Books Reviews

I originally thought the “Hope” in “Hope’s Boy” was more like the “Hope” in “hopeless” but I quickly learned Hope was the author’s mother. Hope’s Boy is a memoir about life in the Los Angeles foster child system written by Andrew Bridge. This story tells about Andy’s loyalty, love, and devotion to his sick mother, his experiences living with the constant threat of removal from his permanent foster home while watching several other foster children come and go, his dealings with county social workers and county services, and how he overcame all these obstacles to become a Harvard graduated lawyer and foster child advocate. It’s really a pretty amazing story.

Hope’s Boy really is an amazing story. The book starts off with young Andy living with his poverty stricken grandmother in Chicago. One night a call is received from her daughter Hope and Andy is soon on his way to live with his mother in Los Angeles. While his mom wants to provide for Andy and be the best parent she can be, it just doesn’t happen. Somewhere between his arrival, seeing his mom getting raped by her ex-boyfriend, being taken on a home burglary with his mom and her friend, getting evicted from their apartment, losing her job, his mom starting to hear voices and becoming paranoid, and living in a hotel, Andy is taken from his mother. A day that stuck with him forever, the day he pulled away from her in a hotel parking lot when the sheriff’s arrested her and took custody of him, is a day Andy refers to over and over in his memoir as the worst day of his life.

After a small stint in MacLaren Hall, a warehouse for Los Angeles foster children, young Andy is temporarily placed with the Leonards. This temporary placement is for more than 12 years but Andy is reminded regularly from his foster parents and their children that he is a burden and will asked to be leave the minute he decided he doesn’t want to follow their rules. In this time period, Andy sees several other kids come and go and watches them as they become comfortable thinking they’ve finally found a home, only to move on shortly thereafter. During this period, Andy’s mom Hope, comes back into and out of his life every once in a while giving him false hope that one day the two will be reunited. After a childhood of instability and shame, motivated by his past and desire to move as far away from Los Angeles as possible, Andy gets accepted and offered a scholarship to a college in Connecticut eventually graduating from Harvard Law School. Before leaving Los Angeles for Connecticut, before leaving the Leonard’s house as an emancipated adult, Andy’s mother comes back into his life.

I was a little surprised that Andy’s life wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. There were some ups and downs with the Leonard’s but this book isn’t about a foster kid living in a California Youth Authority prison environment, it’s more about a child being stripped of his family and all that is familiar to him, and growing up without the love, security, and affection that only parents can provide. I’m glad to see this book wasn’t a horrific story about child molestation and starvation. This book will make you frustrated with irresponsible parents that can’t take care of themselves let alone their children, but somehow end up having them anyway. It’s an eyeopening story that will make you think all the things you thought your parents failed you at were very minute in comparison. This book is highly recommended.

I just finished listening to this audio book and have to say that I’m greatly disappointed. I expected more out of Arrogance from Bernie Goldberg than I received. After seeing him on cable news as a pundit and listening to another one of his audio books called 100 People that are Screwing Up America, I just had high hopes. Instead, from beginning to end, I found myself asking, “so what?” Let me qualify that last statement, as related to the book’s topic by saying, that everything the author pointed out is outrageous as the the author says. So, “so what?” Consumers have to vote with their wallets and make a change. Let me explain it in greater detail.

Bernie Goldberg’s main thesis is that news rooms are full of liberal elites and lack real diversity. Instead, all the journalists are like-minded activists that validate each others thoughts about how conservative views are wrong and a danger to society to the point that everyone in the news room thinks what their doing/reporting is what the entire countries thinks/wants. I can see how this could be. The author then goes on to say that newsrooms need a broader pool of journalists such as someone that enjoys hunting, a former police officer, and pro military veteran, etc. to give the audience/America, a better, unbiased report. I don’t think anyone is going to argue with this. It’s a pretty rock solid thesis. The only issue I have is that it’s unrealistic and Arrogance never offers a solution. I don’t even think I recall the author saying to vote with our wallets or anything like that. I just felt like I was in one frustrating loop of the same story over and over again about how the liberal devils are ruining the world.

To the author’s credit, he did lay down a great case. It’s right there in front of you, fully exposed. Goldberg talks about how special group caucuses such as the black journalists or gay journalists go from being watchdogs to activism making anyone that opposes interest group’s agenda to be a phobic bigot. The author lays out many examples in the book including reporting of the Mathew Shepard case (homosexual that was robbed, pistol whipped, tortured, tied to a fence in a remote, rural area, and left to die in Wyoming); a case where a crazy gunman was subdued at the Appalachian Law School by other students that had guns in their cars; contrasting the reporting of missing children, one white and the other black; and several others. As I previously wrote, the material is laid out, but still, “so what?”

