Tag: what I’ve been reading

What I’ve Been Reading: “Belichick” by Ian O’Connor

I have been a Detroit Lions fan since birth, but I will admit that I started to become intrigued with the New England Patriots as a kid in the early 1990’s when they re-branded themselves with new uniforms, drafted Drew Bledsoe, and started moving up in the world. So when Tom Brady became the quarterback in the early 2000’s, that was just icing on the cake. The Patriots have been my second favorite team for almost my entire adult life, at least until Brady left for the Buccaneers in 2020.

With the dynasty that Bill Belichick has built in New England, numerous books and biographies and autobiographies have been released. I generally hold off on purchasing memoirs or histories of players and coaches who are still in the midst of their greatest runs, but I broke down with Ian O’Connor’s Belichick. As a coach, it can’t hurt to get a close-up look at the best NFL coach to ever walk the sideline.

We all know so much about Belichick by now that nothing big was surprising – his small school playing experience,;his rise through the ranks with the Giants, Browns, and Patriots; Sypgate; Deflategate; Aaron Hernandez; and more. What I appreciated most were the details about his failure in Cleveland, his falling out with Bill Parcells, the way he changed NFL scouting, his attention to detail, and the personal side that we don’t see much of from the mainstream media. Naturally, there’s a bunch of detail about his relationship with Brady, along with the deterioration of that relationship.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book and would recommend it to anyone with an interest in Belichick, the Patriots, or even the trials and tribulations of coaching in the NFL.

What I’ve Been Reading

I haven’t done one of these posts in a while, so here’s a brief look at what I’ve been reading in the hopes that you’ll share some of your latest interests, too.

Savage Son by Jack Carr is the third book in a trilogy, which started with The Terminal List and then True Believer. I don’t want to give away too much, but protagonist James Reece is a (former) Navy SEAL who takes matters into his own hands. You might have seen me post about Brad Thor’s books, and Reece is very similar to Scot Harvath in those novels. Not surprisingly, Thor’s long-running Harvath series inspired Carr to write his own books. Carr’s books are a little darker and more technical, and they’re pretty good thrillers.

Hit the jump for more.

What I’ve Been Reading: Spymaster

As of this morning, I just finished reading Brad Thor’s Spymaster, the second most recent book in the Scot Harvath series.

If you’ve read Spymaster, you probably agree that it’s a good thing I had already bought the most recent book, Backlash, which I started immediately.

I’ve read series of books before (Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, etc.), but I guess a sign of adulthood is reading a bunch of spy novels and stuff. So here I am (almost) caught up on both the Jack Reacher and Scot Harvath series.

I’m also reading Deliverance by James Dickey and Smarter Faster Better by Charles Duhigg, which I found recently after misplacing it.

What have you been reading?

What I’ve Been Reading: The Passenger by Lisa Lutz

Quarantine is prime reading time, and while I’ve been reading a smattering of books, I haven’t thought to post much about them here. Most recently, I finished The Passenger by Lisa Lutz. The marketing of the book – and I’m just going to roll with it – has pegged it as a Gone Girl-type novel. There are some similarities, among them a female protagonist on the run with a dark past.

I think the storytelling was a little spotty at times, and it kind of glossed over some items that should have been explained. But there are enough twists and turns throughout to keep things interesting. It’s kind of an easy-peasy summer beach read type of thing, but you need those once in a while.

I’ve also been juggling The Late Shift, which tells the story of the transition from Johnny Carson to Jay Leno, including the rivalry with David Letterman.

As always, tell us what you’ve been reading in the comments.

What I’ve Been Reading/Watching

It’s time to catch you up on what I’ve been consuming during quarantine times, because I know you’ve been dying to find out.

READING

Coach: Lessons on the Game of Life by Michael Lewis. This tells the story of Michael Lewis (of Moneyball and The Blind Side fame) and his high school baseball coach.

The Passenger by Lisa Lutz. I haven’t finished this yet, but it’s supposedly along the lines of Gone Girl. The plot is progressing pretty quickly so far, and I’m enjoying it. The female protagonist is on the run – from the law, from someone – and we don’t exactly know why through five chapters.

Hit the jump for more.