Year in Review: 2012

A lot happened in 2012. But not much has changed. Still working at the same place, still living at home, still coaching, still hanging out with the same guys at the same places, still single. I made it out to Wichita, Mount Washington, Chicago, Bloomington, and Louisville. Plus the local places like Philly, Boston, Saratoga, and Rhode Island. And I got a Jeep. Enough personal stuff though. Onto books and blogging...

This year I finished 34 books, compared to 23 books last year. Considering I only read for 6 months last year and I set a goal of 50 books this year, it's a slight disappointment. I also attempted to read 5 books but couldn't stand to finish them...most of them ended up in the junk box. In addition to books, I reviewed 3 movies and 1 CD. Add in a mid-year review, a book battle, a Nook experience, and a few others, and I wrote 44 blog posts this year (including this one)!

Evaluation of Last Year's Priorities:
No spoilers - There weren't any, right?
Consistency - Wheels fell off these past few months. Whoops.
Focus - Read more of what I want to read.
More previews - Eh, I tried to mention when a book recently came out.
Mobile - Does anyone view the blog on their phone?

Top 5 Books of 2012:
The Time Keeper by Mitch Albom
Fooling Houdini by Alex Stone
Breaking Night by Liz Murray
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand

Honorable Mention:
A Stolen Life by Jaycee Dugard
No Easy Day by Mark Owen
Born to Run by Chistopher McDougall
Personal Foul by Tim Donaghy

Things to look forward to in 2013:
1) Celebrate 100 posts (currently at 68) and 100 books read (currently at 57)
2) Nick's Library's 2nd birthday
3) Meet 2 authors in 2013
4) A new rating system. I said this in July, but I mean it; I want something new
5) Favorite books of all time? Favorite authors?
6) E-reader reviews (Santa got me an e-reader)

Lastly, as with every "Year in Review", I want to tell you about my Christmas giveaway. Each year, I give away books I previously read to friends who would enjoy them. I spend hours matching up each friend with a book, wrapping, and delivering each book either in person or by mail. This year I set a personal record by giving away 18 books! I was happy to hear many friends who received a book last year were looking forward to receiving one this time around. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

P.S. I'm trying to take a count of how many followers I have. Click the "thumbs up" box below if you're visiting! Thanks!!

Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand

One my of favorite things to do is borrow a book from a friend's bookshelf when I visit. Not gonna lie, usually I don't return it so it's not really borrowing. But I can guarantee they will receive a book during my Christmas giveaway (see below). Recently, I "borrowed" Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand.

Seabiscuit is the story of the thoroughbred horse from the late 1930s who enthralled the nation. In his younger days, he was a below average racing horse who rarely did as told. With a change in ownership and a new trainer, he is given a second chance. Seabiscuit transforms into a great racehorse as his trainer understands how he behaves and what he reacts to and uses this to their advantage. He takes the country by storm and becomes a sensation. It is a marvelous story of whom many consider to be the greatest horse ever.

Laura Hillenbrand is near the top of my list of favorite authors. While she has only written two books (Seabiscuit and Unbroken), both have been on the bestseller lists for at least a year. She does an incredible amount of research to provide background on all of the characters. Most impressive is her storytelling ability and the way she is able to create suspense, making the reader want to turn the page quicker and quicker to find out what happens. If I had to have one person write my biography, I would choose her.

I didn't know Seabiscuit's entire story. Not sure why I didn't know it, especially considering this book is a decade old. But I am really glad I read this book. Really glad.

My rating for Seabiscuit: 5 stars out of 5. Get it here!

P.S. The Christmas giveaway is in progress. I mailed out some books last week and will be delivering the rest. Next week I'm going to write up my year end review and go into further detail about the Christmas giveaway. Happy holidays!!

Movie Review: The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Last year, a friend recommended I read The Perks of Being a Wallflower. I had no idea what it was about, but I trusted her judgment and blogged a review about it. At the time, I wasn’t overly optimistic about the book. In fact, it didn’t even show up on my list of the best books of2011. But for some reason when I heard there was a movie coming out, I had to see it. I re-read the book, but it took a long time to watch it because it wasn’t showing in any theaters around me.

I finally found it in a small, rundown theater near me where admission is five dollars, the chairs don’t recline, and the floor is cement. There were three people there to watch the movie – myself and these two girls. They said it was their fourth time watching it…it was their favorite book. I’m not going to explain the plot too much in this blog because I thought I gave a good description in the book review.

The author wrote the screenplay and was heavily involved in making the movie. As a result, the movie resembled the book almost to a tee. The book was written as letters from the main character, but the movie did a great job acting out the letters while also sharing some of the main character’s thoughts. I would go so far to say that this is the best adaption of a book made into a movie that I have ever seen.

I also thought this was an incredibly tough movie to watch. I felt the same way reading the book. The subject matter is deep. Mental health, bullying, homosexuality, sex, drugs, abuse, love. The story covers it all.

I'd like to end with some quotes from the movie/book. As I watched, I realized how good the story really is. And I’m big on quotes. There’s two short ones, then one that needs a little background…

“But even if we don’t have the power to choose where we came from, we can still choose where we go from there.”

“We accept the love we think we deserve.”

There's this exchange at the end of the story, when Sam asks Charlie, “Why didn’t you ask me out when the whole Craig thing happened?” He doesn’t have an answer. She starts to lecture him on how he should be himself and he’s only being a friend when he’s being honest. Then she says, “If somebody likes me, I want them to like the real me, not what they think I am. And I don’t want them to carry it around inside. I want them to show me, so I can feel it, too. I want them to be able to do whatever they want around me. And if they do something I don’t like, I’ll tell them.” Re-read that. It's perfect.

My rating for the movie The Perks of Being a Wallflower: 4.5 stars out of 5. Get the book here!

 

 

Book Battle: World War Z vs The Fault In Our Stars

A few weeks ago, I was roaming around Barnes and Noble looking for a book someone at work asked me to read, and I stumbled upon another book that sounded interesting. I didn’t want to buy both and I had some extra time on my hands, so I decided to start reading both books. I went back to Barnes & Noble a few days ago to read a bit more from each book before deciding which one I liked more.


World War Z by Max Brooks:

First trip: Sometimes we need to step outside our comfort zone. That is what I was doing by agreeing to read World War Z. It’s about zombies. If you know me, that’s enough for me not to pick up the book. But I gave it a shot. The story begins with news reports from all over the world of illnesses and disappearances, but no one can offer an explanation. Things seem to be worse in third world countries, but whatever is wrong is spreading all over the world. The storytelling is wonderfully written, almost like it’s for a movie script (in fact, the movie World War Z just came out). At the beginning of the book, the reader is not overwhelmed with zombies. Maybe that is why I was tempted to keep reading.