The “so what?” may sound naive because thinking “so what” about the new media cherry picking what information they want us to have, that will influence our thinking and opinions is a big deal. I get that. My “so what” retort is that anyone that can’t realize that from the get go, which is a large percentage of the population, then they’re never going to get it. In fact, everyone this book is intended for already gets it and probably has their shopping habits influenced by what they already know about corrupt media outlets. I don’t think I’m too far off the mark here. I think people that watch Bernie Goldberg on Fox News are going to read this book and say, “no shit…this is why I already watch Fox News.” One thing positive about this book is Bernie Goldberg’s inside baseball knowledge of media, especially CBS, since he worked there for 28 years. The book is worth a read/listen for some of the in depth facts brought out about major stories from a while back that were glossed over by the mainstream journalist but it didn’t pull me in and have me begging for more. I was glad it was over when it was.

I was pretty surprised by this book. At first, I questioned whether or not I was going to be able to stomach Russell Simon’s voice for the duration of this 4 part audiobook. I was quickly at ease when Russell’s voice said in the forward that his friend and famed Poet Black Ice would be the narrator. Simmons’ voice sound too similiar to the voice of Congressman Barney Frank for me.

Do You! is a pretty decent concept. It’s not rocket science or some Freud philosophy where everyone secretly want’s to have relations with their mom or anything weird like that. It’s the basic premise that being “real” will take you further in your journey because you’re more comfortable and confident in your own skin. Russell’s 12 laws are what you have to do, in his eyes and experience, to have a fulfilling life and great happiness. There were a few parts of the book that I couldn’t relate to, but most of the book was inspiring. There were a few things that didn’t jive for me such as not knowing who the audience of this book was and the constant use of qualifiers and apologies for the author’s opinions. I did however, really like how the book was laid out, the lessons it taught based on the author’s real world life experience, and I liked the “inside baseball” of hip hop stories/analogies and Simmons’ business adventures, as well as several other things.

Let me cover the dislikes first because that’s what everyone wants to hear to decide if they should read this book. I really liked how this book was laid out. Russell did get lost a few times talking about KFC and how cruel they are to animals, Yoga, and being a vegetarian but for the most part, he stayed on task and basically worked his 12 laws from getting your mind right and taking care of you and your temple to helping yourself with good traits and working toward helping others. The rules were a little long because they came with a purpose and each chapter opened with a relevant famous quote from either a renowned religious leader or famed public figure the Black Ice went to work speaking Simmons’ knowledge. The book flowed nicely and moved along quickly.

I really liked the analogies and supporting stories that went with the laws. When the author speaks of “doing you”, he spoke of the Beastie Boys, which is one of the first mainstream white hip hop groups that were signed to Def Jam. Simmons conveyed that he had an uneasy feeling with the Beastie’s stage presence because they were dressed like fake rappers in sweat pants and gold chains but saw them a few days later playing with a punk band called Wasteful Youth in holey jeans and old T-shirts and they rocked. Simmons says this is the epitome of doing you. Their stage presence was fake and played a role in what the first single to be released was. Dressed as fake rappers would have meant Slow and Low would be the first single but as themselves, Fight For Your Right was the single which opened the door for them and hip hop to white fans everywhere. The point of not “Doing You” is well made and emphasized by this personal story, of which this book is full of several.

Another aspect of this book that I really liked was the fact that Russell Simmons knows all the hip hop inside baseball. This book speaks of interactions with Bono during Live Aid, hanging with Puff Daddy, negotiations with Cash Money Records, dealing with Pepsi, starting companies that you know of and patronize, the charity work that Nelly, 50 Cent, Eminim, Alicia Keys, Warren G, Ice Cube, and several others do and support without publicity. These stories will really make you think if you’re a thinker, about how these guys are business people trying to increase their market share and not the womanizing gangsta’ they portray themselves to be in their videos. It was a nice side of hip hop to be exposed to.

