Autobiography/Biography lovers! discussion

Come, say hello and introduce yourself!

I'm Dave

I mainly read sports autobiographes (Clive Woodward, Andrew Flintoff and Martin Johnson being particular highlights) but will read any!

But really enjoy life stories of people who have turned their life around!

Dave, consider my new book HotFoot, a biography of Walter Knox. Walter was a Canadian track and field champion in the pre-WWI era. In those amateur days, to be a professional meant being a hustler, manoevering through a dangerous world of gamblers and matched races for huge stakes. Knox did this for 10 years while still finding ways to enter amateur meets. He broke world records in the 75 and 100 yard dashes, pole vault and shot put, an unheard of versatility. But that's just the start of his story. He was twice Canada's Olympic coach and once Britain's, he was a legend on the circuit of the Scottish Highland Games, he retired wealthy after discovering a gold mine in northern Ontario and he almost single-handedly introduced athletics to the Ontario school system. This is the first detailed biography os a sports hustler of that era. You won't be disappointed. Check out davidftown.com for more information.

will check out ur website!

Hi my name is Christine, I live in Queensland Australia, I love readying autobiographies and memoirs. Especially those written by women or are funny.

I am currently reading Not that Kind of Girl by Lena Dunham and after that I am looking forward to reading Finding Me: A Decade of Darkness, a Life Reclaimed: A Memoir of the Cleveland Kidnappings, and then for something lighter, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me by Mindy Kaling.

I look forward to being a part of this group. :)

Hi, I live in Orillia, Ont. Canada, about an hour north of Toronto. Hot Foot is my second book, and both were rather accidental. As chair of the board of our local YMCA I started looking into it's history and 10 years later found I had published a book about it. During that research I discovered some long lost papers about a local track and field star and decided to jot down a short bio of him. Well, that led to some fascinating discoveries about him and his truly remarkable life. So now I have just published this new book that you can find on goodreads. I never intended to be an author but stumbled onto these two stories that needed to be told. Luckily my readers say I write coherently and smoothly, otherwise the whole endeavour would have been rather frustrating. Now a group of local historians have pulled me into their new project, writing a compilation of stories from our community to celebrate it's 150th anniversary. Looks like I'm on to book #3.

Greetings! I live in the States (Michigan to be exact). I maintain a book blog and while I have a YouTube channel, I've taken a break recently to focus on family.

I've resolved to read more biographies, autobiographies and memoirs in 2015. I'm currently reading the military autobiography American Sniper by Chris Kyle. I'm reading it very slowly. While I enjoy the story, the writing is so-so.

I don't necessarily like any one particular type of biography. I'll read about anyone if their story fascinates me. I'd like to read Tim Tebow's autobiography Through My Eyes, as well as Vanessa Run's The Summit Seeker.

I'm looking forward to conversing with others. If anyone is interested in doing a buddy read sometime, I'd be totally down for that.

Hi I'm Jane. I live in the States, but I attended The University of Sussex back in the '90s. I love reading and writing memoir, so I thought this would be a great group. I've just finished reading The Truth of Memoir by Kerry Cohen- great stuff for all readers and writers of nonfiction. My own memoir, Losing the Dollhouse, will launch on February 2 with TouchPoint Press.

Hello I'm Stephanie and I am a college student studying Business Management. I am a creative persona that designs, build, craft and do many things. I also have a blog called Where Stephanie Reads.I also love reading many kinds of books and looking to bring more biographies or autographies in my reading world. I don't read much in the genre so I thought I should give it a go.

Spring Time In The Mountains
By Barbara Taylor Woodall © 2015

Online: April, 2015

(Editor's Note: Barbara Taylor Woodall was born and reared in the Appalachian Mountains of North Georgia. She is a veteran of the phenomenal Foxfire Books.

She is the author of "It's Not My Mountain Anymore" that was featured on worldwide television offering first-hand accounts of profound experiences and mountain living. The book is balanced and satisfying, merging moving stories that will moisten eyes and bring laughter.

For information about ordering this wonderful book visit www.itsnotmymountainanymore.com.)

