Cover Image: Me and Sister Bobbie

Me and Sister Bobbie

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Member Reviews

Me and Sister Bobbie is a beautifully written memoir by Willie and Bobbie Nelson. The bond between them shines the entire time!

I'm a born and raised Texan and I grew up listening to Willie Nelson. I admit that I didn't know too much about the Nelson's personal lives so it was good to understand more about them. The chapters go back and forth switching from each sibling and this was really cool to read.

Both of them had a tough life and yet they stayed together through it all. I loved getting to learn more about Bobbie and her musical genius. I also enjoyed getting to see a softer side to Willie. You can just tell that these two love each other so much and that warmed my heart.

I give Me and Sister Bobbie 4 stars. It's a wonderful memoir told by two amazing people. The highlight of this was getting a peek at the unbreakable bond between WIllie and Bobbie. What they share is so beautiful and put a smile on my face.

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If I’m being honest, I hadn’t really known much about Willie Nelson (other than the fact that he is a country music legend) prior to reading Me and Sister Bobbie.

When reading memoirs, it can sometimes be difficult on knowing how to rate them, since they are true stories and a personal perspective, but I knew right away that I would love this memoir!

I enjoyed the alternating chapters from the siblings and was so heartbroken over details of his life as a young man.

*thank you Random House and netgalley for this gifted copy.

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This book was not what I expected. I thought it would be detailing Willie's life events, but focused more on Bobbie's life. I liked reading about her life, but felt shortchanged I wanted more of her story. The same was true for Willie! Some chapters being extremely short. I loved the relationship showcased between the two siblings!

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review!

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With a family as well known as the Nelsons, Willie and Bobbie, you figure you know their life story. You might be surprised. While celebrities seldom live what is considered a "normal" life, these siblings learned at a very young age to depend only on each other and to expect life to give them nothing but grief. As each chapter gives the readers another look into their lifelong journey, the brother and sister team display a belief in a better future and a bond with each other that could not be broken.

An absolutely engrossing and entertaining dual biography that will fascinate any country music fan but also any reader looking for uplifting stories of family and faith.

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ME AND SISTER BOBBIE: True Tales of The Family Band by Willie Nelson and Bobbie Nelson with David Ritz is a touching book! I was so curious to read and learn more about this musical legend. It was really interesting to learn about their relationship, childhood and careers in music.
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They both truly share such a love and passion for music. It’s so remarkable how they could both make a career out of it and work together. They shared the ups and downs of their lives and some of the downs were so sad but their faith and bond got them through.
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I’m currently listening to Willie Nelson while writing this review and now I definitely want to read his autobiography It’s A Long Story.

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Me and Sister Bobbie by Willie Nelson, Bobbie Nelson, David Ritz is a sweet little book about sibling love, family hardship, faith, music and life on the road - and who better to tell the story than country music icon WIllie Nelson and his sister Bobbie. Equally talented, the two started making music when they were just little, and it was music that saved them - that and their grandparents.

This book reads like a conversation - in fact, I'd bet dollars to donuts that's exactly how it was written. Although I'm not usually a fan of that format, it works. Willie and Bobbie take turns moving the story along, each sharing their own struggles and triumphs and insights with remarkable candor and honestly. Their has not been a fairytale life, which makes their success all the sweeter.

There's a lot of great fan information in Me and Sister Bobbie - stuff about how songs were written, where Willie's distinctive sounds came from, how the band came together. But, the heart of this book is a love story between a brother and a sister who were abandoned by there parents at a young age, have seen the dark side of life and come out the other side, and continue to find hope and healing in music.

For fans of WIllie Nelson's music, this book will be a keeper. But, even for those of us only vaguely familiar with his music, there's a lot to love about this book.

This review is based on an advance copy read.

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I loved this book. I grew up listening to Willie & never really knew anything about his life. This book switches between Bobbie & Willie, their stories are individual, heartfelt & very honest. It was hard to put this book down, it was so easy to get sucked in to it. Highly Recommend!

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David Ritz worked with Willie and Bobbie Nelson to write their autobiographies in one volume, and he has seamlessly put the story in two voices with one cohesive story-line. Each of the siblings tells his/her own story with his/her own point of view, alternating chapters as the book goes on.

Willie and Bobbie both saw more than their fair share of tragedy and heartbreak throughout their lives, some of it hitting harder and more devastatingly than others. There is a lot of humor within the tales and there is nothing but honesty in the telling of the tales.

