Selection Sunday: Favorite Books

Tag: what I’ve been reading

30Jan 2020
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What I’ve Been Reading: Everything

I’m a wild and crazy guy who reads a bunch of books at once, so here’s what I’m reading right now:

This is how I work. Rather than carrying books around – or using a Kindle or something – I just keep books in different areas of my life. That way if I’m ever sitting in the car or somewhere that I have to wait, I have a book. If I’m going to sleep, I usually try to read for about 15-20 minutes, so I have one by my bed.

So throw out your suggestions. I’ve ordered a few of your books – and I’m reading the Bosch and Harvath series because of your suggestions – so I take your thoughts seriously.

22Dec 2019
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What I’ve Been Reading: Gunslinger

I just finished reading Gunslinger by Jeff Pearlman. As a football fan, I had a weird roller coaster of emotions with Favre. My favorite team was always the Lions, but my second favorite team generally depends on who plays for that squad, what coaches I like, etc. When I was a nascent football fan in the early 1990s and collecting sports trading cards, I opened up a pack of Stadium Club football cards only to find a “Brett Farve” error rookie card. I was a rare thing at that time: a Falcons fan. Because of Deion Sanders. (I liked Deion Sanders so much that I wore #21 on my baseball uniform.)

I was a Brett Favre hipster: I liked him before everyone else did.

Then he got traded to the Packers. And with the Lions as my #1 team, I wasn’t quite as big of a fan of Favre. But Barry Sanders vs. Brett Favre was a heck of a thing to the watch during intradivision games.

Without naming names I also have a connection to someone that played a role in Favre’s life. So when the book came out, I wanted to know more.

Favre is flawed; whether he’s a flawed hero depends on one’s perspective and definition of the word. He led a pretty crazy life, and the book does a good job of showing the chinks in his armor, from his womanizing to his cockiness to his substance abuse. I think it also does a good job of illustrating his toughness and love for the game, as well as the pressure he was put under at various stops.

Overall, it’s a solid piece of writing by Pearlman. Biographies can be a little bit dry, but he kept things interesting.

What else I’m reading: The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg, Black List by Brad Thor

13Dec 2019
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What I’ve Been Reading: Concrete Blonde

During football season I need a little bit of escapist reading, since real life is just so busy. It’s odd, but all (or most) of my football reading takes place outside of football season. I’m someone who needs a little bit of balance in my life, so I can’t drown myself in football books when I have practice and games for three hours a day – not to mention the football blog.

So that’s where Concrete Blonde, a Harry Bosch novel by Michael Connelly, fit into my days. I had read The Black Echo and The Black Ice previously, but Concrete Blonde finally got me interested in the Bosch series on Amazon Prime Video, which I binge-watched over the past couple weeks. I wondered how the show would match up with the first three Bosch novels, and it turns out the show just weaves a bunch of different book plots into each season. This particular book is about a serial killer who kills young blonde women. Bosch finds the serial killer and shoots him (this is not a spoiler), but then a copycat killer appears years later.

If you’re looking for a show to binge on, Bosch is a good pick. The reason I held off so long was because I just couldn’t buy into Titus Welliver as a lead actor. But after reading the books, I saw that Welliver was actually a good fit.

What am I reading right now? The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg. Black List by Brad Thor.