Since the beginning of time spring has renewed hope in new life. Gently the earth is touched by warm sunbeams to awaken the forests. I imagine it yawned and stretched like Homer the cat coming out of his warm bed near the stove. Millions of tender green shoots wiggle and push through rich soil breaking winter's clasp. All nature opens her bright eyes and every creature seems to rejoice and reach for the sky. Hints of minty green leaves peek through weathered tree limbs and around old locust fence posts covered with layers of gray aging moss.

Glints of new grass appear among tiny blue flowers near the springhouse and in the pasture. Old Heif, the family cow began to shed her thick winter coat. She no longer needed to be jacked up above the snow at milking time. Spring time is here!

She was dry for about six weeks, and all swelled up. At the appointed time, Old Heif slipped off, and the constant ringing of her rusty bell ceased. Soon she reappeared from the thickets, nudging and licking a red and white, wobbling baby calf. Her bawl gained our attention as they moved towards the barn.

Granny Lou said, "Look yonder! Old Heif has freshened. She scratched out a calf from under a rock! Now, don't you young'uns be foolin' with that calf. Old Heif will be on th' fight. Stay away from the barn. That cow will lunge you; she means business."

Dad let the calf run with Old Heif for three days, before he separated them. The calf was housed in a barn stall because it would take all the milk. A mournful, lonesome bawl echoed all day and through the night as mama paced the field searching for her beloved. Her grieving heart deeply saddened me.

Twice a day, the calf was turned into the milking stable. White foam leaked from the corners of its mouth as it sucked two teats on the left side, while Dad milked the two on the right side. Often he squirted milk into lurking cat mouths, and then watched as they cleaned their faces.

The barn was a mainstay of our day-to-day existence and frames today's memories.

Spring fever affected all creation with sweet smells and new births. Granny Lou was guided by her nose, headed up the hill looking for sassafras trees. They were easy to find because their bright yellow buds and red tips shined like gold on the hillsides.

After a hard winter, she thought our blood needed renewing and believed if we drank sassafras tea in March we would be healthy all year. We didn't know it back then, but sassafras is a natural blood thinner.

Her apron pockets began to bulge with green twigs, bark and roots cut small enough to fit into a boiling pot. Aromas from the kitchen smelled like root beer as the tea simmered to shades of brown. Granny Lou reached for the sugar poke to sweeten the brew, signaling our annual dose of spring tonic was on its way. It was Spring Time indeed!

Her knowledge was priceless, and matched the abundance of leaves, greens and herbs that filled spring woodlands.

Tender sweet birch twigs made dandy chewing gum. The trees could also be tapped for birch beer.

We got our vitamins from all sorts of wild greens growing in fields. One was pokeweed. When it reached about six inches high a community call went forth. "Put up your dogs, we don't want any yellow leaves!" After Granny Lou gathered a mess of poke sallet, she washed it several times, and then parboiled the leaves twice. Finally, she fried it in an iron skillet with hog meat. Poke sallet was topped with hard boiled eggs for a tasty combination.

Hey everyone, I'm Shaun and just joined the group. Hopefully more and more will join and it'll get a bit more active. I read just about any kind of biography or memoir, as long as the subject interests me.

Hello,

My name is Michael Jean DuBois. I'm 39 years old and I've spent the last 2 years writing my memoir, The Story of Mr. Anti-Social. It's available on Amazon and Kindle.

Hello! My name is Cris. I mostly enjoy autobiographies and memoirs by popular icons (musicians, actors, politicians). It's interesting to find out what really goes on behind their very public and sometimes media invented lives. Sometimes the legend is much more interesting than the reality. Sometimes the reality far exceeds the rumor (Nikki Sixx - Heroin Diaries).

Dave wrote: "will check out ur website!"
And this one: www.itsnotmymountainanymore.com

Stephanie wrote: "Hello I'm Stephanie and I am a college student studying Business Management. I am a creative persona that designs, build, craft and do many things. I also have a blog called Where Stephanie Reads.I..."


Sounds great- do you have particular hobbies/ interests- sport music, entertainment, psychology etc?

Hello, I am an author of a few things. Some biographies I've read in the last few years include Simone Weil: A Life, Blaikie's David Livingstone biography, and Every Love Story Is a Ghost Story: A Life of David Foster Wallace. I tend to get influenced by the books I read, which is especially true with biographies (right now I feel like "changing the world" (as well as that would go...) because I'm reading the Steve Jobs biography). I would particularly like to become a more loving person.

