Miranda Cosgrove

Miranda Cosgrove stars in the hit Nickelodeon show, iCarly. She also played the mischievous Megan in Nickelodeon's Drake and Josh. Cosgrove appeared in the 2003 movie, School of Rock, and voices the role of Margo in Despicable Me and the upcoming Despicable Me 2.

Multitalented Miranda is a professional singer with studio and soundtrack albums including the 2010 release, Sparks Fly.

What book does Miranda recommend?

According to the June 11, 2012 issue of Us Weekly, one of Miranda's favorite books is The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger.

If by chance you are not familiar with this classic, the book description from amazon.com is as follows:

"The hero-narrator of The Catcher in the Rye is an ancient child of sixteen, a native New Yorker named Holden Caulfield.

Through circumstances that tend to preclude adult, secondhand description, he leaves his prep school in Pennsylvania and goes underground in New York City for three days. The boy himself is at once too simple and too complex for us to make any final comment about him or his story. Perhaps the safest thing we can say about Holden is that he was born in the world not just strongly attracted to beauty but, almost, hopelessly impaled on it."

You can find out more about Cosgrove at www.mirandacosgrove.com. You can follow her on Twitter and like her on Facebook.
Photo from http://www.flickr.com/photos/dephisticate/5456292214

Check out Miranda Cosgrove's "About You Now."

Raine Maida

Raine Maida is the lead vocalist and primary songwriter of the Canadian rock band Our Lady Peace. Maida is also a music producer who has worked with many bands including Avril Lavigne and Kelly Clarkson. Raine and his wife, Chantal Kreviazuk, co-wrote songs with Kelly Clarkson (including her hit "Walk Away"), David Cook, and The Veronicas, among others.

Our Lady Peace is one of the most successful Canadian bands of the 90's. The band has released eight studio albums, the most recent, Curve , released in April of this year. Their biggest hits include "Superman's Dead," "Clumsy," and "Somewhere Out There." Take a listen to their cool, new single, "As Fast As You Can" here. OLP have also won four Juno Awards and ten MuchMusic video awards. They are currently on tour (and I've seen them live, they are awesome!). Check out tour dates HERE.

Maida released a solo EP this year at his website. Sign up for the Raine Maida newsletter, and get Maida's solo Pachamama EP for free at www.rainemaida.net ! Pachamama II drops Tuesday!

I recently asked Raine what he was reading.

Raine answered, "Books I'm reading at present. Albert Camus: A Life by Olivier Todd.... & "The Plague" by Albert Camus. He's such a cool,inspired French Philosopher. Much more concise and simple in thought. A modern day philosopher even though he died in 1960."

Thank you, Raine! You can find out more about Raine at www.rainemaida.net and www.ourladypeace.com. You can also find him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter.
Photo from @mrrainemaida.

Here's one of OLP's hits, "Superman's Dead," which has been playing on repeat in our home lately by all five members of the family. It rocks!

Vanessa Williams

Vanessa Williams is one of the most gorgeous women on this planet. She is a mother of four, singer, actress, and author. And of course she is a former Miss America as well. Williams has been nominated for Grammy, Emmy, and Tony awards. Williams has released eight studio albums. She has appeared on many feature films as well as TV shows like Ugly Betty and Desperate Housewives.

This year Vanessa released her first book co-authored with her mom, Helen Williams, titled You Have No Idea.


What is Vanessa Williams reading?

I recently asked her for some book recommendations.

She answered, "Rereading "Keys to the Kingdom."
After I  complimented her she replied, "Beauty may open the door, but knowledge is power. I never want to stop learning. Another great book "What Could He Be Thinking."         

Love her!!!

You can find out more about Vanessa at www.vanessawilliams.com , and you can follow her on Twitter.
Photo from askmen.com.

Enjoy Vanessa singing "The Real Thing" on GMA.

Nikki Sixx

Nikki Sixx is a man of many trades. He's the bassist and songwriter of two successful bands (Motley Crue and Sixx: A.M.). Nikki recently won Best Bassist at Revolver Golden Gods awards. He has his own radio show (Sixx Sense) and a clothing line (Royal Underground). He's authored three books - The Dirt, The Heroin Diaries, and This Is Gonna Hurt. Sixx threw out the first pitch at the Dodger's game last month. He's even been featured here before (and will be again if I have anything to do about it!).

