Love Life, by Rob Lowe - Book Review

Knowing Rob Lowe as the gorgeous Brat Pack bad boy with a sex tape that almost derailed his career, I began Love Life, Lowe’s most recent autobiography, with low expectations. But this book changed my mind entirely. Intellectual, insightful and funny, Lowe uses his life experiences to give his reader tips for living a fuller and richer life and shows how he’s managed to navigate the Hollywood world with his family, mind and sobriety in tact.

Lowe relishes in the successes of his career but is also quick to point out the one offs. Turning down the role of Dr. Derek Shepard on Grey’s Anatomy to star on a show that was cancelled almost immediately might seem a failure to most. But to Lowe, it was a learning experience that positioned him for the next right role; a nine year stint on Parks & Recreation as the consummate optimist, Chris Trager.

Emphasizing the significance he places on being a dad and crediting his wife for his biggest successes in life, he shows his true heart lies with his family. His chapter about taking his eldest son to college will leave you teary eyed.

Meanwhile, his anecdotes about his first trip to the Playboy Mansion, his beyond awkward ‘love scene’ with Jewel and his off screen antics with Matt Damon on the set of Behind the Candelabra are laugh out loud funny.

Lowe is not without a touch of arrogance about his successes in show biz but, seriously, would we expect any different from a man who truly seems to get better looking with age? He also had me writing down some of his sayings in my journal, poignant to the last page. “Be creative in adding drama and scope to your life,” he says, and through his prose demonstrated he did just that for himself. 

Published:  2015
Publisher:  Simon & Schuster

Elizabeth's Rating: 4 Stars

3 Great Reasons to Read Outpost: Life on the Frontlines of American Diplomacy - Book Review

Always interested in government, politics and current affairs, I typically stick with reading the news and do some online research versus reading biographies. However, the memoir Outpost: Life on the Frontlines of American Diplomacy caught my eye and after reading a few early reviews, I had to read it. It was a good choice.

Former Ambassador Christopher Hill first arrived on my radar screen when he led the Six Party Talks in an attempt to bring an end to North Korean nuclear weapon production. In addition to the U.S., the effort included Japan, China, Russia, South Korea and North Korea, and Hill was picking up where his predecessor left off.  Nothing is easy with the N. Koreans, and Hill’s work was cut out for him.  But not just with the Pyongyang - working with the other countries had its own challenges.  Oh, and there is our own government — no easy task there either.

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"The Possibilities" By Kaui Hart Hemmings

The author of The Descendants, which became an Oscar® winning film has written The Possibilities, set in Breckenridge, Colorado.  In it, we experience the tragedy of the death of a son expressed with a mix of honesty, grief and wit. As our protagonist looses her son in an accident, we see her navigate the crooked path of moving on with life. She deals with her return to work and her changed perspective on her role as a t.v. anchor for a tourist-focused channel in Breckenridge with caustic sarcasm, realizing the frivolity of it.  She finds both solace and frustration in her relationships with her live-in father, ex, and best friend, who is experiencing her own tragedy of divorce. As her struggles continue, a stranger enters their lives - a young woman who knew her son. This opens wounds and helps to heal, and takes all of them on an emotional journey.

Kaui Hart Hemmings' lead character, Sarah narrates with brutal honesty, and we are privy to her inner voice in a way we can all relate, but often afraid to admit. She talks of the guilt a little joy can bring following her son’s death. “Guilt came from feeling hungry, for having that sensation. It came from yawing, putting on makeup, dressing nicely.”  We hear her inner thoughts about her son, best friend, father and those around her and her self-judgement as a result, cutting, lonely and sometimes funny. Sarah struggles to understand her son better through his death and brace herself for life without him.  

What I enjoyed most is the book's honesty, intelligence and humor. It appears an authentic and incisive way in which people may manage bereavement, and is filled with messy raw emotions. It’s a heartbreaking tale with a twist, delivered with quick and easy dialogue, and at times unsettling. Overall, I really recommend this book. There is however, it's a little predictable and there is one scene that is a bit hard to buy into, but I’ll forgive it that because its sense of authenticity.  

Vickie’s rating: 4 stars

"All My Puny Sorrows" By Miriam Toews

I first selected this book because of the title.  With so many to choose from, it’s probably just as good a reason as any. then there is the fact that it’s published by McSweeney’s.  If you are unfamiliar with McSweeney’s, it’s run by Dave Eggers and publishes authors with a rather quirky, unique styles.  It’s a nice departure sometimes.

It was slow going at first for me with All My Puny Sorrows (AMPS), but once I made it through the first quarter of the book I was hooked.  It’s heartbreaking, quick-paced and intelligent. The style has a cadence that takes a little getting used to.  Author Miriam Toews doesn’t use quotation marks and has dialogue flow through paragraphs - unusual, but easy enough.  It seems to suit her characters and their emotional states.

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"Before We Met" By Lucie Whitehouse

This Lucie Whitehouse novel, “Before We Met” takes the reader to London and New York, through a mystery of a husband’s unknown past.  Protagonist Hannah is blissfully in love with Mark, but a missed flight home to London propels Hannah to look into the reasons behind it.  One clue uncovers another - each one more confusing than the last, until she is forced to piece together the truth.

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"City of Thieves" by David Benioff

What a surprising delight “City of Thieves” was to read. Not that I expected David Benioff’s novel to be bad, but I did not expect to enjoy it in so many ways.  This 258-page book is set in 1942 war-torn Leningrad, where the residents fear the German siege, their own forces and each other.  It’s a dangerous place for a 17-year-old boy who reluctantly finds himself with a new best friend on an impossible mission for a Soviet colonel.  

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