LOL. How's that for a headline?
I have three books to recommend-all quick reads.
First:
Me, Inc. by Gene Simmons
This is a really interesting book about Gene Simmons' rise to fame-his calculated, clever business acumen, and how he went from being a penniless refugee in Israel, with only his Holocaust-survivor Mom to lean on, to building a veritable empire. There is lots of common sense in the book and it should certainly inspire people to take concrete steps to create a successful life (read: money). I disagreed with a lot of the life advice though-about how many children to have, about when to get married, but I agree that women cannot "have it all".
The other thing that was food for thought, for me anyway, was his admission (via the reality show) that he really almost lost the things that truly mattered (his partner, now wife and his children) because of his philandering and narcissistic tendencies. So it just makes me wonder about the value of that kind of material success if you risk losing the important humans in your life-or risk not having any at all in your life.
He's very, very smart, with lots of great advice, and a very patriotic, charitable person. Worth your time.
Second:
President Me by Adam Carolla
Oh boy this one made me laugh. It's got lots of funny in it, and I snorted out loud on the subway reading the speech to the UN.
Again, lots of common sense in here and as I always say-common sense: not so common!
Last, but certainly not least: Love Life, by Rob Lowe.
I didn't know what to expect from this book, and I haven't read his first one (I will for sure now), but it's a really interesting part auto-biography, part philosophy book and it takes you through his meteoric acting career, the libidinous and alcohol-fueled years and then rehab and settling into the very best roles of his life as husband and father.
I won't spoil the book for you, but I will say that the passage about 'how things end' really was an exceptionally powerful and emotionally riveting part of the book. It was just lovely. I also learned not to trust Jewish redheads-but for that whole story (also very sweet and funny) you have to read the book as well.
The extra awesome thing about the Rob Lowe book, is that I tweeted that I really enjoyed it (I follow him on Twitter), and that the passage on loss, and how things end was beautiful and poignant and he favourited the Tweet.
So, I had a total fan girl hysterical OMG OMG meltdown moment last night, while my kids totally laughed at me.
He's a very smart guy and quite a substantial writer. I was moved by quite a number of vignettes in the book.
