Review: A Redbird Christmas

A Redbird Christmas by Fannie Flagg
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I had read all of Fannie Flagg’s books but this one, saved for Christmas season. It has the quirky Southern characters, as she writes about in all of her books. But this one felt too manufactured. It would have made a better-than-average Hallmark Christmas movie if it were filmed, but that’s also the problem – it seemed like it followed one of those movies’ typical formula. Perhaps reading it out of season would have made it feel a bit fresher. Also, this was written as a short holiday book. Something felt left out, like character building and the creating of situational complexity that Flagg excels at, and that reflects real life. This felt like an abridgement. There was a climax, the kind you expect in a Hallmark Christmas movie, that I didn’t find fulfilling. For some easy reading, this will do in a pinch, but I prefer Flagg’s longer novels.

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Review: Our Souls at Night

Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I love the other books of Haruf that I had read earlier, and in reviewing them one aspect that stood out was their sense of place. You really feel the rural atmosphere, the most-ways declining some-ways adapting small town, the independent farmers, the acknowledgement that travel is required to go places. In “Our Souls at Night”, Haruf writes a different story. I didn’t get the sense of place as strongly here, but likely because it was a short book and something needed to be left out. His story contained the requisite pathos. For me, it made me feel sad for the characters facing their aging and their loss of spouses while they still have the freedom to be independent actors in their own lives. (view spoiler)[ And then, at the end of the story, when that independence is lost, you feel sad for that loss. (hide spoiler)] It can be an exceptionally sad story. Haruf wrote it so the reader can take solace in the raging against the light, as it were, between those life stages, but to my mind the sadness that bookends this story won out. If you want a story that elicits strong emotions, especially if you are concerned about aging, this isn’t a bad choice.

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Review: Leisureville: Adventures in a World Without Children

Leisureville: Adventures in a World Without Children by Andrew D. Blechman
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Having just reached the age where I can buy a house in an age-restricted community, I approached “Leisureville” as a way to learn about what they were and what kinds of people populated them. I got that, but by an author who has an ax to grind. As an explanation for what the residents see in these communities, the author provides examples of how these places become community and home. A big part of the benefit of living in such a community appears to be planned activities, with many clubs and sports to choose from (yes, another mention of pickleball), and many recreational facilities, including restaurants and bars. And the author describes most residents of these communities as thriving there, with a few having different experiences and moving back. So for this level of reportage, I got what I was looking for, on a very interesting topic.

I also got what I wasn’t expecting, which was a diatribe against age-specific housing restrictions in the US. I hadn’t thought through the issues that these communities engender, and the author points out many, including limiting school expenditures even for support employees living in the area, reduced parks for the young, limitations on competition in terms of businesses, limitations on community governance, and so on. The author takes a stand strongly against these kinds of developments, and his opinions greatly influence his writing. At times, it seems he chooses to write specific stories in order to ridicule residents and to make his case. While I appreciated the descriptions of the communities and their histories, and I appreciated learning about the issues they cause in the area, the lecturing tone detracted from the message and made me question the validity of the writing. Think of this as a very long op-ed.


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Review: Round Table: Thoroughbred Legends

Round Table: Thoroughbred Legends by John McEvoy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

There is a kind of book formula for these race horse biographies in the Thoroughbred Legends series. This book breaks the formula in a couple of ways, leading to a more interesting book. The formula is to cover in some level of detail the subject racehorse’s ancestry, breeders, owners, trainers, jockeys, race history, and progeny. Most of the books in this series follow this list more or less to the letter. And most spend a lot of time discussing progeny, setting where the horse impacted racing’s future generations. This one was quite different in only spending a page or two on progeny. And it wasn’t like there isn’t a story there – Round Table seemed as prolific as the best horses in the series, with many offspring stakes winners to brag about. In “Round Table”, the story told is more in the racing. Another difference here is that the author included a personal anecdote at the beginning of the book and followed up on it at the end. The anecdote concerned a bookie he knew during the time Round Table raced, and how the bookie disliked the horse, but grew to become a fan when he related the horse’s workman-like personality to his own father’s. Nice story, and unexpected. Also unexpected was the use of many interviews of people that had something to do with Round Table, even sometimes without much of a connection. But they tended to be interesting comments. As a Chicago resident I found this very interesting, as many of the key races took place in Arlington and Washington Parks, which is kind of unique in this series, outside of John Henry’s story. All told, I believe this is the best of the series so far, as I’m about 3/4 of the way through.