I like pretty much any autobiography, by anyone, especially self-published ones. One I read recently and can recommend is "Black and Gold": The True Story of a Paranoid Schizophrenic

Hey, I'm an author of child abuse biographies. True stories written alongside the victims of abuse.

I love gardening and reading biographies, some of my favorite autobiography's are Cheryl Strayed's book WILD and The Diary of Anne Frank.

HI,
I'm an author from Greece and started to write my biography as an abused woman by my ex Saudi husband when I lived in Saudi Arabia as a wife.. My book has become a best seller in Greek and of course in English trying to help women in deters by violent Muslim husbands.

Hi my name is Stacie. I'm from Oklahoma. I'm new to this whole group thing. I love history and biographies. I have a collection of biographies of the Presidents of the USA. I like reading about peoples lives I think it is interesting!

Hi,
Wisconsin here. Avid daily reader since 1970! True stories, bio's or auto bio's . Looking for any suggestions/ ideas Currently re~reading Andre Aggasi bio. Really up for anything, running out of books,

Hello all, I'm Peter.
I do love biographies. Most recent "C.S. Lewis: A Life", by Alister McGrath and 'Charles Dickens: A Life' by Claire Tomalin - both excellent. However (full disclosure here!), I've been technical assistant for my wife on her family memoir/social history/war story about the background to her blend of British and German cultures, just published.

I love it, of course! If you read it and like it, do post a review!

Peter wrote: "Hello all, I'm Peter.
I do love biographies. Most recent "C.S. Lewis: A Life", by Alister McGrath ."

I was just looking into this actually! Is it good?

Laurie wrote: "Hi,
Wisconsin here. Avid daily reader since 1970! True stories, bio's or auto bio's . Looking for any suggestions/ ideas Currently re~reading Andre Aggasi bio. Really up for anything, running out ..."

assuming you like sport ones; Marcus Trescothick, Henry Olonga are good. I also have enjoyed Dave Mustaine's, Brian Welch, Brother Andrew, Run baby run, Darrell Tunningley, Row for freedom,

Hi all
Some changes are being made to this group. I have more time now and I would like to become far more active and hope that you guys will be too!

If you have any ideas on how to make this group better than please reply on this thread:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

One thing i'm doing is trying to be far more organised with topics and things so i'm creating more threads and folders so please keep this for introductions/welcoming people etc

If you have written a biography/autobiography, there is a shiny new section for you to promote yourself here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...

So please only use this folder to talk about your own books!!!

Thanks
Mod

Dave, 'Is it good' is hard to answer. I really enjoyed it and it seemed strong on Lewis's intellectual life and writing, less so on family etc. There are plenty of contrary views in the reviews of the book, but I still liked it (more than the less sympathetic A N Wilson biography. Also interesting that Lewis's public popularity, especially in the USA, was not welcomed by his colleagues in the university.

Stacie wrote: "Hi my name is Stacie. I'm from Oklahoma. I'm new to this whole group thing. I love history and biographies. I have a collection of biographies of the Presidents of the USA. I like reading about peo..."

Welcome! I also find reading about other's lives interesting! DO you have a favourite biography?

Peter wrote: "Dave, 'Is it good' is hard to answer. I really enjoyed it and it seemed strong on Lewis's intellectual life and writing, less so on family etc. There are plenty of contrary views in the reviews of ..."

I will probably give it a go at some point (I have way too many to read at the moment).

Hello everyone,

Apart from reading other genres, I love reading autobiographies. I just finished reading 'Long walk to Freedom' by Nelson Mandela. I am now reading Wole Soyinka's 'You Must Set Forth at Dawn'.

I am happy to be here, fellow bibliophiles.

Salem wrote: "Hello everyone,

Apart from reading other genres, I love reading autobiographies. I just finished reading 'Long walk to Freedom' by Nelson Mandela. I am now reading Wole Soyinka's 'You Must Set For..."

Great to meet you Salem! I got about half way through Nelso Mandela's book before lending to it a friend for a project but haven't got it back yet! Really want to finish it!