Second trip: I only read another fifteen pages before putting the book back on the shelf. There were more reports and opinions of the problem at hand. It was getting repetitive. I kept flipping the pages expecting something different to happen. I also thought it was becoming a bit too descriptive for my liking. Frankly, I got bored.

The Fault In Our Stars by John Green:

First trip: This book is about a teenage girl, Hazel, who is struggling to survive cancer. She meets this guy in one of her group therapy sessions and they begin a high school type relationship (even though she doesn’t go to school anymore). As a gift, she gives him her favorite book to read (by the way, the book is not a real book).

Second trip: The boy, Gus, loves the book. It turns out the book she gives him is about a girl who has cancer. The book abruptly ends when she presumably dies. Literally the book ends in a middle of a sentence. Hazel has been writing to the author for years, with no response, asking about all the other characters in the book. After reading the book, Gus writes an e-mail to the author and gets a response. Hazel makes contact with the author who invites them to visit him in Amsterdam. Gus, is able to use his Make-A-Wish for this trip. That's where I stopped reading because it isn't real life anymore. Somewhat annoyed because the beginning was fairly good.

The Winner:
The purpose of the battle was to take one book home. Neither was outstanding and I left empty-handed. If I had to pick a winner, it'd be The Fault In Our Stars (but not by much). I have no intention of finishing either book, which is a better indication of my true thoughts.

P.S. I like this concept of “Book Battling”, so maybe we’ll do it more often. Who knows.

No Easy Day by Mark Owen

Wow it's been a long time since I've posted. My reading slowed down because of studying for my exam and since then I've been gallivanting all over the place (Louisville, KY, Bloomington, IN, Boston, MA). But, I should be returning back to form with blogs every Sunday.

I first heard about No Easy Day watching Mark Owen on his book tour on 60 Minutes. It caught my attention right away. The book is written by a Navy Seal who was part of the team who killed Osama bin Laden. The book has been considered controversial because of how recent the mission was. The U.S. government felt some of it may have been sensitive and classified information. Mark Owen isn't even the author's real name; it's a pseudonym.

In the prologue, the author defends himself against those claims. He says much of the information has already been written in media publications (even though it may have been illegally leaked). Other times, he generalizes places and time frames. He uses fake names for people. He says he doesn't give away strategies or endanger future operations.

With all that being said, the book is incredibly detailed. The author takes you through his journey to become a Navy Seal and eventually be selected as part of the all-star team created to take down Osama bin Laden. He takes the reader through the repetitive training as they prepared to navigate Osama's compound, including sharing pictures of what the house looked like. The book builds to the climax as he relives the night of May 1st, 2011.

I really think everyone should read it given the historical significance. The book is simply written and straightforward. You get an idea of what the Navy Seals live through, especially on such a monumental mission like this one. Add this book to your list!

My rating for No Easy Day: 4.5 stars out of 5. Get it here!

P.S. I cannot wait to mail out books for Christmas! I send them to all my friends who I've recently talked to. If I haven't heard from you in a while, let's catch up. If you just want a book, pretend like you want to catch up.

RED by Taylor Swift

I know I know. This is not a book. But, Taylor writes lyrics, which in some ways can be construed as poetry, and she just released this album last week. Plus I’m a big fan of Taylor. So here’s what were gonna do. I’ll share my thoughts on the music, which are my initial favorite songs, and include some of the lyrics I like the most.

To start, Taylor writes these prologues at the beginning of each CD booklet. I think they are phenomenally written (truthfully that is what gave me the idea to do a review about the CD). She says: “There’s an old poem by Neruda that I’ve always been captivated by, and one of the lines in it has stuck with me ever since the first time I read it. It says ‘love is so short, forgetting is so long.’” She writes a decent amount about her inspiration for the CD and I always find it thoughtful.

I listened to the CD probably once or twice a day since I've owned it. The first time I immediately thought the CD was too quiet and slow. The middle does pick up, but overall, the album is a softer tone. That’s not to say it’s bad. Some of those songs are really good. I think it depends on the mood you’re in and what you’re feeling at the time. Also, you have to be very tolerable of listening to Taylor rant about all her boyfriends and love experiences.

I’ll share my top three songs. The first is “I Almost Do”, which is probably the best slow song on the CD. Many friends have commented they enjoy this song. It’s also the most relatable song on the disc. “Stay Stay Stay” is upbeat, sweet, and contains my favorite lyrics on the album. I’ll also give props to “22”, which is in the same ballpark as “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together”. It’s dance-ish and starts in a similar fashion to a Ke$ha song. It’ll probably be on the pop radio stations eventually. (Honorable mention: “All Too Well”, “The Last Time”, “Begin Again”, “The Lucky One”.)

I’m going to wrap up with some of my favorite lyrics from the CD…

You took the time to memorize me / My fears my hopes and dreams / I just like hanging out with you / All the time / All those times that you didn’t leave / It’s been occurring to me / I’d like to hang out with you / For my whole life / Stay [Song: Stay Stay Stay]

And I just want to tell you / It takes everything in me / Not to call you / And I wish I could run to you / And I hope you know that / Every time I don’t, I almost do [Song: I Almost Do]

I bet you think I either moved on or hate you / Cause each time you reach out, there’s no reply / I bet it never ever occurred to you / That I can’t say hello to you and risk another goodbye [Song: I Almost Do]

Tonight I’m gonna dance / Like you were in this room / But I don’t want to dance / If I’m not dancing with you [Song: Holy Ground]

My rating for RED by Taylor Swift: 4 stars out of 5. Get it here!

P.S. She just announced tour dates. Check here!
P.S.S. How’s that for showing some personality on the blog?

The Five People You Meet In Heaven by Mitch Albom

I said a few weeks ago that I read The Five People You Meet In Heaven to get pumped up for Mitch Albom's new book The Time Keeper. I've probably read this book four or five times now and I enjoy it every time. As I said in an earlier Albom review, Mitch is my new favorite author.

The book is about an older gentlemen who works at a waterfront amusement park. Eddie dies one day while trying to save a little girl from a defective ride. He awakens in heaven, but it is not what he expects. His life is explained to him as he meets five people who were in it. Some are loved ones he's greatly missed and some are apparent strangers. But all changed the path of his life forever.

I really like this book. It's irrespective of any particular religion. Anyone can read it. The writing style makes the story that much better. And I love thinking about this kinda stuff. Like who are the five people in my life (so far) who have changed my path forever?

