2 comments about My Brother Bill (Hill Street Classics).

1. John Faulkner succeeded capturing the South better than any author I have read. I grew up near his location and in a family with the same moral and cultural values of his. His family could have been mine. If you want to travel to the South that used to be, that our families helped build after the Civil War and before Korea this is the best way I know to do it. His frugal use of words and his short sentences only add to the authenticity of his descriptions. For those of us from there he brings to life,as none other, what used to be and is to never be again.



2. A wonderful stylist, John tells the intimate story of the Faulkner family that no biographer or academic could. You simply don't know Faulkner until you've read this book.

No comments about Rich in Good Works: Mary M. Emery of Cincinnati (Ohio History and Culture).

No comments about Animal Magnetism: At Home With Celebrities & Their Companions.

No comments about Could Do Even Better: More School Reports of the Great and Good.

1 comments about Rothschild Gardens.

1. A feast for the eye is The Rothschild Gardens by Miriam Rothschild, Kate Garton, and Lionel de Rothschild.

   With filial insight and love the granddaughter of the first Lord Rothschild presents a magnificently illustrated view of her family's private and public gardens yesterday and today.

3 comments about Saving Mandela's Children: The true story of South Africa's unwanted children.

1. This book will capture your attention from the first page and won't let you put it down until the end.
   This is the story about Dianne, her fight, her battle for the neglected and unwanted children in South Africa. Her constant fights with corrupt authorities, bureaucracy, red tape and uncaring people. An amazing, heart breaking but also motivating story about one person who set out to make a difference, no matter what.
   If you haven't cared about those children so far, after reading this book you will. A must read!!!!!!



2. Dianne Lang is the bravest woman I know. Fearless in the face of a country torn apart by widespread corruption Dianne had an agenda and that didn't include sitting back while the children of the Eastern Townships were raped, sodomized, starved, and left to dye of AIDSin the streets of Middelburg.They are literally invisible. When Dianne brought the situation to the attention of government officials, social workers and especially the POLICE, she was told to mind her own business OR ELSE! The OR ELSE came in the way of the SCorpions, the dreaded South African Secret police, who stole and stripped her computers and harddrive, threatened Ms Lang with her life and terrorized her mercilessly until she fled the country. This book is riveting and engaging. A true story of courage and adventure. I guarantee that you will NOT put it down.
   /the Unstoppable Frankie Picasso



3. A wonderful uphill battle by one very brave,self-sufficient woman,the author, to nuture and love orphans abandoned by the state that is sworn to care for them.Using all her own resources,selling her house she provides a safe haven,against a life on the street of rape,hunger,abuse and lack of love.This is set in South Africa which has over a million orphans and counting
   I could not put this book down,as everyone including the agencies that are designed to help are against or slow to deal with the orphan problem.
   The very descriptive picture of burying a black child in a white cemetry,using a spade and a old tin can says it all.I speak from experience having visited the area.We help now or pay a greater price in the future .

2 comments about The Richest Girl in the World: Athina Onassis Roussel : The Onassis Family Legacy.

1. I enjoyed reading this book; I think I read it in four, five hours. It was a good book, but since Athina has been shielded from the public for most of her life, there really isn't much to write about her life. The majority of the book is about Aristotle and his empire.



2. This is a great book on the heiress Athina Onassis and the Onassis family.We all wish you well!!

No comments about The Autobiography of Henry Merrell: Industrial Missionary to the South.

5 comments about Day at a Time: An Indiana Girl's Sentimental Journey to Doris Day's Hollywood and Beond.

1. "What kind of book could rouse such heated reviews?" was my thought as I happened upon this book on Amazon. Doris Day is an icon in American celebrity history, and as such, has prompted many to write books about her. Why would one more book solicit such venom from some, and praise from others? Upon reading the book, I didn't find any dirty little secrets about Doris, and it seemed that Ms. Barothy was simply giving us a peek into her world as she moved from being just a fan to becoming Doris' assistant. The writing seems to come from a love and admiration Barothy had for Doris, and not an attempt to disclose closeted information. It's always a pleasure to go down memory lane back to a time where we felt more innocent and safe, and that was the feeling I got as I read this book. It was a step back in time for me, and I thoroughly enjoyed Mary Anne taking me to that place in my mind. I thank those of you who gave such scathing reviews because I would not have read this book had you not stirred my curiosity.



2. 
   5.0 out of 5 stars A Remarkable Story, July 17, 2008
   By Margie Blumei (Atlantic City, NJ) - See all my reviews
   
   I just finished reading Day at a Time and thoroughly enjoyed it!
   
   While I've never had the privilege of meeting the beautiful and talented Doris Day, the next best thing was reading this fascinating memoir of someone who has! I found myself completely consumed in this compelling story of this young woman's dream to meet her idol.
   
