Saturday, January 30, 2010

“Capsule book reviews of 'I Am Ozzy' and other books - Washington Examiner” plus 3 more

“Capsule book reviews of 'I Am Ozzy' and other books - Washington Examiner” plus 3 more

Capsule book reviews of 'I Am Ozzy' and other books - Washington Examiner

Posted: 29 Jan 2010 05:39 PM PST

"Marriage and Other Acts of Charity" (Little, Brown and Company, 224 pages, $24.99), by Kate Braestrup: In marriage, it helps to learn to apologize. Unchecked anger is bad and loving generously benefits both the giver and receiver. These are among the lessons Kate Braestrup shares in her new book. As a minister, she has advised couples wanting to wed, as well as those wanting to divorce. She herself has been married, widowed and remarried. Such a background, coupled with a prior New York Times best seller, leads you to expect great insights or at least inspiration. Unfortunately, this book contains neither. The writing is flowery bordering on saccharine and the substance is, unfortunately, often simplistic.

_ By Rasha Madkour.

___

"I Am Ozzy" (Grand Central Publishing, 416 pages, $26.99), by Ozzy Osbourne, with Chris Ayres: "I Am Ozzy" is a ride through rock 'n' roll history with a driver saturated in controlled substances. It's Ozzy Osborne's stumbling, rambling, decadent-beyond-recognition memoir, as over-the-top as the author himself. The book would be heartbreaking if it weren't so hilarious. This autobiography of the indefatigable Prince of Darkness chronicles the often obscene life and times of John "Ozzy" Osbourne. It follows his winding path to stardom from a meager upbringing in Aston, Birmingham, in Britain, where he lived an unremarkable life in a post-World War II house with his parents and five siblings. As a storyteller, Osbourne is like an aging, long-winded sage with a pint on hand, and he's not a writer (the book was dictated). But he can certainly entertain us. He's been performing for nearly 40 years. And "I Am Ozzy" is an entertaining read.

_ By Ryan McLendon.

___

"Ordinary Thunderstorms" (Harper, 416 pages, $26.99), by William Boyd: Life can change in a blink of the eye — completely and forever. It's a bitter lesson that Adam Kindred learns on a rainy evening in London in William Boyd's "Ordinary Thunderstorms." Kindred has what appears to be a successful job interview and, on a whim, decides to stop at a little out-of-the-way restaurant for dinner. While there, he strikes up a conversation with a fellow diner. That chance meeting starts a series of events that will change Kindred's life forever. Within hours, he has been framed for murder and is being chased by a relentless hired killer. It's all linked to a pharmaceutical scandal that Kindred slowly comes to understand. At times, the book loses focus and Kindred seems a little too naive. Still, Boyd's writing is lovely and he has a keen eye for detail. Overall, "Ordinary Thunderstorms" makes an interesting read.

_ By Mary Foster.

Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Book Reviews - MLive.com

Posted: 30 Jan 2010 08:12 AM PST

By The Saginaw News staff

January 30, 2010, 11:00AM

FOR ADULTS

"Women's Home Workout Bible" 

by Brad Schoenfeld, CSCS, CPT

Human Kinetics, 2010, 319 pages, $19.95

Master trainer Schoenfeld sorts out fitness hype from truth in this straightforward guide that teaches women how to set up and use a home gym. He goes over how to shop for equipment, then shows how to use it in a series of full-color photo illustrations. Exercises are color-coded by body area, then divided into chapters based on what types of equipment are used, so you're not frustrated by workouts that call for gadgets you don't have.  Plans for outfitting gyms start at $100 or less, but routines for conditioning, sculpting, stability and fat loss are provided for any budget.

— Lynn Heitkamp, Zauel Library

"Her Fearful Symmetry" 

by Audrey Niffenegger

Scribner, 2009, 416 pages, $26.99

"Her Fearful Symmetry" opens with the tragic death of Elspeth Noblin. Elspeth leaves her London flat and a substantial amount of money to her twin nieces, Julia and Valentina, with one condition: That their mother (Elspeth's twin, Edie) never steps foot in the flat. The 20-year-old twins, full of quirky thoughts and behaviors, move to London and eventually develop complex relationships with Elspeth's neighbors including her former lover, Robert. The mystery behind the troubled relationship of the elder twins mirrors the struggles of the younger twins to establish themselves as individuals. The story really develops with the reemergence of Elspeth as a calculating, broody ghost, destined to stay in her home watching over her loved ones. The desperation of all of the characters as they struggle to regain control of their lives leads to a shocking conclusion. "Her Fearful Symmetry" marks the long-awaited return of Audrey Niffenegger ("The Time Traveler's Wife"). While the two books differ substantially in substance, they share a similar haunting spirit.

— Amy Churchill, Zauel Memorial Library

"Arguing with Idiots: How To Stop Small Minds and Big Government" 

by Glenn Beck

Threshold Editions-Mercury Radio Arts, 2009, 325 pages, illustrated, $29.99

Too many times, after a polite discussion, we think of the perfect reply, usually just as we are about to go to sleep at night. It isn't because we are stupid, it is that we are not used to debating. Glenn Beck presents the rejoinders to political declarations that are devised to shut you up in a political discussion. Glenn and his staff have taken the most common arguments for big government that they have heard over the years and present the facts you need for you to give an instant reply. It's rough out there, don't go unprepared. 

