amusing bits in this book, I would not give it more than one star. This lady may be a great beauty editor (I am a subscriber to Lucky mag) but she is hardly a stellar author. So much of this rings false...come on, she wears a designer dress revealing her boobs to a FiFi Awards show and "forgets" she's been nominated and is "shocked" when she wins and has to accept under the lights? Puh-leeze! A lot of the book is the same kind of self-deprecating (but secret look at me) kind of writing. But since I got this at Bath&Body at 90% off the original price, it's not too bad.



4. I fell in love with this book! I rarely get through an entire book but this one was the true exception. Why? Jean Godfrey-June's writing style prevails, foremost, but I found it personally interesting because I have been trying to understand my buyers' habits on eBay. Why would anyone pass up a chance to own a big name brand for a cheap price? Jean knows why. What really works or what really doesn't work is highlighted right throughout this fabulous book. I often found myself reading pages out loud to people because I was so entertain or just shocked. I love her beauty tips and I love her sense of self-contridiction (where and how she lives). I read this before the movie "The Devil Wears Prada" ever came out. If you are interested in fashion journalism or understanding people from a marketing/psychology point of view, I definitely recommend this one to you. This is such a good read for the 30+ gals who are considering using expensive beauty products.



5. How nice to find a beauty editor who's managed to retain her sense of humor. There is a very droll wit at work here, and it's perfect for the subject matter. Godfrey-June is intelligent and speaks in a voice all her own--readers of her Lucky column will recognize it immediately. She really is like no other. The amazing thing is that there really is something for everyone even remotely interested in beauty/fashion in here and, unlike Allure's new "Confessions of a Beauty Editor," which takes recycling to a whole new level, this is an original voice with something new and different to say. She never takes herself too seriously, which is part of the charm. It's good, quirky fun. Long may Godfrey-June remain comfortably ensconced "above the fray" at Lucky--they are "lucky" to have her.

No comments about Essential Doris Lessing CD: Excerpts from The Golden Notebook Read by the Author.

3 comments about You Only Blow Yourself Up Once: Confessions of a World War Two Bomb Disposaleer.

1. This book catches your attention if by nothing else than its title. You Only Blow Yourself Up Once, is a first-hand account of a bomb disposal expert serving in the Pacific during World War Two.
   
   Specifically, he arrives in Quadalcanal after the hostilities had quieted down considerably. He spends the remainder of his service time, taking apart unexploded bombs, torpedoes, and making recommendations on what type of explosive to present the Japanese military with. Interesting aspects of this book include a commando mission to defuse a bomb some island locals didn't appreciate.
   
   The nice thing about this book is it really makes you appreciate what the early EOD servicemen were doing. They were a brand-new all-volunteer section of the Navy dealing with some of the most dangerous activities imaginable. After all, defusing a failed bomb that someone dropped on you must take real guts. It was interesting to note no one wanted this guy's job!
   
   I also enjoyed the humor in this book. It's a nice easy read. An ambitious person could finish it in a weekend. But it has a lot of additional sources for further information. Most of all it does a nice job in describing the birth of this unique form of service.



2. Just a wonderful book by one of Indiana WW2 hero's. Serious content but lightfully written.
   
   Wayne Brewer



3. I started reading this book on Sunday and didn't put it down until two days later when I finished it. It is a great historical perspective of Navy bomb disposal experts and their role in the Pacific during World War II. Lots of personal insights on the battle for Iwo Jima. I strongly recommend it for history bluffs and those who enjoy reading a great biographical tale from a foot soldier (or foot sailor) of one of the greatest battles in our nation's history. Captain David E. Meadows, U.S. Navy and author of Sixth Fleet & Joint Task Force series. http://www.sixthfleet.com

5 comments about If the Creek Don't Rise.

