- Bonnie G
Publisher: Viking Adult; First Edition
Date of Publication - May 6, 2014
Genre: Biography Click book cover for Amazon.com A woman tangled up in politics is a perfect choice to write a book about a man tangled up in politics. Ms Cheney taught me some things that I never knew about James Madison. I enjoyed reading this book and would recommend it to those who like reading about our founding fathers.
- Bonnie G Publisher: Viking Adult; First Edition Date of Publication - May 6, 2014
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Genre: Sports/Non-Fiction In the run up to the last World Cup in South Africa, the focus of the world turned to African soccer and the effects the world’s game has on that frequently troubled continent. Like anywhere else in the world, in Africa soccer inspires passions and rivalries and causes joy and pain. Prior to the 2010 World Cup, journalist Steve Bloomfield travelled through a number of African countries focusing on the role football has played in those countries and in the continent as a whole.
He doesn’t focus solely on the more obvious soccer nations of Africa though, providing a rare glimpse at football’s reach into the likes of Somalia, Rwanda and Chad. Conflicts, corruption, political interference and human tragedy are all covered and all have their role to play. Bloomfield’s in depth knowledge of Africa comes through strongly, notably when looking at the various conflict zones where soccer has provided a beacon of hope, and also in looking at amputee football in Sierra Leone. There is also a view of the role football, and more specifically certain footballers particularly Didier Drogba, played in helping to end a civil war in Cote d’Ivoire. These are all told with an expert’s eye for detail and Bloomfield’s depth of knowledge means he places each situation in its wider context. From riding in a car through the late night streets of downtown Cairo with the captain of the Egyptian national team, who regularly conquer the African Cup of Nations, to looking at the unorthodoxly funded DR Congo side TP Mazembe who conquered the African club game, the stories are as colourful as you’d imagine. The sad fact is that without an African World Cup, the eyes of the world may never have focused so keenly on these issues, if indeed they managed to at all. Even at four years distance, this still makes for an informative read at a part of the world where so many talented players have come from, but so many issues still provide seemingly endless obstacle to those living and playing in Africa. It’s a well written and informative account that educates and inspires in equal measure. The World Cup may have moved on to another country and another continent but these stories, and no doubt many more like them, live on to prove just how far the global game’s reach can be. - Aidan Williams http://thesportsbookreview.com Publisher - Canongate Books Date of Publication -17th Feb 2011 Genre: Fantasy Click book cover for Amazon.com Benedict Jacka's Cursed is a welcome addition to the burgeoning urban fantasy genre. The first book of the Alex Verus series, Cursed introduces us to Alex Verus, a mage living in modern day London. Hidden in plain sight all around normals, adepts, mages, and magical creatures exist in a complex society delineated by mages who align themselves as Light or Dark. Mages come in flavors: time mages can see into the past, fire mages can control heat and fire, mind mages can nudge our thoughts. Our protagonist is a diviner, a rare mage who can see the future as clearly as looking across the street. Having a checkered past, Verus aligns with neither Light nor Dark, and is comfortable living on the fridges of magical society.
Verus' comfortable perch quickly collapses as he is drawn into a deadly race between powerful Light and Dark mages to obtain a relic that will tip the balance between the two sides. Both camps know Verus is the key to their success, and they are not shy about heavy-handed recruiting tactics. Can Verus recover the relic, save his friends, and escape with his life intact? It's a future even a skilled diviner would have trouble foreseeing. Jacka does a great job in Cursed of introducing us to his cast of characters for this series and setting the stage of his alternate England where magic is alive, but unknown to most. The story is easy to follow, and there is clear foreshadowing of developments to come in later novels while still giving the story a satisfying end to allow Cursed to stand on its own. Light and Dark magic are regular themes in urban fiction, but Jacka does a good job tweaking these classic divisions to be more grey - giving the story grit and vibrance as you realize magic isn't a solution to all of our problems, just another tool that, like so many tools put in the hands of man, tend to be wielded for personal gain. - Jonathan Zerulik Publisher - Ace Date of Publication - May 29, 2012 Genre: Sports/Non-Fiction Click book cover for Amazon.com Before Usain Bolt came along and re-wrote the rules of athletic performance, the man synonymous with speed and Olympic track glory was Michael Johnson. Add in his regular appearances on TV giving his always forthright and well thought out opinions whenever the showpiece Athletics events come around and there is perhaps no better person than Johnson to identify and explain just what it is that makes an Olympic champion.