— John Sheridan, Hoyt Library, Local History and Genealogy

Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Capsule book reviews of 'I Am Ozzy' and other books - Washington Examiner

Posted: 29 Jan 2010 05:39 PM PST

"Marriage and Other Acts of Charity" (Little, Brown and Company, 224 pages, $24.99), by Kate Braestrup: In marriage, it helps to learn to apologize. Unchecked anger is bad and loving generously benefits both the giver and receiver. These are among the lessons Kate Braestrup shares in her new book. As a minister, she has advised couples wanting to wed, as well as those wanting to divorce. She herself has been married, widowed and remarried. Such a background, coupled with a prior New York Times best seller, leads you to expect great insights or at least inspiration. Unfortunately, this book contains neither. The writing is flowery bordering on saccharine and the substance is, unfortunately, often simplistic.

_ By Rasha Madkour.

___

"I Am Ozzy" (Grand Central Publishing, 416 pages, $26.99), by Ozzy Osbourne, with Chris Ayres: "I Am Ozzy" is a ride through rock 'n' roll history with a driver saturated in controlled substances. It's Ozzy Osborne's stumbling, rambling, decadent-beyond-recognition memoir, as over-the-top as the author himself. The book would be heartbreaking if it weren't so hilarious. This autobiography of the indefatigable Prince of Darkness chronicles the often obscene life and times of John "Ozzy" Osbourne. It follows his winding path to stardom from a meager upbringing in Aston, Birmingham, in Britain, where he lived an unremarkable life in a post-World War II house with his parents and five siblings. As a storyteller, Osbourne is like an aging, long-winded sage with a pint on hand, and he's not a writer (the book was dictated). But he can certainly entertain us. He's been performing for nearly 40 years. And "I Am Ozzy" is an entertaining read.

_ By Ryan McLendon.

___

"Ordinary Thunderstorms" (Harper, 416 pages, $26.99), by William Boyd: Life can change in a blink of the eye — completely and forever. It's a bitter lesson that Adam Kindred learns on a rainy evening in London in William Boyd's "Ordinary Thunderstorms." Kindred has what appears to be a successful job interview and, on a whim, decides to stop at a little out-of-the-way restaurant for dinner. While there, he strikes up a conversation with a fellow diner. That chance meeting starts a series of events that will change Kindred's life forever. Within hours, he has been framed for murder and is being chased by a relentless hired killer. It's all linked to a pharmaceutical scandal that Kindred slowly comes to understand. At times, the book loses focus and Kindred seems a little too naive. Still, Boyd's writing is lovely and he has a keen eye for detail. Overall, "Ordinary Thunderstorms" makes an interesting read.

_ By Mary Foster.

Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

The Human Filth of Politics, as Conveyed in Two Book Reviews - Reason.com

Posted: 29 Jan 2010 07:44 AM PST

First, from Janet Maslin's review of Andrew Young's The Politician: An Insider's Account of John Edwards's Pursuit of the Presidency and the Scandal That Brought Him Down, in The New York Times:

Human filth-bucketMr. Young describes how he; his wife, Cheri; his children; and Mr. Edwards's pregnant girlfriend, Rielle Hunter, all moved in together ("the kids awakened to find a strange lady in the house") while Mr. Young allowed himself to be falsely named as the baby's father-to-be. The Youngs' "unnervingly surreal misadventure" is as strange as science fiction. The people in this uneasy household gathered each week to watch "American Idol" together without noticing that their own drama could out-soap anything television had to offer. [...]

[A]fter Mr. Young finagled a way to explain Ms. Hunter's presence in Mr. Edwards's hotel room in Florida and get her out of there unnoticed, he says, Mr. Edwards just looked at him blankly and said: "I don't know what you're talking about. Rielle wasn't in Florida." [...]

At first the duplicity was relatively minor. (Mr. Edwards, wearing an Italian suit, commandeered the "Made in America" label from Mr. Young's garment in case it showed while he addressed a labor-union audience.)

I would love John Edwards to be greeted with loud boos wherever he goes, for the rest of his life. Preferably, by children.

Next, from Andrew Ferguson's incisive Weekly Standard review of Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime, by Mark Halperin and John Heilemann:

Washington culture. Also, please kill me.Whether all the stories in Game Change are true or not, we do know that the authors' sources want us to think the stories are true. That's the most revealing datum of all. Game Change is much less interesting for what it says than for what it is—a town dump where awful people can unload unflattering and embarrassing stories about their employers, colleagues, friends, and subordinates, knowing that the stories will never be traced back to them and knowing too that the stories will be published willingly by mainchance reporters and read avidly by a public that loves to have it bucketed all over them. Game Change is an exquisite construction built from betrayal and deceit. It is a precise rendering of the political culture of Washington.

Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.
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