Loved this book. From Yale to Vietnam. From Midnight Express, Conan the Barbarian, Scarface, Salvador, and Platoon. A story of filmmaking. The highlight is his experiences in Vietnam.

It was alright. Some funny moments. Some relatable moments. As stated, it is a book of observations of growing up. Love his stand-up. As for the book, I just reached the point where I got a little bored with it. Ultimately the book is kind of Gary‘s shared therapy session.

This book is the inspiration for the movie of the same name. The story of a select group of British Special Operations SOE forces under the command of Winston Churchill and World War 2‘s Operation Postmaster. The task was to steal German U-Boat support ships off the coast of African limiting Germany‘s ability to refuel their U Boats. Much more detailed than the movie.

A sad story in the end. If not the book, then the author. The story of a cancer survivor who decides to commemorate this by walking from Washington DC to New York City and write about the people he met and the places he saw. The book was published in 2023. the authors cancer relapsed and he died this year.

The novel that was inspiration of a pretty darn good Apple + television series.

Based on the podcast. A guide of critical thinking. What do
Many people need the skill to do today.

This is not a substantial dive into the subject. The book offers brief overview of the major conflicts from colonization to wounded knee.

An entertaining biography from the man who was the Fonz. Autographed copy.

How marketing tactics give people the illusion of choice when the consumer is guided in their choices.

Technology will bring a lot of changes to our future. This is a book about predictions of the future and how bad we‘ve been at future prediction and why. And using that to question future predictions.

You may not agree with everything, but as he says “you don‘t have to.” Which should be all of us. Honest to himself. Essentially his new rules segments in print and updated. Autographed copy.

Weird. The book that inspired the films doesn‘t even remotely resemble any of the film incarnations. There‘s no resemblance at all even to the original with Charleston Heston from the 1960‘s. Hollywood took the idea and came up with a different concept. There‘s no pretense of nuclear Armageddon. It is worth a read just for the surprise at how different the original is. More science fiction than post-apocalyptic.

The first book in the Jack Reacher series and the inspiration for the first episode of the popular television show. I read it for that reason. Decent pulp fiction.

About bringing back serious conversations again. Which is needed in a world where we are tribal and everyone is in their bubbles. A good argument is made for this across multiple topics. Audiobook

There will only be one Magnum and that‘s Tom Selleck. He doesn‘t really go into his childhood. The autobiography starts with a car accident he had as a senior in high school and follows his struggles to become an actor. Most of the book focuses on his Magnum years. It barely mentions Blue Bloods, Quigley Down Under, Josh Stone, Friends, and the other post magnum westerns he made. I liked the book, but he left a lot out. Signed 1st edition.

Could be I just don‘t know enough about British history? However the author is a comedian and still could have made it relatable and funny. I kept thinking once the kings and queens become more familiar I‘ll relate. I never got there.

I like Shakespeare good enough. I‘ve seen plays at festivals and have enjoyed them. I‘m not obsessed with Shakespeare. However, the book was signed by Judy Dench. This is basically a book of interviews. I got bored pretty quick. But, she signed it. If you want to read interviews and are really into Shakespeare you‘ll enjoy.

CAN YOU DIG IT! If you are a fan of the cult classic, “The Warriors”. About a NYC gang falsely accused of the murder of “Cyrus, the one and only.” A visionary leader who wants to unite all the NYC street gangs. “The Warriors” must fight their way back to Coney Island their home turf. This is the recollection of a location scout who ended up in the film as “The Purple Fury” and one of “The Punks”. Two gangs trying to eliminate “The Warriors”.

An interesting book on our need to conform and how it affects our lives and our world. Very insightful during this time of division and tribalism.

Like most books like this, the point is made within the first 4 or 5 chapters. After that it‘s just most examples to prove the point. And I agree with the points made. Yes, we are challenged as a society. We are motivated so much by self-esteem and feelings that the truth and challenging what is wrong gets muffled and silenced out of fear. It is a good book. With good points.

I give this two stars because its subject is interesting. A book about the narcissist of the tech industry. What‘s not enjoyable is the author is as narcissistic as the people she‘s writing about. The book seems to be a tribute to the wonderfulness of Kara Swisher who is always right. She seems to have the impression that she has some influence over the decisions the tech giants make. lost count of the “me‘s” and “I‘s”. All hail Kara Swisher.

Part 2 of the review: The kidnapping of not only escaped slaves but freed men and women who were sold in the south. It all happened in southern Illinois and so many, Illinoisans especially, know very little about this part of the states history. An interesting book.

