I don't know about you, but I love me some good biographies. And for some reason, I think it's more fun when they are autobiographies - meaning the person wrote the book about themselves. These are some of my latest finds. Check them out and see what you think. (Pro tip on autobiographies - if you enjoy audio books, definitely check and see if these titles are available. They are almost always read by the writer, which makes it more like story time.)

I have been a fan of Kenan for a long time. Like Nickelodeon long. Like All That long. I didn’t realize he was in D2: The Mighty Ducks b/c I hadn’t seen it. (I have since corrected this massive error on my part.) For me he was always part of Kenan and Kel, and I wondered how that stopped. This is a good read. Kenan gives us his growing up family history, how he got started in TV, he talks about raising his girls, and of course, his lengthy tenure on SNL. Even though he’s the longest serving cast member, at twenty-ish years, it didn’t feel like Kenan had a big ego. I think we’d be friends in real life and I’m glad I got to read about his non-TV life.

I am a Rush fan. I will admit that I came late to the party. I think I was in before their last tour, but I didn’t get to go and now I have missed them forever. Sigh. So when I saw that lead singer/bassist/keyboardist Geddy Lee was releasing his autobiography, I was in. I’ve read a bunch of books from drummer Neil Peart, but this was the first non-Peart read and I must say it was excellent. Long - 510 pages of the ins and outs of Rush - but worth every word. Musically, I’m more of a late Rush fan - think “Tom Sawyer” or Subdivisions” so the beginning took me a little get into. But once I hit the sweet spot, the last 200 pages flew by. I wish I could have seen their live show because I bet it was awesome. However, I have a feeling that this tome is a decent second place. Check it out, see whatcha think, then go listen to Rush.

Ok. Technically this is a biography, not an autobiography. Anderson Cooper is a Vanderbilt (his mother was Gloria Vanderbilt), but the Vanderbilts and the Astors were Gilded Age rivals and Anderson starts the book by sharing a story about his mother and Brooke Astor eating lunch at Mortimer’s when he was little. So there are autobiographical aspects to this one. (If want more autobiography, check out Vanderbilt that is about his mother and family.) I didn’t realize that the Astors got their start by being fur traders in the early nineteenth century. In my head, they just always had money. It’s incredible to think about all the things that are built on Astor land, like the Empire State Building. I also learned the the Waldorf Astoria actually started life as two rival hotels built by two rival cousins. I’ve been a fan of Anderson Cooper for a while, and this is his first book that wasn’t strictly autobiographical. Still a good read, though.

So those are my latest finds in the world of all about me. Hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

Happy autobiographing...

:)

Amanda