My rating for The Five People You Meet In Heaven: 5 stars out of 5. Get it here!

P.S. I heard this was made into a movie...has anyone seen it?

Moonwalking With Einstein by Joshua Foer

This is another book I picked up at the airport on my trip to Chicago. I needed something to read and, with limited choices, Moonwalking With Einstein was the selection. Not going to lie, I didn't finish the book. I probably read seventy-five percent of it on the plane, but I didn't pick it up when I got home. It's not that the book was bad. I just have an exam coming up and I'm in study mode, meaning a book has to be really good for me to finish it.

Moonwalking With Einstein is written in an eerily similar manner to Fooling Houdini, the book I reviewed a few months ago. This book highlights Joshua Foer's pursuit of success in the memory world championships. It's a dorky competition to see who can memorize the most in a short time frame. There is a lot of academic jargon and information about the mind and memory. As much as I like to learn about stuff, this translated into a lot of skimming. I was more interested in his story. I didn't feel the need to finish the book because I had a solid idea of how it was going to end (otherwise he wouldn't have written a book, right?).

This was a good book to pass the time, but I wouldn't tell you to run out and buy it. Now it's back to studying!

My rating for Moonwalking With Einstein: 2 stars out of 5. Get it here!

Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu

[Apologies for the Amazon logo, but I couldn't find a picture of the book cover.]

Short post cause I'm short on time. I first heard of Tao Te Ching and Lao Tzu in A Million Little Pieces. I said back then that I couldn't wait to read Tao Te Ching. I ordered it from Amazon right away and read it quickly. So why this long until I posted a review about it?

Well, it's complicated. It was written in around the 6th century BC, meaning there have been countless translations. The version I read was translated by James Legge, which was a mistake since the guy died in the 1800s. For me, I thought the translation could have been cleaner. I know it's hard to translate from "Chinese" to English, along with the fact that languages have evolved over the centuries. There was no flow and it was extremely hard to decipher the meaning.

The book itself is fairly simply. Eighty-one chapters, all less than a page. Some are a few sentences. Everything said is powerful and thought provoking. Things like "The flame that burns twice as bright burns half as long" and "Those who know do not speak; those who speak do not know." Clearly stuff right up my alley. But because the translation was so difficult to comphrehend, it took away from the enjoyment of the book.

I have not given up on Tao Te Ching. My opinion is I found a bad version and I need to keep looking to find a better one. I probably would appreciate a more current translation rather than something that is traditional. Are there any suggestions??

My rating for this version of Tao Te Ching: 1 star out of 5. Get it here!

The Time Keeper by Mitch Albom

"Try to imagine a life without timekeeping. You probably can't. You know the month of the year, the day of the week. There is a clock on your wall or the dashboard of your car. You have a schedule, a calendar, a time for dinner or a movie. Yet all around you, time keeping is ignored. Birds are not late. A dog does not check its watch. Deer do not fret over passing birthdays. Man alone measures time. Man alone chimes the hour. And, because of this, man suffers a paralyzing fear that no other creature endures. A fear of time running out." ~ The Time Keeper by Mitch Albom

Lots to say. I wanted to blog last weekend, but I didn't have access to my account. I was in Chicago and only had my work computer, which blocks the internet. Hence, no access to Nick's Library. Chicago was great, but that is another story. A cool thing I learned on my trip to Chicago is that there are a chunk of airports that offer a "Read and Return" program. You can buy a book at one airport and return it at another airport, receiving half your money back. I utilized this while reading The Time Keeper by Mitch Albom.

I can officially say that Mitch Albom is my favorite author (sorry Nicholas Sparks). As a way to get amped up for this book, I re-read The Five People You Meet In Heaven (post coming soon). The Time Keeper recently came out on September 4th.

The book is about the inventor of the world's first clock. He is punished for trying to measure God's greatest gift and sent to live in a cave where he will not age for six thousand years. He is forced to listen to people beg for more time. When his soul is nearly broken, he is sent to the twenty-first century where he must teach two people the true meaning of time.

The beginning and middle are absolutely great. As fairytale-ish as it sounds, Albom keeps the book real. The ending was a bit far-fetched, but then again, this is fiction. The book constantly goes back and forth between the inventer of time and the two people he must help. This style allowed us inside each of the characters and provided a good tempo. Plus there are so many good quotes from this book.

I am becomming fascinated with time. The concept of it. This book and a few others I am reading (plus a movie I saw) reflect on time, the meaning of it, why we want more of it. Immortality. It is truly interesting to ponder. I have a feeling this may be a recurring theme in the next few posts.

My rating for The Time Keeper: 4.5 stars out of 5. Get it here!

Retirement Heist by Ellen Schultz

It's been three weeks since my last post, which I think is the longest gap since I've started this blog. I know people have been visiting the site and I apologize for my absence. I've had some things going on. And I've been studying a lot for my actuarial exam. With that being said, my book wish-list is growing. Hopefully I can make some time to read (and blog).

I've slowly being reading Retirement Heist over the last month. It put me to sleep countless times. I have a lot of background on the industry and terminology, so I didn't find it too difficult to read. But 95% of people would struggle though it. The author shares a lot of facts and individuals' stories that are meant to irk the reader.

I did learn a few things from the book and there's a few things I'd like to research a bit more. But I'm not sure who the book is supposed to appeal to. It's too complicated for the average Joe. It bashes on everyone who could do something about pension issues. So who's it for? And lastly, the author does a decent job of presenting all the problems. But what solutions does she have in mind?

My rating for Retirement Heist: 2 stars out of 5. Get it here!

How Will You Measure Your Life by Clayton Christensen

The title describes what the book is about. The author looks at three aspects of life to measure: your career, your relationships, and staying out of jail. He spends most of his time on the first two. He uses a lot of business analogies and case studies to prove points. I thought he spent more time describing examples rather than relating them to a person trying to measure his or her life.

I wasn't particularly fond of the book. It just didn't do it for me. There were a few quotes that stood out, and I guess I'll share two of them so I don't give a completely negative review. The first: "It's easier to hold your principles 100 percent of the time than it is to hold them 98 percent of the time." The second quote: "The path to happiness is about finding someone who you want to make happy, someone whose happiness is worth devoting yourself to."

I wouldn't recommend reading the book. Not really worth your time. But those two quotes are pretty good, right?

My rating for How Will You Measure Your Life: 1 star out of 5. Get it here!

Fooling Houdini by Alex Stone

Late post because I was traveling all weekend (again). This week, I wanted to share what might be my favorite and most fun book of the year. Fooling Houdini is Alex Stone's journey as he aspires to the Olympian level of magicians. Sounds childish and made up at first, but it is fascinating as the author takes you through his voyage.