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Review: How to Wash a Chicken: Mastering the Business Presentation

How to Wash a Chicken: Mastering the Business Presentation by Tim Calkins
My rating: 0 of 5 stars

I accidentally checked this audiobook out from my library’s Hoopla site, but I found it quite well done. I’ve read many business presentation books over the past few years, and most focus on the message. Here, the author spends as much time focusing on meeting logistics as the message. It was refreshing to read his advice in when to cancel a meeting – I had not seen other books cover this necessary political skill, and it is well described here. Another one of my hot buttons is team presentations. It seems most business presentations I’ve been involved with over the past few decades had two or more presenters, but the logistics of the dance of changing presenters is rarely discussed. Here, the author provides suggestions on limiting handoffs, and in making those handoffs as professional and quick as possible. The author also provides valuable advice in preparing for the “physical plant” of the room, testing lighting before the presentation for instance. About half of this book is traditional business presentation messaging advice, and the author quotes many of the books that I suspect many have read, like Nancy Duarte’s books, and Gallo’s book on Jobs’ presentation skills. Overall, I found this a valuable addition to the literature on business presentation, with good summation of state of the art from other books and a bonus focus on logistics and politics of presentations and meeting planning.

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Review: A Small Place in Italy

A Small Place in Italy by Eric Newby
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The author describes buying, rehabbing, and living in a house in the Italian countryside. Making this easier for him is that he is a well-off Englishman who has married an Italian woman. Given the intricacies described of dealing with Italian workmen and becoming a resident, his money and Italian connection through his wife made things easier. But this is a kind of fish-out-of-water story that goes on a long time, as the author becomes part of the neighborhood. I enjoyed the quirky stories of a time gone by. The author’s most interesting observation was about some policemen he was travelling with could easily have killed him a few years earlier, when he was an Allied soldier and they were in the local militia. Things change, often for the better.

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Review: Satan Is Real: The Ballad of the Louvin Brothers

Satan Is Real: The Ballad of the Louvin Brothers by Charlie Louvin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This really wasn’t what I was expecting. I found it exceeded my somewhat high expectations, in a couple of ways. First, I’ve read a number of books by and about older rock and country stars recently. I expected this to be about the same – a well edited story that felt more like a ghost writer overworked the subject instead of letting the subject’s personality come out. In “Satan is Real”, named after a popular Louvin Brothers recording pictured on the cover, you get the feeling that you are reading predominately Charlie Louvin, with perhaps some minor clean up by an editor. This had an edgier personality to the writing as opposed to the laidback voice of many “autobiography” subjects. Another aspect of the book was the series of dichotomies. This is about a famous duet, mostly known for gospel recordings. Yet the book talks of knock down fights between the brothers and others, excessive drinking, woman chasing, pill popping, tantrums, and the like, more like what you’d expect from typical country or hard rock stars than gospel singers. Louvin even unexpectedly throws in a few choice cuss words, often near the end of his short chapters as if he wanted to save the invective until the end of his thoughts, as punctuation. There’s one short brother and one tall, one wild and one sober. They start picking cotton and end up one of the most successful duets in gospel and country music. One brother dies young, while the other writes the story of their lives. It is a surprisingly interesting story that would make a good movie or HBO-type series, and I’m surprised this hasn’t been done yet. The writing tends to be simple, and the author doesn’t go into any depth about his own life after his brother’s death, so there are bits that feel missing, but overall I found this a very good story. I had never listened to songs by the Louvin Brothers prior to reading this book, but I am a fan of what I’ve heard since.

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