WHAT I LIKE TO READ

[diane]

Even though I love to read star's biographies - the local library
doesn't seem to have many of them - unless the star is the
"latest" pop idol - so I don't get to read as many as I would like.
Someone from this forum - many months ago - recommended
"The Skeptic" - a biography of H. L. Mencken. Blow me down if
our library actually had it. I am still recovering from the shock.
It was also a good read.
I really like Gillian White books. She is an English writer with a very
black sense of humour. I finished one of hers a few weeks ago -
"Rich Deceiver". I don't know whether you had the series over there
"At Home With the Braithwaites" but I am sure the series was based
on this book - her first novel. It is about a down trodden house
wife who wins the pools (over 2 million pounds). Instead of telling
everyone she keeps it a secret and tries to give her husband back
his self esteem. He gets it back and then some. It is an absolute
scream. When a woman scorned has all the money she ever
dreamed about at her disposal - watch out :nervous:
I have read a few of hers and I can recommend them all - except
"The Plague Stone" - I didn't like that one.
I have also discovered Emile Zola and just finished "Therese Raquin".
I have also read "L'Assomoir" and "Nana".
Now you know I am one of those boring people that is always going on about the books I've read.
What do other people like to read. ;D

[Midge]

I'm with you, Diane. I love movie star biographies and have been collecting them for years. Recently I read the Marc Eliot biography of James Stewart, which was quite good. I also recommend:

Ava Gardner: Love is Nothing and Robert Mitchum: Baby, I Don't Care, both by Lee Server
Clark Gable by Warren G. Harris (Lyn Tornabene's earlier bio is also very good)
Bette & Joan by Shaun Considine (very dishy!)
Bogart by A. M. Sperber and Eric Lax (an unbiased work that steers clear of the customary Bogie-worship)
Burt Lancaster: An American Life by Kate Buford
Audrey Hepburn by Barry Paris
Natasha: The Biography of Natalie Wood by Suzanne Finstead
Woody Allen by Eric Lax (written before the Soon-Yi scandal)
On Sunset Boulevard: The Life and Times of Billy Wilder by Ed Sikov (very long but worth it)
Bombshell: The Life and Death of Jean Harlow and Clara Bow: Runnin' Wild, both by David Stenn

I have belonged to a book group and we read a lot of novels, but actually I prefer non-fiction or biographies.

[Kimmer]

Your taste in books is quite similar to mine, Midge.

I just got done reading a book called "Swim to Me" by Betsy Carter which is about a girl who becomes one of those mermaids at Weeki-Wachi Springs, Florida. It was very good!

[dvdjunkie]

Just finished reading a very interesting book, that I think some of you would find interesting. It was named 2005's Book of the Year by the American College of Healthcare Executives and it is titled IF DISNEY RAN YOUR HOSPITAL and was written by Fred Lee. Subtitled: 9 1/2 Things You Would Do Differently. These are the cultural insights from a Hospital Executive who became a Disney cast member.

This book is really about how customer service in a hospital has gone down hill over the years. It also reminds us that a hospital is not a business office, it is a place where preventive medicine is practiced by doctors. It is not a country club, or ski resort, it is a place where people who are sick go to try to get better. Some people expect to be treated like kings and queens when they go to one of these buildings and come away feeling like they were just treated like another number in the scale of 1-100.

I don't usually read books like this one, but one night while working my job at the Hyatt, I was sent to the airport to pick up a guest, who turned out to be Mr. Lee and his publicist. They were in Wichita to speak at the Via Christi Centers of Medicine. We talked about things we don't like about hospitals, and things we would improve if we were in charge, and it was amazing to hear Mr. Lee talk about the very things he writes about in the book.

I can guarantee one thing if you read this book, you will have a whole new outlook on the healthcare providers in our country and the obstacles they face trying to bring you, the patient, the best of care.

A very insightful, good read.

[Larry's 66 Diner]

I've heard it said from numerous sources that the patients in a veterinarian clinic get better medical care than what we receive! :huh: Somehow, that does not surprise me!

[Hedvig]

The most recent film book I have read is Hollywood's Censor, a book about the man who helped to enforce and almost single-handedly took charge of the Hollywood production code in 1934. This code had existed since 1930, but had not been effective. The era known as the pre-code era was between 1930 and 1934, when films depicted a lot of sex and violence, some bad language, and a great many racial stereotypes. Films from that era are very interesting to see, although not always good. Some of them are pure sleaze, but the very best of them have a spark of life that, to me, seemed to disappear with the reenforcement of the code in 1934. Also, most of the time, the heroines of the pre-codes were a heck of a lot more interesting than the ones that came after!

I think that this book presents Joseph Breen in a fair way. He had the best intentions, and he was a moral man who, among other things, propagated against antisemitism and other kinds of discrimination. The issue of censorship and the code is complex, and this book is a good exploration of that. The downside to me is that it is not exactly a riveting read, although the style can be perky and funny at times.

Other than that, I'm reading Boris Akunin's detective series about the detective Erast Fandorin, who lives and works in late 19th century Moscow. Anyone who loves a good Victorian mystery has got to pick these books up. They are dark, humorous, contain memorable characters (especially the villains!) and are wonderfully evocative of their time and place. Be prepared for that despite their flippant tone, these books are much more dark than, say, the Sherlock Holmes stories.

