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Colin > Books: biography-memoir‎ (80)

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The Agony and the Ecstasy: A Biographical Novel of Michelangelo

title

The Agony and the Ecstasy: A Biographical Novel of Michelangelo

author

isbn

0451213238

isbn13

9780451213235

asin

0451213238

num pages

776 pp

avg rating

4.09

num ratings

91,611

date pub

1958

date pub edition

Sep 07, 2004

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Jul 14, 2024

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Lady in Waiting: My Extraordinary Life in the Shadow of the Crown (Thorndike Press Large Print Biographies & Memoirs)

title

Lady in Waiting: My Extraordinary Life in the Shadow of the Crown

author

Glenconner, Anne

isbn

1432881116

isbn13

9781432881115

asin

1432881116

num pages

451 pp

avg rating

4.06

num ratings

28,857

date pub

Oct 17, 2019

date pub edition

Sep 23, 2020

Colin's rating

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So… after all the multi-hyphenated surnames and weekend shoots that filled the first third of this memoir, I settled in.

My mother-in-law gushed over a So… after all the multi-hyphenated surnames and weekend shoots that filled the first third of this memoir, I settled in.

My mother-in-law gushed over and recommended this to me. I did not gush (not sure how to break this to the MIL), but did appreciate the historical content and disclosures of family misfortunes.

I found the writing a little on the ‘cool’ side, hence a telling sentence by the author:
‘I was from a generation that didn’t have endless heart-to-hearts, we didn’t share our emotions.’

A satisfactory read.

...more

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13

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53

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1

date started

Jul 08, 2024

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Jul 09, 2024

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Jul 08, 2024

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Library Binding

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Alexander the Great

title

Alexander the Great

author

Freeman, Philip *

isbn

1416592806

isbn13

9781416592808

asin

1416592806

num pages

391 pp

avg rating

4.31

num ratings

4,732

date pub

Dec 23, 2010

date pub edition

Jan 04, 2011

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Jul 08, 2024

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Wheat in my pocket

by
Edith Johnston

title

Wheat in my pocket

author

Johnston, Edith

isbn

isbn13

asin

num pages

92 pp

avg rating

0.00

num ratings

0

date pub

unknown

date pub edition

2002

Colin's rating

my rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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None

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1

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0

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Jun 26, 2024

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Absolutely on Music: Conversations with Seiji Ozawa

title

Absolutely on Music: Conversations with Seiji Ozawa

author

Murakami, Haruki

isbn

1846559197

isbn13

9781846559198

asin

1846559197

num pages

272 pp

avg rating

3.89

num ratings

6,305

date pub

Nov 30, 2011

date pub edition

Sep 01, 2016

Colin's rating

my rating

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0

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May 26, 2024

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Great Masters: Shostakovich His Life & Music

title

Great Masters: Shostakovich His Life & Music

author

Greenberg, Robert

isbn

1565855299

isbn13

9781565855298

asin

1565855299

num pages

6 pp

avg rating

4.44

num ratings

179

date pub

2002

date pub edition

2002

Colin's rating

my rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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None

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0

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1

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0

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Apr 04, 2024

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Audio Cassette

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No Diplomacy: Musings of an Apathetic Soldier

title

No Diplomacy: Musings of an Apathetic Soldier

author

Lafleche, Andrew *

isbn

isbn13

asin

B01BLI9L5O

num pages

107 pp

avg rating

3.95

num ratings

42

date pub

May 01, 2015

date pub edition

Feb 08, 2016

Colin's rating

my rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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None

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0

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0

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Feb 22, 2024

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I'm Liz Hayes

title

author

isbn

1460714180

isbn13

9781460714188

asin

B0C5NWYGD1

num pages

410 pp

avg rating

4.25

num ratings

204

date pub

unknown

date pub edition

Nov 01, 2023

Colin's rating

my rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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None

notes

Notes are private!

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Feb 08, 2024

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Kleine Welt im Tessin

title

Kleine Welt im Tessin

author

Rüegg, Kathrin

isbn

3275005715

isbn13

9783275005710

asin

3275005715

num pages

140 pp

avg rating

4.22

num ratings

9

date pub

unknown

date pub edition

1974

Colin's rating

really liked it

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Nicht schlecht!
A friend recently gave me a box of German novels and text books from her late mother.
This one about Tessin/Ticino immediately caught Nicht schlecht!
A friend recently gave me a box of German novels and text books from her late mother.
This one about Tessin/Ticino immediately caught my eye.
Last year, Swiss friends took me on a mystery day tour by train from Zürich to Locarno, in Tessin, and Locarno was mentioned numerous times in this text.
Small world (Kleine Welt) indeed. ...more

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41

# times read

1

date started

Jan 28, 2024

date read

Jan 29, 2024

date added

Jan 25, 2024

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Hardcover

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Killing for Country: A Family Story: Winner of the 2024 Indie Book of the Year Award

title

Killing for Country: A Family Story: Winner of the 2024 Indie Book of the Year Award

author

isbn

1743823304

isbn13

9781743823309

asin

B0C58FG2DF

num pages

596 pp

avg rating

4.38

num ratings

392

date pub

unknown

date pub edition

Oct 03, 2023

Colin's rating

my rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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None

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Notes are private!

