BOOK REVIEWS

 

I was on vacation right before Christmas,, so after i woke up one morning, i decided to let myself wake up more- by doing something i love, and haven't done enough of lately-- i decided to look at a book i had gotten for christmas 2005.

as soon as i sat down on the couch and began to read it, i was almost instantly engrossed with it, i couldn't put it down. It was an autobiography of one of my favorite wrestlers- Eddie Guerrero, who sadly passed away before his book came out in 2005.

I sat there and continued to read about how he was raised , his school life, how he wanted to be a wrestler from the time he was little. i was really taken in, by how he struggled with his demons(alcohol and drugs) and didn't really comprehend how bad his addctions were. 
It really put a strain on his marriage, and when his wife Vickie could take no more, she took the kids and left. 

at first eddie was more dispondent over the thought of his marriage ending and losing his 2 girls, and that made him party worse.. after a couple of near fatal accidental OD's, and some harsh words from the WWE and his friends he was put into rehab. 

upon his completion of rehab, he thought he was cured and could still have an occassional drink-- that proved to not be the case, and on 2 seperate occasions he ended up totally drunk, in fact the second time after someone looked at his license to get his address, he ended up in front of his old house where Vickie was living with the girls. she was totally incensed that he was drunk despite having gone through rehab. the next morning (she let him sleep in his office) he left.

eventually Eddie would realize something was still missing from his life and find God, but not before having a child with a woman he was seeing while waiting for his divorce to be official) 

before long, he decided to reconcile with Vickie(all he had to do was convince her) he attended AA meetings, and had found God, so he hoped she would see that he had really and truely changed and that he still loved her. after a couple phone calls , they started doing things together(she evn went to a couple of AA meetings and realized she had done wrong by being an enavbler to his problems.) they continued to "date" and she even let him stay at the house one night,he wasn't sire how it would affect their girls-so he slept on the couch(he didnt want them to get their hopes up that mommy and daddy would get back together)a few days later, however, Vickie recieved the divorce papers in the mail, all she had to do was sign them and return them and it would be final. she asked Eddie what to do, and he told her, "do what you need to do, if you feel you need to sign them." before too long they realized they still had a deep love for each other and decided to get back together-and when they told the girls, their faces just lit up.)

Eddie and Vickie renewed their wedding vows, with the girls and a handful of friends looking on.

Eddie got back with the WWE and eventually would be the world champion. 

he was an amazing wrester who was fun to watch. he is sadly missed and will always be fondly remembered. -"VIVA LA RAZA!" EDDIE.

here is a cover shot of the book.

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BOOK TITLE: "Confessions of a Prairie Bitch"  
AUTHOR: Alison Arngrim
PUBLISHER: Harper Collins

When i was growing up, "Little House on the Prairie" was one of my favorite shows to watch, and despite them being reruns, i really enjoyed them-- and like MANY MANY MANY other people, i absolutely without question LOATHED Nellie Oleson!-- at least when she was a kid..

She began to grow on me after meeting Percival and When they married she was downright pleasant and happy and i actually began to like her more.

So, i had heard about this book she had written and was on the fence about buying it for quite some time.. I finally gave in and purchased it as i really wanted to read it and hopefully learn some things i didn't know.

I chose to purchase this book as and "E book"  so i wouldn't have to make room on my already pretty full bookcase(LOL!)

Let me tell you something, i couldn't put it down once i started reading it!!  I ended up reading the first 9 chapters the very first night and ended up completely draining the battery on my ipad(OOPS!)

I was able to finish the remaining chapters the next morning once my ipad and i were both fully charged (LOL!)  the book was literally that good. Alison gives you a very good look at what it was like getting into hair, wardrobe and make up and what all of it entailed on a daily basis no matter what the weather conditions or how hot it was.

The stories she told about Michael Landon and his sense of humor were heartwarming, the the genuine fondness of which she spoke about him and other cast members who have sadly since passed on since the series originally aired.

The closeness  she had with actor Steve Treacy who played her on screen husband "Percival" was very refreshing to read about as back when the show aired most people would have shunned him and made him an outcast for his orientation(and sadly today some people still would)  But Alison didn't they were very good friends and i could feel her sadness  and heartbreak as she wrote about finding out he was ill, and always being there for him right up until  the day he sadly passed away,

The stories of her childhood were heartbreaking at times but the one constant  thing that she talked about  during the time she was on the show was her friendship with Melissa Gilbert (despite being archrivals on the show) that was the one thing in her childhood that seemed to make her immensely happy(and they remain quite goof friends to this day)

Overall i thoroughly enjoyed this book and thought it was a very good read.