Audiobook Review: The Boys: A Memoir of Hollywood and Family, written and read by Ron Howard and Clint Howard

The Boys: A Memoir of Hollywood and Family

by Ron Howard and Clint Howard (Compact Disc Biography Howard)

 

This is an absolutely charming autobiography of the Howard boys — both Ron and Clint — and the influence their parents, Rance and Jean Howard had over their lives. Told roughly in chronological order, after a framing sequence in which Ron and Clint remember going through their parents’ home following the passing of Rance, the Howards share stories about what their lives were like during their childhoods, when Ron was appearing on The Andy Griffith Show and Clint was starring in Gentle Ben. Ron shares memories of the making of Happy Days, and his relationships with his fellow castmates on that legendary sitcom, particular his friendship with Henry Winkler, and Ron’s efforts to move behind the camera to become a director.

 

But despite all the tales of Hollywood, The Boys: A Memoir of Hollywood and Family is also a very personal chronicle of the very ordinary lives they lived in the Howard family home — a modest suburban tract where actor Rance Howard and his wife Jean were success in imparting a set of good values in their two boys. Rance and Jean both had dreams of striking it big in film and TV, but it was ultimately the boys who found that success. But the elder Howards proved to be the stable rocks in the family, shepherding the boys between film gigs, serving as sharers of worldly wisdom and more.

 

I particularly enjoyed the audiobook (on CD) version of this, which is personally narrated by Ron and Clint, and has an audio introduction by Ron’s daughter, Bryce Dallas Howard. You can clearly hear the sincerity in both Howard boys’ voices as they recall their formative years, and Clint matter-of-factly addresses his substance abuse issues and the fact that his parents stood by him even in his darkest years. This was a truly special audiobook — I highly recommend it, for anyone wanting a peek behind the scenes on the production of TV series and movies, anyone who grew up on Ron and Clint’s performances, and anyone who loves to hear about close-knit families working together to get through tough times.

 

(This book will inspire you to re-watch many of the TV shows and films that the Howard boys appeared in. Fortunately, the libraries have many of them, including multiple seasons of The Andy Griffith Show, and most of the films Ron Howard has directed, as well as a few of Clint’s cult movies — and don’t forget his appearance as “Balok” in the season one episode of classic Star Trek!.)

 

( Publisher’s official The Boys web site ) | ( Ron Howard and Clint Howard Wikipedia entries )

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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Book Review: This Just In by Bob Schieffer

This Just In: What I Couldn’t Tell You on TV
by Bob Schieffer (070.192 Sch)

Long-time reporter Bob Schieffer discusses the stories and people that spanned his career. The book begins with the Kennedy assassination in 1963 through the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade towers in New York City in 2001. He provides fascinating, and frequently emotional and poignant, behind-the-scenes stories on people and events.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and ended up buying my own copy. No part of the book got bogged down in a boring recitation of “just the facts.” He provided context in both location, situation, and people involved.

This is a fast-read that I couldn’t put down even at 423 pages.

[ Wikipedia page about Bob Schieffer ] | [ official Bob Schieffer Twitter feed ]

Recommended by Charlotte M.
Bennett Martin Public Library

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The Magic Behind the Voices: A Who's Who of Cartoon Voice Actors by Tim Lawson and Alison Persons

The Magic Behind the Voices: A Who’s Who of Cartoon Voice Actors
by Tim Lawson and Alison Persons

For anyone who grew up on the television repeats of classic animated cartoons of the 1930s and 1940s, such as Mickey Mouse from Disney, Looney Toons from Warner Brothers, and Popeye from Max Fleischer, up through the earliest of the popular new animated shows of the first years of the 21st century, this book is a marvelous trip down memory lane.

Editors Lawson and Persons have compiled a focused look at 39 major voice performers, many of whom were still active at the time this book was published in 2004. Each actor gets a biographical portrait, of from 2 or 3 pages and all the way up to 14 pages (for Daws butler), giving the performer’s background and often humorous anecdotes from their career. After the biographical portrait is an extensive list of that performer’s animated credits. Those credits can stretch from less than a page for some performers, up to 19 pages for such legends as Mel Blanc. While the authors tried to provide broad coverage of performers across the decades, there tends to be an emphasis on actors whose credits fall in the late 1970s through the 1990s.

