32 Flavours...and then Some!

Life Is Not A Stage: From Broadway baby to a Lovely Lady and Beyond, Florence Henderson with Joel Brokaw (hardcover) 4 out of 5 stars.

From amazon:
"For millions of people around the world, Carol Brady is synonymous with motherhood, but growing up as the youngest of ten children in rural Indiana in the aftermath of the Great Depression, Florence Henderson lived a life quite different from that of the quintessential TV mom she later played on television.

Florence's father was a dirt-poor tobacco tenant farmer who was nearly fifty years old when he married Florence's twenty-five-year-old mother, and was nearly seventy when Florence was born. Florence's childhood was full of deprivation and abandonment. Her father was an alcoholic at a time when there was no rehab or help for the disease. Their home rarely had electricity or running water. When she was twelve, Florence's mother left the family to work in Cleveland and never returned.

Florence opens up about her childhood, as well as the challenges she's faced as an adult, including stage fright, postpartum depression, her extramarital affairs, divorce, her hearing loss, and heart problems. She writes with honesty and wisdom of how her faith and ability to survive has brought her through rough times to a life of profound joy and purpose."
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I LOVED The Brady Bunch when I was growing up and I LOVED Carol Brady's character so much I wanted her to be my mom, too! When I saw that she wrote her memoirs, I immediately put it on my Christmas wish list and I got it for Christmas last year! :) Wow, what a ride, Florence! From a desperately poor childhood to almost immediate success in New York City as a young woman, to movie and television gigs, her career has been wide and eclectic. She talks about much in her relatively short book, and it's all hella interesting, too. I had no real idea of how BROAD her career is! Really and truly an intriguing and interesting read. One of the top celebrity memoirs I've read in the last several years.

Between a Heart and a Rock Place: A Memoir, Pat Benetar (paperback) 4 out of 5 stars.

From amazon.com:
"For more than thirty years, Pat Benatar has been one of the most iconic women in rock music, with songs like "Heartbreaker," "Hit Me with Your Best Shot," and "Love Is a Battlefield" becoming anthems for generations of fans. Now, in this intimate and uncompromising memoir, one of the bestselling female rock artists of all time shares the story of her extraordinary career, telling the truth about her life, her struggles, and how she won things—her way.

From her early days in the New York club scene of the 1970s to headlining sold-out arena tours, Benatar offers a fascinating account of a life spent behind the microphone and speaks candidly about the realities of breaking into the boys' club of rock and roll. Written with the attitude and defiance that embody Pat Benatar's music, Between a Heart and a Rock Place is a rock-and-roll story unlike any other, a remarkable tale of playing by your own rules even if that means breaking a few of theirs."
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I find it weird that I've always loved Pat but I somehow don't own any of her music! I'll have to change that! I remember spending my young years anxiously awaiting her new music on the radio, rocking out when it would come on over the airwaves. Hers is an interesting story mix--growing up, being discovered as a vocal prodigy as a teen and being classically trained, getting married young and walking away from musical scholarships, getting her start in the music business in clubs in NYC, getting discovered, finding her true love soul mate, her meteoric rise to fame, ...with a heavy dose of her brand of feminism and grit mixed in. After reading this book, I grew to love Pat even more! If you even just like Pat Benetar, I highly recommend this book!

Oh Myyy! (There Goes the Internet), George Takei, kindle edition. 4 out of 5 stars.

From amazon:
"How did a 75-year old actor from Star Trek become a social media juggernaut? Why does everything he posts spread like wildfire across the ether, with tens or even hundreds of thousands of likes and shares? And what can other sites, celebrities and companies do to attain his stratospheric engagement levels, which hover or top 100 percent while theirs languish in the single digits?

Read about George Takei’s meteoric rise and dominance of the Internet in Oh Myyy (There Goes the Internet), published of course in electronic format.
In this groundbreaking, hilarious and informative book, Takei recounts his experiences on platforms such as Twitter, YouTube and Facebook, where fans and pundits alike have crowned him King. He muses about everything from the nature of viral sharing, to the taming of Internet trolls, to why Yoda, bacon and cats are such popular memes. Takei isn’t afraid to tell it likes he sees it, and to engage the reader just as he does his legions of fans.

Both provokingly thoughtful and wickedly funny, Oh Myyy! captures and comments upon the quirky nature of our plugged-in culture. With Takei’s conversational yet authoritative style, peppered with some of his favorite images from the web, readers should be prepared to LOL, even as they can’t help but hear his words in their heads in that unmistakable, deep bass."
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One of the first Kindle books I've received directly on my device as a gift! What a treat this book was. Mr. Takei wrote in a witty, funny style that was easy to understand. He never got overly techy in his explanations of thing he was writing about. Thoroughly entertaining read by a thoroughly entertaining man! Loves me some George Takei!! He's an internet meme favourite of mine!