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And You Know You Should Be Glad : A True Story of Lifelong Friendship
Author:
Book Type: Hardcover
11
Author:
Book Type: Hardcover
11
Review Date: 1/11/2015
Beloved Chicago columnist Bob Greene is at his best in this memoir of his closest friend during his last year of life. Greene juggles description of recent visits to his terminally ill friend with flashbacks to the great times they spent growing up together in a small, Midwestern town.Greene's greatest skill is his candor and conversational style, which make him seem like a trusted, old friend.
Review Date: 9/20/2011
If you like subtle, self-depricating humor, you'll love Death by Leisure. Chris Ayres' tale of getting caught up in the fast, lavish lifestyle of Los Angeles is a great read. Ayres is a master storyteller. His escapades are reminiscent of Hunter Thompson's. But unlike Thompson, Ayres comes across as completely human. His failed efforts to get invited to the right parties, get the hottest girl and drive the fastest car will endear any reader.
An Irish Country Doctor (aka The Apprenticeship of Doctor Laverty) (Irish Country, Bk 1)
Author:
Book Type: Paperback
121
Author:
Book Type: Paperback
121
Review Date: 12/13/2011
For those times life seems all too cold and harsh, Patrick Taylor offers the perfect antidote in An Irish Country Doctor. The story is set in the idylic rural Northern Irish town of Balybucklebo, where things always turn out well for the dozen characters we come to know and love. It revolves around Barry Laverty, a young physician who comes to the remote town to work with the town's revered family doctor. The characters are one-dimensional, predictable, and all too good to be true. You'll have no trouble closing the book when it's time for bed. But if a charming escape is what you're after, Taylor's Irish yarn can't be beat.
Review Date: 12/15/2011
Jaguars is a collection of classic Tim Cahill adventures. It's been years since I've read the book, so I won't comment on specific stories, but I can comment on Cahill. In my next life, I want to be Tim Cahill. He goes on the most offbeat adventures around the world, then writes about them with style. His tales are compelling and give a true sense of place. Cahill also throws in just enough self-effacing humor to keep you from resenting him for his charmed life.
Review Date: 11/9/2014
Helpful Score: 1
I fell in love with Bourdain's writing when I read A Cook's Tour. His earlier book, Kitchen Confidential, is every bit as much fun. Here Bourdain gives us an inside look at the antics of kitchen workers at some of New York's favorite restaurants. His witty, conversational writing style kept me engaged from the first page to the last.
Review Date: 3/21/2020
Steingarten's collection of columns is witty, informative and thoroughly enjoyable. I just finished the book and can't wait to try several of his recipes including Milky Way bar swirl cake and Tito Puente's Frozen Mango Mambo.
Review Date: 1/11/2015
Judy Blume autographed this book, which I bought for my son on his 13th birthday. Unfortunately, he never read it. That's a plus for a lucky youth who gets the book. It's in perfect condition and has Blume's handwritten note: "To Kevin, Happy Birthday! Love, Judy Blume."
Review Date: 3/16/2012
Make no bones about it, Chris Ayres is human. The British newspaper reporter continually imagines he's afflicted with one fatal illness or another, suffers seemingly random panic attacks, and when his editor asks him to go to Iraq to cover the war, he agrees only because he's afraid to say no. Such candor, coupled with Ayres' sharp wit, charms readers from page one of his best-selling debut, published in 2005. He's since written three other non-fiction books including Death by Leisure, a memoir of his free-spending single days in L.A. Ayres' self-deprecating style will appeal to fans of Calvin Trillin or Bill Bryson. In an especially memorable passage, he tells how in a desert miles from a toilet, he squatted over a hole he dug in the ground. "...as I was covering up my mess, I noticed...black, hairy legs...climbing out of one of the holes...There were killer spiders out here. And I'd just squatted over a tarantula's nest." In spite of the title, much of War Reporting for Cowards takes place before the invasion of Iraq, starting with Ayres' final days in journalism school, when a professor advises him to shave the "bum-fluff" from his face. The advice evidently works. Ayres gets a job with the prestigious Times of London and in no time is sent off to work as a correspondent in New York, then Los Angeles. The title leaves impatient readers wondering when he'll ever get to Iraq. Ayres, though, has reason for the long buildup. By the time he heads into war, embedded in a Marines artillery unit, readers know the bespectacled misfit well enough to understand his retreat nine days later. Though critics have called his book "hilarious" and "rip-roaring," it is, above all, sincere. Ayres neither idolizes nor condemns the Marines he accompanies into battle, but shows them to be human beings who, unlike himself, have no opportunity for retreat.
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