A short little book on creativity I picked up at a John Cleese presentation of the 50th anniversary of Monty Pythons Holy Grail. I met John Cleese once prior to this. A very friendly man. This is a little gem of insightfulness.

This takes a different perspective now that the war in Gaza appears to have come to an end. When I started it the war was still raging. And the ants-Israel pro-Hamas movement was in full swing as well. This book was a reminder of the horrors of October 7th and why we should support the only country in the Middle East that support western values.

A very thorough piece of work. Detailing the folk movement in general. Folk music was never really my genre. I‘ve always appreciated the depth of Dylan‘s lyrics. And love the movie “A Complete Unknown”. When Dylan went electric it was a pivotal moment in rock history. After this rock was no longer just about sex and cars, but could deal with deeper issues.

Dah! Interesting read. Faulty premise. The faulty premise is that Biden‘s decline was a covered up mystery. No we all knew he was mentally declining. The real conspiracy was the attempt to prop him up for political expediency which was done at their own peril.

A good general biography of Reagan and his times with a focus on the assassination attempt by John Hinckley. An act that in many ways added to the Reagan mystic.

Interesting stories. You‘d think this would be his biography with AC/DC. It‘s not. It‘s about his second love cars and auto racing.

It may be that it‘s just dated, these were written in the 1980‘s. Inspiring the Chevy Chase films. The dialog just seems to droll on too long. I read more out of conviction than interest. The character of Fletch as the wise cracking, a bit of a bum, reporter when solves murder mysteries is appealing. I just wish the books were better.

The first of a three part biography by Edmund Morris. This highlights Theodore Roosevelt‘s life up to the presidency. This isn‘t the first time I‘ve read this. This book introduced me as a 19 year old to arguably the most interesting American who ever lived. Certainly the American who lived the fullest life.

The 4th Novel of the Leaphorn and Chee series and the inspiration for the AMC series “Dark Winds”. Navajo tribal police solve murders in the early 1970‘s. This book inspired season two of the Dark Winds series

Really not for the history buff. From a podcast of the same name. Meant to deliver history humorously as gossip. The book is not incredibly informative nor humorous.

A good accounting of just how far superstition, misinformation, tribalism, and mass hysteria can take people.

An entertaining autobiography of a movie icon and what is surprising a very humble and insecure man.

Everyone knows the assassin attempt that succeeded, but are you are of a the plot to assassinate Kennedy early in his presidency that failed. This is the story of that plot. It‘s also a story of the beginning days of the Kennedy presidency.

It read too much like a textbook to hold my interest.

Everyone knows about Lincoln‘s assassination and some of the plot to accomplish that. But did you know of the plot to
Kill Lincoln four years earlier on his way to his inauguration. This is the story of that plot and its failure. Very interesting story.

A history leading up to The Tehran Conference, held in November-December 1943, in Tehran, Iran was the first meeting of the Allied leaders (Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin) to strategize their efforts in World War II, particularly focusing on opening a second front in Western Europe. This is a story of a secret Nazi plot to assassinate the three allied leaders. A plot, that had it succeeded, would have drastically changed world history.

I really enjoyed reading this biography. I love Stephen‘s no excuses and true to himself opinions, initially in sports and now in the political world.

A controversial character lately. An autobiography, a history, a political science course, with some philosophy thrown in. Very in-depth.

Bono in 40 songs. Less about the songs and more about life and the band and how the songs interweave in them. Sometimes preachy and political as Bono can be. That‘s to be expected. The politics I‘m sure will divide opinions of the individual. For fans. This is a good biography.

This is more of a coffee table book. Brief bios of the presidents from Washington to Biden. Completed with pictures and even briefer bios of the First Ladies and vice presidents. Good for very general reference.

I will admit, I initially purchased because it‘s Elle and she signed it. However, it turned out to be an interesting bio. Unfortunately not thinking pretty girls have depth is common and their thoughts dismissed. Elle dispels this and writes an interesting bio. Especially the look into the fashion industry, Hollywood, her alcoholism, and cancer. The new age stuff at the end she kind of lost me, but, I looked forward to reading it everyday.

If you are interested in Wild West History, 1876 is a big year. Calamity Jane arrives in Deadwood. Wyatt Earp is the sheriff of Dodge City, Kansas with his deputy Bat Masterson. And three big events took place this year; Custer‘s Last Stand, the assassination of Wild Bill Hickok, and the Great Northfield Raid the essentially brought an end to the James-Younger gang led by Jesse James. An interesting read.

I highly recommend this book. It is more a bio of one mans career as a Navy SEAL. Through all its stages. A career that included the killing of Osama Bin Laden. Absent is the self-righteous patriotism that can be prevalent today. He approaches his story as a professional. Just telling his story without trying to drive home a political opinion. An inspiring story and a look into the real world of the Navy SEALs.

Good biography. He created one of the greatest characters in television history and an ignominious ending of a career. He addresses it all. Some good stories mixed in.

A quick read. Very informative and interesting. A very accessible method of learning the very basics of astronomy and astrophysics.

Page after page of someone wallowing in self-pity. Not only is it a downer, but it‘s a bore. Depressed, don‘t read. Insomnia, it will help you sleep.

I don‘t know. Less a biography than a series of musings with no clear direction. So of the stories are good. It jumps from years fore and back.

Stories taken from the SciFi and Travel Channel series Ghost Hunters. As well as some biographical information. Great stories even for a skeptic.

The latest Tom Clavin book on the history of the old west. This one centers on the infamous Hole-in-the-Wall or Robbers Roost. A notorious hide-out for outlaws. Those included; Blackjack Ketchum, Kid Curry, and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Other names like Tom Horn, Isom Dart, Johnny Surango, Jim Courtright, and Luke Short are part of the story. Another good Clavin book.

Jean Luc Picard and Charles Xavier, two legendary characters. An interesting autobiography.

The authors opinion of the 100 greatest moments in football history. Mostly pro-football with some college moments thrown. A great history of football.

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.