The brief synopsis of the story is Alex Stone is a struggling magician at the beginning of the book. After some personal reflection, he vows to become better, enlisting the help of every great magician and other resource he can utilize. He flies all over the country, he seeks the help of brain researchers, and even goes to clown school. He does everything he can to achieve his dream of successfully performing at the Magic Olympics.

What I liked most was the world that the author unearths as he describes magic magazines, secret societies, magician schools, and legends of magic. It is a historical and educational lesson on magic at the same time. For the most part, he doesn't discuss how tricks are done, but the ones he shares in the end will certainly entertain anyone interested in math.

The author's writing is good for this type of book. There are side comments which are humorous. The story flows very well from chapter to chapter. We meet a ton of characters that are easy to remember, including a blind man who consults for Las Vegas casinos and the Bicycle Playing Cards company because his feel for the cards is that good.

Everyone is entertained by magic. You'd be lying if you said you weren't. I strongly recommend this book.

My rating for Fooling Houdini: 5 stars out of 5. Get it here!

When Genius Failed by Roger Lowenstein

Late post because I'm just returning from Saratoga and I hadn't finished reading before I left. Personally I was fascinated with this book, mostly because of my actuarial background. When Genius Failed is about the company Long-Term Capital Management and their hedge fund, which had unbelievable returns and unbelievable losses, all within a four year span.

John Meriwether led a very successful arbitrage group at Salomon Brothers. Unfortunately, things soured and he left to start his own fund in 1994: Long-Term Capital Management. He recruited some of the best people from Salomon Brothers. He recruited the best in academia, including Robert Merton and Myron Scholes (yes, the same guy who designed the Black-Scholes formula). He even recruited David Mullins, the vice chairman of the Federal Reserve. This group of geniuses was able to raise $1.25 billion, the largest start up ever at that time.

For the first few years, LTCM achieved incredible profits (using their brainy models) while setting all the rules. They dictated above-average fees from clients and pushed around banks who lent money and executed trades. Initially, their goal was to profit from arbitrage between spreads. They were so successful at this, other competitors started to crowd the market and opportunities dwindled. LTCM forced clients to take back money while at the same time starting to delve into equities, derivatives, mergers and equity volatility. However, in 1998 things turned real bad as Russia had major currency issues which affected the worlds' markets and spreads. They were highly leveraged at this time (100 to 1), multiplying the intensity of their problems.

I've probably lost most of my blog's readers by now, so I'm not going to try to explain any more. Eventually, the Federal Reserve ordered banks to meet in their offices in New York. The Fed coordinated a consortium between 14 banks valued at $3.65 billion. Basically a bailout. Sound familiar?

This is one of those books that will only interest 1 in 10 people. You need to read slow to grasp all of the concepts and people, and even I had to re-read sections. But this is a book that should be required reading for everyone in finance, insurance, banking, etc. The author pointed out countless times how this story should be a warning for the future. It seemed other executives mentioned in the booked understood this. Yet, ten years later, the story repeated itself.

How I have never heard of this book until now is mind boggling.

My rating for When Genius Failed: 4 stars out of 5. Get it here!

The $100 Startup by Chris Guillebeau

Mixed feelings on this one. I wanted to read this book because entrepreneurship and business interest me. And this book got a ton of praise from critics, which led me to come in with high expectations. The book wasn't bad, but it didn't meet my expectations.

The book is a how to manual for small startups. From the title, you can probably guess this. The author is some guy who has had more successful small ventures than I could keep track of. He interviewed 1,500 other small businesses. Most were single owners who started with a few hundred bucks. The book does a great job providing steps and checklists for starting a business and making it profitable.

I had a few issues with the book. The biggest thing was I didn't believe it. Things are never as easy as they sound. When you start a business, you will struggle, you will be stressed. Maybe I am too pessimistic. The last chapter tried to explain the difficulties of starting a business, but was not sufficient in my opinion. The author does a good job sharing stories of others, but I thought they were all too brief. I also dislike referencing future or previous chapters (i.e. we will discuss this more in chapter 11). Why not discuss it now? The last rift I had was almost all of the businesses seemed to rely on the internet. Internet business can succeed and nowadays it's almost a requirement to have an internet presence, but I am wary of simply relying on the internet alone.

I didn't hate the book. I didn't love it either. It was okay. If you are serious about starting a business, I would encourage reading The $100 Startup. But it's not required.

My rating for The $100 Startup: 3 stars out of 5. Get it here!

Personal Foul by Tim Donaghy

After the last "memoir" I read, I started this book with a little hesitation. Was everything Tim Donaghy said true? No one can know for sure except for him. My opinion after reading the book was most of it is true. While I enjoy the sport of basketball, I've never been a fan of the NBA and this book furthered my dislike for the league.

Tim Donaghy was a veteran NBA official who had a gambling problem. He started betting at the casino, then shifted towards sports (excluding the NBA). Eventually, he started betting on the NBA with a friend. At the beginning, he avoided games he reffed but that didn't last long. He turned out to be very good at picking winners - selecting the right team 70%-80% of the time.

The big question is how was he able to pick winners? Simply put: he knew the refs. Each ref has their own tendencies. Some favor certain players. Some dislike traveling to certain cities. Some like to keep games close. Some hold grudges. This information was money to Tim Donaghy. He knew who was reffing which games, how they would ref the game, as well as instructions from the league office for how they wanted the game called.

He claimed betting on games did not affect his job performance. He admitted to wagering on games, but not fixing games. He said he never favored a team because he bet on them. To prove this point, and which convinced investigators he was telling the truth, was a game which he bet the Spurs and ejected the head coach in the first quarter. Why would he eject the coach of the team he bet on so early in the game if he wanted them to win?

The FBI was investigating bookies he was associated with. When Donaghy got wind of this, he turned himself in against the advice of his lawyers. He admitted everything. It turned out the FBI did not have much information on him at the time, but eventually they would have put it all together. He ended up losing everything: his family, his job, his wealth, his dignity.

My rating for Personal Foul: 4 stars out of 5. Get it here!

The Art of Possibility by Benjamin Zander

Short disclaimer to start: the book is authored by Benjamin Zander and his wife Rosamund Stone Zander. I didn't feel like writing both of their names in the title above. With that being said, the book sucked. One of my personal rules for a book I am reviewing is to try to read the first hundred pages before giving up. I struggled to make it that far in The Art of Possibility.

