Category: Books

Again I didn’t really have much of a plan when I visited the library looking for something new to read. Conveniently the super fine librarians of Linwood had setup a popular books of 2013 area. Or at least it was called something similar to that.

There were only two books in the section that I hadn’t already read (yes, I have turned into quite the reader the past few years). So I went with The Racketeer by John Grisham. I have heard of Grisham, so I figured I’d give it a shot.

It is a legal thriller. Not quite sure if this was my first legal thriller or not, but it was pretty solid. Guy is framed, gets out, then pulls one over the federal government. Pretty solid concept.

Overall, I really enjoyed it. Not too much couldn’t put it down or had to read just one more chapter enjoyed it, but still pretty solid. Once again the library has steered me well.

Well, I really wanted something silly to read with all the recent harsh winter weather and the pretty intense books I have been reading. Let Me Offat the Top! perfectly fit that bill.

While I haven’t gotten around to seeing Anchorman 2 just yet, the Ron Burgundy character does bring some laughs from me (minus those recent Dodge commercials, they’re kinda dumb). This book was complete and total nonsense. It was borderline crazy at times.

However, since I was looking for nonsense I was happy with what I had found. There were times I was reading this doing some cardio in the gym and was laughing uncontrollably. I’m sure I must’ve looked like a fool to those around me, but a few parts were that funny to me that I just couldn’t contain myself.

His childhood really had me cracking up. That was probably my favorite part, though the majority were funny as well.

By no means would I consider this a great book, but it really does do a great job of nailing his character and doing him justice. Very funny.

I’ve never read nor seen the movie the Shining, which apparently is kinda a big deal. When I tell people that I haven’t seen the movie they look at me like I’m somewhat crazy. I do know the famous lines from it, but have never seen it. However, when I saw that the fairly new sequel to the Shining, Doctor Sleep was in at the library I wanted to read it. Not only was it new, but Stephen King books are always pretty solid.

As I was expecting, it was very good. I wouldn’t say it was scary or anything like that to me, but it was pretty exciting and I found myself doing the just one more chapter thing that I do when I’m reading a really good book.

I really like how common real life things are tied into the whole fictional mental stuff. Like the weird camper folk, etc. That was pretty cool.

I guess I probably should go out of order and read the Shining at some  point now.

I’ve always enjoyed my experiences using Amazon, whether it was buying a book, gift, using their AWS services and more. So when I saw The Everything Store, deciding to read it was a pretty simple call.

While I’ve always had a great deal of respect for what Amazon has been able to grow and offer as a business, I really didn’t know too much about it’s growth and their founder other than a few interviews on 60 Minutes or 20/20 that I caught bits of.

As it turns out, while I’m still as impressed as I was by their accomplishments I’m a bit bummed to learn just how they were accomplished. While it’s natural to become sort of a “villain” once you dominant an industry, some of the examples of just how ruthless and cold Amazon’s business tactics are a bit of a turn off to read about.

Granted no successful mega corporation is all sunshine and rainbows, but I still like to think in a foolish way that they might be. Oh well, I still am very pleased with Amazon’s customer service and would continue to do business with them, specially now that they are offering coupon codes on websites like Raise.

When I saw the cover for Jim Henson, I knew right away I had to read it. Not only did I grow up idolizing the various Muppets, but more importantly the photo of Ernie on the cover of the book sold me. Ernie looks so serious I just had to read it.

I really didn’t know too much about Jim Henson the guy, besides the fact that he unfortunately passed away much too young. I think I was in the 7th grade when he did.

So reading up on his life and his amazing work was very interesting. Not only was he extremely creative but he also grew a very successful business as well. It was cool to follow.

While I pretty much saw every film he made growing up, I didn’t realize how big of a deal each one was at the time. Like the Dark Crystal, Muppet Movies and Labyrinth. I hadn’t realized their successes and failures at the time.

I found this very interesting and it really is a shame he had to leave the world so soon. You do wonder what other great ideas he had to share.

Ernie is still pretty awesome too, and the book does delve into his background as well.

As a former player of fantasy football (I believe 6 seasons under my belt), I was interested in reading Fantasy Life. Though I’ve been happily retired from playing fantasy sports, I thought it would be fun to read through some tales involving fantasy sports, as I was a c0-commissioner of a league as well as a player.

Most of the stories and examples in the book were spot on to experiences I had during my playing years. The ridiculous intense competition, sense of community, etc. it was all pretty spot on to what I went through.

However, what I never liked about fantasy sports and what ultimately led me to retire was what I felt they were taking away from sports.

I never liked how fantasy took the focus from the team and put it on a player. Gone were the days of sitting back and watching a competitive game with friends to now flipping through channels and staring at websites all after noon just to see a touchdown in a meaningless game.

I do miss the days of watching a game for the drama and excitement of how it would unfold, not knowing the conclusion until the last whistle. However fantasy sports has taken that aspect of watching sports away a bit whenever I watch with friends now. This book kinda reminded me of that loss.