Literary Quote of the Month

"A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies," said Jojen. "The man who never reads lives only one." - George R.R. Martin, A Dance With Dragons

Monday, October 6, 2025

Memoir Monday... The Book of Sheen


 
I remember Charlie Sheen in his early days in movies such as Platoon and Major League. And then my thoughts turn to crazy Charlie Sheen who did these crazy things that created lots of drama. Quite a few actors follow this path and then are saved from themselves. I recently saw Charlie Sheen on a talk show and was amazed at how honest he was about his past and how proud he was of his being sober for the past 8 years (He should be proud, it's a life saving accomplishment!). He was funny, self deprecating and I became interested in how he had turned his life around. His memoir, The Book of Sheen, reveals all of that...

The Book of Sheen by Charlie Sheen... " For the first time, Charlie Sheen, the star of Platoon, Wall Street, Major League, and Two and a Half Men, writes the story of his extraordinary life in an unfiltered memoir.

“We can live the stories or hear about them later from others. I choose the former.”

Charlie Sheen should not be alive to write this book.

But in The Book of Sheen, the movie and TV star, who has defied the odds, finally presents his story, in his own words. Charlie Sheen was born the third of four children to actor Martin Sheen and his wife, Janet. He grew up on film sets—from his father’s all over the world, to his own in Malibu. There he made ambitious Super 8s, with a roster of friends who went on to become household names themselves, including his brother Emilio, Sean and Chris Penn, and the Lowe brothers.

Sheen broke into movies in the 1980s, playing a hoodlum in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, a young soldier in Platoon, and an ethically compromised trader in Wall Street. But somewhere along the way, despite a successful transition to TV leading man in Spin City and Two and a Half Men, Sheen descended into a vortex of extracurricular activities.

Now sober, Sheen delivers a clear-eyed narrative of his highs and lows with humor, candor, and a vivid, captivating writing style that is uniquely his. The Book of Sheen comes across like a far-fetched, overstuffed novel of Hollywood life—yet it is all true.

Published by Gallery Books Sept. 9th, 2025, this book is now available at your favorite book seller... and it's on my wishlist. Some celebrity memoirs are the same old stuff, but I think this one is destined to be a page turner.


Wednesday, October 1, 2025

Do you ever get the "feelies"?


I haven't read a Dan Brown book since The DaVinci Code, which was a very long time ago (I talked about this last Sunday). But when I was reading the description of The Secret of Secrets, Dan Brown's newest offering, it really sounded like something I could get into... and I bought a copy. The first thing I noticed as I opened the book was... the paper. Not just because it had words on it and I was going to start reading it, but the paper was.... luxurious! The feel of the paper was silky smooth and the weight of the paper, as I lifted one between my fingers, was wonderful... I was doing the "feelies"... feeling the pages between my fingers.

This is one reason people love real books! This tactile feel makes for a connection you just can't make with an ebook. And where most of my books these days are trade paperbacks, with pages that have a more rough feel, like recycled paper, The Secret of Secrets hardcover was a different animal. 

Publishers have a lot of choices when it comes to actually publishing the book. There are choices in covers (french flaps, anyone?), the weight of the paper, the finish of the paper, the font, the size of the font, deckle edges maybe? Now we have spray painted paper edges too. They also have a choice between hardcover and paperback. (Back in the day, most books were published in hardcover first with the paperback following about a year later. Nowadays, the trend for a lot of books is to go right to a trade paperback). With all these choices how do they decide? (I'm not sure, but I am going to try and find out...)

Do you like the feel of a real book?

I can't remember the last book that had pages that felt this way. Now I'm going to have to grab all my hardcovers and feel the pages....

Do you prefer "real" books, aka physical books, or ebooks? Hardcovers or Paperbacks? Let's talk! Let me know in comments below how you feel about the books you are reading!

Happy reading... Suzanne


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