The release of the recent live-action Christopher Robin film, in which the fantasy characters of Winnie the Pooh, Piglet and friends escape from the Hundred Acre Wood into real-life London, is a perfect example of where this book comes in handy. Actor Jim Cummings provides the voices of both Winnie the Pooh and Tigger in that film. Cummings has provided the voice for Winnie the Pooh ever since the original voice actor Sterling Holloway passed in 1992. And, Tada!, this book has wonderful entries for both Holloway and Cummings!

If you’re a fan of pop culture and animated cartoons and feature films, who grew up any time from the 1970s through the 1990s, you’ll most likely enjoy this look back at some of the major talents you grew up with. My only wish is that they’d been able to include even more entries than they did!

[ Publisher’s official The Magic Behind the Voices web page ]

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library

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Stephen King's It (1990 mini-series) (on DVD)

Stephen King’s It
[DVD It] 

The success of the recent theatrical release of It, featuring Bill Skarsgard as the demonic clown Pennywise, has me thinking back with great fondness to the 4-hour 1990 TV mini-series adaptation of Stephen King’s novel, which featured Tim Curry (Rocky Horror Picture Show) as Pennywise. Whereas the current feature film is merely the first half of the story, with the second half expected in two years, the adaptation was complete in two nights, and featured a veritable “who’s who” of recognizable TV actors from the late 1980s. Also, the pre-teen actors who played the 12-year-old versions of the main characters were all excellent, and in the subsequent 27 years many of them have gone on to great success in film and television.

The “adult” cast included Harry “Night Court” Anderson, Dennis “Profiler” Christopher, Richard “Transparent” Masur, Annette “Smallville” O’Toole, Tim “WKRP” Reid, John “Three’s Company” Ritter, and Richard “The Waltons” Thomas. The “kids” included Jonathan “SeaQuest” Brandis, Brandon Crane, Adam Faraizl, Seth “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” Green, Ben Hiller, Emily Perkins and Marlon Taylor.

I’m sure I’ll eventually see the 2017 It, although I may wait until I can see both halves of the story back-to-back. But I absolutely loved the 1990 mini-series — the performances were all marvelous, especially Curry as Pennywise…the images of his red-haired menace staring out of the sewer opening still scares me to this day. The only thing that keeps me from giving this a “10” rating is the ridiculous ending, which I also didn’t care for in King’s original novel. But, that silly ending notwithstanding, Stephen King’s It mini-series is definitely worth revisiting!

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try the TV mini-series versions of Stephen King’s The Stand, Stephen King’s The Shining or the TV series version of The Dead Zone, starring Anthony Michael Hall.]

[Also available in traditional print format.]

[ Internet Movie Database entry for this film ]

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library

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Pioneers of Television (on DVD)

Pioneers of Television
[DVD 791.457 Pio] 

Pioneers of Television is a series of short mini-series documentaries produced for Public Television. Each of the first four existing “seasons” is comprised of four hour-long episodes, each with its own theme. Season One in 2008 covered “Sitcoms”, “Late Night”, “Variety” and “Game Shows”. Season Two in 2011 covered “Science Fiction”, “Westerns”, “Crime Dramas”, and “Local Kid’s TV”. Season Three in 2013 had “Funny Ladies”, “Prime Time Soaps”, “Superheroes” and “Miniseries”, as well as a standalone episode later in the year covering “Carol Burnett and the Funny Ladies”. The last season produced was in 2014, and included “Standup to Sitcom”, “Doctors and Nurses”, “Breaking Barriers” and “Acting Funny”. Following the death of comic actor Robin Williams, a standalone 2014 episode “Remembering Robin Williams” was also shown.

Each of these is a marvelous time capsule looking back on classic eras of television entertainment, and features sit-down interviews with many of the actors, writers, producers and directors who created the television series many of us grew up on, along with extensive clips from the shows under discussion. My personal favorite episodes were the “Crime Drama”, “Science Fiction” and “Superheroes” episodes, available in a couple of the different “season” box sets. PBS also still has a huge archive of interview footage and behind-the-scenes information available on their website. If you’re looking to harken back to the early days of television (1950s through the 1980s), I recommend sampling some of these sets of the Pioneers of Television.

