I remember watching Siskel and Ebert at the Movies when I was a kid. In my youth, I found it interesting to listen to these famous movie critics sound off on what they thought of the movies of the day, and always looked forward to their inevitable thumbs up or thumbs down. It was like a sentence being passed down by official judges. Pure awesome.

As I got older and could better understand and judge the integrity and enjoyability of movies for myself, I often found myself at conflict with my movie critic heroes' judgments. Still, I always valued their critiques and loved to read them anyway, even if I couldn't challenge their verdicts in person.

When I came across Roger Ebert's memoir, Life Itself, I was compelled to pick it up. After all, I grew up watching the man every single week and idolizing him for what seemed like the coolest job on the planet.

The book chronicled his life from his charmed childhood in central Illinois to his wins and losses as an adult, both in his career and personal life. He discussed his life in the entertainment industry and the ups and downs of being in the public eye along with how he coped with life after his battle with thyroid cancer.

Life Itself isn't a literary thrill-ride like some other celebrity memoirs, but it's definitely a good read for fans of the Roger Ebert and the entertainment industry. I was moved by his book and the open, candid honesty that poured out of every page.