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0

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0

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Nov 27, 2023

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Nicky Winmar: My Story

title

Nicky Winmar: My Story

author

isbn

1761065165

isbn13

9781761065163

asin

1761065165

num pages

320 pp

avg rating

4.41

num ratings

70

date pub

unknown

date pub edition

Oct 31, 2023

Colin's rating

my rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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review

None

notes

Notes are private!

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0

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# times read

0

date started

not set

date read

not set

date added

Nov 09, 2023

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Defying Hitler : A Memoir

title

Defying Hitler : A Memoir

author

Haffner, Sebastian

isbn

1842126601

isbn13

9781842126608

asin

1842126601

num pages

259 pp

avg rating

4.33

num ratings

4,841

date pub

Aug 2000

date pub edition

2003

Colin's rating

really liked it

my rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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3.5 stars rounded up

My mum found this for me in her local street library box, knowing I often enjoy memoirs and reading about history.

This account of 3.5 stars rounded up

My mum found this for me in her local street library box, knowing I often enjoy memoirs and reading about history.

This account of pre-WWII and rise of Hitler was interesting, but it did get bogged down a few times. Just over halfway through I began to switch off a little and think it wasn’t the right timing, that it was too heavy given the current world turmoils/wars, but then, to my surprise, the author spoke to me, to me directly:

‘… I interpose here a brief word to the reader; in particular to that reader who feels, not without some apparent justification, that I have already over-taxed their interest in my insignificant person. Am I mistaken or can I hear some readers … beginning to riffle the pages of the book?’

WOW! That was me.

‘…How better to regain his favour than by quickly getting back to my narrative?’

WOW! What insight from a writer.

Thank you, Mr Haffner. This was what I needed to keep going. ...more

notes

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comments

6

votes

50

# times read

1

date started

Oct 31, 2023

date read

Nov 08, 2023

date added

Oct 27, 2023

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Paperback

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Paddy Mayne: Lt Col Blair 'Paddy' Mayne, 1 SAS Regiment

title

Paddy Mayne: Lt Col Blair 'Paddy' Mayne, 1 SAS Regiment

author

isbn

isbn13

asin

B0078XH7L2

num pages

415 pp

avg rating

4.26

num ratings

441

date pub

Feb 26, 2004

date pub edition

Aug 26, 2011

Colin's rating

my rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

add to shelves

review

None

notes

Notes are private!

comments

0

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0

# times read

0

date started

not set

date read

not set

date added

Oct 19, 2023

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Kindle Edition

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STAY OF EXECUTION A -SORT OF MEMOIR A sort of memoir

title

STAY OF EXECUTION A -SORT OF MEMOIR A sort of memoir

author

isbn

039700897X

isbn13

9780397008971

asin

039700897X

num pages

312 pp

avg rating

3.81

num ratings

80

date pub

1973

date pub edition

Jan 01, 1973

Colin's rating

my rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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None

notes

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0

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0

# times read

0

date started

not set

date read

not set

date added

Aug 11, 2023

owned

format

Unbound

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No Friend But the Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison

title

No Friend But the Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison

author

Boochani, Behrouz

isbn

176055538X

isbn13

9781760555382

asin

176055538X

num pages

416 pp

avg rating

3.91

num ratings

8,543

date pub

2018

date pub edition

Jul 31, 2018

Colin's rating

it was amazing

my rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

add to shelves

review

Richard Flanagan supplied a forward to this personal account of the contentious failure in off-shore processing and detention of asylum seekers. It sa Richard Flanagan supplied a forward to this personal account of the contentious failure in off-shore processing and detention of asylum seekers. It says it all:

“Reading this book is difficult for any Australian. We pride ourselves on decency, kindness, generosity and a fair go. None of these qualities are evident in Boochani’s account of hunger, squalor, beatings, suicide and murder.” ...more

notes

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comments

28

votes

104

# times read

1

date started

Sep 07, 2023

date read

Sep 10, 2023

date added

Jul 05, 2023

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The Diary of a Young Girl: The Definitive Edition

title

The Diary of a Young Girl: The Definitive Edition

author

isbn

0241952433

isbn13

9780241952436

asin

B0092G7DHQ

num pages

351 pp

avg rating

4.19

num ratings

3,848,569

date pub

1947

date pub edition

Jan 01, 1997

Colin's rating

it was amazing

my rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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review

I wasn’t sure how to start this review but within the first few pages of my next read I found this quote: ‘You never want to get away from home as muc
I wasn’t sure how to start this review but within the first few pages of my next read I found this quote: ‘You never want to get away from home as much as you do when you’re fifteen years old.’

After spending two years in hiding, Anne Frank was fifteen when she died, presumably of typhus, in Bergen-Belsen. Knowing this while reading the diary added to its impact.

One of my granddaughters read the diary and said she knew I would like it. I was dubious at first because its contents are so well known both in print and on the big screen. I felt I knew enough but, by coincidence, my buddy reader @Marge Moen also included it on a list of our next potential buddy reads. The decision was made for me.

