What I’m reading…
At the beginning of the year, I was in a goal setting mood. I listen to a lot of podcasts, but I haven’t made time for many audiobooks lately – so I set a goal. I found a list of biographies on-line and I decided this year I was going to listen to three from the list. Not a very aggressive goal, I know, but a goal none the less. And now that I’m sitting at the beginning of March and have already accomplished my goal for the year, I’ll modify it and probably listen to one biography a month. But here are the first three I snagged off the lengthy recommendation list.
OPEN
I’m not sure why this one was the first one that grabbed my attention on the list. I grew up knowing Agassi. My brothers played tennis as he was rising to fame and it was a name I was very familiar with. Hallie is heavy into tennis right now so we’re having a tennis moment and this book seemed appropriate. Having said that, I enjoyed this book. He was not a mentally healthy person while he was competing and the book makes that clear. He fought some serious demons and it no doubt effected his play. He is a colorful individual which makes for some fun anecdotes but he also has very colorful language – fair warning! This book was heavy on his competing years, I would have liked to have seen a glimpse of his current life – but perhaps once he left the spotlight years ago, he prefers to keep that part of his life more private.
Coming off of Agassi’s book, I was looking forward to another sports book. Most know Phil Jackson is a legend. Not to mention he has coached many legends. I liked this book, but it didn’t captivate me. I often can’t put my finger on why it isn’t captivating. The content is usually good so I would imagine it is external factors – perhaps it was the voice of the narrator, the projects I was working on while listening, long lags between listening. Who knows, but it was still good. I had already watch the Last Dance documentary so the details of the Bulls rise to fame was fresh in my mind. This book dives into more details about the Bulls and then of course moves on to the Lakers. Phil has influenced many greats and it comes across in the book that he is an old soul. For those that are passionate about the Bulls or Lakers – this one is for you.
Years ago Steve listened to a book called, “Disney Wars” that he loved. I remember starting the same book and the audio was glitchy on my download and I never went back to it. After reading Robert’s perspective in “The Ride of a Lifetime”, I would love to go back and try Disney Wars again.
I listened to this book with a very critical ear. This is one man’s perspective and it was written while he still managed the Disney company which means it was a little “rainbows and butterflies”. I’m sure this had to be vetted by the board, legal team and who knows who else in order to publish. Although interesting, it didn’t have the meat that I would expect of the President of Disney. I would love to read a memoir from him 10 years from now when he no longer has a gag order on what happened during his tenure with Disney. He lightly touches on a lot of things, but doesn’t dive deep into anything. Still a fun an easy read.
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