One of the book's stars likes the book
351987
I am so honored to be included as one of Bill King's childhood friends. I so well remember-along with Jack Dreschler,- who unfortunately we lost in a plane crash in about 1964.  Bill has obviously done well in his lifetime. I remember sending my collie dog-named for Lassie-over to his home across the street. He would bark for Bill, and if Bill was not home, his mother would look around the corner and holler "Bill's not home, and send the dog back." Certainly humble beginnnings, but what memories it stirs up-65 years ago. I never thought I would get this old, and I assume our author never did as well. I had forgotten that we had built a trench to ward off Japanese soldiers, should we have lost the war.  Such a contribution to society, but its clear that Bill has made many contributions to society in his lifetime. My only contribution has been extremely good looks and humility, although that has been unfortunately left out of this tome.  It is a great book of memories of my childhood, in addition to Bill's. I extend my sincere thanks to him for his inclusion of his handsome and humble, childhood friend.

William Risley, D.C.
Originally:
10 Fairview Place
Elrama, Pa  (Before Zip Codes,internet and cell phones---I had to send my dog)
4144492
This guy is writing a 5 star review on his book and he is obviously tyring to  sell it. lol.
1565805
Tim Palen is an American photographer and Lionsgate's Chief Marketing Officer whose daring photographs have appeared in Premiere, Paper, Vibe, Redbook, Penthouse, The New York Observer, The New Yorker, and Flaunt magazines. According to his PR, 'Palen's photography for movie posters has garnered several Hollywood Reporter Key Art Awards. He was named by Entertainment Weekly as one of the "50 Smartest People in Hollywood," as well as making Fast Company's 2011 list of the 100 Most Creative People in Business. He is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and lives in Los Angeles.'

This book approaches the craft of Tim Palen from a different level - that of a photographic promoter for the film WARRIOR. This book is a series of images Palen shot during the making of the movie, images hat capture actors Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton sparring, playing, close-up, sweaty, and also having fun with the story of two brothers who face the fight of a lifetime - the Mixed Martial Arts championship.  The photographs on thses pages are worthy of any gallery wall - richly detailed, full of emotion and energy, and representing the realities of how the two actors prepared of the film.

Add this set of photographs to those Palen created for the films Precious, Saw, Hostel, For Colored Girls and W - this is promotional photography at its finest.  The book is accompanied by commentary and an informative essay by Tom Hardy  and then there are the macho shots of these two prime fit actors seemingly enjoying the demeanor of their roles.  This is far more than a souvenir book of a movie!  Grady Harp, September 11
4889305
A good book if you are in to the Hollywood life of movies star's and their family.
4589147
This was my first Hornby book, although I've seen the movies that were based on some of his books.

I guess my expectations were a bit high. I thought there would be some kind of 'message' in the book. That might be unfair, but it did seem like "About a boy" had a strong redemption theme.

Anyhow, this book was amusing, but very, very light. The POV in the book changes between several characters, but the star of the book is Barbara/Sophie. I wasn't really convinced that she was a nineteen year-old in early 1960s Britain. I wasn't really convinced that she was a female a lot of the time.

I expected Barbara would have to struggle a bit to get onto TV and fulfill her dream, but it happened quickly -- too quickly in my opinion. She tells us how hungry she is for a chance to be on TV, and suffers for a bit working in a department store, and then walks into an audition and meets director, writers and co-star and within a few hours they write an entire series around her. Huh.

I'll be honest, I found her bizarre roommate Marjory a much more compelling character. Barbara is just too difficult to identify with: an amazing beauty queen who people stop on the street -- even before she's a star -- because she's so gorgeous? Yeah, life is a bummer for those people. The author throws a bit in about her mother, who abandoned her, but the information he provides is too tepid and too late. You don't learn about how tragic this was for Barbara until after she's already become a star.

I don't mean to be a jerk, but this story kind of reminded me of some of those made-for-TV Danielle Steele movies that I watched back in the 80s. Particularly the ending of the book, which I will not disclose.

I read the whole thing quickly, it was a light, fairly enjoyable read. But I kept thinking, "where's the angst, here? The struggle?"

I think 3 stars is fair for a light-hearted book. I read it, I liked it, and I am quickly forgetting most of it.
80366
This was birthday gift that was well received.  "I know the author and love the book."
4744526
I ordered this book for my friend, Sally, who loves everything Cole Porter.  She watches the movie, D'Lovely often, so she wanted to read a book about him.  I thought it was too detailed, but Sally is retired.  She has plenty of time to read or skip over anything she wants to.
1798611
Movie Star is a good beach read. A young Hollywood starlet ends up married to a big Hollywood celebrity (there are speculations as to what "real" couple they could be). It's a great story for the TMZ and Dish Nation fans. Lizzie Pepper is writing her memoir and we get a front row seat. The read is enjoyable, light, and quick.
359586
I purchased this book as a gift for a young girl that requested it--she said she's seen the movie, but she knows the book is better--good price and fast shipping--good purchase
1300538
I bought this book as a gift after getting input from my daughter.  The person I gave it to hasn't really said much about the book, but it is always open on her counter top, so I feel she is really interested in it.  I have noticed she is working her way through the book and little comments from it are coming in my direction.  So, I think she LIKES it!  I would purchase it again.
1735123
I have an autographed copy of this book and it is a fun read. When trying to encourage a child to love books trust a librarian. The art work matches the mood of the words and is a good bed time reading experience for a child. A good goal of any book is to be good enough you want to read the next one in the series. I am looking forward to reading the next one now.
4734300
I bought this for my son and he is enjoying reading the book.  I didn't care too much for the movie so I asked him about the book to give a fair review!
3588941
As far as coffee table books are concerned, this one rates right up there with a great appeal to a wide audience. It is filled with pictures and short film career biographies of most of the legends of the big screen. I definitely find it difficult to put the book down whenever I pick it up to peruse through it, as there are many stars and many wonderful photos. Is it a perfect, all-inclusive book? I would say no. And given the now long life of the cinema, it would be difficult, if not impossible, to include all of the film stars, both past and present, into one single volume. The subtitle of the book, "A Visual History of the World's Greatest Movie Stars",  is a little misleading, in that most of the stars only have very small pictures in the book (although there are several of these for each screen actor, they are basically small head shots from popular film roles). Some of the legends have more extensive photos of their film work (Marilyn Monroe, Cary Grant, Audrey Hepburn, to name a few), and they are wonderful to look at.

