Runaway

This next book was one written by Wendelin Van Draanen. It tells of the fictional story of teenage girl, Holly, who after being abused in the foster care system runs and lives a life alone on the streets.

While scary, she faces tough turmoil and the only one she can trust and confide in is her journal. Without giving too much away, hard battleships force her to trust NO ONE.

The end of this book leaves you with a grateful attitude for what you DO have.

In the end:

I LOVED It!

How a girl goes through what she has, realizes it and doesn't let it stop her.

I Genuinely Loved and Appreciated This Book! And Remember:

Be grateful for what you have and remember those that don't have much!

Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia

This next book was one written by Elizabeth Gilbert. It is the TRUE story focusing on her journey from a spent and exhausted housewife who decides to escape an emotional prison to a journey through the following countries listed above. A movie was also filmed of the same name and released in August of 2010 of the same name starring Julia Roberts as Elizabeth.

Without giving too much away but, through this journey of self-discovery, she walks away from what she was earlier in her life and can no longer relate to whom she is today.




The Final Result:

I LOVED IT!

The appreciation one has when you realize your unhappiness and risks it all to find the happiness that she forever longed for.

I mean, imagine giving it all up to find out this trip gave you back something 10x's greater than you ever imagined.

In The End:

I LOVED IT!

Party Monster

This next book was one written about one of New York's famous party promoters of the 80s, Michael Alig. It is told through the eyes of his best friend and confidant, James St. James, who actually wrote this book. It tells of his successes and stories of the 'Club Kids'. It also goes into events that actually and TRULY really did happen starting with the transcendence into drugs leading to murder.

The basic truth and all of the in-between is also seen on-screen with an independent film of the same name starring the once child actor and new author, Macaulay Culkin, as well as, actor Seth Green.

This book did have an original title which was titled, 'Disco Bloodbath', but was later changed to fit the film. It also has some really weird and odd stories, but were ALL TRUE. If you are looking for a weird story that really did happen, this is for you.

The Final Result:



I read this book, yes after seeing the movie, walking away thinking, "I can't believe things happened the way that they did . . . but I thought of it to be good."

In the end:

It was a good read and I liked it cover-to-cover.

The Rose That Grew From Concrete

This book was written by one of the late great rappers/philosophers of our time, (2Pac)Tupac Shakur. If anyone has read his poetry or listened to his music, I'm sure others would agree. Well, that is what this book is. It is a collection of the many poems that he had written throughout his life. It touches on many issues he had either been there himself to see or had seen what others themselves had gone through. A small collection of many of the writings he left for others to learn.

The Final Result:

I Genuinely Loved and Honored this book.

There was a lot of it that you could just take away with you and value and pass it on!

In the end:

I loved and valued this book!

Singing Songs

This next book was written by actress Meg Tilly. It speaks of her life growing up in Wonnock, along with her sister Jennifer. It is written entirely as the author narrating. It speaks of her life growing up and overcoming many types of abuse. She tries to then tries to deny the facts of what happens to her and her sister in their own home and how she dealt with this horrific past.

The End Result:



I really liked this book. Some of what I read was shocking to read. The way that Meg(Anna) had to life the life she had to endure. The way to explain it is this: trying to catch your breath when the water is rising fearing you will drown. It is HONESTLY captivating. I really enjoyed it.



To speak honestly,
I didn't really know much of Meg's career as either an author/actress. All I knew of was her work in the film "The Big Chill". I really wanted to know more of the background of her sister, Jennifer Tilly.

I know that all siblings have a different idea of what the past is. But this would have given me some sort of an idea of what it was like. But in all SERIOUS HONESTY, I really did thoroughly enjoyed this book cover-to-cover.




In The End:

I really did enjoy it!

Objection!

This next book was written by CNN/TruTv's Nancy Grace (with Diane Clehane). It was her first publication as an author. It speaks of her life growing up in Atlanta, Georgia, her dreams of becoming an English teacher, the incident that wrecked that dream and finally, finding a name for herself in another arena (the COURTROOM arena). It also speaks of her insight on the many publicized courtroom trials famous throughout history leading up to those up the date of this book's publication and also how "celebrity" helps those famous with the law .




