Book Review: Miss O’Dell: My Hard Days and Long Nights with The Beatles, The Stones, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, and the Women They Loved

Book Review: Miss O’Dell: My Hard Days and Long Nights with The Beatles, The Stones, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, and the Women They Loved
By Chris O’Dell with Katherine Ketcham

I’ve often wondered when reading memoirs… what do you leave in? What do you leave out? What might not be exciting to you, might be exciting to others. But how do you know? Where do you begin? Where do you end? How deep do you go? And how on earth do you choose?

Now, say you are someone like Chris O’Dell who worked with three of the major bands of the ’70s. You are touring with the big names and every day is something out of a movie for the average person. How on earth do you decide what to focus on?

O’Dell focuses on plenty in her memoir but keeps the action going and generally flows from one thing to the next with few holes left for the reader to leap over (or knowledge gaps to fall into). O’Dell begins with her first touch with fame–The Beatles and how she landed a job working in their company. From there, the whirlwind picks up speed as she meets more and more famous musicians, the drugs and alcohol get more serious, and the names just keep on getting bigger. (And maybe a few big names write you a few songs along the way as well.) Before long, O’Dell is best friends with several of the Beatles and their wives, is sleeping with Mick Jagger, on first name basis with Bob Dylan, and borrowing a place to crash from Eric Clapton. Yeah, a little bit like something out of a movie for someone like me! (I shook hands with Prince Charles–is that worth anything? Okay, not in this context, but I just wanted to bring it up.)

An interesting look into the lives of musicians (being on tour is a lot like I imagined! Okay, a little more hectic and crazy!), their wives, lives, and those that keep them all together. (In some cases, that would be Miss O’Dell, thank you very much.)

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Book Review: Spin

Book Review: Spin
By Catherine McKenzie

I’ve read the big names in chick lit (like Meg Cabot, Sophie Kinsella, Helen Fielding, etc) and enjoyed them. But none of them were Canadian and none of them had that special quirkiness that spoke directly to me. I was impressed by this debut novel, Spin, by Catherine McKenzie. Chick lit is not an easy genre to break into and it is near impossible to keep it fresh and not make it trivial. But McKenzie kept it fresh and original while delivering the true chick lit form.

Here’s the story: A once-from-the-country gal is trying to break into the world of music writing in the big city. She’s turning 30 and she still hasn’t made that dream come true. Then she gets the call–an interview with a big name music magazine. Unfortunately, she kind of accidentally overdoes her pre-birthday celebration the night before and arrives at the dream interview drunk. Oops. However, she is granted a chance to redeem herself. All she has to do is go to rehab and sneak out tidbit gossip on the celebrity who is already there. No problem, right? Right? Hmmm… except she just passed the ‘I’m an alcoholic’ admission test with flying colours–and not in a good way. So, did she put a ‘good’ spin on her drinking in order to fit into rehab, or does she have a genuine problem?

Of course, in true chick lit form, things get right bungled up the further we go into the story. However, this is where the novel truly shines fresh. You think it’s all going to be solved and tied up with a nice bow in one way… and it does… but totally in a different (and even better) way than expected.

I’m looking forward to reading more by this author. If you like chick lit, pick it up at your local bookstore–if you are Canadian. This book isn’t available in US bookstores yet–but you can order a copy from my favourite little Canadian mega bookstore: Chapters!

Oh, and guess what? You can get it through Amazon too:

Book Review: Zen and the Art of Writing

Book Review for Zen and the Art of Writing
By Ray Bradbury

Broken into essays on writing that spans over 19 years, this book is a gem of inspiration and passion. You can tell Bradbury loved to write. Truly. As in, leave a rip-roaring time to hurry home and put a story to paper. Zen and the Art of Writing covers subjects from feeding and keeping a muse, finding inspiration, using life in your stories, how the brain stores things for later, and of course, never giving up. The man gathered an impression rejection pile in his time. If you are looking for a little inspiration, the first few essays in this book are sure to do the trick.

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Book Review: The King and Dr. Nick: What Really Happened to Elvis and Me

Book Review for The King and Dr. Nick: What Really Happened to Elvis and Me
By George Nichopoulos with Rose Clayton Phillips

This book is an account from ‘Dr. Nick’ (George Nichopoulos), the personal physician of the late Elvis Presley, on what really killed The King of Rock and Roll. It also leads us through Dr. Nick’s personal turmoil and professional fallout that has crept over the last four decades as a result of Elvis’ early death.

The King of Rock and Roll died in 1977 setting off a heated media debate about what killed him and who was responsible for taking this icon from his millions of fans. Did Elvis die of a drug overdose like the press would have you believe? Is Elvis hiding out at a 7-Eleven, surprising unsuspecting shoppers?

Before reading this memoir, I knew little about the amusing stories surrounding The King and didn’t have a particular opinion, or even my own answers to either of those questions. Having read The King and Dr. Nick, I can say with conviction–no, and no. I won’t give too much of the story away but to mention Elvis definitely had health issues, health issues that Dr. Nick valiantly tried to lessen during his decade of diligent medical care as Elvis’ personal physician. On the second charge–Elvis is not the type of personality to hide himself away–although I could see him getting a kick out of surprising people in some out-of-the-way convenience store.

This book brewed several emotions within me–first, disappointment that I will never be able to experience Elvis performing live and second, disbelief and anger at how cruel the media can be, particularly when one person is looking to further their career and get the ultimate scoop–to the point of ignoring and misconstruing facts at the risk and expense of other people’s livelihood. (I always felt there was something sleazy and untrustworthy about Geraldo Rivera, and now I know why.) False stories in the media brought great pain and loss to Dr. Nick. This is a man who cared for difficult patients when no one else would, and as a thanks for his hard work, was falsely charged several times for not taking proper care of Elvis as well as other patients. In the end, decades after Elvis’ death, Dr. Nick lost his fight, losing his career despite the evidence proving he did all he could, plus some (and all within medical guidelines).

Kudos to Dr. Nick for his strength and rest in peace Elvis–you truly were The King.

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Full disclosure: This title was given to me as part of ThomasNelson’s Book Sneeze program in exchange for an honest review.
The commercial book links are part of an affiliate/partnership program where I receive a small percentage of any sale resulting from my readers purchasing these books by using the provided link.

Welcome to Book Review Weekend

Yes, it is January. When is there a better time in the year to curl up with a book all weekend?

Oh, right. The beach in the summer. Doh!

Anyway, I’ve got a couple of books following my laptop around the house waiting for me to do up their reviews so they can join their friends in dusty stacks of ‘have read’ around the house–we are in dire need of bookshelves.

This is actually my kitchen.

So, without further ado… the book review lines are open. I hope to post two reviews today and two tomorrow–which means I have to finish one of the books I am reading first! Better get cracking!