   Day at a Time is filled with both cute antics and serious issues that the author experienced with Doris Day. A remarkable and loving bond developed between them and you will feel as though you were living this dream come true yourself!
   
   You will see how an earnest young woman makes her way to Hollywood and endears herself to her idol and how Doris reciprocates with admiration and seeks her assistance and ultimately her friendship. I was amazed how accessible Doris made herself to her fans. You will love it.



3. I have loved Doris Day since I was a little girl. So when I saw that a new book came out from someone who actually lived with Miss Day, I had to read it. I found it hard to believe some of the negative comments and they made me want to read the book even more just to see what all the complaining was about.
   
   I loved this book and have read it more than once. It gave me a sense of really knowing Doris on a personal level. I felt the author truly loved Doris and enjoyed being her right hand person. Doris Day is a very real person in this book and it makes me love her even more.



4. I am not sure why any publisher would have put this book out for anyone to read. The author is apparently a fan who once stalked Ms. Day. What I can not understand is why Ms. Day ever hired her. It smacks of utter betrayal by a close confidante who wanted revenge on her former employer after 30 some odd years. I agree with the people who thought this book was tabloid garbage, because that is what it is, and this sure shows alot of disrespect for a talented and beloved actress.



5. The entire synopsis of this book read like something straight out of a MGM vault; the author Mary Anne was a superfan, went to Hollywood and ended up living with her idol! Of course what formed was a loving friendship between Doris Day and Mary Anne.
   
   I know a lot of Doris Day's fans are slating the book and labeling it as 'an invasion of her privacy.' I didn't sense that anything was invaded. Doris penned her own autobiography 3 decades ago and went so far as to expose her 'persona' and her affair with a married man. I think the only thing Mary Anne exposes was that Doris had plastic surgery (and that is a bit obvious from photographs anyway) but apart from that what I sensed was an innocent bystander watching and picking up the pieces of her idols life.
   
   Some have said the author used a poison pen but if you read each sentence with an open mind you'll see that the original admiration and fan worship is still apparent to this day, it is more of a 'Doris done x,y and z oh no I can't believe she done it....this is why....' and there she is justifying Doris's sometimes lack of good sense or good intentions.
   
   It's a shame everything progressed as it did and one cannot help but wonder if another person had the final say, as we all know from Doris's own book and this one, that she was very impressionable and easily lead. Only the author really knows.
   
   This could have been made into a Mommy Dearest book but instead it reads like an A-Z of fan devotion and I liked it a lot.

1 comments about Halle Berry: A Stormy Life.

1. Halle Maria Berry is one intriguing woman. Her story truly adds credence to the fact that looks aren't everything because her life has been quite a bumpy road, and she is often called the most beautiful woman in the world. Frank Sanello does a good job in telling us Berry's story; he includes very descriptive events and accounts of her life. One flaw of this book was the amount of times he mentioned Berry's beauty. Almost the entire world knows how good-looking Berry is, but he just brings it up one too many times. Put it this way; it's mentioned at least 20 times. Another flaw about the book is that a big Halle Berry fan would probably know most of the information in the book. For example, me. Although I was aware of many of the stories told, I also learned new things about her. Sanello got the vast majority of his infrormation from interviews and magazine articles.
   
   Halle Berry was born in Cleveland, OH to Jerome and Judith Berry. Berry had also been close to her mother, but never truly had a strong union with her father because he began abusing her older sister Heidi and their mother early on. He never abused Halle, but because of his abuse to the other members of her family, she stayed away from him. In this publication, we learn that Halle Berry will do anything to get what she wants for her career. Most of the movies she has been in, she had to beg, and do some very unlikely things to get her roles. For example, for her first movie, "Jungle Fever", director Spike Lee dismissed the idea of Berry being the crackhead. At first Berry begged and begged but Lee remained adament about not giving her the role. But, Berry didn't bathe for 10 days, removed all make-up and visited crack houses to truly get the essence of the life of a crackhead! We also learned about the flack Berry faced for not only starring in "Monster's Ball", but winning the Oscar for it!
   
   Berry's love life has been as difficult as her movie career. Her plethora of failed relatinships are talked about in great detail. One would think that a man would feel fortunate and privledged to have Miss Halle on their arm, and for a period of time they feel that way, but after awhile, the relationship spirals down. Perhaps the most mind-boggling aspect of this is her relationship with singer Eric Benet. There didn't seem to be a major problem in their relationship aside from the fact that he was "Mr. Halle Berry". But, after he married her, he became one of the biggest philanderers you'd ever want to see!
   
   This is an overall interesting read and made me respect Halle Berry even more. This book would be great for someone who would like to know how she got to where she is, and the struggles she faced upon getting there. She has, in a sense, lived a "stormy life".