The End Result:



I ABSOLUTELY LOVED this book! I loved the way that (Ms.) Nancy managed to put the pieces of her life back together after the horrific incident described. The way she took a tragedy and pushed herself to become an advocate for justice.

I also liked how she gave insight on what went down on various cases such as the following:

. O.J. Simpson
. Scott Peterson
. The late Michael Jackson
and many, many more infamous cases



In The End:


I LOVED this book!

On The Couch

One of the many books that I have read and remember well is one written by actress Lorraine Bracco. It speaks on about her life growing up in Brooklyn, her stints as a young model, her life as an actress and the roles she took, and finally her most important role of all: a mother of two girls. This chronicle of Lorraine's life is also one that you would want to recommend to others.




The End Result:



I have ABSOLUTELY loved this book. There were some things that were spoken of that would never leave your mind. When you see her on the screen, after reading this book, you would look back and remember that it is hard to conceive, mentally, that she would have gone through what she did!




So to put an end to this book:




I LOVED this Book!

Celebrity Detox

This next book was one written by actress/comedienne Rosie O'Donnell. It speaks of her growing up in New York City and the loss of her mother to cancer when she was just 13-years-old. It goes into detail of how she turned pain into laughter, and eventually a career that gave her a moderator's seat on 'The View' and the on-and-off camera disagreements that lead to her departure.





The End Result:




I liked the biography portion of her growing up and then later her career. I also liked how it kind of goes back into her biography and then starts back up into telling her story starting after she left her own daytime talk-show 'The Rosie O'Donnell Show' and the in-between of there and leading to 'The View'. But when it came to her very public feud with Donald Trump and then eventually her co-host Elizabeth Hasselback, I was HONESTLY on Rosie's side in the spat that was seen worldwide LIVE!


I thought that it was, you know, Barbara's not there so Elizabeth acted as if she is THE BOSS and it's her show and she pushed Rosie off the show. Since, to me, Elizabeth has that attitude that she can take control and act like she IS boss. It's like she's saying without saying "Be nice to me on/off camera and let me have my way or I'll make sure that you are gone and fired from the show". That is how I perceive her and the personality that she gives off camera.


But, to get back to the book, I thought it was a fun read until the portions of 'The View' and read that it seemed that Rosie tried to act boss and take place of the legendary irreplaceable Barbara Walters. I was reading and keeping up with what I had originally thought, but then as I read it I seen how it was the other way around. I read/seen that it was really Rosie stirring the pot. I took it as though Rosie kind of got too big for her britches.



So in the end:


I really LIKED this book!

A Child Called It AND The Lost Boy

One of the books that I have read not that long ago early on were by the following author: Dave Pelzer (Actually 2 books in 1). Both were titled 'A Child Called It' and 'The Lost Boy'. I must admit that these stories were HARD to get through - emotionally.

It speaks of the TRUE stories of what happened to the author, Dave. The abuse he had endured by the hands of his mother and the rescue that finally saved his life. To speak honestly, reading these pages are hard to read without having an emotional tear for this story.

One day while at dialysis, I was leaving with a medical driver when I was reading this book and I found myself in tears - literally. I had to have my driver pull over for comfort. That is what an imprint that this book has given me.

In the end:

I loved this heartfelt and emotional story!

Red Carpets And Other Banana Skins

This next book is one that I have just recently started. It's by the actor Rupert Everett. It's about his life growing up in England and his career in Hollywood. Now, I will admit that I am NOT finished with it.

I started shortly after reading Stephen Baldwin. Not to say anything bad about the book. Although it is a rather large book. I thought reading it would be a fun venture. But with each turn of the page, I find it REALLY HARD to keep the excitement and stay awake while reading. Not to say anything bad about the book. I don't find it boring. I just think it would be a better suiting for someone else.


A while back say a year ago, I found the same type of enthusiasm with another book. This time it was 'Audition' by Barbara Walters. Now, it wasn't a snore but it was hard for me to capture and get into these pieces of literature. But then again it also didn't help for the author to CONSISTENTLY plug this book ENDLESSLY on her daytime program 'The View'.


So to put an end to both of them:


I found them to be DULL and I DID NOT really like them.