What is Nikki Sixx reading?

A few days ago Nikki tweeted, "Finishing Gregg Allman book tonight. Great book for fans of the 70's." This autobiography is titled My Cross To Bear.

You can follow Nikki on Facebook and Twitter.
Photo from Nikki's Twitter account.

Here's Nikki and a pregnant me after a Brides of Destruction concert.
I was a little starstruck...You can see a better pic of he and I here.


And check out Sixx: A.M.'s single, "Are You With Me Now?"

Dave Mustaine

Dave Mustaine is is the lead guitarist and vocalist for heavy metal band Megadeth. He was also the first lead guitar of Metallica.  Megadeth has released 13 studio albums from 1985 to 2011. Megadeth's 1992 album Countdown to Extinction  hit number two on the charts. This album spawned their biggest hit "Symphony of Destruction." Other popular songs by Megadeth include "Sweating Bullets" and "Trust."

Megadeth is currently touring the globe; the next three stops are Switzerland, Belgium, and Russia.

In 2010, Mustaine released his autobiography titled Mustaine: A Heavy Metal Memoir.

What is Dave Mustaine reading?

Dave tweeted earlier this month, "I read Edward Klein's "The Amateur" from LAX to Frankfurt, I see why it's a Bestseller! Curious what everyone else's gonna think? Peace :)."

You can find out more about Megadeth at www.megadeth.com, and you can follow Dave on Twitter.
Photo by Ingo Hoffman.

Nathan Fillion

Once you see Nathan Fillion in a TV show or movie, you can't help but like him. He currently stars in the ABC series Castle as Richard Castle. Nathan starred as Captain Malcolm Rivers in cult hits Firefly and Serenity. You also may have seen him on Two Guys and a Girl, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Desperate Housewives, among other shows.

Fillion cofounded the organization Kids Need to Read. This organization provides books and literacy programs to schools, public libraries, juvenile offender facilities, dropout recovery programs, urban afterschool organizations, and special education classes.

Nathan was recently featured in the June 10, 2012 issue of Parade. I'm sure I wasn't the only one happy to see him on the cover. Fillion shared some of his favorite books in the article.

What are some of Nathan Fillion's favorite reads?

From Parade,

"Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in an Age of Innocence by Michael Capuzzo - “I love reading about shark attacks,” Fillion says about this real-life chronicle of a Jaws-like rampage on the New Jersey coast in 1916. “That stuff fascinates me. A book that can make you afraid? I love it.”

A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin - “I just read these recently. Molly Quinn, who plays my daughter on Castle, got me into HBO’s Game of Thrones, which is thrilling. [A Game of Thrones is the first volume in Martin’s fantasy series.] I was transported.”

World War Z  by Max Brooks - “I like post-apocalyptic anything,” says Fillion of this novel about a war between humans and zombies. “I like the idea of, how do you make your way when the whole society collapses? World War Z makes it very, very real. It’s a really well-thought-out book.”

Read his other picks and the full article here at Parade.com.
You can follow Nathan on Twitter.

Photo from eonline.com.

Rob Thomas

Rob Thomas is a solo artist and the lead singer and songwriter of Matchbox Twenty. Thomas also earned three Grammy awards for his song with Carlos Santana, "Smooth." I'm certain you've enjoyed Matchbox Twenty hits like "Push," "3 AM" and "How Far We've Come." His solo hits include "Lonely No More" and "Someday."

Rob and his wife, Marisol, created the Sidewalk Angels Foundation, a non-profit organization that helps needy people in and around big cities of America.

What is Rob Thomas reading?

I asked Rob on Twitter what his favorite books and/or current reads were.

Rob tweeted, "first 3 in my mind, THE BOOK THIEF - MARKUS ZUSAK or WHY WE ARE HUNGRY - DAVE EGGERS and CAT'S CRADLE - KURT VONNEGUT JR."

Love his picks! (Why We Are Hungry is titled How We Are Hungry; I have linked all three books.)

You can find more about Rob at www.robthomasmusic.com and follow him on Twitter.
Photo from themusic-world.com.

This is one of my favorite songs of summertime, "Smooth."