Joe

A top-tier King book - and that's saying something

Revisado: 01-13-22

An apocalypse story that touches on the spiritual. At first, I didn't like the talk about religious implications. But I, like Stu Redman or Glenn Bateman, came to accept it as fact. Written with visceral clarity, I was enraptured the entire time. At over 1300 pages and almost 48 hours, I was shocked at how my focus never wavered. It was only at the very, very end that I was anxious to finish. There were moments I was sad it was "almost over", but it was just long enough.

Part of me was a little frustrated by the ending. Such a long buildup for such a crazy ending. Yet, there is a beauty in it all. God is ever-present and always loving. The Prince of Lies is a mirage of power compared to God. He is elusive and every driving towards power. The wheel of ka.

On that, so many references to the Dark Tower series. Love it.

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Thank goodness for Will Wheaton

Revisado: 04-25-19

An unapologetic, and poor, remake of Ender's Game. There is barely enough difference to keep Cline out of court with Card. I do not recommend.

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Awesome Story! Awesome Reader!

Revisado: 03-27-18

After reading/listening to Huckleberry Finn, there is no doubt, for me, why this is often considered one of the great American novels. It's a story that can teach us about ourselves, even today. A good story in and of itself, but for me, it captured the reality that we are then the sum of who made us. More clearly, we can become something better than we were taught. Huck was taught to view black people as property, but he eventually comes to grips with their humanity - something that may only be for the young in his time. Regardless, I found the book quite enjoyable and profound.

But then there is Elijah Wood's performance. Mr. Wood easily made this one of my favorite listening experiences. I will now be looking for more signature performances in Audible.

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Unoriginal and boring. Go watch TV instead.

Revisado: 03-12-18

Audible requires that I use 15 words, but the 7 words in my title are more than adequate. This book is a waste of time. Nothing is redeemable. Plot? Bad. Dialogue? Bad. Narrative? Bad.

Go to your next "To-Read" book and forget you ever had an itch to read Already Gone. You've already invested more time into book than you should just by viewing this bad review.

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A must read for the self critic

Revisado: 02-20-18

Dr. Peterson boils down life to have a single constant - misery - and yet this book has given me hope beyond measure. Dr. Peterson has a way of distilling the truth out of the chaos and presents in a way that will undoubtedly affect all who read it honestly. I could not recommend this book with more fervor.

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Redskin Fan Approved

Revisado: 03-17-17

I found the background stories of the infamous 1990's Dallas Cowboys to be fascinating. I wasn't so much surprised that women, drugs, and a fast-and-loose lifestyle were common, but the absolute debauchery that was their culture, especially following the 1994 Super Bowl, was at a level I had not ever previously conceived. My wildest teenage dreams never came close to a typical Cowboys party. In the last few years, I have watched two seasons of Dwayne Johnson's Ballers series on HBO but I honestly just took that for typical HBO sex appeal. In truth, HBO looks extremely tame compared to Pearlman's account of the lifestyle of NFL's demi-gods. Equally interesting was the characterization of owner Jerry Jones who can be easily summarized as a rich old man with an ego bigger than his massive bank account.

As a lifetime Washington Redskins fan, I'm not quite sure how I even picked this book up. And while I admit that I selfishly and naively enjoyed learning all the disgusting details of the loathsome 'Boys (as if Washington didn't have its own tawdry personalities) it was a much more interesting read than I could have predicted. Highly recommend to any football fan.

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Claude search

Revisado: 03-07-17

Would you listen to One of Ours again? Why?

Yes. In fact, I plan to. I feel Cather has delivered a meaningful novel but I am too ignorant to translate it. I have marked this as re-readable because I want to read it again a few years from now. I would to relive Claude's struggle and perhaps understand him better than I did this time around. He deserves as much.

What was one of the most memorable moments of One of Ours?

There are several memorable moments to this book. There was the time when Claude first found happiness in education - and then his father callously broke him. The last scene in the book was also quite memorable....but has admittedly caused me much confusion. I won't go into other examples so as not to spoil the story but they also don't seem to matter. I have fully accepted that I probably do not quite understand the book....but the more I think of it the more I question whether the book is about Claude at all....that it is instead about the change in American culture and customs from an Agricultural based economy to a more technology and convenience driven economy. I remain quite confused on the title.
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How could the performance have been better?

