Mar 11, 2021
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.
11 RINGS
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.
RIDE OF A LIFETIME
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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Aug 22, 2018
Sideways Stories From Wayside School: Bennett is reading one of my favorite books as a child. He found the sequel Wayside School is Falling Down in the closet over the summer and read it only to learn it wasn’t the first book. What I like about this book for his age is it has really short chapters. This is great for young readers because they can read a four page chapter and feel accomplished and feel as though they’re making progress in the book. The chapters are also a little silly in nature and it plays right into his humor.
Frindle: Hunter needs a little more prodding when it comes to reading and it’s not because he isn’t good at it – he struggles to find books that interest him. He’ll get several chapters into a book and not want to finish it. I used to get frustrated because he had a long list of unfinished books. But I can’t blame him – there are plenty of books that I start and don’t have interest in finishing. We’ve started a new school year and we have new reading routines so I’m hopeful we’ll find some books that he loves. He found Frindle in the book closet and he’s a couple chapters in and loving it.
All Rise for the Honorable Perry T. Cook: This is a book we picked up through Scholastic book club last year. I haven’t read it but Hallie seems intrigued. A boy is raised in the prison (where his mom is housed) and gets out every day to go to school. We’ve had some good talking points as Hallie asks questions about what she’s reading. It’s not realistic on any level, but it makes her think outside of what she’s familiar with.
Me Before You: I have been cruising through audiobooks lately as I’ve switched my music to books as I work around the house and complete household tasks. I just finished Chasing Slow – for as high as the reviews were – I was expecting more. But it was an easy listen. I then moved on to Me Before You. I saw the movie a while back and came to realize it was one of three books in a series. I was about to jump into book #2 – but decided to start at the beginning (despite having watched the movie). I’m halfway through and so far, the movie has been true to the book. I suppose I could’ve watched the movie again and started with book #2!
The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life: Steve bounces between business and fictional audiobooks. He is a big Warren Buffett fan when it comes to business. I think he’s listened to it at least three times before – but business is something he never grows old of learning more of and this book has plenty of gems to think about.
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Jan 25, 2018
Here’s a compilation of what book is on everyone’s nightstand right now.
Steve is reading Heart to Heart – an autobiography by Russel M Nelson – written when he was an apostle in our church. Steve picked up this book to read last year and for some reason or another never really got into it. Nelson was just announced as the prophet of our church when Thomas S. Monson passed away recently. Steve now has a renewed energy to read this autobiography.
Like many across the nation, I fell in love with Chip and Joanna Gaines when Fixer Upper became popular. I read the Magnolia Story last year which was a quick and easy read, mostly from Joanna’s perspective. Capital Gaines showed up in my Christmas loot (thanks to Amazon wish list), which is the story from his perspective and his insights. I think they’re really fun as a couple and I love what they stand for as far as family and priorities is concerned.
Hallie reads many of her books on the kindle, using our public library for ebook loans. The only downside to this is you’re at the mercy of when books are available. She fell in love with the Land of Stories series by Chris Colfer last summer. Unfortunately, they are really popular and she was on a wait list for a long time. She was really excited when Land of Stories 3 finally became available to her.
Hunter received the Percy Jackson series for Christmas and I was a little unsure as to if he would be interested in it. He’s not been one for fantasy up to this point – but most everyone I talked to had kids that loved this series (aside from Hallie who had to read it for school and didn’t love it, but also didn’t care for Harry Potter). So far, it’s peaked his interest. He’s not one to devour books but he’s consistently reading it which is what I love to see.
Bennett is on one of his first chapter books – Freckle Juice by Judy Blume. Transitioning from picture books to chapter books is a big step. He’s started a couple books and after reading a chapter or two he moved on to another book. Freckle juice is keeping his interest and he’s almost finished. Bennett’s reading time is unique in the fact that he’s also reading in spanish and he has a stack of early reader spanish books by his bed as well.
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