A story centered around a house that a great many people may have visited when they were young. The Old Slave House in Equality in deep southern Illinois. The house itself is more folklore than fact. Not the man who owned it, John Hart Crenshaw was not. This is the story of slavery in Illinois, and the salt industry that utilized that labor. And the dark story of the Reverse Underground Railroad. Part 1 of the review

Encyclopedic. Very detailed in almost every aspect of life on the Kentucky frontier in the early 1800‘s. Yet written in a way that‘s interesting and entertaining. A lot to be learned with a little adventure thrown in. It is a marathon to read at 848 pages. I‘ve put it down and returned to it many times.

Inspired by the idea that American Democracy is on the verge of ending. Definitely written from a specific point of view. It‘s an interesting look at a fictional behind the scenes look at political campaigns. The book was ok. I could put the book down. Which is often the best compliment for a book, “I couldn‘t put it down”. I could.

Not much more here than most don‘t already know. The subjects are just spoken through a different voice. If you don‘t know what the big issues are in the culture wars, you either haven‘t been paying attention, or you aren‘t on social media and don‘t watch either Fox News or MSNBC.

Steven Rinella is a great story teller for his topic. In the process of telling his tale of going on a hunt for a buffalo in Alaska. He also tells the history and prehistory of the American Bison. It‘s best to hear narrated by the author. Endlessly interesting and engrossing.

A great collection of great baseball stories. Many of them legendary. A great read as we enter the baseball season.

A skeptics look into the world of Crypto. An informative read. I‘m a bit of a skeptic myself when it comes to “unregulated securities”, which is what Crypto is to a degree. Betting on enthusiasm is what it is in reality. Acknowledging those who have made money from Crypto and lost. It‘s very much open to fraud. 4/5 on Goodreads.com

A debut novel by Cedric the Entertainer. A good crime novel with interesting characters. Nostalgic for the time period. It is entertaining, pardon the pun.

The American naval war during the American Revolution wasn‘t fought by a navy (excluding the French Navy), but by privateers who saw profit in securing a percentage of the cargo of any British ship taken. This book details the story of those privateers, their successes and the failures. An interesting book. Signed copy.

Not just about the Mob, but about the infamous outlaws of the depression era. If you‘re a fan of mafia movies, you‘ll like this. Quick read overview histories.

Quick read. Written with a bit of drama. That makes them interesting. These aren‘t deep scholarly history‘s. But histories that read like novels and are just enjoyable. These editions follow the dark underbelly of celebrity.

In 1980, a biographer named Charles Higham, wrote a biography of an actor who died 30 years earlier. A man who lived a wild and raucous life, Errol Flynn. Higham claimed in his book to have found evidence implicating the actor of having been a Nazi Spy. This book, written 10 years later, by Tony Thomas comes to Errol Flynn‘s defense and dismantles Higham‘s allegations. And does a fairly good job of it.

Tom Clavin has become the go-to author for old west history. This is the story of one of the last outlaw gangs of the Wild West. Focusing on the ill fated attempt to rob two banks at once in the town of Coffeyville, Kansas that resulted in a shootout with a sizable portion of the citizens of that town.

A very interesting Audiobook about the long hunters and the European deer skin trade out of what would become Kentucky and the Ohio Country during a 14 year period between 1761 and 1775. Long hunters including Daniel Boone. A trade that started from cattle disease in Europe and ended by the American Revolution which ended deer skin demand in England. This a story of the opening of the first far west.

After the release of this biography many have refuted Higham‘s claims as nothing more than guilt by association. Either way this is an interesting and even exciting biography that reads like an adventure novel. Part 3

He had a dark side, drugs and alcohol, womanizing, he was charged with statutory rape twice and acquitted both times. The term, “In like Flynn” actually originated from those trials. With all the negative aspects of his life a biographer, Charles Higham claimed to have found an even darker secret, that Errol Flynn was a Nazi Spy. This accusation was based totally on his friendship with a man named Hermann Erben, who was in fact a Nazi Spy. Part 2

Errol Flynn lived a full and short life. Ultimately the alcohol and drug use ended his life at the age of 50. He may have been one of the first action stars. He was Captain Blood, Robin Hood, and Don Juan. It was said that Flynn was “what every woman wanted and what every man wanted to be”. How could a man who had everything end up such a train wreck? Part one

Man is what he reads

An 1885 French novel suggested by a friend about an opportunistic young man hustling his way through life in France eventually profiting from the war in Morocco. Very lengthy as novels at that time were.

Somewhat different than the Netflix movie. The genre of expertly trained un-killable superhuman spec ops former CIA novels. A huge stretch from reality, but still entertaining. Not all superheroes wear capes. Some are government trained agents forced underground who use their abilities for good. This is nothing more than a good superhero story.

Well written. Nothing really new. This has become a cottage industry. I‘m reminded of how exhausted I am of politics.

Well written. A bit lengthy. Nothing new. I found myself exhausted by the subject and really politics in general. I couldn‘t finish.

A trip through most of the major theories of science, focusing on physics, presented in a way we all could understand. A really interesting book.