The book provides advice on how believing in possibility can change your perspective on life. There are a set of practices to guide your thinking, ranging from 'giving yourself an A' to 'not being full of yourself'. Mostly Ben and Roz share personal stories that reflect these practices. I will admit a few of the stories were interesting. However, most of them did not add much value to the practices they were describing. I did not find it inspiring or motivating at all and I did not think he did a good job making me believe his message. Frankly I thought it was a waste of time which is why I didn't finish.

That's really all I have to say about the book. A little background on why I chose to read this...I found it in a co-worker's car. I instantly recognized the author as the conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra. I was also intrigued by the fact my co-worker said the book was given to each employee in his department. I like the idea of providing a motivational/inspiring book to employees. From that perspective, I think this book was an okay handout. I have a feeling there are more engaging and invigorating books out there.

My rating for The Art of Possibility: 1 star out of 5. Get it here!

A Million Little Pieces by James Frey

Well, this was a doozy for me. Let me explain. I wrote the review, then I did a Google search to get an update. I always do this with any memoir or biography. Well, I was greatly disappointed to read that there have been numerous, substantiated claims that James Frey fabricated large parts of what he called his memoir. It seems all the allegations are true, as there is now a disclaimer in more recently published versions and they offered a refund to those who bough the book under the impression it was a memoir. I am crushed, because here is what I originally wrote:

This is my favorite book since I’ve started blogging. I hope that sentence alone is enough to make you want to read this entire post. The book is told in an incredibly real tone. I was emotionally attached to the story. I read this book on a whim. I was visiting a friend, looking at her bookshelf. What caught my eye was a book I had given her last year as part of my Christmas book give-away. I started looking at other books and asked if I could borrow one. I picked A Million Little Pieces. If you know me, I like memoirs and true stories. I will read almost anything that holds true to that.

Here’s the story: James Frey woke up on a plane with a hole in his cheek, four missing teeth and a broken nose. He had no idea how he got on the plane or where he was going. He was only 23 years old, but he had been an alcoholic for ten years and addicted to all kinds of drugs. When the plane landed in Minnesota, he went to a treatment facility. It was the best facility in the world in terms of those who graduated from the program and remained sober and clean for a year. (By the way, that rate is 17%. I was shocked this was the best success rate in the world, but many people relapse when they return to their environment.) When he arrived, the doctors told him if he didn’t stop using alcohol and drugs he would die within weeks.

That is the background. The story is James Frey’s time in rehab. I’ve never read a book that was so real. It is like the reader is in his head. It’s amazing how detailed he writes. As his body detoxes, he is constantly throwing up blood and chunks of his stomach. It is gut-wrenching. You know what he is thinking and feeling every second of his stay. How badly he desires a sip of alcohol or a hit of some drug. The stories he shares of his past are incredible.

Why did I like a book about a druggie who got himself into this mess and why should anyone care? I can’t argue that you should. What connected with me was his unique perspective on a lot of things: If you have an open mind, then you have an empty mind. Faith is used to avoid reality. Addiction is not a disease; it is a decision. Calling it a disease is an excuse.  Living by the readings of Tao Te Ching (which will be a book I review very soon). A lot of his opinions went against what he was being taught in rehab and caused quite a controversy with the staff.  But the arguments he made, I agreed with him.

From a reader's perspective, the ending was what I wanted to read. He needed to confess all his sins in his life, and is was devastating to read. The last page with an update of everyone he met in rehab was crushing as well. It left me with a realistic view of how hard it is to overcome addition. This is tough to admit, but my eyes watered numerous times while reading. At points, it is unbearable to read. I wanted to skip parts, but I forced myself to read every word. In my opinion, you are in his shoes and you feel what he is feeling. I think a major reason for this is the writing. His style is unique and primitive. There are no quotation marks, no indentations, and capitalization is random at times.

Do I think everyone will like this book? No. I don’t. It’s probably not for most people. It’s profane. It’s ugly. It’s heartbreaking. And you probably shouldn’t even care about James Frey. But it’s true. It’s real. And I love that.

I'm sure you can see how upset I am. It's like finding out your favorite baseball player used steroids or finding our your wife is having an affair. I hate being deceived and lied to. When something you like and deeply appreciate is not something you thought it was. Even though everything I felt while reading was real, I am disappointed and let down.

I am not giving this book a rating or providing a link to buy it.

Mid-year Review: 2012

You may or may not know this, but I recently celebrated the one year anniversary of this blog (anniversary or birthday?). That's right. My first review was July 3rd, 2011. Since then, I have read and reviewed 43 books. While it's nice to celebrate the one year anniversary, I wanted to use this post to glance back at some of the goals I set at the end of last calendar year...

No spoilers: I think I've done a great job with not providing any spoilers. Right?
Consistency: For the most part, I've blogged every Sunday and I've had them up by noon (except the one time I forgot to hit publish). In fact, I have only missed 5 Sundays this year.
Focus: I said I wanted to read more biographies, memoirs, stories based on true event, and business books. I probably read more fiction than all of those combined this year. I think I am reading those more from suggestions and less because of my actual interest.
More previews: One time I mentioned a book signing and once or twice when a new book was coming out. I've been slow to review when a new book is released. I know I can do better here. Are there any specific authors people would be interested in?
Mobile: Not sure if anyone actually looks at the blog on their phone...I can't see it on my flip phone. I'm guessing it works well?

For the rest of the year, I want to read more books I enjoy. I have been somewhat generous with my ratings. I will probably get tougher on that. I also want to come up with a new rating scale. Either have the numbers mean something or completely change it (like giving out a number of waffles, similar to Willy Waffles, the guy who reviews movies for the local radio station).

I am also greatly looking forward to giving away a ton of my books for Christmas. My collection is now huge - it's almost filled all my bookshelf space. I started it last year as a gift to my close friends, but I may do a few contests during the year since I'll have so many books. I'm already excited for this.

A final thanks to everyone who reads the blog. I would still write even if no one came to the blog. But it's wayyy better to have readers.

Lone Wolf by Jodi Picoult

After the first fifteen pages, I almost put the book in the box (books that don't interest me go there). It started talking about wolves and this guy who lives with wolves. Crazy talk, especially considering I'm not a fan of animals. The story quickly changes tunes and turns into your typical Jodi Picoult book, focusing on a social issue. In this particular book, it's the matter of keeping someone alive on life support or pulling the plug. Each chapter is written from a different character's perspective (using different fonts, which I love).

Here's the background: Luke (the wolf lover) and his seventeen year old daughter, Cara, are involved in a terrible accident. He has a terrible brain injury and is in a vegetable state with absolutely no responses or signs of life. Cara escapes with relatively minor injuries. The accident is constantly in question because her blood alcohol content was a .20 when she was found at the wreck. Was she driving or was he?