[ Internet Movie Database entry for this series ] | [ PBS’ official Pioneers of Television web site ]

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library

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The Bible: The Epic Miniseries (on DVD)

The Bible: The Epic Miniseries

[DVD Bible]

This Emmy-nominated 2013 television series, along with the companion movie “Son of God”, has very good production values and fairly naturalistic performances. It was the highest rated cable show of 2013. Actress Roma Downey (“Touched by an Angel”) and her producer husband Mark Burnett (“Survivor”, “The Apprentice”) are rightly proud of this overview of the many dramatic and inspiring events and teachings from The Holy Bible. Although I have several quibbles with accuracy, the whole feel and sensibility of the series is compelling and realistic, even though miracles and wonders are not in the ’empirical’ realm of human life. The large cast is mostly unknown to American audiences but most of them do a nice job of earnestly portraying dynamic yet flawed people. Diogo Morgado, a popular Portuguese actor, stands out as Jesus.

[ Internet Movie Database entry for this film ] | [ official The Bible Miniseries web site ]

 

Recommended by Becky W.C.
Walt Branch Library

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Confessions of a Prairie Bitch by Alison Arngrim

Confessions of a Prairie Bitch: How I Survived Nellie Oleson and Learned to Love Being Hated
by Alison Arngrim [Biography Arngrim]

This memoir was fun to read, as I'd expected, but also a bit sad. I already knew Alison Arngrim (who played Nellie Oleson on Little House on the Prairie) wasn't really the mean girl she portrayed on the show; what I didn't realize was that she'd had a seriously traumatic childhood, and her role on the show was an escape for her. Arngrim fills her book with lots of behind-the-scenes stories about her cast-mates, as well as fun tidbits about life in Hollywood in the 70s. -- recommended by Tracy T. - Bennett Martin Public Library

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Growing Up Brady: I was a teenage Greg, by Barry Williams; Here's the Story, by Maureen McCormick; and Losing It: And gaining my life back one pound at a time, by Valerie Bertinelli.]

[Also available in downloadable E-book format.]

[ official Alison Arngrim web site ]

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The Art of the Muppets

The Art of the Muppets: A Retrospective Look at 25 yeras of Muppet Magic
by The Staff of Henson Associates [791.457 Hen]

Let me just start off by saying that there have been a lot of books written about the history and behind-the-scenes details of The Muppets over the years, and many of those go into much greater details than this. However, this book published in 1980 is a very nice look back at these felt and foam creations on the occasion of the Muppets' 25th anniversary. The book provides a short history of puppetry, and the ways in which the Muppets both differ and resemble traditional puppets and puppet shows. There are a lot of rare images from the Muppet sudios, from Jim Henson's very earliest designs up through the heydey of the early years of Sesame Street at The Muppet Show. There are also small sections of the book dedicated to the Muppets that were used in the early seasons of Saturday Night Live, and Emmet Otter's Jugband Christmas (an underappreciated holiday special from 1976. For anyone interested in the very earliest years in Muppet history, this is a charming introduction, filled with excellent images. For a detailed and in-depth look at the Muppets, you'll probably want to track down one of the larger books, published in more recent years. -- recommended by Scott C. - Bennett Martin Public Library [ see Scott's Reviewer Profile and other reviews ]

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try The Muppet Show Book by Jim Henson and Jack Burns, or Jim Henson: The Works, the Art, the Magic, the Imagination by Christopher Finch.]

[ Disney's official Muppets web site ] | [ official Muppet Wiki web site ]

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Who-ology: Doctor Who: The Official Miscellany

Who-ology: Doctor Who: The Official Miscellany
by Cavan Scott and Mark Wright [791.457 DocYs]

As Doctor Who fans -- known as Whovians -- prepare to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the premiere of this venerable science fantasy series on November 23rd, 2013, the publishing world is being flooded with a wide variety of fiction and non-fiction titles related to the world of this time traveling Timelord. One of the best of the non-fiction books is Who-ology: The Official Miscellany. The Doctor is a member of a long-lived species, the Gallifreyans, which have the ability to "regenerate" when they reach the end of a lifespan, whether by natural or unnatural causes. As a television series, this gives the writers/producers the ability to continue the series when the lead actor chooses the exit the role. Thus, as Whovians celebrate the 50th anniversary of the start of their series, we are enjoying the final few adventures of the 11th actor to play The Doctor, and looking forward his regeneration into the 12th Doctor in late December. In the meantime, whether you're a hardcore Whovian who can quote every last bit of time traveling trivia, or you're relatively new to the fandom and want to know what everybody else is so all-fired-up about, this volume has a little of everything any Doctor Who fan might want to see. How many different places on planet Earth have the Doctor and his various companions visited? Check out the map on page 224. How many times has a duplicate of The Doctor appeared on the show? Check page 54. How many different companions, both human and otherwise, have traveled with the Doctor in his 50 years of adventures? You'll find that here. To be honest, this is the Doctor Who trivia fans' ultimate source of useful information. My only complaint about this book is that I wished there were photographic illustrations -- there's a lot of line art here, but no photos of any of the Doctors, companions, monsters, planets, etc. Still, a terrific treasure trove of information about this long-lasting television phenomenon! -- recommended by Scott C. - Bennett Martin Public Library

