Found this to be more of a biography than really ...
583634
Found this to be more of a biography than  really focusing on Mother Teresa's dark night of the soul. It was well told and  very enjoyable.
4333234
There is a huge amount of information in this biography of one of our most revered newsmen of the 20th Century.  Sometimes it is a bit too much detail.  There are many chapters that are fascinating, but there are also those that put me to sleep.
2252723
This was worth reading, but I guess it wasn't my cup of tea. For those interested in celebrity bios, it was very good.
3428561
Interesting read, though it is more about the life of his many children, especially the daughters, than it was about the king himself.  Of course, when he was suffering with mental problems there wasn't much in the way of his contributions to write about.
542862
This biography of an unknown (at least in modern times) pioneer of aviation was well-done as a historical biography. But this was written more like a news story than a dramatic biography. The author also reprints large portions of newspaper stories and pamphlets at the time. This is interesting in that it gives us an idea of language that was used at the time, but otherwise reflects as a bit of laziness on the author's part. While reading these sections I'm thinking, you couldn't have summed this up in your own words and added some of your own analysis?

Some of the best nonficition books I've read have done a masterful job of doing just that... "The First Crusade" by Thomas Asbridge comes to mind, as well as any of the great work by Stephen Ambrose.

In all this is mildly interesting to those who are not aviation buffs, introducing us to a character, albeit in a rather droll manner, who was the first aviation celebrity and daredevil.

I can't help but wonder how good this story could have been in the hands of a writer who could add some drama and analysis to the story... Ambrose, for example.
4045429
I enjoyed this book, but every chapter left me wanting more information. The A Life Inspired certainly felt more like an e-book than a book in digital form; there was just so much more to say, more depth to the material that was not included. Perhaps the point was to make it more like a C.S. Lewis primer than a full biography? Nevertheless, Gordon and North did whet my appetite for more about this interesting and complex man, but I'll be seeking out other sources to get a more complete biography of him.
3689661
I first became interested in Thomas B. Reed after reading Evan Thomas's excellent book The War Lovers and was excited to see this biography on the shelf since I was eager to learn more about him.  Reed was renowned for both his sardonic wit and his willingness to stand apart from the crowd, both of which make him an extremely promising subject for a biography...Unfortunately this book was not quite what I expected.

Grant seems much more interested in describing the general political context of the 1870s-1890s, particularly the economic issues that were being debated at the time, than he is in creating a detailed and in-depth portrait of the man the book is purportedly about.  It isn't until the last third of the book that Reed is even reliably center-stage, and before that there are long sections of the book where his name barely appears at all.

This doesn't mean the book is a waste of time, as it is a good treatment of the politics of the time and Grant can be quite funny and insightful in his descriptions of the political landscape.  I learned a lot!  But I do feel like there's a lot more to be said about Reed, and I think we're still waiting for a biography that fully does him justice as the fascinating man he was.
2949167
This book is more of an autobiography than a book about the royal family. That being said, if you are a "royal watcher" this book is worth reading.
2062282
The book is mostly about the author's father's search for his heritage and the father/daughter relationship, not really about the author's parents' marriage so I think the description isn't very good for this book. It was informative, but written in kind of a sameness. I realize it was a biography, but I think it needed more... excitement. Only I have no idea how she would've done that. Maybe more writing experience will help? It's definitely not my kind of biography, but points for effort.
2706675
This is more of a biography of Galileo through the eyes of his daughter Suor Maria Celeste than a true memoir of her life. What I liked best is Sobel's ability to illuminate daily life and preoccupations, even those of a respected mathematician, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Even Galileo had to worry about paying the mortgage, and his financial success depended on the whim of powerful men. It was fascinating to see how people tried to deal with scourges like the plague, including Maria Celeste's remedies combined with prayer.
2699610
Gah, for some reason, most of the books I've read recently about historical women (both fiction books and non-fiction books) have focused more on the romantic and sexual lives of those women as opposed to their actual accomplishments.  The latter I would have preferred to know more about.  I get it, everyone likes a scandalous woman.  But why couldn't we get a more full biography that included the salacious bits, but more emphasis on who Vita was as a person as opposed to who she was as a lover?  Still, this book did intrigue me enough to explore more on Vita, so kudos to that.
3586317
entertaining,  but a little light on the history.  probably not meant to be a real bio or history of the man
3545075
This is less full of ego than many such memoirs and if you were an admirer of Cyd Charisse this is an interesting personal history of her professional life. Her choice of stage name is far more suitable than her birth name: Tula Finklea and how it was chosen is part of her story. How her marriage to Tony Martin, born Alvin Morris, survived in Hollywood as so many failed is a large part of her story. "The Two of Us" is probably a better title than "Tula and Alvin," but it is more about them than Cyd and Toni.
1083349
I was pleased to find such a focused biography of a specific coal camp and adjacent areas, but felt the biography lacked reflection and relied on the drama of the stories to carry the book. It is, however, one of very few biographies of African American's life in the coal camps that describes an integrated school experience.  Interesting but lacking in depth of description and reflection.
3541104
It's a heavy biography, not much of a baseball book. But readers may find his life story interesting. It didn't thrill me.
687254
While this book is somewhat interesting, it was written by an obvious ardent admirer living near the same time as Lord Nelson.

I was looking for a more descriptive tome on his battle participation, strategies and personal behaviors whereas this reads more like a chronological treatise on major events in his life (although it does have brief references to his character type).

Interesting but not what I was looking for
3895890
I purchased this book knowing little about Sylvia Beach and her bookstore Shakespeare and Company, but hoping to find out more. Since this particular book is rather autobiographical, I figured I could learn a lot from it about her. Actually it was more about her famous friends (Joyce, Hemingway, Fitzgerald, and many other writers and other prominent social and literary figures of the day; if you're familiar with the Algonquin Round Table and their expanded circle of friends, a lot of these people cross over), with only rather modest information provided about herself. It is still an interesting read, and the stories she recounts are well done and witty, but the spotlight is less on her own story and more on the people she surrounded herself with. I would like to seek out a more objective biography of her to couple to the information I've learned in this book. Still, do read it, especially if you are interested in the literati of the 1920s-30s.