Tag: Book review

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The Soul of Baseball by Joe Posnanski

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Joe Posnanski’s The Soul of Baseball is more than a sports book—it’s a road trip through memory, legacy, and love for the game, told through the incomparable voice of Buck O’Neill. Posnanski spends a year traveling with Buck late in his life as the 93-year-old ambassador tours the country keeping the memory of the Negro Leagues alive. Buck is a natural-born storyteller, charming every crowd and every reader with his warmth and grace. But beneath that joy runs a quiet ache—he’s outlived nearly everyone he played alongside, and the burden of preserving their stories now rests on his shoulders alone. … Continue reading The Soul of Baseball by Joe Posnanski

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Comic Review: The Old Guard by Greg Rucka and Leandro Fernández

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Greg Rucka and Leandro Fernández’s The Old Guard began as a sharp, tightly written comic series before spinning into a multimedia franchise that includes the popular Netflix films. Having come to the comics after watching the first movie—a personal favorite for both me and my wife—I found myself reading them with Charlize Theron’s Andy and the rest of the cinematic team already in mind. That context colored the experience, for better and for worse. The First Series: A Strong Start The opening series of The Old Guard delivers everything you’d hope for in an immortal-mercenary saga: gritty action, complex characters, … Continue reading Comic Review: The Old Guard by Greg Rucka and Leandro Fernández

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Book Review: Babylonia by Costanza Casati

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Costanza Casati’s Babylonia is a modern retelling that moves fluidly between the worlds of history and myth. At its heart lies Semiramis, the legendary Assyrian queen whose reputation has been maligned in centuries of ancient texts as the “whore queen.” Casati flips that narrative on its head, offering instead a nuanced and sympathetic portrayal of a woman whose power, cunning, and humanity resonate across the ages. Reframing a Legend One of the most compelling aspects of Babylonia is the way Casati re-frames Semiramis. Rather than leaning on the lurid accusations of antiquity, the book positions her as a figure of … Continue reading Book Review: Babylonia by Costanza Casati

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Book Review: Crushing It! by Gary Vaynerchuk

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Published: 2018 Blurb Four-time New York Times bestselling author Gary Vaynerchuk offers new lessons and inspiration drawn from the experiences of dozens of influencers and entrepreneurs who rejected the predictable corporate path in favor of pursuing their dreams by building thriving businesses and extraordinary personal brands. In his 2009 international bestseller Crush It, Gary insisted that a vibrant personal brand was crucial to entrepreneurial success, In Crushing It!, Gary explains why that’s even more true today, offering his unique perspective on what has changed and what principles remain timeless. He also shares stories from other entrepreneurs who have grown wealthier—and not just financially—than they ever imagined … Continue reading Book Review: Crushing It! by Gary Vaynerchuk

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Book Review: The Bright Forever, by Lee Martin

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Amazon Blurb PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST • A “cleanly written [and] artful . . . page-turner” (San Francisco Chronicle) about a nine-year-old girl’s disappearance and the lasting impact it has on her close-knit community “Compelling . . . both harrowing and deeply felt.”—New York Daily News On an evening like any other, nine-year-old Katie Mackey, daughter of the most affluent family in a small town on the plains of Indiana, sets out on her bicycle to return some library books. This simple act is at the heart of The Bright Forever, a suspenseful, moving novel about the choices people make that change … Continue reading Book Review: The Bright Forever, by Lee Martin

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Book Review: Freaky Deaky, by Elmore Leonard

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Blurb Over-the-hill former counter-culture SDS revolutionaries decide to turn bomb-making—and detonating—from a political statement to a profitable enterprise in the master Elmore Leonard’s electrifying and explosively funny thriller Freaky Deaky. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch calls Leonard, “the world’s greatest cops ‘n’ robbers novelist.” The Seattle Times says, “Leonard is more than just one of the all-time greats of crime fiction. He’s fast becoming an authentic American icon.” No matter where you wish to place the man who created the character of U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens, lately of TV’s hit series Justified, in the pantheon of mystery and noir detective fiction demigods—John D. MacDonald, Dashiell Hammett, James … Continue reading Book Review: Freaky Deaky, by Elmore Leonard

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Book Review: The Iliad, Graphic Novel

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Blurb In a companion volume to his award-winning adaptation of The Odyssey, the incomparable graphic novelist Gareth Hinds masterfully adapts Homer’s classic wartime epic. More than three thousand years ago, two armies faced each other in an epic battle that rewrote history and came to be known as the Trojan War. The Iliad, Homer’s legendary account of this nine-year ordeal, is considered the greatest war story of all time and one of the most important works of Western literature. In this stunning graphic novel adaptation — a thoroughly researched and artfully rendered masterwork — renowned illustrator Gareth Hinds captures all the grim glory of … Continue reading Book Review: The Iliad, Graphic Novel

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Book Review: Deacon King Kong, by James McBride

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Blurb Winner of the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for Fiction Winner of the Gotham Book Prize One of Barack Obama’s “Favorite Books of the Year” Oprah’s Book Club Pick New York Times Readers Pick: 100 Best Books of the 21st Century Named one of the Top Ten Books of the Year by the New York Times, Entertainment Weekly and TIME Magazine A Washington Post Notable Novel From the author of The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store, the National Book Award–winning The Good Lord Bird, and the bestselling modern classic The Color of Water, comes one of the most celebrated novels of the year. In September 1969, a fumbling, cranky old church deacon known as … Continue reading Book Review: Deacon King Kong, by James McBride