One thing I found exceptionally humorous is when Bobbie is talking about their school days and says, "Willie and study are two words that just don't go together." In spite of his lack of scholarly pursuit, Willie became a poet in his young years and saw that poetry and music have so much in common that the two cannot be separated. From that perspective came many of Willie's best songs.

At publication of this book, Bobbie will be ninety years old and Willie will be eighty-eight, but both are still very active in performing and producing their signature music.

The book is easy to read and will touch every music lover who reads it. Willie and Bobbie are not just country, they are folk, blues, jazz, and everything in between.

Five Stars, Two Thumbs Up, a piano and a guitar named "Trigger."

Random House and NetGalley.com provided the copy I read for this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

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Me and Sister Bobbie gives the reader an insight into Willie’s life. You don’t have to be a Willie fan to enjoy this book. It is a very quick read filled with interesting tidbits about the Nelson Family. I enjoyed the way the book was written with alternating chapters between Willie and Bobbie.

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I have to admit to not knowing a whole lot about Willie Nelson before reading this autobiography written by Willie and his sister, Bobbie. I was captivated from the start. The format is so easy to get into, with short chapters alternating between siblings telling the story. I grew to profoundly admire and like both of them, while also appreciating the unfailing honesty with which they told their stories. Neither Nelson sugar-coated their failings and mistakes, which made them all the more immensely likeable. I loved some of the stories and felt deeply for them both at the tragedies they've endured, especially Bobbie. I also found myself repeatedly exiting out of my Kindle reader to quickly look up lesser known (at least to me) songs and people on you-tube. I hadn't realized that Willie wrote some of the songs he wrote, like Patsy Cline's wonderful and enduring "Crazy." Black and white photos accompany some of the chapters and you come away with the feeling of really knowing these gifted musicians and deep-down likeable people throughout their nearly 90 years together.

I read a digital ARC of this book for review.

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For major Willie Nelson fans only. This is a series of essays written by Willie Nelson and his sister Bobbie regarding their lives together- growing up, the coming together and growing apart of their extended families, and their various choices along the way. Bobbie admits to making several terrible choices regarding men, and Willie is unapologetic regarding his many relationships with women.

None of the relationships are explored in depth, nor is this a book about Willie's music. This is basically a recounting and remembering of times gone by in relation to the siblings' times together.

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My first book by Willie and I was completely drawn in in just a few short pages. Alternating chapters from Willie and his sister Bobbie, I was blown away by the unfailing determination of this family and the long, hard path to get to where they are today. I was truly amazed, suffered right along with them and I wanted nothing more than to slowly take in every step of their journey. Hearing Willie talk about his sister and her musical talent made me just want to run out and listen to every song out there as clearly she has something I've been missing. Tragic stories, beautiful moments, and many, many moments of me shaking my head at Willie and all of his "wandering." (lol) Can't help but love the man anyway and thank god he's still sharing his beautiful and charismatic personality and music with us.

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"...But I couldn’t feel too good about the future of me and Martha. One night when I was sleeping she tied me up with rope and battered me with a broom. I never laid a hand on her, but that doesn’t mean she didn’t have reason to wallop me. Fidelity was never one of my strong points…"

The format with alternating brother/sister entries works in this charming and heartbreaking memoir. As much as Willie probably did deserve a bit of trouble and heartbreak his sister Bobbie sure didn’t. But the Nelsons do prevail. Nearly impossible to put this captivating book down. Very interesting story behind this personal sibling relationship, the entire downhome Nelson family, and behind Willie’s songwriting and performances the family rises to prominence and respect within the music community. Willie has stayed true to his humble character even while amassing millions and losing even more. Long a proponent of cannabis, and now a budding entrepreneur, Willie has done more for educating the masses about this wonder drug than anyone.

Life in the beginning, and later as performing music artists, was very difficult for Bobbie and Willie. They earned their way into prominence both on the stage and airwaves. Their personal romantic lives were also every bit as troublesome, but Willie and Bobbie both contributed to the heartache and pain to come with bad choices and errant ways. Willie especially was quite the promiscuous outlaw which led to many broken marriages. But always the charmer, Willie seems to have remained friends with most of his ex-wives. But there has been tragedy and sadness in both their lives that they had nothing to do with bad choices and errant ways. Losing loved ones to car accidents and disease have left their mark on both of them. The Nelson siblings somehow abide though, and find a way to move on through what has become for them a long and productive life.

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A great book from a great country music star and his sisters. Always interesting and often funny I highly recommend for all country music fans.

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