Autobiography

I found John Lennon's letters absolutely riveting - and yes they are quite often mundane, but it is in this mundaneness that we learn more. It was fascinating to hear Yoko Ono read the foreword - it just felt weird as if she didn't quite feel comfortable with it! But the introduction by Hunter Davies was very very long but again lots of fascinating details of how owners of letters discovered that they'd been sold on by family and friends never to be gotten back and of course much much more.

I loved Luke Gamble's first book ‘The Vet: My Wild and Wonderful Friends' and his second book ‘The Vet:the Big Wild World' is just brilliant. In the first book we ended with Luke about to propose to his girlfriend Cordelia - now in his second book we meet him trying to feed a seal pup without getting his fingers bitten off - curtsey of his vet friend Sam, who he seems to be able to con into going on pretty much all of his ventures both here in Britain and abroad.

Pete Postlethwaite's autobiography is brilliantly read by Philip Jackson who also starred with him in 'Brassed Off' - it also has an introduction by Sean Bean.

This is quite an extraordinary  autobiography that is very down to earth, giving us an inside view of Pete Postlethwaite, of his acting career and his personal relationships. I discovered what a man of compassion he was - about everything!

I think it's fair to say that Luke Gamble is a modern day James Herriot with stories a plenty from both here in the U.K. and abroad. He writes with an ease of style that makes his book warm, friendly, fun and informative.

There are the very funny anecdotes such as being bitten by a squirrel - it really is very funny and the heart rending chapter dealing with Foot and Mouth. Luke was one of the very first vets involved with the culling. But here Luke also shows the emotional and physical devastation the farmers go through.

Life by Keith Richards is one of the most fascinating audio books I have ever listened to, not just because it is an autobiography but because it is read by 3 people - Johnny Depp, Joe Hurley and Keith Richard himself. It creates quite a different atmosphere which I feel makes listening more exciting. Johnny Depp through his acting is able to sound a much more low key Keith Richard, whereas Joe Hurley has the depth of voice that takes us to the East end and into Essex, but add Keith Richard's Voice and somehow the 3 meld together to make a whole.

Conversations With Myself is quite brilliantly read by John Kani who has the ability in his rendition of Nelson Mandela's words, to make you feel every nuance of what Mandela went through both in prison and when he was released.

This is an illuminating unabridged audio cd of 10 hours which I highly recommend should be listened to. We hear about what Mandela cares about most, but it also shows that he has a dry sense of humour that seems to have kept him going through thick and thin.

Ten hours of excellent and thought provoking listening of a modern day icon.

A very personal account of Richards Madeleys family spanning over one hundred years and three generations. His grandfather at the age of ten was left with his aunt and uncle at a farm in Shropshire while the rest of
the family emigrated to Canada - the poor lad had no idea.

Having watched all the Ice Road Trucker seasons on television, I was very keen to read what Hugh Rowland had to say about life on the Ice Roads.

‘Madness - A Bipolar Life' by Marya Hornbacher is a true account of her childhood, adolescence and early adulthood with undiagnosed bipolar. I read this book because I had previously read her first book, ‘Wasted' about the eating disorders she suffered and had felt that her writing style was significantly above the average for personal accounts. I was intrigued to see if her follow up autobiography was as gripping and competently written (which it was). ..read more

This book brought back some wonderful memories of my time as a pupil midwife a decade later in 1968! It is also very different to Jennifer Worth books about her own midwifery experiences in late 40s early 50s.

Dot's autobiography gives us a wonderful slice of life in 1957, as she rides her bike from one delivery to the next in an attempt to get her twelve deliveries on district for her final exam. I so remember doing the same as well and writing each delivery in my book as Dot does!