Memoirs and Biographies We Love discussion

Dutch, The Many Lives & Secret Sorrows of Josephine B. is the first of a trilogy that I highly recommend. You certainly learn about Napolean from these three books.

Robert K. Massie will be coming out with a biography on Catherine the Great soon. He is a great author. Here is a link to the book: Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman

I just joined this group and I usually read biographies of historical figures. Lately I've been reading about US presidents.

Great Catherine: The Life of Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia by Carolly Erickson is one I've read and enjoyed.

Now I'm reading Lincoln by David Herbert Donald and enjoying it so far.

Susan, have you heard about this: Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman. It is coming out in November. The author is fantastic. I adored his book: Nicholas and Alexandra.

Susan I can also highly recommend: The House by the Dvina: A Russian Childhood and Olga's Story.

Chrissie wrote: "Susan, have you heard about this: Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman. It is coming out in November. The author is fantastic. I adored his book: [book:Nicholas and Alexandra|13..."

I haven't heard of those. I've been stuck in US history for the last year, but am getting so sick of politics that maybe I need to "escape the country" so to speak. I'll check into them. Thanks.

Chrissie - all 3 of the books you mention have been added to my to-read list. They sound great. I have heard of Massie. I actually have "Dreadnought" by him, but it is so massive I haven't read it. Now . . . wonder which of these books I can get for my Kindle :-)

Susan, Oo you use Kindle too! Me too, me too! Me, because of bad vision! Massie's book is available on Kindle. I yapped and yapped. Maybe that helped. The other too, I am not sure about. Here is a link to my spoiler-free review of The House by the Dvina: A Russian Childhood. If you can possibly read a DTB do. I loved this book. My Oscar, the dog with me on the avatar, ate the book up when he was a puppy! I wasn't finished....... I was in trears. I bought it again! It is that good.

I love my Kindle. Especially free classics! And being able to get a book whenever I want it. I've had to be really careful not to spend too much LOL.

I like your reviews. What did you mean by DTB? It's probably obvious, but I missed it :(

I understand about buying it again. There are just some books you have to have!

Susan DTB = dead tree books, ie hardcovers and paperbacks. :0)

Sometimes I wonder, since I read a lot of history, if people have at all "progressed." BUT then I think how happy I am with my Kindle and that IS progress,. Something that makes a huge difference in my life. I am sure you have heard about the newest Kindle Fire. I am not interested in the movies and games aspects, but I wonder if they have made the font in the menu larger? I wonder of the new "print" is easier or less easy to read? If you know, please tell me.

DTB - great LOL! Yes I definitely read DTBs. I love the feel of a book in my hands, and even the smell of a new one. However, I already have too many books in my house and I love always having a book with me on my Kindle.

I had also started reading a lot of "in the public domain" books a few years ago - classics, history, etc - but reading on the computer is hard on my eyes, so the Kindle is great. Plus, I do like the fact that maybe I'm saving a few trees :-)

I haven't checked out the Kindle Fire yet. I just got the one I have last Christmas and have a really limited budget, so I'll stick with what I have for a while.

For DTBs, we have a really good used book store in my town that I visit from time to time. I still have to limit my buying though even there.

So MANY great books to read and definitely not enough time!!

Susan, if I could choose I would stick with DTB, but since I cannot I am happy Kindle exists. Nook books are not available in Europe! I have read many classics long ago. I do not register them here at GR. That is because I am not sure what I would think of them today. My tastes change. When we first moved to Sweden, all I read were Swedish books. Now I have had my fill. Before that it was classics. Before that it was light novels just to give diversion. Then I had a French binge when I was learning French. I wonder if I will ever get sick of books depicting different countries and that teach history? But that iw why I do not download that many classics from Gutenberg for example. You know the oriiginator died recently.

If you find a store that sells time, PLEASE tell me about it immediately. I must say...... I am frustrated with the time spent on GR. It is ridiculous to spend more time looking for good books than reading them.

Wow a store that sells time - I certainly wish there was such a thing.

Since I'm in the US it actually gives me hope reading history. When I read about the fierce debates at the beginning of the country, it makes me feel like we might get through this really tough time in US politics.

I do wish I'd kept up with learning languages in the past. There are books that I would like to read in the original language rather than ending up with a bad translation.

Susan, I prefer reading a book in its original language too! There is a balance. If you do not get the inuendos, then maybe it is better to read the translation, but I would always say TRY the original if you think it might work. I am fortunate to be able to manage English, Swedish and French. Fortunate, because I have no talent with languages. Numbers are so dam easy, but ever so boring.

The only other language I could try would be French. I took 4 years loooong ago (1976 was the last year). I usually can get the gist of a passage, but I'm sure I would miss a lot of innuendo. From time to time I think about picking it back up.

Susan, it is true. If you don't use it, you loose it.Not just languages.

Hi, I just joined this group. I just finished reading "The Secret Life of Salvador Dali"--an autobiography. If you like to read about really strange people this is the one for you. It took me nearly 3/4 of the way through it though to stop grimacing and begin to see the genius in his writing. I visited the Dali Museum in August of this year and fell in love with his work. I guess there really is maddness in genius!

Dutch wrote: "There are a lot of discussions going on about current celebrities or celebrities from our modern era. But what about those in history?

Is there such a thing as a Jesus Christ biography? If t..."

Yes, I've read biographies about both Napoleon and Catherine the Great as well as Ivan the Terrible and Peter the Great (also Russian). To read one of these biographies is to read history from the inside out. I love reading about people from hundreds of years past. And yes, there is a book out there called "The Historical Jesus" (I think is the title) that is probably as close as you'll get to a biography of the man. I read it maybe five to eight years ago and remember being impressed by it.

Another very interesting character in history is Madam Curi`. She was a remarkable woman. There is an excellent biography written about her by her daughter. Talk about a womman ahead of her time, and devoted to science! If you can find it, read it!

Linda, are you speaking of The Book about Blanche and Marie or another? I loved Per-Olov Enquist's book The Royal Physician's Visit by the same author.

Have your read Massie's latest: Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman? I highly recommend it. You don't just learn about her life, but also the history of the world she took part in forming.

Linda - another good book about Madame Curie is
Obsessive Genius: The Inner World of Marie Curie (Great Discoveries) by Barbara Goldsmith. I liked it so much I read another by her
Other Powers: The Age of Suffrage, Spiritualism, and the Scandalous Victoria Woodhull which is excellent. It's not a biography per se, but touches on a lot of different people during that time period.

Wow, those do sound like good books. The woman is an inspiration to me. I may pick up "Other Powers." Thanks for the heads up.

I just finished reading “Lazy B” a memoir by former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and her brother H. Alan Day, who is a Goodreads member of this group. I gave the easy to read book set along the Arizona/New Mexico boarder 5 Stars as it fully portrayed a western culture with a historical figure. I appreciated the short chapter format with many photos.

by Sandra Day O'Connor & H. Alan Day