4 comments about My Husband, My Friend: A Memoir/Audio Cassette.

1. I just recently read this book for the first time. Its a very interesting book and I'm glad Neile wrote it. She married Steve McQueen before he was Steve McQueen movie star. Neile was actually more successful than Steve when they married. She was the breadwinner for a while after they married. No one can accuse her of marrying for money or fame. After they married, she basically became his supporter and helper to climb that ladder of success and fame. She did a great job too. Steve always trusted her judgment, even after they divorced.
   
   Neile takes us from their humble beginnings to the heights of Steve's fame. She got to enjoy Steve's success for a few years with him before it really started to go to his head and poison their relationship, along with the drugs and women.
   
   Anyone who is interested in the life of Steve McQueen and his career can't ignore this book. Neile was Steve's first wife and longest marriage (15.5 years together) and the mother of his two children. She shares so many interesting stories of their times together. She tells of a cross-country car drive she and Steve made early in their marriage. Steve wanted her to see the US. Once they arrived in New York from California, Neile told Steve she finally knew what America looked like - a blur. Steve loved speed - as in fast cars and motorcycles. Later he came to love another kind of speed.
   
   There are so many interesting stories about so many interesting people - Frank Sinatra, Yul Brenner, Robert Vaughn, James Garner, Paul Newman. Also, Natalee Wood, Lee Remick, Faye Dunaway, Jacqueline Bisset, Suzanne Pleshette, all Steve's co-stars at one time or another. And of course, Ali MacGraw, his co-star in "The Getaway" who married Steve after his divorce from Neile. She was not the reason for the divorce and Neile always liked her and still does. She didn't know his third wife, Barbara Minty, very well, but thought Barbara looked like she could be Ali's daughter.
   
   Neile covers Steve's life all the way to the end when he died of cancer at age 50. I remember when he died in 1980. I was 23 and thought he was getting on up there. Now I realize how many more years he should have had and that he died young.



2. I have always been a fan of Steve Mcqueen ever since I can remember. I always had a certain image of my idols and unfourtunately once you read about them and how they were as parents and partners or as a human being then it shatters that image not that I only like bad boys. I am glad I read this book because it just shows you bad is cool and to be honest its probably more interesting reading about what they did, in Steve Mcqueen's case sleeping with whomever came to him while married telling his wife that he only loves her and just F**** the others, how understanding of her to stay with him as long as she did.
   She writes very honestly and I enjoyed the book alot, I had heard things about this cool man but to read it first hand from his first wife and certain details it was a surprize.



3. GOT THE BOOK VERY QUICKLY AND IN NEAR MINT CONDITION AS PROMISED BUT AT A DISCOUNT PRICE. VERY PLEASED.



4. Neile Adams is a remarkable and beautiful woman who is as relevant today as she was as a dancer and actress in such movies as "The Pajama Game" and "This Could Be The Night". Her candid recollections of her private life with Steve McQueen is heart-rendering and courageous as it is honest. This is no sugar-coated book. Adams reveals her own short comings, as well as her suffering as a result of Steve's childhood trauma and it's life-long effects throughout adulthood with his destructive behavior. I write this as a huge fan of Steve McQueen and with the greatest of respect. The book is very well written and is frankly, hard to put down. Anyone who has suffered multiple losses will relate to Adams and hopefully be inspired that she is a survivor who continues to record as a singer to this day. A "must read"!

5 comments about Coach: Lessons on the Game of Life.

1. What a wonderful book. A short read - one sitting should do it, but a must read for parents and managers alike. I've bought over a dozen copies for friends and employees. A great story to express the change in attitudes of parents towards self esteem and how it is affecting our youth.



2. This is a book that I will have parents read.



3. This short read on the high school athletic student is a must for all parents of athletes. You'll find out how the attitudes of student athletes are changing the face of high school sports.



4. I bought this book for my husband. It was so very impressed with the story he finished it in a day. He really enjoys Michael Lewis' style of writing and has read several of his books. I would recommend it as a Christmas stuffer for any coaches, parents or baseball fans.



5. For everyone who has ever had a coach, a good one, in athletics, in a career field, or in any area of life...
   
   For everyone who has ever been a coach, in athletics, in a career fielld, in any area of life. For coaches who cared, genuinely cared...
   
   Those who know will understand and this book will bring a tear to their eye and warmth to their heart and soul...
   
   Those who don't understand should be so blessed....

