Memoirs – Hellobooks.co.za

The Eighth Summit

Anna Howcroft — Thu, 18 Jan 2018 09:50:08 +0000

Peter van Kets has done this and more – and yet he could be the average guy next door. A teacher in East London with a fondness for the ocean, Peter was given a rare chance to compete in the 2007 Atlantic Rowing Race. His decision to grasp this opportunity would change his life.
Together with Bill Godfrey, he rowed across the Atlantic and won against the odds. Then he came back two years later to row it alone – a truly epic feat. After that he joined forces with adventure runner Braam Malherbe to represent South Africa in the unique Scott-Amundsen Centenary Race to the South Pole, one of the most gruelling endurance events ever staged.
Peter’s feats of endurance in the face of endless ice, snow and saltwater are testament to the power of the human spirit and the greatness possible when an ordinary person sets out to do extraordinary things. In rowing the Atlantic and trekking the Antarctic, he has come to understand what it takes to conquer the limits of your mind – to conquer your Eighth Summit

The Tenor’s Son – Candido Bonvicini

Anna Howcroft — Mon, 08 Jan 2018 10:23:26 +0000

This smarmy memoir by a fellow Italian should prove embarrassing to Pavarotti, especially during this 25th anniversary year of his Metropolitan Opera debut, which is sure to be celebrated in press features. After interviewing residents of the city, Bonvicini announces that Modena “totally adores Pavarotti.” The tenor’s mother says that she is “overcome with emotion” that God chose her to birth this son; the family chauffeur considers himself his boss’s “best buddy;” a Modenese critic, pondering the essence of Pavarotti, exclaims, “If we multiply his weight by a thousand, we might get the right answer.” Bonvicini studies Pavarotti’s photo album and concludes that he is “strong and aggressive,” but also “a serene, discreet, genuinely intimate man.” We also hear from a Modenese astrologer and from the tenor’s wife, Adua, who not too subtly shows her disdain for Bonvicini’s silliness

From Whiskey to Water – Sam Cowen

Anna Howcroft — Tue, 12 Dec 2017 16:52:04 +0000

“Whiskey to Water” is the no-holds-barred memoir by one of South Africa’s most loved radio talk show hosts, Sam Cowen. Having kept her alcohol addiction well away from the public eye for over 14 years, in this tell-all tale Sam finds the courage to talk about her struggle with her addiction to whiskey, food and finally to a passion that saved her life – marathon swimming. Told in her characteristically hilarious dead-pan style, this is one of the bravest books you’ll read this year. “So this is a book on how I stopped drinking? No, it’s not. It’s how I stopped drinking, started eating, became clinically severely obese, stopped eating (everything that wasn’t nailed down) and swam my way to freedom. No, it’s not. It’s actually about addiction and learning and sadness and anxiety and love and drive. It’s about channelling the unchangeable into the miraculous. It’s about dragons and learning how to put them to sleep when you can’t slay them. It’s about being my own Daenarys.”

The Vegas Diaries – Holly Madison

Anna Howcroft — Sat, 30 Sep 2017 12:21:00 +0000

When you’ve come out the other side of the bizarre, twisted world of the Playboy mansion, where do you land? If you’re Holly Madison… there’s no place like Las Vegas! After making the sudden decision to reclaim her life, Holly broke free from the sheltered, deceptive confines of the mansion (which meant exiting a hit television show) and was determined to start her life over… from scratch. Without the security of a job or relationship, she set out to reinvent herself on no one’s terms but her own. Deciding to roll the dice and begin again in the glamorous and dreamlike city of Las Vegas, Holly quickly realized that while she may have left her past in the rear view mirror, the labels and stereotypes that came from it weren’t so quick to leave her. With a fierce commitment to take charge of her own narrative, Holly dives headfirst into a journey of self-discovery

The Vegas Diaries – Holly Madison

Anna Howcroft — Fri, 29 Sep 2017 08:06:57 +0000

High on Arrival – Mackenzie Phillips

Hellobooks — Fri, 07 Jul 2017 09:02:35 +0000

Born into rock-and-roll royalty, flying in L+M3:R3earjets to the Virgin Islands at five, making pot brownies with Donovan at eleven, Mackenzie grew up in an all-access kingdom of hippie freedom and heroin cool. As a rising Hollywood star herself, she joined the nonstop party in the hedonistic pleasure dome of her father’s making, and a rapt TV audience watched as Julie Cooper wasted away before their eyes. By the time Mackenzie discovered how deep and dark her father’s trip was going, it was too late. As an adult, she has paid dearly for a lifetime of excess, working tirelessly to reconcile her wonderful, terrible past and the pull of her magnetic father. By sharing her journey toward redemption and peace, the star who turned up High on Arrival has finally come back down to earth—to stay