[ official Doctor Who web site ] | [ official Cavan Scott web site ] [ Doctor Who Fan Club of Nebraska - Tardis Travelers (Facebook group -- must be logged in to view) ]

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The Twilight Zone Collection 1

The Twilight Zone Collection 1
[DVD Twilitght]

In the decades since DVDs first became commonplace instead of VHS tapes, The Twilight Zone has been released and re-released in a variety of different packages, from full-season box sets, to "fan favorites" collections, to several different Full Series boxes. I treasure my own full series collection of DVDs, however for anyone just wanted to sample the show or revisit some of the best-known episodes, this Collection 1 set available through the libraries is a great place to start. This set contains 35 of the classic 1959-1965 series' 156 episodes, in their original black and white. Whether you're looking for Agnes Moorhead's bravura performance in "The Invaders", Burgess Meredith in the wistful "Time Enough at Last", the Cold War allegory "The Monsters are Due on Maple Street", "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" with William Shatner vs. a gremlin on the wing of a plane, "A Game of Pool" (with Jack Klugman and Jonathan Winters -- both of whom have passed away within the past 12 months), or "Mr. Dingle the Strong", "A Passage for Trumpet" (Klugman again in one of his best performances), the quintessentially ironic "To Serve Man", or creepy Billy Mumy in "It's a Good Life!", you'll find them all in this collection. [If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try any of the many Twilight Zone story collections, or collections by some of the show's greatest writers, including Richard Matheson and Charles Beaumont. I also highly recommend the 1980s revival of The Twilight Zone (not currently available from the Lincoln City Libraries, but available through our InterLibrary Loan service. It, too, featured excellent writers, directing and acting!] -- recommended by Scott C. - Bennett Martin Public Library [ Scott's reviewer profile | Scott's past reviews on BookGuide | Subscribe to Scott's monthly library newsletter -- It's All Geek to Me! ]

[ Internet Movie Database entry for this film ] | [ official Twilight Zone Facebook page ]

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Johnny Carson: King of Late Night

Johnny Carson: King of Late Night
[DVD Biography Carson]

Heeeeere's Johnny! Warts and all. This episode of PBS' American Masters arts biography series takes a look at King of Late Night, from his beginnings as a teenaged magician in Norfolk, NE to the height of his popularity as the host of The Tonight Show for over 30 years. Filled with rare home video footage from his childhood and punctuated by interviews with dozens of comedians and Tonight Show staff, this is an engaging look at Carson's enduring popularity and influence. It's particularly interesting to see how much credit some of today's entertainment superstars give to Carson for helping to launch their careers. This DVD includes two "special features" -- a behind-the-scenes of Kevin Spacey doing the voice-over narration and reminiscing about Johnny, and additional interview outtakes. Watch for Drew Carey nearing breaking down as he remembers his first appearance on The Tonight Show! [If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Here's Johnny by Ed McMahon; Forty Years at Night: The Story of the Tonight Show by James VanHise; various DVD collections featuring Johnny's favorite Tonight Show moments.] -- recommended by Scott C. - Bennett Martin Public Library [subscribe to Scott's monthly booklist newsletter -- It's All Geek to Me! -- or any of 37 other booklist-style newsletter on the libraries Books, Movies & More subscription page]

[ Internet Movie Database entry for this film ] | [ official American Masters - Johnny Carson web page ]

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Bossypants (on CD)

Bossypants (on CD)
by Tina Fey

I've enjoyed Tina Fey's writing and acting on both Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock, and was pleased to see she was the narrator of the audio version of her own book. Her sarcastic, witty attitude comes across perfectly as she reads Bossypants, and it's obvious she's having fun sharing her memories. At the same time, however, I sort of felt as if this biography was very light -- she doesn't really go into any serious depth about any of her topics, instead breezing through her experiences almost like an outsider, or teasing us with hints of a greater story, which then she doesn't share. Still, if you enjoy biographies about the making of television shows, or you're a die-hard SNL fan, or you grew up making jokes or "putting on a show", you'll probably enjoy this one. I definitely enjoyed listening to this more than I did reading it...Fey's personality comes across very effectively on audio. -- recommended by Scott C. - Bennett Martin Public Library

[Also available in downloadable audio and print formats.]