1. If the Creek Don't Rise epitomizes for me, what I look for in a book. Her artful articulation of her life not only captures you but leaves you wanting more. Rita's writing goes beyond honest recounting of the past and enters into that world of unspoken details that most people would not have the courage to speak of much less put down on paper. Her willingness to be vulnerable in order to tell her story allowed me to join her on her journey and when I closed my book, all I could think was that I can't wait for her next one to come out.



2. All I know is that I did not want this book to end. I was completely immersed into this woman's world. I was moved. I wanted to know what happened next and to hear it in her words. The story is beautiful, painful and inspiring.



3. Rita's book is such a compelling read that I couldn't put it down. She paints a picture through language and draws the reader back in time into her childhood through sometimes painful sometimes uplifting and sometimes amusing memories of growing up. Although our backgrounds are very different, I found myself relating to Rita's struggles and heartbreak and I admire the way she can write about them so eloquently! I have also been blessed in knowing this dynamic women who teaches a memoir writing class at MediaBistro.com in Los Angeles. She is the most gifted instructor I have ever met. I am looking forward to her next class which starts this Spring.



4. In this book, Rita Williams' accounts of her childhood and coming-of-age provide a keenly focused view into the lessons and hardships of poverty and racial discrimination, not to mention puberty itself.
   
   Making these lessons much more compelling than most, the turbulence in Rita's young life plays out against a backdrop of the stunning beauty and cruel harshness of the Colorado Rocky Mountains, all of which is described with magical clarity by Ms. Williams.
   
   Orphaned at a young age, Rita takes the reader along with her as she is flung by wicked fate into an unforgiving life under the stern guardianship of her "Real McCoy" Aunt Daisy, a hunting guide and trapper in the mountains of the Colorado wilderness. Tough as any mountain man, Aunt Daisy is not ready for, nor able to coddle, a small child. Little Rita must toughen up to the mountaineer's lifestyle, or else!
   
   Funny, heart wrenching, and often just plain shocking, Rita Williams' book exudes a fearlessness that few writers ever muster. Powerful, courageous books such as this one often change minds and opinion.
   
   "If The Creek Don't Rise" shines bright light into dark corners of human relationships and emotions - corners that many writers are fearful to even obliquely illuminate, especially when the subject at hand is purely personal.
   
   In the end, this book leaves the reader with a tremendous appreciation for not only the hardships of others, but also with an increased self-awareness.
   
   Ms. Williams' efforts are unique in that her book is not a "mountain wilderness survival story" about a plane crash or stranded, lost campers running out of food or freezing to death. Rather, it is a mountain wilderness survival story that is just as perilous nonetheless. It is the mind and soul, however, at risk of a "starvation and freezing death" in the high mountains.
   
   An amazing tale of tremendous courage and a survival story like no other, this book is a must-read!



5. After reading "Creek" you'll feel like you know Rita, from the little girl she used to be, to the person she has become as a result of her unique past, beautifully detailed in the pages of her book. To me, that's an indication of a great memoir--that by the end you feel you have taken the journey as well, and that the author is as familiar as a good friend. Lucky for me, I came to know Rita before I even knew her book existed. I have taken four classes with Rita as my teacher, and I'm about to start my fifth. I didn't learn how to write from Rita, but I learned what it meant to write while in her classes, and the improvement in my work after studying with her is obvious. All the attention to detail and care and insight that she poured into her story, she pours into her teaching, and I can't praise her writing or her teaching enough. I'm fortunate to have been exposed to both.

5 comments about Clear Springs: A Family Story.

1. I'd never read any of Bobbie Ann Mason's work before reading Clear Springs for a book club. I believe I may be missing out if her other books are like this one. There is a warmth to her story that makes it a real pleasure to read. Mason's language, too, is comfortable and highly readable. Her rhythms, especially, give a real richness to her prose. I highly recommend this.