The family is dysfunctional. The character relationships are extreme but also seem real. At eighteen, Luke's son Edward comes out and tells him he's gay. His father goes bizerk at him. Edward decides to run away to Thailand. His parents soon get divorced, with their eleven year old daughter choosing to live with their father. Fast forward six years to the hospital with Luke in a coma.

Everyone blames each other for the family's issues. Cara and Edward despise each other. Cara is in favor of keeping their father on life support, while Edward wants to pull the plug. Their mother, Georgie, has remarried and somehow doesn't take a side throughout the book. Eventually the decision goes to court to decide who will be the presiding guardian over their father and ultimately get to make the choice to keep Luke alive or pull the plug.

I didn't really like this book for a few reasons. The talk about wolves was constantly a turnoff. I tried to skim as much of that as I could. As the story progressed, I thought it was very predictable. The characters were almost too interconnected, but I guess it makes everyone have a strong feeling towards the outcome. From the beginning of the story, the reader knows there are two big secrets which will probably change the reader's opinion. We know we will find them out at the end of the book. It was annoying to know this was coming the entire time. I didn't find this as suspenseful or thoughtful as some of Jodi's other books.

My rating for Lone Wolf: 2 stars out of 5. Get it here!

Bonus: Jodi is doing a book signing tour for her new book coming out in July, called Between the Lines. She will be in Long Island, NY on Sunday July 1st and in Boston, MA on Monday, July 2nd. Check here for more info. I'd really like to go, but my schedule may not permit. If any of my blog readers get a chance to meet her, please share!

Fifty Shades of Grey by E L James

Most of you are probably saying, “Finally.” I refused week after week to read this book, but I finally caved to the peer pressure. How can I be taken seriously as a book blogger if I don’t review what will probably turn out to be this year’s most popular book? I had to read it even though I went in fairly sure I would dislike it.

The story is about Ana, a college virgin, and her relationship with Christian Grey, a twenty-seven year old CEO / billionaire who’s apparently very good looking and single. They meet when she interviews him for her college newspaper (his alma-mater). Right away they both fall head over heels for each other. Nothing really happens until she signs a non-disclosure agreement and somewhat agrees to a contract detailing the rules of their relationship. It turns out Grey is a BDSM person who wants to dominate his submissive. Use Google if you need further explanation.

FYI, I hate when people fall head over heels in romance books. It’s not real life. And before I sign my life away to be punished and abused, I’d want to know a bit more about the person. What if the guy is crazy? It's ridiculous to think Ana has never had a relationship in her life, yet is willing to run off with Grey.

I had to skim over the detailed sex scenes. I tried to read through it, but after a few pages of it, I got it. I didn’t want to read a whole book describing how sexual encounters feel. It adds nothing to the book. It’s fluff to me. I also had to look up a bunch of things that were referenced. Fairly sure everybody has to look up some of this stuff unless you’re a dominant or submissive. I’ve said this multiple times to people, but sometimes I think it’s better when you know less. This book will certainly expand your horizons, and once you have been exposed there is no going back.

I can see why women would like this kind of book…it’s got all the recipes to rope female readers in. First, there’s the obvious love story. One can always remember the days of innocence, like Ana was at the beginning of the book. Women always want Mr.Charming-Billionarie-Hotguy to fall out of the sky and carry them away into the sunset. And probably the biggest hook for women is all the dirty sex talk.

I really enjoyed the banter between Ana and Grey. Some of it stands out; sometimes you need to read a bit closer to catch it all. I found it amusing and it makes for good reading – maybe I need more banter in my life. Overall, I thought the book moved too slow. The sex stuff consumes too much of the readers time. The substance is lacking, a la the actual story could be written in 100 pages. I found the book better than I expected, but not good enough to want to read two more books of this stuff. Sparknotes will suffice.

My rating for Fifty Shades of Grey: 3 stars out of 5. Get it here!

P.S. I read the entire book at Barnes and Noble over four nights. No way was I spending my money to support this book.

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

A friend was the first one to tell me about The Alchemist, but I put off reading it for quite some time. I was recently clearing my Amazon wish list and decided to order it along with five other books. Originally I wasn’t in a rush to read The Alchemist (I didn’t even know what an alchemist was), but after reading the inside flap and about the author, I wanted to read it right away. My expectations soared because the story and the themes seemed right up my alley. Oh, and it has sold 65 million copies, making it the one of the best selling books ever.

The story starts with a shepherd boy’s daily routines and his acceptance of life. He has a dream of treasure and, after consulting a Gypsy and coincidently running into a self-proclaimed king, decides to pursue this unknown treasure. The story is not about the treasures, but the journey itself. There are profound life lessons that are learned along the way. The journey and the people provide memorable messages.

The first part of the book captivated me. It focused on the shepherd’s life and his initial hesitation to follow his dream. I would describe it as the setup for the journey. As the book progressed, I was somewhat disappointed. Parts of the journey became unrealistic. I know the story is a fable, but for me that loses some of its meaning (I’m too much of a realist). I also should point out the author wrote the book in Portuguese. What I read was translated to English. I wouldn’t normally think this is a big deal, but often times I thought the writing was a bit broken and did not use proper grammar, although this didn't impact the story.

With all that being said, I really liked the book. It was easy and quick to read. I wanted to keep turning pages to find out what happened to the shepherd boy. I was expecting a big ending and the author delivered. I thought the ending was perfect.

My rating for The Alchemist: 4 stars out of 5. Get it here!

Bonus: As I said, there are countless lessons from the story. I wanted to share some of the one-liners that I really liked (yes, I jotted them down as I read):

“If you start out by promising what you don’t even have yet, you’ll lose your desire to work toward getting it.”

“We are afraid of losing what we have, whether it’s our life or our possessions and property.”

“Everything that happens once can never happen again. But everything that happens twice will surely happen a third time.”

“For her, every day was the same, and when every day is the same as the next, it’s because people fail to recognize the good things that happen in their every day that the sun rises.”

“Making a decision is only the beginning of things. When someone makes a decision, he is really diving into a strong current that will carry him to places he had never dreamed of when he first made the decision.”

“When a person really desires something, all the universe conspires to help that person realize his dream.”

The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg

Sometimes I jot down notes as I'm reading for the blog. I looked over my notes before writing this post, and I had a roller coaster ride of opinions on the book. My first impression was not favorable. It starts out with what I would call a technical explanation of how your brain handles habits. It's very informative and detailed, using too much brain lingo (basal ganglia). Not sure the casual reader cares about this stuff. For me, it got to the point where I almost gave up. I'm glad I didn't.