Underwood's performance was very mechanical to me. Part of the joy of audiobooks is the benefit of having a bit of emotional play to the narration. Underwood was dry and business-like. I also didn't like how her voice made Claude's voice seem more feminine and tender.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It left me confused. It has been awhile since I have thought so much about a book after reading it. I have read dozens of reviews from others; 3-4 analyses of the book; a terribly-written college essay found on the internet. I feel like the book wants to tell me something and I want to hear it....I'm just not ready yet.

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Lessons for Poker. Lessons for Life.

Revisado: 03-07-17

What did you like best about The Mental Game of Poker? What did you like least?

What I like about this book is what I like about poker. The skills necessary for good poker play are also very helpful in everyday life. Tendler states what poker is honestly and uses that as the basis for his strategy to help players play better. I believe he has a firm grasp of what poker players are thinking and their mental blocks to the game.

I think some of the concepts, like a warmup before playing, are not well developed. I am in no position to judge what would be good but to simply say: Step 1, review your goals, Step 2, take a few deep breaths, Step 3, get to playing. Yeah, that didn't have enough meat to it to warrant ink on a page......or 0 and 1s in a digital audiobook.

Would you recommend The Mental Game of Poker to your friends? Why or why not?

Yes, though I think what I like about it would be lost on anyone that wasn't familiar with the game of poker. Having said that, for a poker book, this book had a noticeable lack of technical poker in it but again, that's the point. This book was as much a way to approach life as it was about improving your poker game.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Jared Tendler?

No idea.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Terrible question for a self-help book.No, I would not go see it.

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A great intro to chapter books!

Revisado: 03-07-17

What did you love best about Word of Mouse?

The vocabulary. Every page was packed full of sentences with new words for my child to learn. And each word was written such that it the new word could be self-defined fairly easily. It was a good enough story but the words were what made it great to me.

What other book might you compare Word of Mouse to and why?

I don't know. :-/

What does Nate Begle bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Nate tries very hard to read the emotions of the words and I think he does a great job. We had the book and the audiobook.....my daughter preferred Mr. Begle's voices than my own. I'm trying not to be too jealous of his apparent superior talent.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I did not, but my daughter laughed the whole time. We listened on the way to school in the morning and I read to her a chapter or two before bedtime. Her eyes were always wide open (admittedly not ideal for bedtime reading!) and eager. She laughed often and was frightened for Isaiah during his many adventures.

Any additional comments?

Simply to strongly recommend this book.

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The interesting Mr. Feynman - Not so interesting.

Revisado: 03-07-17

What disappointed you about Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!?

I think what I disliked most about the book was the feelings I got that he knew how smart he was. And this further frustrates me because he clearly is one of the smartest people ever to have lived. By itself, there isn't anything wrong with that. I should be proud to count him among one of the great Americans....and I do. It just wasn't fun to read about. Perhaps I'm ultimately jealous of his intelligence and his fervent and often satiated curiosity. How nice it must be to be curious about something and then figure it out; the rest of us just typically give up. Still, I didn't like feeling inadequate and put down upon (he often asks to himself "How can that be?" and "Why would they do that?"). At other times, he would use false pride and accuse himself of being dumb. Well, if he's dumb then what does that make me?! Still yet another time, he was frustrated that Board of Education didn't weigh his opinion more important than others citing concerns about averaging out the opinions of too many people. My point is that there was an inconsistency that grated on me and to me it all felt rather pretentious. In fact, the majority of the book felt like a series of pretentious journal entries...and I suppose that's what memoirs are. Maybe biographies aren't for me.

What do you think your next listen will be?

Boys Will Be Boys by Jeff Pearlman.

Would you listen to another book narrated by Raymond Todd?

How about this....I wouldn't NOT listen because it was Raymond Todd.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Mr. Feynman's take on the educational system in America is spot on. Though his life was certainly very interesting to himself, it was like reading someone's version of a dream they had. Perhaps his life was so incredible it seemed too incredible. But his discussion about the American education system and the process for curriculum, though short, was very interesting.

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