2. Bobbie Ann Mason has done a wonderful job with "Clear Springs". I did not grow up in Kentucky in the baby boom generation, but I did grow up in rural southern Missouri just after it, and this story is so very like what I was familiar with. Ms. Mason is of my mother's generation and except for the disfunction there are many similarities between this story and stories my mother has told. My family reminded me of the older Masons and not the disfunctional Lees. The isolation of rural life, but the joy in many ways that come from it. The curiosity of the outside world, but the fear of it. She relates that Clear Springs hadn't changed much since the Civil War and she was correct in that. The world that slowly evolved for most Americans changed before this rural generation's eyes. A Great book!



3. When writing a memoir, authors are advised to write the first draft as if everyone is dead - and then to prune the damaging parts in subsequent rewrites. Perhaps Mason pruned a bit too much. This otherwise lovely and affectionate memoir of how it was to grow up in a small, working-class town in Kentucky in the 40s and 50s is a bit long on respect and caution - and a bit short on grit.
   Otherwise, I loved it. I grew up in Kansas in the 50s and can relate to the pace, small-town values, and lack of danger (except from the "evil Communists" and "the bomb") that Mason portrays as such inherent parts of her roots. Her language, esp in the first part of the book focusing on her own childhood memories, is rich and multi-layered and pulls readers into every scene right along with her. In the rest of the book, she uses the techniques of creative nonfiction to weave a background narrative that spans the lives of three generations of women within the community.
   A worthwhile read; it won't change your life, but it might make you think, and it's certainly a pleasant trip to take with this accomplished author.



4. Indispensible to serious readers of Mason's fiction, this memoir is true to family and community life in Western Kentucky (despite what other reviewers might say).



5. I'm an appreciative fan of Bobbie Ann Mason's short stories, about rural people raised with traditional values now somewhat at sea in a world of consumerism, pop culture, and a new morality. Young adults, whose parents would have stuck with a marriage come hell or high water, now divorce and drift through relationships. Their parents tied to the land and other life-long occupations, Mason's post-war generation is less rooted, freed of conventional beliefs, but often at a loss about what to believe in. Most striking as America grows increasingly urban, Mason's people continue to inhabit a rural landscape -- more worldly than their forebears, but not more sophisticated.

   While some readers of Mason's stories and novels may have been puzzled by the point of view in them (ironic? matter of fact? sentimental?), this wonderful memoir should do much to clear up that ambiguity. Here a reader is introduced to the world of day-to-day experience that these narratives have emerged from. And you can begin to see how the matter of fact, ironic, and sentimental blend into a perspective that is distinctly rural American. The strongest individual (who is surely the source of many of Mason's fictional characters) is without doubt her mother, a remarkable woman with a quizzical sense of humor, a colorful manner of speaking, and a long view that comes of witnessing much of the 20th century at first hand.

   A list of highlights in this book would go on for pages; there's just so much to savor and enjoy. There's Mason's own unsophisticated childhood (barefoot summers, crushes on pop stars, rock and roll fandom), the making of the film "In Country," and the continuing transformation of the rural Kentucky environment from horse-and-buggy days to the invasion of agribusiness -- a huge processing plant has sprung up across the road from the family farm.
   
   I recommend this book to anyone who has enjoyed Mason's fiction. It is rich with thoughtful and well-observed detail reaching back across three generations of family history.

5 comments about How to Sleep Alone in a King-Size Bed: A Memoir.

1. The first is that the author whines a lot about how poor she was during the divorce.....uh, having the means to turn down a job at Microsoft, having your kids in private school, and living in a fancy neighborhood is not poor. Poor is working your behind off and still not being able to make it. She works part-time, and sounds like she thinks that's too much. It is too bad her husband is a gambler, and I would have related more if she had shared something of how she specifically dealt with having lived with a liar for 12 years, but it didn't sound like he did all that much damage to their finances.
   
   The second is that because the author jumps immediately into a rebound relationship with an ex-lover, much of the angst of being alone and lonely isn't expressed. And though the relationship is over by the end of the book, she doesn't share any of the ensuing loneliness (you have to deal with it sometime) and grief she must have felt once that post-divorce relationship no longer served to distract her from her actual divorce.
   