The rest of the book focuses on examples to support the author's thesis. There's three steps to a habit: a cue, a routine, and a reward. He discusses how habits are developed and how you can recognize them. One of the author's first examples is brushing your teeth. How did this become a habit? It's strange to think of today because it is a part of our everyday life. It really goes back to the 1920's when Pepsodent was marketed. There were other toothpastes at the time, but no one used them. It's interesting to read how it was marketed and also what really was a key driver in people using Pepsodent over other toothpastes.

Other examples included how the CEO of Alcoa focused specifically on worker safety and how changing that habit ended up changing the entire company. How people were persuaded to use Febreze and now earns Procter & Gamble one billion dollars a year. How Target uses predictive analytics to predict when customers are pregnant based on the shopping habits of women. The author also highlights everyday habits, such as smoking, exercising, and gambling. He looks at how social habits influence your behaviors in your community. I found a lot of it fascinating to think about.

My rating for The Power of Habit: 3 stars out of 5. Get it here!

The Greatest Trade Ever by Gregory Zuckerman

The Greatest Trade Ever focuses on John Paulson as well as a few others who bet against subprime mortgages during the financial crisis in 2007 and 2008. This book is eerily similar to The Big Short by Michael Lewis, with one exception. Michael Lewis left out John Paulson, which is an unforgivable exclusion. Paulson made more money than anyone else who bet against risky mortgages. His hedge firm made $15 billion in 2007 alone. He personally made $4 billion because of how much of his own money was invested in the fund. He made billions more in the next few years. It literally was the greatest trade ever.

If you are interested in specifics of the crisis, I recommend reading my post about The Big Short. I tried to explain the issues as simply as I could. I thought The Greatest Trade Ever and The Big Short did a good job explaining terminologies and concepts. Much of the language is consistent. Many of the characters are the same. The biggest difference is The Greatest Trade Ever spends more time on John Paulson. For me, reading The Greatest Trade Ever was straightforward because I understood many of the things the author discussed from previous readings. For a first time reader on this crisis, the book would be a very slow read.

Something unique to Paulson's story is how well thought out his trades were. Paulson was a merger expert; he knew next to nothing about the mortgage industry (in fact, most who bet against risky mortgages were outsiders to the industry). As he started placing his bets, he began to wonder who was taking the other side. When he figured it out, he shorted all of those companies. Then he saw the government begin to step in and quickly realized gold would soar as the dollar would weaken. It seems obvious now, but he took the risks and was rewarded with unfathomable wealth.

My rating for The Greatest Trade Ever: 5 stars out of 5. Get it here!

B by Sarah Kay

I really, really wanted to post this last week for Mother's Day, but the book didn't arrive from Amazon in time. B is one poem. It's not that long. Literally it takes less than five minutes to read. Plus the poem is online. So why did I buy it? I see it as a way to support the author. Plus, I think it's neat to have the book. I will definitely be passing it along at my year-end Christmas giveaway.

Sarah Kay wrote the poem B. She also performs it. As in spoken work poetry. You may or may not have heard of this, but you should. She started at the age of fourteen in New York City and has blossomed into one of the most well-known performers. She has started a program to encourage spoken word poetry in schools and other venues. Simply reading the book B does not do it justice. You can watch Sarah Kay perform B here. I highly encourage it (and it's only three minutes long).

So what's the poem about? It starts with, "If I should have a daughter," offering advice that a mother would give to her daughter. The life lessons apply to everyone. It's witty, funny, smart, and entertaining. One of my favorite parts is: 

And I'm going to paint the solar systems 

on the backs of her hands,

so she has to learn the entire universe before she can say, 

"Oh, I know that like the back of my hand."

I think that gives a solid idea of what B is about. It's full of similar analogies and metaphors. As I've mentioned in previous posts, I find poetry interesting. I don't know of much poetry out there, but I'm expecting Sarah Kay to keep writing and delivering for many years to come.

My rating for B: 4 stars out of 5. Get it here!

P.S. Today was a double post! Check out the movie review of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo below.

Movie Review: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Last weekend I finally watched the movie The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I read all of the books a few years ago and really liked them, so I was looking forward to seeing the movie. A brief synopsis in case you haven’t read the first book: Mikael is a somewhat troubled journalist who is hired by a wealthy family to investigate a 40-year old murder. Lisbeth is a tattooed, pierced, dressed-in-all-black girl who is locked into Sweeden’s childcare system even though she has been taking care of herself for a long time. She’s also an incredibly smart computer hacker who helps Mikael in his investigation. That’s the premise for the first book.

I thought Lisbeth’s character was a bit over the top, but Rooney Mara did a great job acting. The rest of the characters were pretty much as I thought, except for her case worker. I didn’t expect him to be so fat. There were certain things I didn’t want to see…I think you know which parts I mean when I say I turned away. I also didn’t think all the sex scenes were needed, but I know the book was fairly descriptive and I understand it does play a part in character development. I found it hard to keep track of all the family members. The book goes into detail about all of them and the murderer was unpredictable. I thought the movie was much more obvious.

My opinion of the movie was solid and it stuck to the book from what I can remember. People who saw the movie but didn’t read the book really liked the movie (from what I’ve been told). I’m somewhat surprised the movie was a flop at the box office, but my guess is it was too dark and sadistic to have the appeal of something like The Hunger Games. I came to the conclusion that the second and third books were way better than The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I wonder if they will make the second movie or not. Hmmm….

[Note: I never wrote a post about the book series because I read them before I started the blog.]

The Soul of a Butterfly by Muhammad Ali

When asked what is my favorite book, I always struggle. It’s hard to have one favorite book. But, if the question was if you were stranded on an island and could only bring three books, one of them would be The Soul of a Butterfly by Muhammad Ali. I have picked this up countless times just to read a few pages. I decided to read it again the week before my actuarial exam as some extra motivation and to help keep things in perspective.

Format wise, this is not your typical book. The text has different fonts, colors, and sizes. The spacing is all over the place. There isn’t any flow, although it is kind of in chronological order with Ali’s life. Somehow it all works. The book is mostly short stories and reflections. There are plenty of life lessons told through ancient tales. Ali shares some of the poetry he wrote during his life, but I’d say this is my least favorite part of the book. The stories are ones that could be reflected upon and shared.

As I read The Soul of a Butterfly again, I noticed all the page corners I folded over. There are a lot of these. If I ever want to hear a good short story, I can pick up the book and turn to one of these pages. I think this is what makes it one of the books I would bring with me if I were stranded on an island. I could read it over and over and still find it thought-provoking.

