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.