   An entertaining read, but this memoir is not introspective enough for others to grow from it.



2. I was lucky enough to witness the birth of this book from the beginning; hearing about the marital split when it happened, and also worrying with and agonizing about Theo and her great kids as they faced a harsh new reality. Her memoir tells the truth of the emotional real-time journey faced by divorcing women and their children. It retains Theo's true, clear voice and her passion for unravelling the smallest but most relevant details. And it made me laugh too! I've faced my share of motherhood challenges, and in "King Size Bed," Theo handles hers with inspiration for us all. Christina Adams, author and mother. [ASIN:0425202437 A Real Boy: A True Story of Autism, Early Intervention, and Recovery]]



3. Single Mom Seeking: Playdates, Blind Dates, and Other Dispatches from the Dating World
   
   Any time I pick up a divorce memoir, I do so cautiously. I'm prepared to swim in a sea of sadness. This is why I loved Theo Pauline Nestor's book How to Sleep Alone in a King-Size Bed: she made me laugh. Even in her darkest moods, Theo manages to be funny.
   
   "Last night we went to sleep beside each other as we have for the last twelve years," Theo writes in Chapter 1. The following afternoon, Theo discovered her husband had been using her bank card. He had a gambling problem, and she'd already warned him, if it started again, it would end their marriage.
   
   End it did. In How to Sleep Alone in a King-Size Bed, Theo describes how she created a new life for her and her two daughters.
   
   She tackles the grief in a very real, self-deprecating way. I swallowed up this book in a few nights... which is quite a feat for a single mom!



4. Perhaps I'll go into more detail when I have absorbed the book a bit more -- I just finished it at 2 a.m. -- but I wanted to make the point right away that this is NOT just a book about divorce (although it is valuable for that).
   Nestor's insights about sibling relationships, mother-daughter conflicts, the impact of one's parents' lifestyles on our adult lives -- and so much more -- are positively revelatory. While told in a breezy, witty style, there is ever so much real substance here. I plan to reread this book, and tell my friends.



5. Even though Theo Pauline Nestor's story is in many ways heartbreaking, she writes about it with humor, which makes you root for her all the more. Anyone who has been in love - and then out of it - will love this book.

5 comments about Grace Will Lead Me Home.

1. Robin's book was more than I expected. It was very detailed and it held my interest throughout the whole book. You felt as if you could actually feel her pain, disappointment, anger, frustration and joy. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would not hesitate to purchase another book of hers.



2. This book was okay. It started out very slowly, and took me awhile to get into it. I felt as though this book was very long, but it was a very good portrayal of how she fell for Tyson and all that entailed. I also liked the fact that she talked about her own projects, and what she was trying to accomplish in her life although it was so chaotic.



3. I'm not a fan of Ms. Givens and I don't know why I picked this book from the library shelf other than because I had heard about it and it was there. Ms. Givens covers a great deal of background in this book - from her grandmother, Grace, to her mother, Ruth - and then she weighs us down with the sordid details of her tumultuous life with Iron Mike Tyson. As much as I wanted to feel for Ms. Givens, the book did not make me sympathetic, nor did it really provide me with enough of Ms. Givens' story. She spent a great part of the book on her parentage and the drama with Mike, but never really detailed her life "after Mike." Sure, she gives us a brief paragraph or two about Brad Pitt, but what about her other relationships after Mike - how did her marriage and divorce affect how she dealt with her new relationships - and wasn't she married for a hot minute?
   
   She could have talked more about her career, more about her children - but I guess that wasn't the reason behind writing this book. I imagine this was cathartic for her and if that helps her put the past behind her, so be it. I don't know if I really expected this to be a tell-all as much as I hoped it would give more insight into her life and give me a reason to like her public persona. As a reader, I just didn't "feel" it. Worth a read and purchase, particularly if you're a fan; otherwise, get it from the library.



