Bibliofemme Bookclub An Irish Bookclub

January 10, 2012

Shadows and Light: Joni Mitchell by Karen O’Brien

Filed under: Book Reviews,Music,Biography — The Historian @ 12:55 pm
shadowsandlight
Title: Joni Mitchell Author: Karen O'Brien Genre: Biography & Autobiography Publisher: Virgin Pub Release Date: 2002 Pages: 374

From her self-titled debut in 1968 through the masterpiece of Blue, her jazz experimentation years and her most recent album, Travelogue Now, Joni Mitchell has released 19 albums over the course of a career that has spanned almost 40 years. She’s a musician who has managed to be consistently innovative on her recorded output and who has worked

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Henrietta’s Dream: A Mother’s Remarkable Story of Love, Courage and Hope Against Impossible Odds by Henrietta Spink

Filed under: Book Reviews,Biography — The Techie @ 12:55 pm
henrietta
Title: Henrietta's Dream Author: Henrietta Spink Genre: Biography Publisher: Coronet Release Date: Jan 3 2005 Pages: 290

Henrietta Spink is a normal woman. She has a job and a husband and when she discovers she is pregnant she is thrilled.

When Henry her son was born, she had a vision of him as a young man silently reading in a library. But quickly it became apparent that all was not right with Henry. He didn’t smile or gurgle at this mother, he didn’t cry

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Sophia’s Story by Susan McKay

Filed under: Book Reviews,Irish,Biography — The Techie @ 12:55 pm
sophiastory
Title: Sophia's Story Author: Susan McKay Genre: Biography Release Date: 2004 Pages: 199

In 1995 Joseph McColgan was arrested in the West of Ireland, he was dubbed ‘The West of Ireland’ farmer by the newspapers. Over a period of 15 years he had repeatedly raped, assaulted and physically abused his wife and six children, as news of his appalling treatment of his family came to light the public wanted questions answered; how

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JK Rowling by Marc Shapiro

Filed under: Book Reviews,Biography — The Writer @ 12:55 pm
jkrowling
Title: JK Rowling Author: Marc Shapiro Genre: Biography Release Date: 2003 Pages: 144

Marc Shapiro is an entertainment journalist based in California who also writes well-timed unauthorised celebrity biographies: Jennifer Love Hewitt, Gillian Anderson, Mariah Carey, Sarah Jessica Parker and Carlos Santana can be counted among his victims. His most recent is a biography of the late George Harrison (published February 2002) &#8211

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Scar Tissue by Anthony Kiedis

Filed under: Book Reviews,Music,Biography — Femmes @ 12:55 pm
scartissue
Title: Scar Tissue Author: Anthony Kiedis, Larry Sloman, Genre: Biography, Music Publisher: Little Brown GBR Release Date: 2005 Pages: 465

Months after putting this book down, I still find myself wound up and generally disgusted by the amount one person can massage his ego between two covers. In stark contrast, James Frey’s A Million Little Pieces brought readers into the terrifying and helpless world of drug addiction with an unparalleled honesty that made Anthony Kiedis&#8217

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A Journey Through America with the Rolling Stones

Filed under: Book Reviews,Music,Biography — The Historian @ 12:55 pm
rolliingstones
Title: S.T.P. Author: Robert Greenfield Genre: Biography, Music Publisher: Da Capo Press Release Date: 2002 Pages: 337

These days the Rolling Stones are an anachronism. The aged and raddled face of Mick Jagger no longer inspires hysteria and his dalliances with young ones less than half his age are nothing more than the desperate attempts of an aging Lothario to reclaim his lost youth. Despite their antiquated façade, the Stones refuse to lay down and die &#8211

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Rape: A Love Story by Joyce Carol Oates

Filed under: Book Reviews,Biography — The DJ @ 12:55 pm
rape
Title: Rape Author: Joyce Carol Oates Genre: Biography Release Date: 2006 Pages: 154

With a title as provocative, and contradictory, as Rape: A Love Story, Joyce Carol Oates sets herself a difficult task. How do you write about the experience of rape, and how, in any sense, can it be about love? It’s worth pointing out that although the novel is fiction, for thousands of women there will be nothing unreal about it.

Determined

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Pieces of Me by Róisín Ingle

Filed under: Book Reviews,Irish,Biography — The Techie @ 12:55 pm
piecesofme
Title: Pieces of Me Author: Róisín Ingle Genre: Biography, Irish Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton Release Date: 2005 Pages: 413

If you are an Irish Times reader you are probably familiar with Róisín Ingle. She writes a column in the Irish Times Magazine every Saturday and seems to be either loved or hated by the readers. Pieces of Me is a collection of the articles that she has written over the last three years.

Róisín grew up in Sandymount, Dublin, living two doors down

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Out of Me by Fiona Shaw

Filed under: Book Reviews,Biography — The DJ @ 12:55 pm
outofme
Title: Out of Me Author: Fiona Shaw Genre: Biography & Autobiography Publisher: Virago Press Release Date: Jan 1 2001 Pages: 222

‘Out of Me’ is the title of Fiona Shaw’s commendable debut detailing her descent into chronic post-natal depression and her subsequent attempt to claw back from this nightmare. The title of the book refers to Shaw’s overwhelming need to externalise her life. Her reason for writing the book is intrinsically connected to her

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Paris, France: Personal Recollections by Gertrude Stein

Filed under: Book Reviews,Biography — The Writer @ 12:55 pm
parisfrance
Title: Paris France Author: Gertrude Stein Genre: Biography & Autobiography Publisher: Peter Owen Publishers Release Date: 2003 Pages: 120

On her deathbed Gertrude Stein asked, “What is the answer?” No one replied, so she laughed and responded herself, her famous last words being, “Then what is the question?”

I have not read anything else by Stein but on the evidence of this book, you get the feeling she was never one to let a comfortable silence lie.

Quirky, irreverent

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