Review: Plan: Epstein, Maddon, and the Audacious Blueprint for a Cubs Dynasty

Plan: Epstein, Maddon, and the Audacious Blueprint for a Cubs Dynasty by David Kaplan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A strange, little book, aimed squarely at Cubs fans. While you might think this is all about the players and the front office machinations to put together this Series-winning team and begin a dynasty, there is a good percentage of ink, say half, focused on the Ricketts and their buying, then building of the team. Given the title of this book, I found it surprising, and a bit disappointing, that the story that gets the most interest from the author is about the contracts between the Cubs and the owners of the rooftops. This contract, unbeknownst to the owners, allowed the Cubs to add a site-blocking video board, limiting the value of those properties. Kaplan writes this story as though he were a gloating victorious lawyer. He didn’t write at length about the other contracts the Cubs were involved in that had a more direct impact on the club’s plan on building a dynasty, including the players contract that allowed the Cubs to delay Bryant’s introduction to the team for a few days into the season to ensure an extra year of contract life. The writing needed editing. There were many stories repeated. I’m a Cub fan that doesn’t always pay attention to the team every season. I read a few things I didn’t know. I found bits of this interesting, but it was a bit repetitive.

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Review: Classic Lives: The Education of a Racehorse

Classic Lives: The Education of a Racehorse by Caroline Silver
My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I’ve read quite a few thoroughbred horse “biographies” over the years, telling the story of a great racehorse, including stories about their ancestry, their breeding and birth, their training and racing and post-racing career. The stories almost all give major coverage to the people involved in the horses life, the breeder, trainer, jockey, groom, and owner. I was expecting the same here, but this was quite different. Instead of focusing on a single horse, author Silver focused on one racing stable and a crop of horses, of similar ages. And unlike those other books, some of these horses are poor at racing. That’s one of the highlights of the book, seeing through the eyes of an owner of a large string of horses and the long odds of having a big winner. You see the business side, but also the tradition. Another interesting aspect is that horse transport is a key element in this story, as one horse is injured In a transportation accident and others have issues caused by travel. I hadn’t read about that aspect before, outside of Dick Francis books. American readers will also note that this is about a British stable in the 1970s, so some things are done differently than in the US, and steeplechasing is an alternative to oval flats racing for some covered here. Well written and fresh despite being written more than 50 years ago.


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Review: All Systems Red

All Systems Red by Martha Wells
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

"Robocop" in space. An android, at times displaying the human traits of self-centeredness and laziness, is contracted to protect a crew researching a planet, who are then attacked by another crew with other, similar security androids. The description of the fighting feels right out of a "Transformer" movie battle. This book has a lot going for it. The android hero of the book has a checkered past, loves human soap operas, and has a little more free will than most other security androids in the field. The world is bureaucratic, and oh so familiar in the bungling and the legal ramifications. A great introduction to the character. I will be reading more.

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Review: Stillness Is the Key

Stillness Is the Key by Ryan Holiday
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I've read many of these types of books. This one feels very familiar, treading similar paths to other books, providing its "insight" in a new-agey language. I felt comfortable reading this book. I enjoyed the anecdotes and the organization of the author's thoughts without giving anything too much thought. I found this good for a relaxing take on stillness but I'm starting to get jaded with these types of books being so similar.

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Review: And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer

And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer by Fredrik Backman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Short, beautifully written novella about the gradual loss of a grandfather through dementia and the relationship he has with his grandson. I found it moving - it hit very close to home. I enjoyed how the author ended the story with the circle of life. And so it goes.

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Review: The Memory Police

The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Reading this in mid-2021, this relates quite readily to the current discussion of the government taking away freedoms and where that slippery slope leads to. In “The Memory Police”, residents of an unnamed country are lead somehow to understand that something that they used to know is no longer to be talked about, or owned, or seen. The way it is described is a kind of mass brainwashing – all of the sudden one day, for instance, hats are no longer to be talked about, or owned, and people throw their hats away. There seems no rhyme or reason for what is chosen to be forgotten. The memory police are the wing of the government that enforces the elimination of items, including the “re-education” of people that can’t seem to forget what needs to be forgotten. As the book goes on, you learn of a waning effort to fight the losses. And the memories that are lost get larger and more imposing over time, from hats to birds to parts of the body. The writing is haunting. The story is prescient.

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Review: The Man in the Rockefeller Suit: The Astonishing Rise and Spectacular Fall of a Serial Imposter

The Man in the Rockefeller Suit: The Astonishing Rise and Spectacular Fall of a Serial Imposter by Mark Seal
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I read the blurbs on this book before reading, and expected a kind of “Catch as Catch Can” type of imposter book. This was quite different. In “Catch as Catch Can”, if I recall correctly, the focus of the book was a man who portrayed people with vastly different careers, from pilots to doctors. In “…Rockefeller Suit”, our imposter didn’t so much change the vocation he was playing. Instead, he portrayed a rich guy, which over the years morphed into a specific story about being a Rockefeller cousin. He fooled most that he ran into, including a wife. I kept comparing this imposter to the one in the earlier book, and I find the other guy seems to be a bit smarter, a bit more wily, a lot more interesting. This book also seemed to end weakly, with a glossed over trial and some unanswered questions.

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