Although it was a lifetime ago, I can still remember the intensity of being a teenager. Anne Frank’s teenage intensity is well described on the page; her desires, frustrations toward her parents, redefining herself whilst constricted by space, her challenges, desires and fantasies. There was also day-to-day stuff, including block toilets. She did not hold back or restrict herself to the hardships of the eight in hiding but also included details of the brave and kind people who harboured and cared for them. Her notes on the hopeful efforts by the Allies to put an end to the war were interesting.

Anne Frank was a good writer. She wanted to be a journalist. The heights she could have achieved with her writing, had she survived, can only be imagined.

Other takeaways:

After confirmation of her death, Anne Frank’s father, the only one of the eight to survive the Holocaust, was encouraged to publish it. He is reported to say he only fully got to know his daughter from reading her words.

Anne’s father and uncle fought for Germany in WWI.

The diary survived claims it was a hoax. The translations into many languages were criticised for somehow affecting the text and that the numerous iterations on stage and screen took some liberties. Anne’s experiences, as described by her, cannot be diluted by all that.

Anne’s sixteen-year-old love interest, Peter van Pels (he and his parents were given the pseudonym van Daan), died in the Mauthausen camp three days before it was liberated.

My granddaughter pointed out her concern that Anne had to share a room with a middle-aged man, a dentist known to her family. ‘Why did anyone think that was a good idea?’

Nelson Mandela read the diary while incarcerated, and encouraged others to do the same because of its strength and message of hope.

Anne Frank’s diary will leave a lasting impression on me. ...more

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4

votes

59

# times read

1

date started

Sep 20, 2024

date read

Sep 28, 2024

date added

Jul 04, 2023

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Sky Above Kharkiv: Dispatches from the Ukrainian Front (The Margellos World Republic of Letters)

title

Sky Above Kharkiv: Dispatches from the Ukrainian Front

author

isbn

0300270860

isbn13

9780300270860

asin

0300270860

num pages

208 pp

avg rating

4.11

num ratings

217

date pub

Oct 10, 2022

date pub edition

May 16, 2023

Colin's rating

my rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

add to shelves

review

None

notes

Notes are private!

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0

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0

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0

date started

not set

date read

not set

date added

Jun 17, 2023

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Hardcover

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My Love Story

title

author

isbn

1501198246

isbn13

9781501198243

asin

1501198246

num pages

272 pp

avg rating

4.16

num ratings

8,679

date pub

Oct 16, 2018

date pub edition

Oct 16, 2018

Colin's rating

my rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

add to shelves

review

None

notes

Notes are private!

comments

0

votes

0

# times read

0

date started

not set

date read

not set

date added

Jun 07, 2023

owned

format

Hardcover

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Beethoven and His Nine Symphonies (Dover Books On Music: Composers)

title

Beethoven and His Nine Symphonies

author

isbn

0486203344

isbn13

9780486203348

asin

0486203344

num pages

416 pp

avg rating

4.02

num ratings

53

date pub

1896

date pub edition

Nov 21, 2012

Colin's rating

really liked it

my rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

add to shelves

review

This author’s knowledge of Beethoven is without question, but in the same token, this was a little ‘dry’ for me. Undoubtedly, good research material f This author’s knowledge of Beethoven is without question, but in the same token, this was a little ‘dry’ for me. Undoubtedly, good research material for a music essay or thesis. The letters (including those written by Beethoven) and performance critiques, rather than the detailed analyses of the symphonies, were more stimulating.
3.5 rounded up to 4 stars
------

Read on if you wish learn why I chose to read it:

After COVID lockdowns, my community orchestra continued with our weekly rehearsals, but only for pleasure rather than preparation for concerts which were not possible under social distances and crowd-capping rules.
An inspiring, young conductor suggested a complete run through of Beethoven’s nine symphonies, in order and sight-readings over nine weeks. It was a pleasure and honour to be part of this ‘project’, and to experience the joy of playing Beethoven’s masterpieces, plus some of the lesser-known symphonies.
The rehearsal cycle culminated in a pseudo-performance of the Ninth in our lovely Town Hall, technically a private affair with only about 20 invited guests, yet still complete with socially-distanced solo vocalists and choir. I cannot stress enough what a pleasure this was.
A former music critic attended. He congratulated us, saying despite limited rehearsal and some rough edges, he heard committed players, starved of performing, who demonstrated their passion for music. I was chuffed.
After the project, I spoke to a friend about my admiration for what Beethoven had achieved and also mentioned some of the symphonies were practically unknown to me. He, in turn, gifted me this book. ...more

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1

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Jan 2023

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Jun 03, 2023

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A Promised Land

title

A Promised Land

author

Obama, Barack *

isbn

1524763187

isbn13

9781524763183

asin

B08GJZFBYV

num pages

768 pp

avg rating

4.33

num ratings

240,316

date pub

Nov 17, 2020

date pub edition

Nov 17, 2020

Colin's rating

my rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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None

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