5 comments about First Light.

1. Bookwriters use their fantasy and imagination to tell a tale.
   Geoffrey Wellum has written from his younger years, from his own experience,what kind of world he faced.A story so incredible that our mind almost refuse to believe it's true. There's one way of capturing a reader, and that is HONESTY. Mr.Wellum is dead honest.I'm reading the book for the tenths time, stil laughing at some situations and very, very sad at others.A book very hard to put down.I guess most of the persons who want to read this book is aviations "freaks", but this book is a good read whoever you are.I've been so fortunate to have met, one of my heroes,mr Geoffrey Wellum, and talked to him.A fantastic person that I hope to meet again.



2. Excellent first person account of the Battle of Britain but not the best I've read. If you're looking for something with a little more of the overall picture, try Fly For Your Life by Robert Stanford Tuck. Tuck's book is definitely the best memoir on the Battle of Britain I've come across and one of the best WW II books I've ever read.



3. I served in the RCAF durin ww2. I later flew fighters in th USAF, served as captain on USAirways for 28 years.I have written 5 books on aviation.Jeoffrey Wellum's book is a master piece.His breath -taking descriptions of aeral battles puts you right in the cockpit of his BEAUTIFUL Spitfire.
   " The narrow legs of it 'undercarrage give it a delicate apperance.It has the air of a thoroughbread---It's ellipitical wings and sleder body give it an air above all other fighters,the sound of it'sRR Merline engine produces a sound ,like nothing else in the air.I firmly believe that the Spitfire was the most beautiful fighter of ww2, and I as jeoffery said ,I would also give my arm to fly it.
   I don't know which was his most dangerous flying conditions were,weather flack, or bullets. He did a yomans job in all these instances.
   I have read dozens of books by RAF fighter pilots, This book is at the top of my list.Great job " BOY"



4. I have read many flying books including many dealing with WWII. First Light is outstanding and one of the best.
   
   The author brings life to an incredible odyssey from a young college student to RAF ace. In a matter of a few months he went from an aviation cadet to reporting to a front line fighter squadron. Wellum brings life to arriving at the Spitfire equipped squadron without ever having seen one up close much less having any flying experience in them.
   
   His arrival occurred at the same time as the desperate struggle to evacuate trapped British and French forces from the beaches at Dunkirk. Within a couple of days of his arrival 25% of his new squadron members lay dead at the bottom of the Channel or on the beach.
   
   What some may find redundant is really the exhausting, terrifying daily routine of continuing aerial combat over England and then the Continent. Wellum's descriptions of aerial combat are fascinating. Some battles are against vastly superior forces of ME 109's while in others weather becomes a deadly enemy.
   
   The author's humble writing style makes all the more impact. For those who fly or are history buffs this is a must read.



5. Simply put. I could not put this book down. i felt i was in the cockpit at times with geoffrey.I finished the book wanting more.

5 comments about Sky of Stone.

