Bill Orilley did a great job with this book. Lots of history that I was not fully aware of. Lots of conflict within the Kennedy white house. Lots of issues with Russia and communism and why we got into Vietnam, Also lots about Cuba and how we wrecked that relationship. Also a lot of info about the killer and the murderer of the killer.
Hope to listen to others by him. I did checkout Killing Reagan right after but am afraid I will not get through it before it is due.
Sunday, November 25, 2018
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
Really good book. Lots of jokes similar to Futurama. Lots of logical and statistics jokes. The answer to life, the universe, and everything is 42 but we do not know how to ask the question that would make sense of the answer. Mice rule the world. Lots of references in other media are made to this book.
My Friend Leonard
Good book but definitely not as good as A Million Little Pieces. I read it while deer hunting and finished it in 3 or 4 days.
It followed James after rehab. It started with him in prison and onto Chicago where he found his girlfriend from rehab had committed suicide. He called on Leonard for help and Leonard made him eat a lot and had huge dinner parties. He also got James a job delivering briefcases. Leonard went from an illegal company and turned it into a legal one with the use of phone cards and foreign countries. James had a few girlfriends and all of them were super attractive and super successful because he is just that special... Turns out Leonard was gay and died of AIDS. He left all his money to James and to make sure Lilly's grave would be tended forever. Again, James was just that special.
Overall a good book but it was hard to get past James's ego at times.
It followed James after rehab. It started with him in prison and onto Chicago where he found his girlfriend from rehab had committed suicide. He called on Leonard for help and Leonard made him eat a lot and had huge dinner parties. He also got James a job delivering briefcases. Leonard went from an illegal company and turned it into a legal one with the use of phone cards and foreign countries. James had a few girlfriends and all of them were super attractive and super successful because he is just that special... Turns out Leonard was gay and died of AIDS. He left all his money to James and to make sure Lilly's grave would be tended forever. Again, James was just that special.
Overall a good book but it was hard to get past James's ego at times.
Sunday, November 11, 2018
Pivot (Audio Book)
Pivot make an analogy between basketball and life. Both are all about momentum and you need to pick up the ball and bounce it to create momentum. However the most unique part about both basketball and life is you have the ability to pivot and see a completely different view of the world without giving up the ball.
I honestly do not remember most of the book as I listened to it on my drive home before and after my vacation to Seattle. I both started and finished the book on my commute to work.
Basically the author talked about needing an emotional experience to change, getting a mentor, forming a habit, ect. If you do all of this and give his organizations lots of money you can become a better person and accomplish more of what you want out of life. One interesting note was that you do not need money to pivot but money is like gasoline on a fire and will help you accomplish more faster. You need to spend emotionally, time, or money to truly pivot.
This is a pretty shitty write up but is still better than listening to repetitive songs every time I am in the car.
I honestly do not remember most of the book as I listened to it on my drive home before and after my vacation to Seattle. I both started and finished the book on my commute to work.
Basically the author talked about needing an emotional experience to change, getting a mentor, forming a habit, ect. If you do all of this and give his organizations lots of money you can become a better person and accomplish more of what you want out of life. One interesting note was that you do not need money to pivot but money is like gasoline on a fire and will help you accomplish more faster. You need to spend emotionally, time, or money to truly pivot.
This is a pretty shitty write up but is still better than listening to repetitive songs every time I am in the car.
A Million Little Pieces
Wow what a book. I know it is filled with lies, however it does not fail to entertain. Upon finishing the book I looked up James Fray, found out what was proven to be a lie in the book, and also looked for other books written by him. I immediately ordered My Friend Leonard and hope to get to that book soon.
The book is about an addict who should have died but was saved by his friends, family, and rehab center. He focused on all of the people who helped him from the guy who drove a van who surprisingly was married to a councilor at the rehab facility. To all of the other addicts that befriended him, including his girlfriends who turned out to truly be imaginary in real life.
A few times in the book he seemed to be overly negative of people who were proven to be liars which at this point in time is pretty ironic. He also told his story as though he was the exception and everyone saw something in him that they did not see in others. It really brings into question his ego and how far he would stretch the truth to write a good story.
Never the less it was very interesting to see the world from the perspective of a potential drug addict. Hopefully his next tale of half truths is just as entertaining.
The book is about an addict who should have died but was saved by his friends, family, and rehab center. He focused on all of the people who helped him from the guy who drove a van who surprisingly was married to a councilor at the rehab facility. To all of the other addicts that befriended him, including his girlfriends who turned out to truly be imaginary in real life.
A few times in the book he seemed to be overly negative of people who were proven to be liars which at this point in time is pretty ironic. He also told his story as though he was the exception and everyone saw something in him that they did not see in others. It really brings into question his ego and how far he would stretch the truth to write a good story.
Never the less it was very interesting to see the world from the perspective of a potential drug addict. Hopefully his next tale of half truths is just as entertaining.
The Beet Queen
I read The Beet Queen because Allie's grandfather asked me if I had heard about it or read it. It was an interesting book that spanned the majority of a family members lives each chapter being from a different characters point of view. It started with 3 children having their mother leave them. 2 took a from Minneapolis to North Dakota the other was kidnapped. The girl Mary lived with her aunt and uncle. The boy left his sister and because a traveling salesman. The youngest brother because a priest in Minneapolis. Mary seemed to have a negative impact on the lives of her extended family and their friends. She ended up taking over her aunt and uncles meat business. Her cousin lost her best friend to Mary, did not like getting dirty, took no part in the family business, became a model, on her own she started a restaurant that failed, had a store that failed, had one marriage that she was never happy in so it failed, she went insane and would net speak, her second husband died, and she killed herself shortly after. Mary's stolen friend ended up pregnant from Mary's brother Karl. Karl left and was not there for the child, however Mary very much was. Sometimes even too much for the child's mother. Another important character who poked his head in from time to time was Wallace. He was Karl's other lover, the one who delivered Dot, another failed father figure, and the one who brought sugar beets to North Dakota. This changed the town and brought in big business. Wallace was unmarried and was instead very involved in the community. So in order to make up his failings to Dot he set up a beet celebration and rigged the voting to allow Dot to become the beet queen. Everyone knew or thought they knew that he rigged this, Dot was mad and as a result it was yet another failing of him as a parent. Failure seemed to be a common theme of this book. Lots of parents failing their children and how even when the parents did not fail their child, Sita was arguably less successful than Mary or Karl.
Overall this was an interesting read but definitely not my favorite. It did however spark my interest in reading more novels about the mid-west and from local authors.
Overall this was an interesting read but definitely not my favorite. It did however spark my interest in reading more novels about the mid-west and from local authors.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)