It starts in the present day and goes back. 
In 1992, when Andre "burst" (he tells the many years of gruelling effort that led up to that) onto the world sports stage by winning the Grand Slam at Wimbledon, he looked like a deer in headlights. Nobody seemed more surprised and upset by his big win that day than he did. For good reason, too. Agassi hated tennis. This is the biggest revelation in his very revealing autobiography. Agassi has hated tennis from early childhood, finding it extremely lonely out on the court. But he didn’t have a choice about playing the game because his domineering aggressive father drove him to become a champion, like it or not. Mike Agassi, a former Golden Gloves fighter who never made it professionally, decided that his son would become a champion tennis player. I almost cried at how beautifully he expressed how much he loves his wife and children and, at other moments in the book, I openly laughed out loud. This is an easy enjoyable read that feels very "open" and real.Rating: 4.8 Recommend
This woman has my life! She has a crazy insane hectic paced job that she wants to escape from and, she does what I want to do which is run away from it all on a boat to the Caribbean! This book recounts Ann and her husband's two-year voyage from Toronto to the West Indies and beyond in their 42-foot sailboat, Receta. As they escape the restraints that have bound them to their desks for years, the pair undergo not just a change in physical appearance (the noticeable weight loss is an unexpected bonus) but also a change in attitude. And although their trip may sound terrific, it has a few glitches. 
This is set in 17th century India. At the age of 8, Mehrunissa (the name means "Sun of Women") has already settled on her life's goal. After just one glimpse of his face, she wants to marry the Crown Prince Salim. And marry him she does, albeit some 26 years later, after overcoming the opposition of her family, an ill-starred early marriage, numerous miscarriages, and the scheming of other wives.
At the age of 82, Hart, a professional cellist, recalls 1945, when she and her best friend, Marty, students at the University of Iowa, spent the summer in Manhattan, in this memoir. Failing to obtain work at Lord & Taylor, the pair, self-described as long-limbed, blue-eyed blondes, were hired at Tiffany's—the first female floor sales pages, delivering packages to the repair and shipping department, for $20 a week. Hart details their stringent budget ("1. Two nickels for subway. 2. Sandwich at the Automat: 15 cents") and describes, somewhat breathlessly, what a thrill it was to see such luminaries as Marlene Dietrich and Judy Garland shop at the fabled store. Her romance with a midshipman, the combat death of her cousin, the news of the dropping of the first atomic bomb and a vivid account of the celebration in Times Square after Japan's surrender convey a sense of the WWII era. She interjects wonderful imagessuch as going to the Stork Club for their ice cream rolled in shredded coconut, then drizzled with chocolate sauce or shampooing with Kreml ("Glamour-bathe your hair in Kreml," the as in Life urged). She evokes New York City as seen through the eyes of two innocent smalltown girls. This is a sweet and quick read of a by-gone era.
This is the story of an adolescent girl, Lia, suffering from anorexia. Lia and Cassie had been best friends since elementary school, and each developed her own style of eating disorder that leads to disaster. Now 18, they are no longer friends. Despite their estrangement, Cassie calls Lia 33 times on the night of her death, and Lia never answers. As events play out, Lia's guilt, her need to be thin, and her fight for acceptance unravel in an almost poetic stream of consciousness in this startlingly crisp and pitch-perfect first-person narrative. The text is rich with words still legible but crossed out, the judicious use of italics, and tiny font-size refrains reflecting her distorted internal logic. All of the usual answers of specialized treatment centers, therapy, and monitoring of weight and food fail to prevail while Lia's cleverness holds sway. This is an amazing book that I inhaled in <24 hours. It is real, haunting and I know it will stay with me. I would caution parents to read/screen it before allowing their young adults to read it as it does broach intense heavy subject matter in a straightforward manner. Thanks Liz for introducing me to this amazing author. I can't wait to read her other works.
This is about two women—one white and one black—living on a farm in South Africa at a time when the nation is undergoing huge racial and social change. Milla, the elderly white woman, is paralyzed and dying. Agaat, the younger black woman, is taking care of her. They have their own personal history between them. The story shifts back and forth from the present to the past, and from first person to third person, including long, rambling diary passages (with no punctuation, weird abbreviations, references to unknown people and generally hard to follow), all from Milla’s perspective, to tell a tangled story that takes place during the years 1947–96. Trust as you read, that this will all weave together and make sense. The author weaves it so well that you understand the close bond that the two women share. There is incredible humor and understanding that these two women share. Despite Milla being unable to do anything except blink her eyes, she and Agaat communicate and understand each other so well. This is not an easy book to read (I skimmed a lot) and is too long but, very well written.
A resolute yet naïve Chinese girl confronts poverty and culture shock with equal zeal when she and her mother immigrate to Brooklyn. Ah-Kim Chang, or Kimberly as she is known in the U.S., had been a promising student in Hong Kong when her father died. Now she and her mother are indebted to Kimberly's Aunt Paula, who funded their trip from Hong Kong, so they dutifully work for her in a Chinatown clothing factory where they earn barely enough to keep them alive. Despite this, and living in a condemned apartment that is without heat and full of roaches, Kimberly excels at school, perfects her English, and is eventually admitted to an elite, private high school.
The novel Matterhorn takes place during the Vietnam War, specifically on several large hills that the US Marines fought to take control of, one was Helicopter Hill, and another is Matterhorn. We follow Second Lieutenant Mellas, who is commander of First Platoon Bravo One. I have just started this novel and can already tell it is going to be great. It deals with the US Marines and captures the heart detail and emotion of 
the Marines serving in the novel. It shows a side of combat that I haven't seen portrayed before. From the opening scene of a soldier having a leech up his urethra, this has been riveting and I can't wait to get back to it. Do not read this if you are bothered by cursing as this is US Marines in wartime. Maybe because this is to gritty and about war, I think that men may enjoy it more than women. The writing and story will keep you on the edge of your seat till the very end. A huge thank you from the bottom of my heart to all those who have served our country to enable us to be free. What an amazing sacrifice. Thank you.