1. Sky of Stone, by Homer "Sonny" Hickam, is the sequel to his famous memoir, Rocket Boys, (October Sky). The story takes place in 1961, a year after his graduation from high school. Sonny, now eighteen, has just finished his first year of college at VPI, and is hoping to spend his summer with his mother in Myrtle Beach, lying on the beach, watching the girls go by, and dreaming about building rockets with Wernher Von Braun, the world famous rocket engineer. Out of the blue, his mother calls and says that he can't go to South Carolina; he to go back to Coalwood, West Virginia, the place he thought he was free from, to keep his father company. Sonny, shocked out of his socks, at first argues, but he eventually gives up knowing that he would not want to get on his mom's bad side. So, he heads up to Coalwood, filled with confusion pounding at his head. His father is a pretty stubborn man who can hold is own. Why would he need his company?
   Within the first few days of being in Coalwood, Sonny wrecks his father's car. In order to pay his father back for repairing the damages, Sonny has to do the one thing that he never dreamed he would do in this or any other life time: he joins the UMWA (United Mine Workers of America), which is the union for the Coalwood miners. He becomes a "track-laying man," one of the hardest jobs in the mining business. His father, completely enraged with this, as well as having the pressure of the Tuck Dillon case on his mind, threatens to cut off Sonny's college fund if Sonny doesn't stop working in the mines. Yet, Sonny, who is actually beginning to enjoy the hard work of being a miner, refuses.
   As the story goes on, Sonny slowly begins to find more and more information about the Tuck Dillon accident, and starts to wonder if his father might have actually killed Tuck. Sonny also has many other adventures during this experience of being a miner. He makes many new friends, some of whom give him very important advice and teach him life lessons; he meets a girl engineer who is older than he, and he starts to have feelings for. He also participates in a heated track-laying race with the other mining group.
   Sky of Stone, like Rocket Boys, is a beautifully well-written memoir, filled with such amazing images, you feel as though you are reading a novel. The fact that this is a true story about one man's experience is astonishing. Along with it being about Homer's life, it deals with the hardships of growing up, changing from a teenager into a young man, trying to find your place in the world, while dealing with reality and the new feeling of independence. Each page you read takes you further into this adventure, making you fall in love even more with the book. You feel as though you are with Sonny every step of the way, learning more and more from this new experience. Personally, having read October Sky, I love both books and think that Homer Hickam is great author. It is a wonderful book, for anyone, as it reflects on life and the many lessons it teaches us, "I knew then, as I faced the sky, that Coalwood would go on. Its buildings might be torn down, its mine closed, its people might even die, but Coalwood would persevere. There was something about this place that maybe, as the Reverend Richard maintained, God just liked. Coalwood had nothing to fear and I guessed I didn't, either. When I needed it, the old place of my boyhood would yet be there waiting for me with all its wisdom and purpose, if not in stone and wood and iron, then still in my memory and my heart. I closed my eyes and felt the rain against my face, and smelled the smoke of the defeated fire, and thought of Coalwood. Coalwood, as it was, and shall be. Coalwood my home. Coalwood forever." (354). As I got to the end of the book I felt as though I was looking back on memory, in awe and filled with respect. In conclusion, I think this is great book, and I highly recommend it to anyone.



2. A wonderful book that was not only an engaging story, but offered a glimpse into the life of West Virginia coal miners. Following on the heels of the "Rocket Boys" ( the book that inspired the movie "October Sky"), this book carries on the story of Rocket Boy and author Homer Hickam. You won't be sorry you read this book.



3. I read October Sky a week ago and then grabbed this one. I haven't read The Coalwood Way but after starting Sky of Stone, don't think it's necessary. This book continues where October Sky left off, and in many ways people are introduced in this book that were never mentioned in the first book. In manyways this book seems to be derived from all the notes taken out of the first book. Sonny's father's character comes to light in this book and we see the continued tension between father and son, and the son's reluctant growth into adulthood when he accepts (or is forced into) adult decisions for the first time.
   
   Homer is a year out of college and he's slowly learning that many of the naive things he experienced in boyhood are coming back to haunt him. Where we all read about the fame and success of the six Rocket Boys, we now find that they are scattered across the country in college. With Homer, the grades in the first year weren't anything out of this world, or anything indicative of an aspiring rocket scientist. Without reading October Sky this book may appear to be a mystery, and I recommend reading October Sky first before attempting this one.
   
   It is unfair to compare one book to the other, although I am doing it right now. What the first book was in childish charm, this one is with mature awakening. The writing style is still superb, the narrative flowing. The built-up to the plot, however, takes longer. The rocket scientist is no longer a rocket scientist in this book, and we find Homer Jr more of his father's son as a summer miner, exactly what he never wanted to be while in high school.
   
   There is much more sadness in this book. The focus is on the death of a miner at the mine that Sonny's father manages. This book is more of a country suspense than it is a happy-go-lucky story like October Sky is. I think that this change in tone was necessary because the first book was full of optimistic, youthful naivete.
   
   The problem with sequels and trilogies is that to understand the whole picture, all books must be read. I have now read two of the three and don't plan on reading the second book.



4. Just a great part 3 continuation of "The Rocket Boys", AKA: "October Sky". I could hardly put it down. I really enjoyed this book, too.



5. If you have read Rocket Boys, it's imperative you continue with Coalwood Ways and Sky of the Stone. All are wonderful reads with great life lessons. Sky of the Stone was my favorite of the three but they build on each other. I look forward to reading Red Helmet in February!

5 comments about Ringo Starr (Beatles).