4. interesting, i got the feeling that all was not said in this book about what really went on but somethings are left unsaid, but what i truly believe is that this was a lesson robin givens learned and as a mom of 6 boys i believe this will make her a strong black mother for her kids you go girl and i am glad that mr tyson and camp are a thing of your past amen!!! p.s grace led you in the right place and keep the faith.



5. This an excellent book. I have a totally different view of Robin Givens. She truly loved Mike Tyson and was emotionally as well as physically battered in this relationship. Many women are in relationships with men who, because of their own pain cannot properly love a woman. This book shows that you can truimph over the heartache and live again.

5 comments about Ron Santo: For the Love of Ivy.

1. This is an awesome book written by a inspiring baseball legend. I highly recommend this book to anyone who appreciates Cub baseball history and/or admires the courage of Ron Santo.



2. The greatest third baseman ever to play the game and the fact that a trousersnake like Joe Morgan is helping to keep him out of the HOF is a crying shame. Ron Santo is what courage is all about and an inspiration to anyone on this big colored ball we call earth. I first became a fan of Ronnie's in 1998 because I would listen to all of the Cubs games on the radio with him and VPatrick Hughes. I had a job selling tickets at this and didn't have a tele to watch Chip and Stone on the TV. Anyway Santo is the best. The Cubs should have retired his number long ago. Long live Ron Santo and the Cubs...two winners!
   
   Origianlly posted 5/4/04
   
   CC



3. Ron Santo has better numbers than most of the third basemen in the Hall of Fame. Anything but a minor star, this quiet, self-effacing hero had the misfortune never to play for a champion (he's most closely identified with the 1969 Cubs, often called "the greatest team never to win a pennant). As a result, he's never gotten the recognition he deserves- including election to the Hall, despite outclassing several of the third basemen there.

   Santo accomplished his feats despite an ongoing battle with diabetes which eventually cost him both legs. He's most appreciated, to be sure, in Chicago, where the Cubs at long last retired his number this year. His story is an inspiration to all of us who labor under the burden of far lesser disadvantages and accomplish far less. This is the autobiography of a true hero. To read it is to be inspired.




4. I love Ron Santo...and although I have a phobia of ballplayer autobiographies, I figured out of respect for the man, and because I thought maybe, just maybe, this one would break the mold of politically correct, sacchrine-sweet memiors typically put out there from the jock-ocracy. I have more respect for him than ever, especially when he chronicles his struggles with diabetes, and the self-diagnosis he must go through every day to monitor his health. This is a must read for Cubs fans, and for people who need another story of a courageous battle against diabetes. Most other target audiences will probably choose to pass on this.



5. Excellent autobiography for baseball fans in general and Chicago Cubs fans in particular. Ron Santo was signed by the Cubs in 1958 at the age of 18. Prior to reporting to the Cubs, he learned he had diabetes.

   This book tells of playing with baseball greats such as Ernie Banks, Billy Williams, Ferguson Jenkins, and Leo Durocher. And the 1969 Chicago Cubs.

   The book is also inspirational in Santo's perseverance against diabetes and the potential devastating effects of the disease at that time. Santo tested himself and put himself to the limits to control his diabetes.

   The book is a very good read and should appeal to any baseball fan. Also, good read for younger players, high school and up, as Santo played the game to its fullest with class, and continues to approach other aspects of life the same.

1 comments about Unlearning to Fly.

1. Jennifer Brice tells stories not often told; about growing up in Alaska, about learning to fly and about a rich (in spirit) and interesting family. This is not your average memoir. Despite the fact that hers is essentially a functional family, there are sections that excite and thrill (earthquakes, plane crashes, etc.), always accompanied by thoughtful reflection.

No comments about Preso sin Nombre, Celda sin Numero (THE AMERICAS).