| 1. The Glass Castle: A Memoir | 
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By: Jeannette Walls
Publisher: Scribner
January 09, 2006
...hundreds of others. Your roulette of luck starts right away at the moment of conception. Then, how good, bad, boring or strange life can be?! Read it and decide how it was for Jennette Walls. Exceptional and unforgettable memoir... more
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| 2. A Bold Fresh Piece of Humanity |
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By: Bill O'Reilly
Publisher: Broadway Books
September 23, 2008
Perhaps this is out of place since I didn't purchase the hardcover edition on Amazon...rather, I purchased the audio version through Audible. I've listened to the entire book three times now and could do it again and again. I'm slightly older than Bill by about a year but that's an insignificant difference 60 years later. We took entirely different paths through our lives, but I think we've arrived... more
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| 3. Someone Will Be with You Shortly: Notes from a Perfectly Imperfect Life | 
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By: Lisa Kogan
Publisher: HarperStudio
March 02, 2010
I picked this up on the recommendation of a friend. A quick read. Very funny and charming. I found myself nodding in agreement and snickering out loud. Highly recommend for a quick, uplifting read... more
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| 4. Lucky |
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By: Alice Sebold
Publisher: Scribner
August 04, 1999
Alice Sebold has gained much popularity with The Lovely Bones and is an excellent writer. This book is no exception. I do have concern that readers will be unprepared for the graphic nature of this book. If not prepared and given to a young reader, this will end with either lots of unanswered questions or feelings that need to be addressed very carefully. Because it is a true story, it does not come... more
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| 5. Up from Slavery: An Autobiography |
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By: Booker T. Washington
Publisher: IndyPublish.com
2002-12
A fascinating read about the life and times of Booker T. Washington and his march from slavery to one of the foremost men of his time.
His views may seem quite antiquated in today's world, given what has happened and not happened in the last 100 years in race relations and it is easy to see how Black leaders of today might be critical of Washington's views and perspectives.
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| 6. The Year of Magical Thinking | 
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By: Joan Didion
Publisher: Vintage
February 13, 2007
The negative reviews of this book, it seems to me, come from people who seem to completely miss the point of the book. This is ironic, because in such classics as Slouching Toward Bethlehem and the White Album, Joan Didion confronts those whose thinking seems to her to "be completely beside the point."
This book is not entitled the "Year of Magical Feeling." She feels bad, folks. He wasn't... more
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| 7. Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan |
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By: Jake Adelstein
Publisher: Pantheon
October 13, 2009
I heard about Tokyo Vice from the Daily Show and another friend who read the book. I finally started reading it and couldn't put it down. Jake Adelstein is great story teller and his experiences in Japan were incredible. I didn't know anything about the yakuza before reading the book, I'm interested in finding out more now. I highly recommend this book!... more
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| 8. Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard) |
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By: Jake Adelstein
Publisher: Vintage
October 05, 2010
I heard about Tokyo Vice from the Daily Show and another friend who read the book. I finally started reading it and couldn't put it down. Jake Adelstein is great story teller and his experiences in Japan were incredible. I didn't know anything about the yakuza before reading the book, I'm interested in finding out more now. I highly recommend this book!... more
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| 9. The Tender Bar: A Memoir |
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By: J. R. Moehringer
Publisher: Hyperion
July 26, 2006
I really loved The Tender Bar! Any book that can sweep you into a story and its beautifully rendered characters (all the more beautiful, poignant, and powerful because they are real) is worthy of recognition, and I found this memoir to be fascinating and enormously moving. It was also interesting from its snapshot of a slice of American and local history: Manhasset, Long Island, in the 70s and... more
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| 10. The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir |
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By: Bill Bryson
Publisher: Random House Audio
October 17, 2006
I read this book after receiving some devastating personal news. I grew up at a later time than Mr. Bryson, and in a different part of the country, but I found myself laughing hysterically and relating very well to his accounts of growing up in America. I loved his bits of factual information providing references of where he was and what was going on around him. I consider this book ingeniously funny... more
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Anything Goes Trivia
Trevor
Megaton Man