1. Its like this, until there is a better book on Ringo, (the most well known Drummer in the 1960s, and probably R&R) this is the one. And Clayson does it with lots of quotes from Ringo and people who worked with him and knew him. Because Ringo really doesnt want a book written about him, with him getting totaly involved that is. So, if someone wants to write a book about him, I guess he says, "Go ahead, But no interviews" So some of it is Clayson's research, and lot's of quotes as I mentioned.You will learn about Ringo, you'll see a side of him that you may have never read. Is it a great book? not in the true sense, "great", is it a pretty good book? yes. Why not great? well, one reason, because there's no pictures. It makes up for that with things I never knew or heard in other Beatle books.This book is actually more like 3-4 stars, but it does get your attention at times, so I gave it 4. Is this all about the Beatles and Beatlemania? yes and no, its mainly about Ringo. That is after all what your looking for, and you hear his side of the Beatles through quotes, and quotes from some other people, too numerous to mention, put it this way, lots and lots of people. e.g. His ex-wife, other drummers sometimes, George Martin, the other Beatles of course, and many more.Sometimes the book drifts, but not too far. He talks about Pete Best, and Jimmy Nicol, but not too much, just enough probably. And mentions some things about them that you may not have heard.In this book Clayson gives us some quotes picked from various interviews (mainly from 60s-70s) so you can get Ringo's candid opinion's about his Drums, and other Drums, and Ringo's opinion's about a famous drummer or two, Such as Buddy Rich.
   Also we find out what Ringo usually did after tours,
   opinions about his children, his money, the Beatles, how he drank in the early days, and how he stopped, and much more.Is it a fun book with lists, etc.? sort of, at times, but no lists perse. Does it have some info you probably never knew? (sure you've heard some of it before) yes.The index is pretty good too, most Beatle books need an index.Learn some stuff not read often about The worlds famous Rock Drummer.Buy it and Enjoy.



2. As an inveterate Beatles fan, I was naturally drawn to this book. Clayson does an admirable job of following Ringo from his early days in the rough Dingle section of Liverpool to his years as a Beatle and beyond.

   Clayson's use of quoted interviews with people who knew and worked with Ringo is what makes this book so effective. I like the way he portrays Ringo as approachable, as somewhat humble about his stellar success as one quarter of the world's number one band. This is definitely worth reading.




3. This book was much harder to read than I expected. The author is British and expects that his readers are all British. Unless you have an intimate knowledge of England, its television shows, its local celebrities and its slang, it is easy to get lost. As an American, I found myself unable to follow a good deal of the book. I understood enough to get the gist, but feel I missed an awful lot of the information because it may as well have been written in a foreign language.



4. It seems this book was written for the author to show off how many big (and useless) words are in his vocabulary. Although it is filled with some good and valuable information you can't read more than a few pages at a sitting because of the writing style. If you took all of the useless words out the book would be about 75 pages.



5. Reading this was like running down to the cellar to change a fuse in your bare feet during a thunder and lightening storm, with the floor covered in broken glass and thumbtacks.
   
   If you buy this book, buy a dictionary along with it. This author took a simple and easy read subject and turned it into pain-filled bother. The information, I think, is there. You'll need to crawl up sharp rocks on the hottest day of the year with no water, to get to it though.

5 comments about Bad Blood: Crisis in the American Red Cross.

1. This book tells the honest truth about blood transfusions that so many people overlook when they critcize someone for not taking one. The Blood industry is a multi-billion dollar industry and yes the Red Cross profitted incredibly! That is why it has wrongly educated doctors that people need blood transfusions. There are so many ways to use the skills physicians have to prevent and treat blood loss instead of blood transfusions but instead it is the easy way out. This book shows how many times blood is given when it is completely unnecessary. It shows the real dangers of blood transfusions and how many many people are suffering because of agreeing to receive blood. It's incredible how many diseases can be acquired through blood transfusions, even today. If anyone thinks that blood transfusions are safe today, they need to think again and read this book!



2. A young man wanted to donate blood to a Palo Alto Blood Bank but they rejected him for having a super low t-cell count. His blood was later accepted by a Red Cross facility and his bad blood caused a recipient to get AIDs.
   This book is filled with similar horror stories as well as details about this one. The American Red Cross cut corners every chance possible and then fought like pitt balls to avoid taking any responsibility.
   The Ford Pinto and Dalkon Shield two famous product liability cases left a black mark on corporate America but the irresponsibilty of The American Red Cross is a black mark against the cross and what it stands for.
   A corporation that specializes in blood and relies on people's donations and uses the cross to engender peoples trust owes more then any car or iud maker.
   They owe nothing short of their blood because the Christian cross symbolizes Christ's blood on the cross.
   They sinned against God. The American Red Cross has been immortalized as one of the most greedy and ruthless corporations to ever exist!