Hello all!

My name is Ottavio Gesmundo and I live in Las Vegas. I find biographies, memoirs, and other non-fiction books to be my favorite. Particularly, any that deal with history or historical events. I am currently reading The Fall of the Ottomans, and even though it isn't a memoir or biography it is quite fascinating. I was drawn to it because of my grandfather's experiences fighting in WWI against the central powers in the Italian Army, which he documents in his memoirs I just self-published little over a month ago. I think the next book I pick up may be Hamilton.

Dave wrote: "Salem wrote: "Hello everyone,

Apart from reading other genres, I love reading autobiographies. I just finished reading 'Long walk to Freedom' by Nelson Mandela. I am now reading Wole Soyinka's 'Yo..."

Dave wrote: "Salem wrote: "Hello everyone,

Apart from reading other genres, I love reading autobiographies. I just finished reading 'Long walk to Freedom' by Nelson Mandela. I am now reading Wole Soyinka's 'Yo..."

I am happy to learn that, Dave. It is an illuminative book which helps to understand apartheid in South Africa and the tenacity of the human spirit. I hope you get to finish the book.

Ottavio wrote: "Hello all!

My name is Ottavio Gesmundo and I live in Las Vegas. I find biographies, memoirs, and other non-fiction books to be my favorite. Particularly, any that deal with history or historical ..."

Great, Ottavio. I am happy to learn that.

Ottavio wrote: "Hello all!

My name is Ottavio Gesmundo ."

Hello there Ottavio! Welcome! Feel free to take a look around and get involved! You are welome to create a section in the promote yourself section, if you want to talk about the book you published!

Salem wrote: "Dave wrote: "Salem wrote: "Hello everyone,

..."

Sounds great, look forward to reading it!

Dave wrote:

Hello there Ottavio! Welcome! Feel free to take a look around and get involved! You are welome to create a section in the promote yourse..."

Thanks Dave!

Hi everyone, I am a long time lurker on goodreads. I have also published a memoir about the People I have known and the Places I have been,
I love memoirs on interesting subjects more than a personal memoir.
At the moment I am reading Paths less Travelled by Hon K Lee.
An interesting story about one mans journey from Chinatown New York, serving in Vietnam to working for the CIA

Hi David! That does sound interesting, will check it out at some point!

You are more than welcome to add a bio/links for your book in the advertise yourself section!

Welcome!

Hi Everyone,

My name is Boris. I am a comedian and hypnotist.
I have always enjoyed biographies, usually related to show business and comedy. I wrote my own biography, thus searched for related groups.
I look forward to your suggestions and contributing mine.

Hi there,

I live in Australia and have enjoyed reading biographies since I was very young and read a children's version of the story of the Wright brothers. I work in a library.

Hi!
My name is Isana and I love to read biographies and memoirs. Since I have lived a rather "colorful" life, I recently published my own story in the hope that it will inspire and give hope to those who are struggling. It is called: Unfinished - A Personal Journey of Healing, Self-Discovery and Resilience. You can find it on-line at Amazon, thebookspot.org/unfinished-amazon. If you want to know a little more about it, check out a review found at: https://www.forewordreviews.com/revie...
Would love your feedback!
I particularly found Dave Pelzers memoirs, incredible ...

I'm Jamie. I enjoy reading biographies through a modern eye, a feminist one or a gay one. I look for biographies of Alan Turing the focus on his homosexuality, or Queen Elizabeth for her time before her dad died. Examples.

I also like the wistful, non-raunchy celebrity memoirs - Tina Fey and Steve Martins' specificially.

Hello Jamie and Isabel!

Welcome to you both!

Merry Christmas

Hi I am Kat Powell and I live on the Gold Coast in Queensland Australia. I am a wife, a mother, a grandmother, a business owner, an Author and a Domestic Violence Survivor.

For many years I wondered why my life had been so volatile. Was there a reason behind all the years of abuse and suffering?

Then I took to my keyboard, fueled by an overwhelming need to exorcise my demons.

My book Soft Underbelly has been launched on Amazon and has received five star reviews from those who have read it.

