Review: Coach Wooden's Forgotten Teams: Stories and Lessons from John Wooden's Summer Basketball Camps

Coach Wooden's Forgotten Teams: Stories and Lessons from John Wooden's Summer Basketball Camps by Pat Williams
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I grew up tall but clumsy, a poor basketball player who once attended a basketball camp when I was in junior high. I remember getting the "most improved" award, a basketball. I still remember some of the things that our high school coach pointed out about my play (while, I suspect, stifling his own laughter). Despite never playing organized basketball, I can see how a camp can make an impact. This book is about how the summer camps run by arguably the best college basketball coach in history worked. The author shares some of the lessons Coach Wooden shared throughout his many camps. These started with how to wear socks and shoes (a focus on the basics) which he started every camp teaching. Then he went on to teach his life philosophy, mixed in with basketball fundamentals and play. The author gives these two aspect an even share of the story here, perhaps leaning more on the philosophy side. He realized that most of his camp attendees would not play ball professionally, so used the camps as a way to influence the kids to live a kind and giving life. I loved the stories behind the scenes of the camp, including the stories of camp counsellors assigned to drive Wooden around. That was real pressure for these young drivers. Good for uplifting stories, and stories of the running of summer sports camps, but not as much basketball action as you might think.

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Review: The Sleeper and the Spindle

The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It's always interesting to listen to an audiobook of a book that appears from the online description to be mainly a showcase for artwork. Can the audio make up for the missing visual aspects of the package? In this case, having not seen the artwork, I think the audio can stand on it's own feet. The production was excellent, just like you'd expect from a short fairy tale, with a number of narrators/voice actors, music, and mood. The story was entertaining. I found myself listening for how Gaiman would create a new fairy tale, and this one started as a mash up of a couple of familiar fairy tales, with some role reversal thrown in to make things more interesting. Nicely done.

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Review: Louis L'Amour's Desert Tales: Desert Death Song and Law of the Desert

Louis L'Amour's Desert Tales: Desert Death Song and Law of the Desert by Louis L'Amour
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I listened to this short audiobook of two L'Amour stories while driving on I-80 through the center of Illinois. These stories had in common that the hero in each story is being pursued into the desert by a group of men that are, shall we say unfriendly. One of the hallmarks of Westerns is the thorough description of the land, and with the desert here you feel the overwhelming vastness and emptiness and underlying danger. Kind of like I-80 during construction season. The heroes here are smart and resourceful, like most Western heroes I've read, and they face death and their pursuers and prevail in the end, in no small part because of their intelligence and knowledge of the land. A good set of stories. These were narrated, instead of having a full cast production, but as there were long stretches of story with only one character present, this worked fine. And I also noticed the excellent production of the audio, including music. Well done.

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Review: The Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie and the Gospel of Wealth

The Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie and the Gospel of Wealth by Andrew Carnegie
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I enjoyed this autobiography of the second richest man in the world from a bit over a hundred years ago. Carnegie's book, while written around the turn of the century, feels much more modern. At times, I had the feel I got when reading Sloan's "My Years with General Motors", which was written 40 years later or so. Carnegie delves into his childhood quite extensively, as well as his early working life. Least covered was his middle years, while he grew his company. His stories of those times seemed of two parts - dealing with technical issues in the steel making process, and working on finances and negotiation. You can tell Carnegie relished the technical aspects of steel-making and being involved on the cutting edge of technology. His negotiation and finance stories seemed there more to show he was a common-sense leader. By the last third of his book, Carnegie focuses on giving away his fortune and working with governments. He really enjoyed this phase of his life, and seems to be into name-dropping the leaders of the times. He really got around. I can easily picture him as the host of "The Apprentice" or a shark on "Shark Tank" had he been around today. He seems to have that personality, a bit star-struck, while also quite full of himself. Overall, I liked Carnegie's stories and how he explains his thoughts. He made being fabulously wealthy sound pretty good.

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Review: When Changing Nothing Changes Everything: The Power of Reframing Your Life

When Changing Nothing Changes Everything: The Power of Reframing Your Life by Laurie Polich Short
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

One of the topics I like to learn more about is persuasion, and I read and listen to podcasts about this topic quite often. One of my favorite podcasts often discusses reframing of issues or questions or facts in such a way that one gets unexpected new insights into the source. This book provides ways to reframe the issues or questions or facts of one's own life in order to get that different perspective and to possibly get that aha moment when you gain new understanding. The author suggests 4 different "lenses" with which to approach your subject. A couple relate to changing your time perspective. I found the concepts familiar from other books that I've read, but I found this to be more specific on the types of reframing to attempt. I appreciated how the book organized (or framed) the way to think of this process. It's not perfectly clear and concise, but you can find enough along the way to make this a worthwhile read if you want some help in rethinking about your life.

The author did use a number of personal stories, and these were hit and miss for me. Many had a Christian life perspective that didn't add to the value of the content, but generally didn't detract from it either. I probably would have liked more stories and examples that I could identify with, but for many I expect the author will connect.

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Review: Never be Lied to Again: How to Get the Truth in Five Minutes or Less in Any Conversation or Situation

Never be Lied to Again: How to Get the Truth in Five Minutes or Less in Any Conversation or Situation by David J. Lieberman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I listened to the audo version of this book. It wasn't the best way to understand the information presented. The author presents ways to tell if someone is lying, through observation and recognizing patterns of speech and actions. Much of the book describes using interactions with the possible liar to ensnare or cajole the person into admitting their lies. Interesting, but practical? Not so much. There are quite a few methods, and the author suggests in places to try them in order until you have an understanding or a confession. On audio, it is just too difficult to remember this list and the order. I can see reading the book, and referring to it when looking for "tells", but the audio isn't much help for that. Overall, though, I liked the concept of having a way to tell if someone is lying. I've read other books on the topic, and this seems more packed with details and examples. However, many of the methods described involve verbal trickery to come up with an answer, so may involve some morally questionable tactics. So I wasn't satisfied. What I'd like is a foolproof method you could learn in 5 minutes or less, and we aren't there yet.

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Review: The Bookish Life of Nina Hill

The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I found this a nice, light read with a main character who is a bit of a wacky introvert, meaning you get to listen in to her odd thoughts. She's put in a situation, she finds she has a large family she never knew existed, along with a possible inheritance, and has to cope. I found myself thinking if I would have responded to these events in the same way, so I did get sucked in to this one. But I have to admit, a week after finishing reading this, I don't recall much beyond those good feelings. This was a good change of pace for me, and I would consider more by this author.

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