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I love to listen to memoirs read by the authors that wrote them. Not so long ago, I was quite skeptical of all audiobooks. I viewed listening to a book as cheating, unless it was a matter of poor eyesight. I have, however, warmed somewhat to audiobooks, and memoirs read by their authors have become a...
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George M Steinbrenner 7/4/1930 - 7/13/2010 I am not a fan of George Steinbrenner. So when someone recommended Bill Madden's new biography of the man, Steinbrenner: the last lion of baseball , I wasn't too interested. Still, sometimes you learn the most reading about folks you don't really...
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Yesterday was Charles Darwin's birthday, and tomorrow is Valentine's Day. That makes it the perfect time to tell you about an enchanting book called Charles and Emma: the Darwins' leap of faith by Deborah Heilingman. Heilingman opens the book with the scene of Charles Darwin, newly returned...
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You're walking down the street and a legless man on a skateboard zooms by. Your first reaction--shock? disgust? pity? Welcome to Kevin Michael Connolly 's world. Author of the recent memoir Double Take , Connolly was born without legs. Instead of being institutionalized or coddled, Connolly's...
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In September of 1965 Lorree Rackstraw was a graduate student in her second year at the Iowa Writer's Workshop, apprehensive about her new teacher, a relatively unknown writer named Kurt Vonnegut. Vonnegut had published just three books: The Sirens of Titan , Mother Night , and Cat's Cradle ....
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I can't remember a time when I wasn't fascinated with the story of America's Camelot. My bookshelves are lined with books about the Kennedys- biographies, essays, coffee table books, even old newspaper articles my grandma has given me. What is it about this family that intrigues so many people...
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Written in her 89th year, Diana Athill writes in Somewhere Towards the End not so much about getting old, but reflects on her life and, especially as the book goes on, about being old, and the matter-of-fact changes age imposes on one. It gives me great hope to read something written by a 90 year old...
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This book's preface begins, " These are the faces of illness in America. Do not look away.......Quite simply, they are us. " If you have ever known someone with a chronic or terminal illness, you probably already know that each person approaches their difficulties in a way that is all their...
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From the very first page this book had me hooked. Photographer Peter Feldstein lived in Oxford, Iowa his whole life when in 1984 he decided to photograph every person in his small town. Peter describes this project as a "...social experiment, a way to give equal, democratic billing to every single...
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Join us at Red Bank Branch Library for Books for Lunch our December book discussion where will will discuss Here If You Need Me by Kate Braestrup. Wednesday Dec. 10, 2008 from noon until 1:00 PM. Experience another point of view, another way of seeing life. Bring your lunch and eat with us while we talk...