The author with top billing, Ian Haydn Smith, is British. This probably explains the occasional inclusion of film actors not so well known in the United States (and, again, the sub-title does state "World's Greatest Movie Stars"). However, to me, it does not completely explain the puzzling decision to devote two full pages to the filmography of Alain Delon (who?), and yet give only one page with a few small pictures to Sean Connery! And, as another reviewer has noted, to leave out Elizabeth Taylor completely (which, I agree, was most likely due to legal/contractual fallout).

Despite all of the above, I still can't put the book down once I pick it up from my own coffee table. So, whether I or anyone else personally agrees with all of the author's choices doesn't diminish my enjoyment of the book one iota. When selecting that 5th star for this Amazon review, the caption simply reads "I love it". Those 3 words sum up my feelings about this book perfectly.
1835733
Title: Flipped
Pages: 212
Author: Wendelin Van Draanen
First, Wendelin is a girl (I was surprised too). She lives with her hubby and two sons in sunny California. Her first book was published in 1997 and has since written around 27 books, mostly middle grade.
Agent: Wait for it... Ginger Knowlton of Curtis Brown. She is the same agent for at least Fairest and possibly Oy, Joy! as well. Yes they are accepting queries. Mail your query, synopsis, sample chapter, resume and SASE to:
Curtis Brown Ltd.
Attn:Query Department
Ten Astor Place
New York, NY 10003

I would just like to say that I have nothing bad to say about this book. It was great! Wendelin Van Draanen gave me a new way to read a book and I loved it. She took the two distinctly different points of view from a boy and a girl going through the same moments in life and showed us their very different thoughts on what was happening. It evoked all of the emotions it was supposed to at all of the right times, which in my book is the highest praise possible.

Flipped is being made into a movie as I write this. It will be out in September of 2010.

Juli Baker is a gregarious little girl of seven when she meets her new neighbor Bryce. He is dreamy and she instantly falls for his blue eyes and captivating smile. Fast forward to six years later of her drooling all over him and him trying to ignore her. She has never taken the hint and is certain that her first kiss belongs to him, if only he would take it.
Bryce and Juli do a lot of growing up their eighth grade year. Juli's eyes are opened to see more of Bryce than just his handsome face. She sees him as a weak coward, just as his eyes are opened to see that she is more than just the annoying girl who has always been his shadow. They both have flipped.

Bryce falls for her too late and Juli holds her ground on her Bryce diet... she will not give in. He calms his pounding heart and realizes that he will have to do something big to get her back. I love this part, so many guys would get it wrong and give a girl a bunch of flowers that are going to die, but not Bryce. He gives her a tree. It'll make sense when you read it.
My favorite lines were:

Turn down the chance to feel magic for fear of a little dirt? I couldn't believe it.

and

This weird feeling started taking over in the pit of my stomach, and I didn't like it. Not one bit. To tell the truth it scared the sheetrock out of me.

I give this book a nine out of ten. I recommend that Moms read this and post teens as well as early teens. I recommend it for 12 and up, but seriously if you remember your first crush... read it.
There are a few things that could bother some people. They swear to God once, call people idiots, and have a dog that they nickname the Mystery Pisser, which is an ongoing joke through the book. They also have an older daughter who doesn't eat hardly anything, some cheating on spelling tests go on, and there is a very vague reference to breasts. There is no actual kissing in the book. If it had been written for an older audience there would have been at least one more chapter, but I still liked the way that it ended.
Check out more reviews of clean middle grade, young adult, and adult novels on my blog The Buttoned Up Bodice

[...]
2788266
Singer, Academy Award winning actress, and spokesperson Jennifer Hudson sharers the ins and out of her life in the spotlight. It was not until she walked the red carpet and someone asked how she would handle being "a big girl in Hollywood" that she thought about her weight.
Hudson admits that growing up in Chicago, her family's life revolved around food. She did have curves but thought that they added to sex appeal not took away from them.
She was curvy but not fat.  So she began on a regiment of working out and controlling her diet.  The book does weigh heavily on the Weight Watchers diet and seems to be a promotional piece for this program.  But there are some interesting insight about her transformation from American Idol to being an actress.  Overall this a feel good book about one woman's journey into finding her groove.
4048356
This is a somewhat fictionalized story of the 1930s movie star, Jean Harlow.  The story begins with Harlean Carpenter McGrew (she would later change her name to Jean Harlow), who is newly married to wealthy Charles McGrew.  There is quite a bit of focus also on her relationship with her domineering mother.  The story ends just short of her rise to movie stardom.

At first I thought the writing style was a bit over the top, but its Hollywood and that cries for flash and fireworks and theatrical drama.  I actually grew to like the authors writing style.  Though I only read a sample of this book, I placed it on my wish list so I can read the entire book later.

The book cover is beautiful.
1751074
the book looks really good. Even though inside it is black and white it doesnt really matter because it was really cheap instead of buying a 200 dollar book from the publisher.