February 02, 2010

Movies based on books seem to be leading the pack of Oscar nominees this year! Below is the list of Oscar nominated movies based on books. I'll be rooting for them when the statues are being handed out at the 2010 Academy Awards show! The Academy Awards Show will be televised on Sunday, March 7 on ABC at 8 p.m. and don't forget to enter the book giveaway below!

Up in the Air based on the book by Walter Kirn

Best Picture
Best Adapted Screenplay
Best Director:  Jason Reitman
Best Actor: George Clooney
Best Supporting Actress: Anna Kendrick
Best Supporting Actress: Vera Farmiga

Precious based on the novel Push by Sapphire

Best Picture
Best Adapted Screenplay
Best Director: Lee Daniels
Best Actress: Gabourey Sidibe
Best Supporting Actress: Mo'nique

Invictus based on the book by John Carlin

Best Actor: Morgan Freeman
Best Supporting Actor: Matt Damon

Blind Side based on the book by Michael Lewis

Best Picture
Best Actress: Sandra Bullock

An Education based on the book by Nick Hornby

Best Picture
Best Adapted Screenplay
Best Actress: Carey Mulligan

The Last Station based on the book by Jay Parini

Best Actress: Helen Mirren
Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer

Julie and Julia based on the book by Julie Powell

Best Actress: Meryl Streep

The Lovely Bones based on the book by Alice Sebold

Best Actor: Stanley Tucci

Bookalicious Book Grab Giveaway

I have two copies of Precious (Push Movie Tie-in Edition) and two copies of Up in the Air (Movie Tie-in Edition) to give away to four lucky Bookalicious readers! To enter just leave a movie / book related comment below!  Books are courtesy of Random House Canada and the contest is open to Canadian residents. The Bookalicious Book Grab Giveaway will run until February 12, 2010.

Relish reading,

Wanda Lynne Young

Twitter: @YMCbookalicious

Facebook: wanda.lynne.young

January 27, 2010

If the idea of delving into a juicy memoir is your idea of a good read then you should know there's no shortage of new personal histories available for you to consume. Canadian Songbird Anne Murray has written an autobiography about her meteoric rise to fame and shares her unflinching personal shame. All of Me by Anne Murray and Michael Posner (Knopf Canada, 2009)

When it comes to Ozzy Osbourne I'm sure his written word will be much easier to understand than his signature unintelligible speech. I'm a more recent Ozzy fan, since The Osbournes reality television series and mostly due to his feisty wife Sharon. Ozzy just released his book I Am Ozzy (Grand Central Publishing, 2010) so if you're an Ozzy fan from his Godfather of Heavy Metal Black Sabbath days then pick up this book and take a trip to Crazy Town.  If the audio book version becomes available I would take a pass. (I`m just saying!)
 

 As an aside, I just had a visual of Anne Murray and Ozzy Osbourne doing a duet together. Yikes! Moving on...

Canadian export Paul Shaffer recently wrote a candid memoir We'll Be Here For the Rest of Our Lives. (Flying Dolphin Press, 2009) In this “swinging show-biz saga” Shaffer journals his start in seedy strip joints to his long running stint playing for Dave Letterman's late night talk show. To read this book on your Smartphone, computer or ereader, view We`ll Be Here For the Rest of Our Lives from the ebook service Kobo.
 

Musician turned author Stewart Copeland chronicles his time served as the drummer for the Police in his book Strange Things Happen (Harper Collins Canada, 2009) In a recent Bravo! Canada television show Stewart Copeland made an appearance with The Police band mates Sting and Andy Summers. Copeland revealed that there's a point in every concert performance where he is amazed that he's actually on stage in front of an audience. I can recommend the music themed shows on Bravo! and make sure you take in Spectacle: Elvis Costello With... and At The Concert Hall with host Erica Ehm! The book Stange Things Happen is available from Kobo where you can read the first chapter for free.

Is it just me or when you hear the name Tommy Lee you can't help but think of Pamela
Anderson? From his x-wives to his x-band Mötley Crüe, Tommy's book Tommy Land reveals everything you would (or maybe not) want to know about the bad boy. Tommy Land by Tommy Lee and Anthony Bozza (Simon & Schuster, 2009) You can read chapter one of Tommy Land on Kobo. 

With all recent media hype I can imagine you've heard about Mackenzie Phillips memoir High On Arrival (Simon & Schuster, 2009). Her accounts of incest and drug addicition rocked both the entertainment world and her Mama's and Papa's extended family. Phillips first revealed her story on Oprah and now she participating in the reality tv show Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew. I imagine Phillips hopes to clean up her act, taking things One Day at a Time.

 

 
I came across a talented author who reveals an unplugged version of the music biz during the psychedelic sixties era. Sally Parmer was a teenager growing up in the Southern California during the  sixties era. Parmer turned her groupie status, dubbed the Sweatheart of Sunset Strip, and love for music into a singer/songwriter career. More than a groupie book filled with sexploitation, Parmer's Blue Jean Baby: One Girl's Trip Through the 1960S L.A. Music Scene (Book Surge Publishing, 2009) is an intimate look at the pivotal era though the eyes of a strong, determined woman who is proud to have survived the sixties and still lives to tell the tale! 
  
Check out the Blue Jean Baby book trailer for a taste of the sixties.
For more information on Sally Parmer visit her website: http://www.formerlyfamous.com/
 
Bookalicious Book Grab Giveaway

I have one copy of Blue Jean Baby by Sally Palmer to give away to a lucky Canadian resident. To enter all you have to do is leave a comment below suggesting a music personality that you think should write an autobiography. The contest is open until Friday February 5, 2010.
 
Relish reading,

Wanda Lynne Young
   

Twitter: @YMCbookalicious

Facebook: wanda.lynne.young