Now for the dislikes. First, I didn’t know who the audience for this book was. At first glance I assumed it was for young blacks because it was hip hop related and written by Russell Simmons. Shortly into the book though, the author references “we as the hip hop community” have $12 billion a year in purchasing power and he’s including white consumers. Then another part, Simmons’ is saying “you need to represent yourself” as if he’s telling the youngsters that are coming up what traits they need to have such as being hard working, charitable, and honest if you want to get ahead. Shortly there after, the author talks about the hiring process and why you shouldn’t focus on the type of shoes the candidate is wearing or that they’re wearing jeans instead of slacks as if he’s talking to older people that have opportunities to hire others. Maybe it was insight on how to be, when you’re in a position to hire down the road? It wasn’t terribly confusing, but I was wondering if this book was for me a few times.

Additionally, Simmons spoke in qualifiers rather frequently as if he was committed but not truly to his statements. Right out the shoot, he says an MBA is the worse degree you can and then he says something like, “no disrespect to MBAs…but in med school you learn to heal, in law school you learn the law, and MBA doesn’t teach you how to run a business” or something close to this. While I see where he was going with that, it just struck me funny and I didn’t think much of it till I heard additional qualifiers in other parts of the book such as “I’m not judging people that eat meat….but” and there were a few others instances that probably aren’t worth mentioning…just something I recognize as a method to express strong opinions while remaining diplomatic so not to offend. This point is by no means meant to be a detractor from the book. It’s only an observation.

Overall, I think Do You! was well constructed, delivered on great intentions, and covered some real topics that are applicable in today’s society. I think the messenger has enough life experience and street credibility that the message will be received as intended and have a positive impact on it’s audience. As previously stated, Russell did get a little caught up in yoga and being a vegetarian, but I applaud him for sticking to the subject of achieving success and improving your life when he could have easily strayed into a gossip tell-all about his divorce and past substance abuse issues for a captivated audience. I think this is a great self help book that many will benefit from because it’s breaks down a complex message into simple terms in simple language.

I have a buddy that is a Louis L’Amour junkie. He’s always reading Louis L’Amour books whenever he can get hold of them. I thought I’d try it out for myself with the audio book “The Black Rock Coffin Makers”. This story is only an hour long. It went by pretty quick. It was a little peculiar because I didn’t have any real expectations. All I know is a good friend of mine, whose judgment I trust, really likes them so why wouldn’t I?

I realized this wasn’t my kind of story shortly after listening to the opening. In this story, a man is mistaken for someone else and finds himself in a boxed canyon where he has to decide if he’s going to throw in the towel or figure a way out. I was amazed at how wholesome this story was. The language and the character’s mannerisms were more traditional wild west stereotypical behavior of honesty and trust instead of the more modern drugs, prostitutes, and crimes of opportunities. I actually enjoyed this book, even though it was short and the mistaken identity thing for the main character was a little too easy. It was nice to listen to a G-Rated story about integrity where the main character did the right thing at the right time with a selfless act and there was an honest Sheriff. Not really my type of story, but it was quick and painless.

I’m not sure if I know what to make of this book. I listed to the audio book so that was a little difficult to follow because it wasn’t in one setting. It was over multiple session of about 30 minutes each. My real issue though, is that I’m not sure who the audience is for this book. I can see this book being the text book for CIA clandestine operation spies and I can see it as the text for Pimpology 101 at the local community college. This book was off the chart with insanely good tips and information about people and how to manipulate them.

I recently wrote a review of How To Spot A Liar and said it was a book that you almost don’t want to share with others so you’re the only one with the knowledge…well that’s how this book is. It’s got so much information that makes sense and seems plausible or like a natural progression that you can’t help but be convinced the author knows what he’s talking about. As I just wrote, I had the audio book. That was a little hard to listen and never see any type of outline and have to remember what the previous steps were as the author goes step by step on how to seduce a target.

The author’s beginning argument is to make your target fall in love with you. The author says to never make them fall in lust with you because if they’re in lust, that only goes so far, where love is a stronger connection. The author explains a system of adding fulfillment to the targets life and then taking it all away, over and over again, to get inside their head. The author provides several tips for building your target up and then tearing them down and then repeating over and over again until you’ve achieved your goal.

The author begins with explaining the several behavior types of seducers and the characteristics that accompany then he begins to talk about the actual steps and several tips. Through out this awesome how-to book, the author repeatedly references public figures such as Errol Flynn, JFK, Napolian, Marilyn Monroe, Cleopatra, Marc Antony, and several others. Not only is this a good book with several great how to tips, but it’s also great for historical reference. I enjoyed it and I think you will too. I recommend the book though, not the audio book. I think seeing this material will help it sink in better than listening unless you listen 5 times.