[ Publisher's official Bossypants web page ] | [ Tina Fey page on Wikipedia ]

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Jeannie Out of the Bottle (on CD)

Jeannie Out of the Bottle
by Barbara Eden

As a kid, I grew up on the weekday afternoon repeats of I Dream of Jeannie, and easily grew to love the cute, spunky, perky, energetic Jeannie, as played by actress Barbara Eden. Years later, reading reports of how uncomfortable the set of the show was, with star Larry Hagman a drugged up egocentric mess, I felt somewhat disillusioned. Barbara Eden's new autobiography, Jeannie Out of the Bottle, brings it all back to vivid life, both the good and the bad. I chose to enjoy this title as a Book-on-CD, with Eden reading her own work. She's a fun narrator to listen to (frequently chuckling or laughing at her own text), and seems to enjoy her opportunity to share memories of her career, both pre-Jeannie and post-Jeannie. This particular book is fairly lightweight, but it was a joy to listen to, as she reminisces about past relationships, including ex-husband Michael Ansara, acting achievements, and the sad passing of her son as a result of drug addiction. But, for me, as for many other Jeannie fans, it is her chapters dealing with the origins of I Dream of Jeannie, and her experiences working on that 4-season series, that brought the biggest smile to my face. Her tales of Larry Hagman at his ego-maniacal worst are easily tempered by the love and friendship she still obviously feels for him after all these years. If you grew up on 1960s and early 1970s television sitcoms, you'll enjoy this one too! -- recommended by Scott C. - Bennett Martin Public Library

[Also available in print and downloadable E-book formats.]

[ official Barbara Eden web site ]

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Firefly: Still Flying

Firefly: Still Flying -- A Celebration of Joss Whedon's Acclaimed Television Series
by various authors [791.457 FirYw]

Firefly is one of those tv series that falls into the "cult favorites" category. Though it only survived for 12 hours on the small screen, it has since generated a fairly successful theatrical feature film and has built up legions of fans in the 8 years since it first aired. This gorgeously-designed behind-the-scenes "making of" book gathers articles from the series' main writers, remembrances from the cast members, plus a large collection of highly-detailed photographs, storyboards and conceptual sketches. All of which would be enough to recommend this on their own. But...of special note...four of the series writers contribute brand new short stories set in the Firefly universe. Those stories alone earn the 10 rating I'll give this one. Firefly fans won't want to miss this, and those who are curious about the show but may not have seen any episodes will still appreciate the in-depth look behind a tv series production. [If you enjoy behind-the-scenes books about tv productions, check out the 791.457 section of the non-fiction collection.] -- recommended by Scott C. - Bennett Martin Public Library

[ Firefly episode guide on epguides.com ] | [ Whedonesque.com Firefly creator Joss Whedon's official blog ]

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Around the World in 80 Days [book]

Around the World in 80 Days

by Michael Palin [910.41 Pal]

In 1988, Monty Python vet Michael Palin, backed by a BBC camera crew, took on the challenge of duplicating the fictional Phileas Fogg's legendary journey around the entire globe -- in 80 days -- 115 years after that literary achievement. Limiting himself to only the methods of transportation that would have been available in the 1860s (many of which were no longer available to him!), Palin was not only filmed for his successful BBC documentary series, but he also kept a detailed journal, which is reproduced here, complete with hundreds of photos. This chaotic travelogue would have been entertaining enough, but when written by one of the Monty Python comedy troupe, you find yourself chuckling several times per page -- he can be alternately urban and witty one moment, and bawdy and unapologetic in the next. Palin has gone on to take numerous other filmed adventures around the globe in more recent years, but this first global trip still stands as one of the best. This book can be enjoyed on its own or read as a companion volume to the DVD set. In this print volume, Palin is able to provide far more details about many of the experiences he has in the documentary than would have been possible in the video format...including background about how he and his camera crew accomplished some of their incredible footage! -- recommended by Scott C. - Bennett Martin Public Library

[ official Around the World in 80 Days page on the official Michael Palin's Travels web site ]

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The Complete Monty Python's Flying Circus: All the Words