[Midge]

Hedvig, I saw a review of Hollywood's Censor when it first came out, and it sounded like a good read. Based on your review, I will definitely look for it.

Here's a book I don't recommend: Errol Flynn: Satan's Angel by David Bret. As the title suggests, this biography focuses largely on Flynn's less endearing qualities: his drug and sex addictions, the cruel pranks he played on his friends, his anti-Semitism and his irresponsible hedonistic lifestyle.

Among the book's allegations are that Flynn had a one-way mirror installed in his bedroom ceiling. He would lend the room to honored guests and their ladies of the evening, then Flynn and his friends would spy on the goings-on from a room installed above.

I can't even repeat some of the other stories the book tells about Flynn. They're just too distasteful. There is no way to determine the truth about all these rumors and allegations, and I think it is irresponsible to treat them as if they were historical fact.

The one long-standing rumor that Bret does debunk is that Flynn was ever a Nazi. He was entirely too self-centered, the author alleges, not to mention that his drug and alcohol use would have made him unreliable.

[Hedvig]

Eugh. Thanks for the warning, Midge. Won't be touching that...

It's an interesting problem though. You always have to be on your guard when you read a biography, against what kind of an agenda the author, or the witnesses he/she quotes, might have. I've been reading a few books about the Mitford sisters, sisters who belonged to the British aristocracy and who became famous for their writing, and their different kinds of political extremism in the 30's and 40's. They argued bitterly with each other. Later books dealing with their lives are often slanted in favour of third eldest sister Diana, who was a fascist and never felt apologetic about her meetings with Hitler. The reason why authors seem keen to present her in a good light could be that she was one of the ones who lived the longest, and with her famous Mitford charm, she won the writers over. She could still tell her version of events with conviction after her sisters had passed on. That's a good motivation for surviving, isn't it?

[annavandenhazel]

My favorite books are usually in the Christian Fiction category, less chance of reading anything I might object to. Favorite authors include Gilbert Morris, Janette Oke, Lauraine Snelling, Laura Ingalls Wilder, and of course the books written by others about her daughter, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother.

[diane]

I just bought an interesting book called "The Child Stars" by
Norman Zierold. I have only read a couple of chapters but
it is interesting. There is a chapter on Jane Withers (very
under-rated in my opinion) called "Dixie's Dainty Dewdrop",
one on Baby Leroy, Jackie Cooper and Deanna Durbin as well
as the usual ie Shirley Temple, Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney.
The chapter on Jackie Coogan was quite informative. He took
his mother to court to recover his earnings as one of the
biggest stars of the twenties only to be told (by his mother) that
he wasn't entitled to the money. There was no law then for
parents to set up trusts for money that their children had earned.
He felt his father would have done the right thing by him but just
before his 21st birthday, his father died in an horrific car accident.
An interesting thing - he would not have taken his mother to court
if it wasn't for his then wife Betty Grable. She felt he had to stand
up for himself. Even though he didn't get a lot. Out of the millions
he earned as a child all that was left was about $250,000 - he
ended up getting about $125,000. But it did bring about a law
that protected child actors from that time on. He then reconciled
with his mother - he was portrayed as an especially nice man who
really just wanted love and to be with his family.
replying to Midge - I have also read "Audrey Hepburn" by Barry Paris.
I will read anything by Barry Paris. He really made A.H. into a real
person for me - and such a wonderful human being as well.

[Midge]

I agree, Diane, Barry Paris is one of the better Hollywood biographers. I think I have also read The Child Stars, but it was a long time ago. Diana Serra Cary, who was a child star herself ("Baby Peggy"), has also written a well-regarded book on the subject, Hollywood's Children.

I didn't know that about Betty Grable urging Jackie Coogan to sue for what was owed him. By all accounts she was a very nice person, down to earth and caring.

[diane]

I had forgotten all about Baby Peggy's book - it had always interested me. Now we have the
internet I might see if I can find it - Thank you Midge.
Apparently in "The Child Stars" (my copy is an old library copy dated 1966) they said that was
why Jackie Coogan didn't start proceedings as soon as he turned 21 (which was in 1935) because
he wasn't interested in doing anything about it. It was at Betty's urging , a couple of years after
that he decided to pursue it. She was interviewed for the book and was very insightful about his
character and why he was such a great child star. You are right Midge, she certainly sounded very
caring.

[Larry's 66 Diner]

I too knew about Coogan's filing of the lawsuit etc, but wasn't aware that it was at Grable's urging. That's really neat that she had supported him that way. :thumbsup:

[victoralice]

I can't remember if I saw this in a book about Chaplin or on one of the extra discs on his box set but Jackie Coogan visited Chaplin on set one day when he was a teenager. He was absolutely broke. Chaplin gave him $1000 there and then and wanted no repayment. That was the bond he felt for the young star. It also proves that Chaplin was not the miser that he is often made out to be :jump:

[oldpackard]

Odd Duck Out... Thats me. For casual reading I prefer a Hillerman mystery.

[Midge]

oldpackard said:

Odd Duck Out... Thats me. For casual reading I prefer a Hillerman mystery.

Nothing wrong with that!

[diane]

I love mysteries as well - I especially like Margaret Yorke.
She is a British writer of thrillers - most of the time her plots
involve lonely, elderly woman. She has a real knack of showing
you how they think and how they are often treated by people that
should be caring for them.
I find if I read too many - a lot of the plots meld into each other
and I forgotten which book is which. :unsure: