Friday Book Blog Hop: Makeup to Breakup: My Life In and Out of Kiss

 

Content warning: Suicide ideation, adult situations, profanity

Genre

Autobiography, Memoir, Music

Buy Link

https://amzn.to/3fOFofh

Disclosures: 

I will earn a small commission from Amazon for every book purchased through the above link.

Blurb:

LEGENDARY founding KISS drummer Peter “Catman” Criss has lived an incredible life in music, from the streets of Brooklyn to the social clubs of New York City to the ultimate heights of rock ’n’ roll success and excess.

KISS formed in 1973 and broke new ground with their elaborate makeup, live theatrics, and powerful sound. The band emerged as one of the most iconic hard rock acts in music history. Peter Criss, the Catman, was the heartbeat of the group. From an elevated perch on his pyrotechnic drum riser, he had a unique vantage point on the greatest rock show of all time, with the KISS Army looking back at him night after night.

Peter Criscuola had come a long way from the homemade drum set he pounded on nonstop as a kid growing up in Brooklyn in the fifties. He endured lean years, street violence, and the rollercoaster music scene of the sixties, but he always knew he’d make it. Makeup to Breakup is Peter Criss’s eye-opening journey from the pledge to his ma that he’d one day play Madison Square Garden to doing just that. He conquered the rock world—composing and singing his band’s all-time biggest hit, “Beth” (1976)—but he also faced the perils of stardom and his own mortality, including drug abuse, treatment in 1982, near-suicides, two broken marriages, and a hard-won battle with breast cancer.

Criss opens up with a level of honesty and emotion previously unseen in any musician’s memoir. Makeup to Breakup is the definitive and heartfelt account of one of rock’s most iconic figures, and the importance of faith and family. Rock ’n’ roll has been chronicled many times, but never quite like this.

Ornery Owl's Mini Review

Rating: Five out of five stars

The book is easy to read and, oddly enough, Peter is a very down-to-earth guy. It was interesting reading about his time with Kiss, but what I really enjoyed was learning about him as a person. I'm not a fast reader, but I tore through this book in three days.

The First Line/Book Beginnings

Have you ever tasted the barrel of a .357 Magnum that’s halfway down your throat?

https://www.rosecityreader.com/

https://readingismysuperpower.org/

The Friday 56

The three of them were probably fucking each other in Jamaica.

http://www.fredasvoice.com/

Book Blogger Hop

10th -16th - Do you consider yourself a bookworm or a reader? (submitted by Billy @ Coffee Addicted Writer)

I used to be a definite bookworm. Oddly enough, I feel like doing book reviews and being a writer myself has turned me into more of a reader. 

https://www.coffeeaddictedwriter.com/p/blog-page.html

Friday Book Hop 26 August 2022

 

Genre: 

Biography, nonfiction

Ornery Rating: 

5 out of 5 stars

Buy Link:

https://amzn.to/3ACnnrS

I will make a small commission from Amazon for any books bought through this link.

Ornery Owl's Mini Review:

Thank you, dear William, for this book. Star Trek meant a lot to me. I was a socially awkward kid who was often bullied. I felt a kinship with Mr. Spock. I wonder if he would think it was illogical for me to say that I thought he was cool. 

I learned so much about you and Leonard through this book. I laughed and smiled and remembered the things that both of you meant to me. At the end, I cried. 

As someone who has a habit of sticking my foot in my mouth and inadvertently making people angry with me, I could relate to the times when you inadvertently made Leonard angry. I could see your heart in this book. You are a wonderful person and I thank you for sharing your story. 

Beam me up, Scotty!

At the conclusion of the second Star Trek movie, The Wrath of Khan, the Enterprise is facing destruction.

Shatner, William; Fisher, David. Leonard (p. 5). St. Martin's Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. 

https://www.rosecityreader.com/

https://readingismysuperpower.org/

Leonard campaigned for McGovern anywhere people would listen to him, from large rallies in arenas to talking to a few committed young people in a college dorm.

Shatner, William; Fisher, David. Leonard (p. 132). St. Martin's Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. 

http://www.fredasvoice.com/

Book Blogger Hop Question:

26th - Sept. 1st - If you receive a request from an author to read his/her book and you don't have time, do you suggest another way to help the author? (submitted by Elizabeth @ Silver's Reviews)

Here is what I suggest. Join the Marketing for Romance Writer's group at https://marketingforromancewriters.groups.io/g/main/ You do not have to be a romance author to join. There you can post requests for help at anytime and have a better chance of finding someone who can review or proofread your book. However, I make no guarantees. As you probably know, writers are perpetually drowning in their own tasks. 

I am generally willing to trade proofreading or review tasks although I don't always have time to do so. If I have the time, I will post book promos, cover reveals and such without expectation of in-kind recompensation. Check out Readers Roost at https://bit.ly/ReadersRoost and feel free to leave a comment there. 

https://www.coffeeaddictedwriter.com/p/blog-page.html

Friday Book Hop 29 July 2022

Genre: Music, Memoir, Nonfiction

Buy Link: 

https://amzn.to/3PLOeql

I will earn a small commission from Amazon for any books purchased via this link.

Hey-ho, let's go!

It was one of those crystal-clear evenings in the late winter of 1969. My mother, my brother, and I had recently moved into a new high-rise apartment building in Forest Hills, Queens, with a spectacular view of Manhattan.

Leigh, Mickey. I Slept with Joey Ramone: A Family Memoir . Touchstone. Kindle Edition. 

https://www.rosecityreader.com/

https://readingismysuperpower.org/

The first time I came to see Marky in the Ramones, he was mainly concerned with how he looked in his new jeans.

Leigh, Mickey. I Slept with Joey Ramone: A Family Memoir (p. 221). Touchstone. Kindle Edition. 

http://www.fredasvoice.com/

Book Blogger Hop Question:

22nd - 28th - Is there a hard-to-find first-edition that you would love to own? If so, why? (submitted by Billy @ Coffee Addicted Writer)

Anything by my favorite authors of the macabre. Imagine having an original, first edition Arkham House collection of Lovecraft's work. I can almost smell the insanity! Or maybe I forgot something in the oven.

https://www.coffeeaddictedwriter.com/p/blog-page.html

Until next time, keep it Cthulhu. Sanity is overrated and I wanna be sedated.

Image by Galletita Arts from Pixabay

 

Friday Book Hop 15 July 2022

 

Buy link:

https://amzn.to/3OZ8957

I will earn a small commission from Amazon for any books purchased via this link.

“The study of psychological trauma has an ‘underground’ history. Like traumatized people, we have been cut off from the knowledge of our past. Like traumatized people, we need to understand the past in order to reclaim the present and future. Therefore, an understanding of psychological trauma begins with rediscovering history.”1

The author chose this quote from Judith Lewis Herman to begin her book. Considering the subject matter, it works perfectly.

1 Judith Lewis Herman, Trauma and Recovery (New York, NY: Basic Books, 2015), 2.

https://www.rosecityreader.com/

https://readingismysuperpower.org/

“Courage is not having the strength to go on; it is going on when you don’t have the strength.” – Theodore Roosevelt

Laura selected this quote to begin Chapter 17. I would argue that there is also strength in knowing when to back off, to re-evaluate, to rest. I was one of those people who went to work deathly ill on more than one occasion. I always ignored health problems until they became critical. At nearly 60 years old, I am now learning to do certain things I should have been doing all along for my well-being.

http://www.fredasvoice.com/

Book Blogger Hop question:

15th - 21st - Do you listen to audiobooks? If so, do you prefer listening instead of reading? (submitted by Elizabeth @ Silver's Reviews)

I both listen and read. My audiobooks are essential for long drives when I'm alone. I live in the middle of nowhere and the nearest cities average 55-60 miles away. When I'm at home, I generally read e-books. If I listen without focusing on another activity, such as driving, I'll fall asleep. Not because I'm bored, mind, but because I start to relax. 

https://www.coffeeaddictedwriter.com/p/blog-page.html

Until next time!

Free use image from Open Clipart Vectors