To show how much I like this book, I don’t think I would ever give it away as part of my Christmas gift giveaway. However, I think I should buy another copy and give it away because it is that good.

My rating for The Soul of a Butterfly: 5 stars out of 5. Get it here!

P.S. Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there who read this blog!

A Stolen Life by Jaycee Dugard

This book is sad. It’s the story of Jaycee Duggard, the girl who was kidnapped at age eleven and kept captive until she was twenty-nine. She was forced to live in her kidnappers' backyard in a shed (also a tent at times) with no running water and no bathroom. She didn’t step outside the shed for two years. At the beginning, she was sexually abused and raped. At the age of fourteen, she had the first of her two kids. She was forced to use a different name and was brainwashed into thinking her life was okay. She was not found until her kidnapper walked all of them into his parole office and Jaycee admitted her real name to authorities.

My guess is most people have probably heard her story. However, there is nothing like reading it from her point of view. The writing is simple yet detailed. The reader really gets into the thoughts of Jaycee and sees what she was struggling with every day. Jaycee shares journal entries and pictures she kept while in captivity. I feel like I have to say it again: the story becomes incredibly real reading it from her perspective.

Throughout the book I constantly felt bad for Jaycee. She attempts to make the best of things and enjoys the company of her kidnappers because she is so lonely. It’s a depressing story. You wonder how no one ever noticed. There were parole officers constantly coming to the house. The neighbors. No one even asked who these young women were staying with a convicted sexual predator. It’s understandable how Jaycee felt helpless. In a strange way, Jaycee makes the reader realize how grateful we should be for the simple liberties we all have.

My rating for A Stolen Life: 5 stars out of 5. Get it here!

JFK and the Unspeakable by James W. Douglass

Last week I had some issues posting (aka I forgot to hit the publish button until Monday). I will be sure to hit publish this time around. But maybe I shouldn't...JFK and the Unspeakable is a badly written book. How bad? I didn't finish reading it. I try not to review books that I don't finish. I made it a little more than half-way through, but it's been tough. Let me explain.

The material is incredibly interesting. Maybe because I don't know anything about John F. Kennedy. The parts I read covered Kennedy's stance on the Cold War, the CIA, Cuba, and Vietnam. The ending of the book goes through JFK's assassination, which probably is the best part of the book (but I didn't read it). JFK and the Unspeakable is informative and thorough. Too thorough. There's literally 100 pages of citations in the back of the book. The author uses exact quotes to explain things, rather than summarizing.

My other issue is James W. Douglass rambles all the time. Too many times he says he'll discuss that later. Or he provides three sources to prove some minor detail. It becomes infuriating, because I wanted to know what happened and how. If the writing was focused, I feel this could be a great book. Case in point: at the beginning of the book, there is a chronology section of JFK's presidency. I read through it twice, and it was the best part of the book. But my tiff is each bullet/paragraph in the chronology section comes word for word from somewhere in the book. The rest of the book is fluff.

My rating for JFK and the Unspeakable: 1 star out of 5. Get it here!

The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks

I read The Lucky One a few years ago, but I thought it'd be relevant to post a short review since the movie was just released this weekend. The main character is Thibault, who finds a picture of a woman while he is overseas in Iraq. When he returns to the U.S., he tries to track down the woman in the photo because it had been his lucky charm and kept him alive. He stumbles into North Carolina and somehow finds the woman in the picture. She owns a dog kennel with her mother grandmother, and soon Thibault begins working there. (Disclaimer: not a huge fan of animals so this was a turn-off for me.) It's no secret they fall in love. And as all of Nicholas Sparks' stories go, the relationship isn't an easy decision because there's some baggage to deal with.

It's your typical Nicholas Sparks book. If you've liked his other stuff, you'll definitely like this one. The ending is intense and climatic. Way more action than his typical books. Since I read it so long ago, I'm not going to provide much of my opinion on it. Something my readers my not have known is that I actually do not watch any of the Nicholas Sparks movies. This was a big surprise when I was discussing it with a friend last week. I have no intentions of going to see The Lucky One in theaters. In fact, I have only seen two of Nicholas Sparks' books-turned-into-movies. 

My rating for The Lucky One: 3.5 stars out of 5. Get it here!

Born To Run by Christopher McDougall

If I’ve talked to you in the last week, I have probably told you about the Tarahumara. They are a tribe from the Copper Canyons in Mexico who live isolated from the rest of the world. They speak a broken dialect of Spanish, relying on their families and villages for support. Their diets are superb as they are some of the healthiest people in the world. Cancer and disease are rare, there is no crime. To top it all off, they are the best runners in the world.

Not just any type of running. They specialize in long distance running. As in an average day might ensue of 50 miles non-stop. And they enjoy it. This distance of running sounds ridicules, but there is a niche group of people who actually participate in these types of races called ultramarathons. There are various races in the country that cover 50 and 100 mile courses over various terrain, often through mountain trails. Sounds crazy and I don’t know why anyone would want to do that. But the Tarahumara are very good at it.

The story begins with the author wanting to know more about running. He’s constantly injured trying to run, and when he’s healthy he’s a slow runner. He stumbles upon a magazine that mentions myths of the Tarahumara. The first half of the book explains the history of the Tarahumara and his attempt to track them down. The second half tells of a race between a few of the best long distance runners from America and the best of the Tarahumara. The author leads a group of Americans through a dangerous trek to Mexico to the home of the Tarahumara. Who ends up winning the race? You’ll have to read to find out.

The author’s style of writing is raw, with nicknames and jokes infused throughout. Some parts made me laugh. It’s not bad writing though; I was actually impressed. His full time job is a writer for various magazines, so it makes sense he’s a good writer. One complaint I have is I thought he spent too much time providing background on the characters. It’s like every character he introduces gets a five-paragraph introduction. I found myself skimming over those parts. The common theme throughout the book is getting the Tarahumara to race against the best runners in the world to see how good they really are. 

I have to mention that the book goes to great lengths to explain why some humans are great at running. Two major revelations from the book (both of these sound far-fetched but the ideas are well thought out and supported with facts). Shoes are bad for your feet. Naturally, your bare feet adapt to the ground and become stronger, preventing injuries. Nike is a big culprit in the book, although they even admitted running barefoot may be better. The other revelation is that humans evolved as good long distance runners (before we were smart). Why? Persistence hunting. Chasing an animal for so long until it drops dead of exhaustion. Believe it or not, there are examples of this still existing in far-flung places.

My rating for Born To Run: 4 out of 5 stars. Get it here!