The Complete Monty Python's Flying Circus: All the Words

by the Monty Python's Flying Circus comedy troupe [817 Mon]

"Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam...lovely Spam, wonderful Spam!" "Oh, I'm a lumberjack and I'm okay..." "It's..." "He's Pinin' for the Fjords??!!" "Now then, some cheese please, my good man!" "And now, for something completely different..." If any of these snippets of dialog bring a smile to your face, you probably number yourself among the millions of Monty Python fans in the world. If so, this two-volume set, The Complete Monty Python's Flying Circus: All the Words, is right up your alley. This is a collection of the complete scripts to all of the episodes of the classic Monty Python's Flying Circus series, including stage directions and character names (which often didn't make it onto the screen!). This is entertaining reading for both the casual viewer, and for the hard-core Python fan who wants to test their memory for Python trivia. Just remember... "Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!" -- recommended by Scott C. - Bennett Martin Public Library

[ official Monty Python's Flying Circus web site ]

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Harlan Ellison's The City on the Edge of Forever

Harlan Ellison's The City on the Edge of Forever: The Original Teleplay That Become the Classic Star Trek Episode

by Harlan Ellison [791.457 StaYe]

Fans of the original Star Trek television series [1966-1969] generally agree that the episode "The City on the Edge of Forever" is arguably the most popular and "best" of all the original episodes. The story involves Kirk and Spock traveling back in time to Depression-era Earth to stop a drugged-out McCoy from saving the life of a social worker (whose anti-war activitism would ultimately lead to a different outcome in WWII). What casual viewers of Star Trek may not be aware of is that this thought-provoking and emotional episode faced a great deal of turmoil in its production. Famed author and screenwriter Harlan Ellison won multiple awards for his original script for this episode, and in this intriguing book he traces the history of the creation of this moment in television history. Ellison, who was extremely upset at the changes wrought to his original script (which could have been a fascinating episode in its own right), can be vitriolic at times, but he also provides an insightful look at how a television show is produced, from story-idea to final airing. The number of people who can influence the plot of an episodes is truly mind-boggling. This book is a must for Star Trek fans, especially as the release of this summer's new movie reinvigorates interest in the classic franchise. But I would also recommend it for anyone who's interested in the history of television production in general, and definitely for fans of Harlan Ellison. -- recommended by Scott C. - Bennett Martin Public Library

[This episode of Star Trek is available in the Star Trek: The Original Series - Season One boxed DVD set.]

[ Detailed Wikipedia entry on this episode ] [ official Harlan Ellison web site ]

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Bees: Tales From the Hive

Bees: Tales From the Hive

Fascinating episode of NOVA from 2000, using a specially-designed macro camera to examine the life of bees within a beehive. Narrated by David Ogden Stiers, this documentary traces the life of one hive over the course of a single year, and features some truly astonishing footage of these industrious insects. Even if you have a fear of bees, I encourage you to watch this fascinating and educational show! -- recommended by Scott C. - Bennett Martin Public Library

[Also available in VHS format.][ official Companion Web Site to this episode of NOVA ]

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Ten (or more) new reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide web site. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog over the course of the entire month.

Staff Recommendation - sTORI Telling

sTORI Telling

by Tori Spelling [Biography Spelling]

This is a great autobiography from Tori Spelling herself, most notably famous for her television character, Donna Martin in Beverly Hills 90210 which was produced by her father, Aaron Spelling. The actresses' personal life has been filling celebrity gossip columns ever since she landed her breaking role in one of her father's weekly TV series during her late teens. Belonging to one of California's most wealthy families, Tori has chronicled juicy snippets of her lonely, but elaborate childhood, the much publicized relationship with her mother, a nose job at the age of 15, the fight to be taken seriously in Hollywood as a talented actress, her paltry disinheritance from her father, and most notably a fairytale wedding to the wrong man and then scandalously stealing a married man from another woman. Finally settling down to family life with the man of her dreams, Tori describes her recent changes in life, most notably her excitement over finally having the "normal" family life she has always wished for and learning to subside in Hollywood on a much more modest income. Tori discusses her newest ventures and projects such as the Oxygen channel's series Tori & Dean Inn Love and Tori & Dean Home Sweet Hollywood. -- recommended by Jessica H. - Walt Branch Library

[ official Tori Spelling web site ]

Have you read this one? What did you think?

Ten new reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide web site. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog over the course of the entire month.