I didn’t actually read/listen to this book. Instead, I came across a live speech that Ambassador Dobbins gave on the book. His speech was only an hour long and then he took a few questions. It was a very interesting speech. I think everyone is interested in this subject because of the current conflicts going on around the world. It’s pretty crazy how Ambassador Dobbins compares and contrasts the rebuilding efforts of Germany, Japan, Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Iraq to paint a picture of what has gone wrong with Afghanistan and Iraq and why. Along with additional lessons learned and a good question and answer period at the end, this speech on nation building made me want to read the book. The speaker demonstrates a mastery of the subject in this speech, which along with his resume, make him a credible source. Based on this speech, I recommend getting hold of the book. Any comments from anyone that reads/listens to this book would be appreciated.

I started listening tot his audio book because I wanted to learn more about Vietnam. I tried to give this audio book a chance, but I couldn’t get past the first few minutes. I’m sure Col. Bo Bottomly is a patriot and deserves praise for his service, but I’m still not sure if this is a fiction book or not. The Amazon.com product description is the following: “Col Bo is assigned as Task Force Commander of the Dragon One Combat Task Force, and hand picks twenty five veterans for the group. Their assignment is to combat test the A-37 in all combat roles facing all combat situations, under all weather conditions on the ground and in the air. And when several F-4 planes are shot down by a North Vietnamese barge battery over the Mekong River, Col. Bo’s team is needed to locate and take out the “gattler” before it can cause any more damage. The men have the gattler in their sites, but the North Vietnamese have position, shooting down Bo’s plane. Wounded, Col Bo manges to get his four foot by six foot dinghy into the water before he passes out. When he regains consciousness, he find himself adrift in the South China Sea.”

Aside from not knowing if this is fiction or not, I was couldn’t stomach the Col’s voice. I imagine his voice to be that of Father Time…telling a story from 40 years ago that I’d imagine, would be hard to recall all the details accurately. I called it quits on this one and didn’t finish it. With all the other great audio books out there, I wanted to spend 7 hours listening to his voice. Please post any encouraging comments if you’ve listened and think I should give it a second chance. I’ll edit this post accordingly if I’m persuaded to listen to it again and have a change of opinion.

What a great book this was. I was pleasantly surprised. It was actually shocking. The title pulled me in right away. The story is written in first person and starts off with Marty, some poor shlub that thinks he is too nice of guy, having the worst day of his life on his 40th birthday. As the author goes on about his day, a very vivid picture that most anyone can identify with, is painted. Marty introduces you to his jerk neighbor that takes advantage of Marty’s niceness by having Marty walk his dog everyday while he takes his own dog Ola out for regular walks. Marty describes his dissatisfaction for his apartment where he can hear the elevator all the time. Then Marty introduces us to the back stabbing coworker he’s in competition with for a promotion affectionately known throughout the story as “The Nemesis”. The story takes shape real quick. I was hooked instantly.

Without ruining the story, I’m going to say that Marty has an epiphany one day and decides his niceness needs to change. He decides that he needs to become a grade A asshole to get some respect. In doing so, Marty begins to convert himself from Mr. Nice to an asshole with the help of a life coach, acting coach, dog trainer, a special diet, and a few others. The things Marty does and how he explains them prior to doing, during, and after, is very colorful. It’s an insanely funny book. I really enjoyed it. The way Marty describes his endeavors and some of the stuff he does to build his asshole complex is too much. You won’t want to put the book down.

While the end of the book is kind of predictable, I still had to listen to see if the story would end as I thought. Overall, the story was great. The descriptions were great and listening to the audio version was awesome. The underlying message of this book is embedded nicely to a point that you don’t even realize what the message is until it’s too late. This book is a pretty good self help book in a weird twisted way. I recommend Asshole to anyone that thinks they’re too nice and wants to be the bad boy to get more chicks or to anyone that wants to have a good laugh and enjoy a good story that you will most definitely identify with. This was a great book.

I got hold of this audio book because I was very happy with the author’s other book How To Spot A Liar. I have to say, this book was disappointing in light of the first one. The author referred back to many of the concepts that were already used in the first book and constantly pitched his course for body language but never said how to enroll in it or where it’s taught. I listened to the entire audio book and I thought it was a decent listen. The author covered several behaviors that are hard to remember just from listening to the audio so I’d recommend getting the book to view pictures and reread/focus on the parts you’re most interested in.

