Mix It Up Monday (New Meme)

Mix It Up Monday is a meme I'm hoping to start up. On the first Monday of each month I will post a review of a book that:
a) I wouldn't normally read, or
b) Wouldn't normally be reviewed on a YA blog.

If you would be like to participate next month, leave a comment and if there's enough interest I'll add a Mr Linky system in. Let me know what you think of this idea!

I Am Ozzy by Ozzy Osbourne

Synopsis: “Every day of my life has been an event. I took lethal combinations of booze and drugs for thirty f**king years. I survived a direct hit by a plane, suicidal overdoses, STDs. I've been accused of attempted murder. Then I almost died while riding over a bump on a quad bike at f**king two miles per hour. 

People ask me how come I'm still alive, and I don't know what to say. When I was growing up, if you'd have put me up against a wall with the other kids from my street and asked me which one of us was gonna make it to the age of sixty, which one of us would end up with five kids and four grandkids and houses in Buckinghamshire and Beverly Hills, I wouldn't have put money on me, no f**king way. But here I am: ready to tell my story, in my own words, for the first time. 

A lot of it ain't gonna be pretty. I've done some bad things in my time. I've always been drawn to the dark side, me. But I ain't the devil. I'm just John Osbourne: a working-class kid from Aston, who quit his job in the factory and went looking for a good time."

Review: I Am Ozzy is a hilarious autobiography by Ozzy Osbourne, former lead singer of Black Sabbath. It’s filled with humourous anecdotes from his life before and after the band and is a more than enjoyable read.

I’ve read a few musician’s autobiographies, and I can honestly say that none of them have ever made me laugh like this one did. I was laughing aloud at something on almost every page and I loved Ozzy’s British humour. There were some great stories about his time in the band and although the book was filled with humour, Ozzy also showed a sensitivity when it came to writing about the hard things, like death and drug addiction. 

Although I loved the book and the stories in it, I couldn’t help get the feeling that maybe there was some extra spice being added to some of the anecdotes. I mean, yeah, he was a crazy rocker, but after all these years and all these drugs, can he really remember as much as he claims to? Maybe so, but for me it didn’t quite feel right, so I was unable to fully ‘click’ with the book. It’s a real shame, because I really did enjoy Ozzy’s easy writing style.

I Am Ozzy was a fun read, but overall something just didn’t come together for me. If you’re looking for a musician’s autobiography that has plenty of hilarity go for this one, but just don’t expect too much depth. 

Rating: 3 out of 5