More than anything, I wrote Soft Underbelly for the thousands of women currently living in abusive relationships, feeling powerless, terrified and helpless. I wanted to empower these women. I wanted Soft Underbelly to provide hope to the thousands of women feeling hopeless and alone. This experience helped shape me, but it does not define me and I want other domestic violence victims to know that they too can survive and even thrive after domestic violence.

Soft Underbelly is a deeply disturbing story and sadly its portrayal of domestic violence is not an uncommon story. While the events in Soft Underbelly happened to me 25 years ago, there are thousands of Australian women who suffer domestic violence everyday. It is appalling that domestic violence in Australian society is currently so prolific to have been labelled an epidemic.
Published only a few weeks ago, incredibly, Soft Underbelly has already caught the attention of a Hollywood producer.

Sign of Good reads newish users, I had not seen this topic until I saw More Discussions, this is a reprint of a post I just posted in a new Discussion:
Hello fellow readers of Bios and such.
I am not entirely new to Goodreads and joined with you folks last night.

I have a liking of bios and auto bios running back at least 5 decades. Mostly military and historical figures, but as of today:
I am reading John le Carré: The Biography
and
Confessions of an English Opium-Eater & Other Writings Kindle edition.

Among my most recent other bios includes ones on Mussolini, Paul Simon and Julia Childe, so a fair amount of variation.

When Not reading I am Crime Analyst here in Houston, so ?
Any thing ya'll care to recommend or join in together?

Gonna try to delete the other to reduce clutter.

Hi everyone, my name is Dawn, and I'm a mother, wife, nurse, entrepreneur, author, advocate, survivor of sexual abuse, and co-founder of Voice for the Silenced (facebook.com/nursingthewounds). I've always been a fan of autobiographies, biographies, and memoirs, so I'm happy to be a part of this group and learn about what you all enjoy reading as well!

Dawn wrote: "Hi everyone, my name is Dawn, and I'm a mother, wife, nurse, entrepreneur, author, advocate, survivor of sexual abuse, and co-founder of Voice for the Silenced (facebook.com/nursingthewounds). I've..."

Hi Dawn, You might be interested in reading my memoir “Unfinished-A Personal Journey of Healing, Self-Discovery and Resilience” by Isana. Feel free to check out my website at: www.isana-unfinished.com or on Facebook- IsanaUnfinished

Hi there. I'm Carol and have been here on GoodReads for a while, I was just inactive for the most part. I love to read almost every genre, but there is something a little more special about nonfiction, and I even prefer auto-bio fiction.

I'm a writer and artist from Los Angeles, and just finished my first book, Shrapnel in the San Fernando Valley. I hope to publish it in early 2019.

It is a book that has taken me nearly a decade to complete. It's about surviving childhood sexual abuse and rape, escaping a mainstream cult, and living with mental and physical disabilities. I was also a professional musician for over a decade, so there's that, too. I'd say it is a mishmash of Beyond Belief: My Secret Life Inside Scientology and My Harrowing Escape and
Hit So Hard: A Memoir.

You can read more about me, and my writing life at ShrapnelInTheSanFernandoValley.com, and also see my art at esart.com.

Greetings
My Name is Nhlakanipho Tsakane Siyanda Sikobi an author of "You Are Born to Win. I have a story to tell regarding my book. I wrote my book while in prison serving more than 12 years imprisonment but I'd never allow the prison environment to constrained me from accomplishing my dream and discovering my life purpose. I believe my book has an authentic message to be shared with the world.

Hello Everyone,
My name is Kathryn Taylor. I am an avid reader and my first book, Two Minus One: A Memoir was released 11/6/2018. I have been traveling a lot on the Book Tour and so enjoy talking to so many interesting people. As my travel is winding down, I do not want to lose that connection with other readers and writers, and I now have time to read a bit again, so I am looking forward to joining some groups online. I am not tech-or social media-savvy, but if you will be patient, I will do my best!

Kathryn, you say that you are on a Book Tour with your first publication. Does that mean you were published by one of the 5 or 6 majors? I have also recently published my memoir (Independently)
The Wrong Side of the Room: A Life in Music Theater. Though it got great reviews, including Kirkus, I'm finding it difficult to get any promotion for the book. Any suggestions?