3. I am the grandson of Robert Duane Jones. My grandfather received blood tainted with HIV and Hepatitis in the winter of 1989 from the bloodbank in Portland Oregon. He struggled on for more than a decade with this terrible disease, finally to succomb to it in January of 2002.
   
   Grandpa made national headlines when he and my grandmother sued the Portland Division of the Red Cross in the nineties, which helped to bring about many of the changes that we see today. It was not that the Red Cross is a bad organization, it is that the Red Cross was never before held responsible or accountable for any of it's actions. This book helps to show, like any other book of its nature, the truth about an organization. I still continue to donate blood, and I donate to the Red Cross. The organization does great things around the world, but this book helps us to realize that all things may not be what they appear. Anyone interested in the history of HIV and transfusions should definately read this book, but like anything, you have too look at the whole picture and realize that no organization is without faults.



4. There may be some truth in the statements contained in the book, at a time when HIV/AIDS was becoming a well known disease more than just the Red Cross was testing and supplying blood to hospitals, there are many blood banks that do the same thing as the Red Cross but they do it for a profit. However, it sells books to just state the Red Cross was the only one responsible for HIV/AIDS. The Red Cross does not make money on their blood supply. They charge hospitals for processing fees only to recoup the cost of the manufacturing, testing, processing, etc. of the blood it collects. It is the hospitals that are permited to collect the money, charge patients and insurances. Before criticizing the Red Cross, do some research yourself. FDA standards are met and exceeded for blood testing by the ARC.



5. This book is fabulously written, and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to read a factual account about an organization who doesn't do so well in their hiring practices, but nonetheless is admired by a lot of people. My favorite quote from the book - Is anything more sacred then the ARC - yes the truth.

No comments about Larry King: The Best of the Larry King Show, Vol. 3: Champions Classic Moments With Sports Heroes Hank Aaron, Arthur Ashe, Julius Irving and More.

5 comments about Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books.

1. The delivery time was excellent. I gave this as a gift, so I can't comment on the product.



2. I'll be honest with you. I couldn't finish this book. It's though refreshing and draws a great deal of westerners' attention to the oppressive Iranian society and regime but hey the author has written a very boring book. Maybe because I know the Iranian society pretty well and therefore the book is boring to me. I am not sure but I have heard three of my friends (Canadians and Americans) who read this telling me that they had a hard time understanding this book or how boring it was. But all in all, this book was/is a necessary one to shed light on the problems of the Iranian society. 3 out of 5 stars



3. I slogged faithfully through this...it has been praised from there to here and everywhere, after all...but towards the end I laid it down & I just couldn't finish it. And that is a rarity for me.
   
   I think the book lacks a true FOCUS. Perhaps the author is a good writer, perhaps the subject seems interesting, but somehow it never seemed to come together. And I am disappointed because I really wanted to like this book.



4. I picked up this book out of curiosity and wasn't sure what to expect. It reads easily, but there is actually quite a bit going on in these pages. I was pleasantly surprised to get so much out of one book. Nafisi effortlessly weaves her personal history and that of her girls into the larger story of the revolution in Iran. Not knowing much at all about the Middle East, it was a huge help to have the larger cultural/historical landscape explained. As if these threads were not enough, Nafisi decides to weave in one more - the relationship between literature, the Iranian revolution, and the personal lives of the girls. Best of all, I got the itch to revisit many of the classics mentioned in this book.



5. I loved this book, although I started it three times (over a period of two years) before becoming thoroughly engaged. After that, I looked forward to getting back to it every day and made sure to set aside a time and place to enjoy it, without interruption, as it took my full focus. I read the book first, then listened to it on cd's (narrated beautifully by Lisette Lecat). After sixty years of loving books, this one ranks among my favorites and I will enjoy rereading it many times.

No comments about Impossible Dream.

1 comments about Growing Up in the Gorbals 8 Cassettes (Isis Series).

1. An extraordinary book from an adult's understanding, as well as boyhood perspective, of poverty-stricken and problematic family life in the Gorbals of Glasgow. This very honest, well-written book is successful in its honesty and description of friendships, family situations, political philosophies and working environment during the period. It conveys both a profound and generous understanding of helpless personal circumstances. I went to Scotland searching for a second copy of this book as it was out of print at the time and found it in a used bookstore. I will always have this book with me.