One method introduced in this book, that I don’t recall from the first is the snappy clever little acronym R.E.A.D. (Review, Evaluate, Analyze, Decide). This is a pretty solid little method and relevant acronym that is easy to remember. The author goes over the four steps and there is actually lots of positive take away from this theme which is the major nugget for this book. This method is a good kind of “Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally” way of interpreting body language.

One point that was interesting what the author’s analysis of political figures. There was a brief section that included comments about the behavior of Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Ann Coulter (for whatever reason), George Bush, and a few others. The author’s analysis wasn’t anything amazing. He basically said Ann Coulter is the darling of the right because she’s a good looking blond and no one asks her hard questions. I thought it was a little weird to bring up Ann Coulter as she, in my opinion, is not a major player in politics. She’s smart and she’s a pundit, but to go from Wild Bill and Hillary to Ann Coulter then George W. Bush and then some congressman convicted of molesting a child after he wrote a bunch of legislation against that kind of behavior, didn’t really flow nicely for me. To top it off, the author referred to an interview from the Oprah Winfrey show from 2004 that I wouldn’t know where to access it if I wanted to follow his analisis. Sure it may be on youtube, but really? An interview from 2004? This book was published in 2007, three years later.

Overall, this book is alright for a refresher, if you’ve already read How To Spot a Liar. I just wish the author would’ve picked up where he left off on the first book and brought new information to the table. I also would’ve preferred more references to American culture instead of the Middle East. I think the author is very knowledgeable in his field but I think this product was more for marketing than for substance. I liken it to a book from a talk radio host when it seems like many of their books are them just sitting at a mic with some cue cards spouting off about some topics their listeners want to hear, that they’ve already talked to at length on their daily talk show, and then packaged them up nicely and sold for $20 a unit. My goal with this audio book was to learn more about body language, which I did learn a few new tidbits, but it was mostly a recap of the first book. Obviously interpreting body language takes many years of experience and more than just 2 audio books, so take my review for what it’s worth.

This Scott Spreicher story has all the makings of an excellent Hollywood movie. I imagine a Tom Cruise type Top Gun pilot pushing life to the edge of the envelope till one day his plane crashes and he becomes a POW in the Middle East. Everyone has hope he’ll be recovered but he doesn’t. Over time, the wife and one of the military officers that is tasked with investigating the situation fall in love and get married and for the next 20 years phantom stories pop up everywhere with some credible reference that the pilot’s been seen or is alive. This is the nuts and bolts of the the Lt. Comdr. Michael Scott Speicher story, the first American pilot shot down during the first Gulf War that the American Government never attempted to rescue.

This story angers me. Not only do I have a soft spot for F-18’s because of my own military service, but as a former military member that was stationed on an aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf for a short period of time, I find this to be a horrendous story. The author recounts several events that indicated the pilot ejected to safety and was alive and not in Iraqi custody for a substantial period of time immediately following the plane crash. Signs Scott Speicher was alive immediately following the plane crash include several man-made signals that only an American pilot flying that day would know that were located within 1 kilometer of the plane crash site and verified by national imagery agencies. With no rescue missions launched, the window of opportunity closed. Eventually the war ended and miraculously all POWs were accounted for leaving the US in a weakened position to make demands. In the following years, several stories and signs of hope came out of Iraq, including a freed Iranian Pilot that was held captive for 10+ years, surfaced to keep hope alive.

After immediately declaring Scott Spriecher Killed In Action (KIA) his status was eventually returned to Missing In Action (MIA) earning Scott Spriecher the unique distinction of being the only American to ever have their status changed from KIA to MIA. This story is like a bad episode of Fox’s 24 with Kiefer Sutherland where it seems every politician or government official is incompetent and suffers from a strong case of failure to act in a timely fashion if they act at all. This story wreaks of bureaucracy and territorial pissings between agencies. I’m deeply appalled this could happen to an American soldier or should I say be done to an American soldier by worst of all -other American soldiers.

With Saddam Hussein ousted and a new way of doing things in Iraq, I’d expect if Spreicher was still alive that he’d have been found by now. While I want nothing more than to turn on the news and read he was just found and has been flown to Germany for medical attention then to reunite with his children, I know that’s not going to happen. This book is a great listen. The author did some great research and explained some very technical stuff in very laymen terms so don’t worry about getting left behind in military jargon. It’s a captivating story worthy of a big screen project. The story of Scott Spriecher is very tragic and how the US Government’s inaction made things worse compounds the tragedy. This audio book is highly recommended.