Along a similar vein to that espoused by Matthew Syed in his book Bounce: The Myth of Talent and the Power of Practice, Johnson cites the key factor as being hard work; and a lot of it. Of course the talent has to be there in the first place, but at the truly elite level the majority of athletes are all equally talented (except in the freakish Bolt’s case of course), so what is it that makes the difference? And what is it that means that a possibly less talented athlete can achieve more than some with greater natural gifts? Drawing on his own experiences not only from his time as a competitor, but also as a mentor, coach and motivational speaker, Johnson discusses various key elements from training, conditioning, focus and mental strength through the temptations of, and his contempt for, performance enhancing drugs in sport. Adding in numerous interviews and discussions with many other truly elite sporting stars from Michaels Phelps and Jordan to Steve Redgrave, Daley Thompson and Chris Hoy brings some extra weight to the point being made, although the mantra is roughly the same; work hard and then work even harder. It is of course interesting to have the views of such luminaries, but the overall point remains that espoused by Johnson initially; that “Elite athletes aren’t born. They’re made.” There is more to it than that of course. All the hard work in the world wouldn’t enable me to run a sub-45 second 400 metres sadly, but in separating several finely honed athletes, the point is valid and is backed up throughout with countless examples. Johnson demonstrates how talent alone isn’t sufficient to reach the pinnacle and it makes for quite an inspiring read for those with an interest in performance and coaching, or those who have marvelled at such exploits in any sporting field. The dedication to reaching the top is as awe inspiring as Johnson’s own sporting exploits. There are a few too many mentions of his company Michael Johnson Performance for my liking, but they don’t ruin what is a decent if limited read, all told with the kind of relentless authority that we’ve come to expect from Johnson. He comes across, like on television, as being measured and knowledgeable and having the ability to put his viewpoint across. The message can become slightly repetitive, but that does have the effect of ramming the point home. This is all discussed with the recurring theme of Johnson’s own sporting triumphs and travails in Olympics past, to which he alludes many times throughout, which give an autobiographical feel to some parts that will appeal to many. But it stops short of merely being an autobiography and head into the greater depth of assessing elite performance. In my opinion this makes it all the better and results in a fascinating read from a legendary performer. - Aidan Williams http://thesportsbookreview.com Publisher - Harper Sport (5th July 2012) Date of Publication - July 5, 2012 Genre: Sports/Non-Fiction Click book cover for Amazon.com An expatriate English teacher living in Tokyo enrols in one of the toughest martial arts courses Japan has to offer; the Senshusei training course in Yoshinkan aikido as undertaken by the eponymous Tokyo Riot Police. Robert Twigger was living in Japan and teaching English as many foreigners do. The realisation that he was extremely unfit and somewhat lacking in focus led to him and his flatmates in the less than salubrious Fuji Heights apartment block taking up aikido. But Twigger was compelled to go all in, and signed up for the brutal course.
The training is portrayed as brutal and unrelenting, and the course instructors, the sensei, as being rather on the sadistic side. This does paint a rather compelling picture which draws the reader in, if only to discover the next level of brutality. Repeated training routines causing wounds to remain unhealed for what seems like unhealthy amounts of time were seemingly the norm. Or the more sedate but equally painful sounding lesson consisting of sitting in the seiza position for the entire time. As someone who has lived in Japan and sat that way uncomfortably a few times too often I can state that the position begins to make you feel as though the muscles linking your feet and ankles are being steadily ripped apart. On the point of having lived in Japan, Twigger’s impressions of the country and its people bring the tale an element of normality in amongst the brutality. Much of it will ring true to anyone who has spent extended time in the Land of the Rising Sun. There is however a tendency for Twigger to portray some of the people he crosses paths with in a less than flattering light. Many of the protagonists are referred to by unflattering nicknames, and the other students on the course are given fairly short shrift at times, particularly for being angry or upset at not having mastered the move being practiced. Twigger also gives the impression of merely wanting to make it through the course for the sake of it, or for bragging rights, rather than to achieve what the course is intended for. There is of course the physical change and the skills, but there is a way of thinking and attitude that he seems to resist as much as possible. And yet this book is something of a rite of passage for aikido students to read and absorb. There is no doubting it is an inspirational tale, told in a humorous and engaging style, although there is an unnecessary amount of swearing used in Twigger’s narrative. Just what kept him going on the occasions he wanted to quit? Rather than a desire to complete his aikido education and accept the change in the way of thinking, it was a desire to not be beaten. Admirable of course, but not the way everyone would approach such a course. Nevertheless it is a compelling read, and one which was one of the earliest winners of the William Hill Sports Book of the Year, in 1998. For those interested in martial arts or Japan, it will give an intriguing insight into the way these arts are taught and studied in Japan, which can be somewhat different to the more gentle approach in the west. The insights into Japan and its people too, give a greater context to the book, placing a more human aspect on something that borders on the inhumane. - Aidan Williams http://thesportsbookreview.com Publisher - Phoenix (an Imprint of The Orion Publishing Group Ltd ) Date of Publication - October 23, 1999 Genre: Fantasy Click book cover for Amazon.com * 4 out of 5 stars*
Graham Austin-King's Fae: the Wild Hunt is a an epic dark fantasy centered around the lands of Anlan. Lost in the ancient lore are tales of the Fae. The Fae, however, are not only mythical creatures, they are real. Held back from Anlan by an ancient ward called the Wyrde. The Fae have begun to break through as the magic of the Droos weakens under the flame of a new religion that spreads through the land. The Fae are blood-thirsty creatures who thrive on hunting humans. King's characters are diverse and multi-dimensional, carrying us through years as he switches the reader back and forth through their lives. There is violence, love, heraldry and heroism in each person's life that leads them to the final end. The Fae are coming. The lands of Anlan are in danger. If cliffhangers make you angry, prepare to be angry, because the end of this novel is one giant cliffhanger. Enter the lands of Anlan and seek the truth of the Fae. You may not like what you find. A dark fairy tale for lovers of the original Grimm. - Amy Riddle-DeClerck Publisher - Amazon Digital Services, Inc Date of Publication - March 9, 2014 Genre: Political Thriller Click book cover for Amazon.com When the main character in a novel is the science advisor to the President, and the plot includes explosions, assassinations and a blown up airplane, then I am surely hooked. What a great book. Don't miss it!!!
- Janet P. Publisher - Story Plant, The Reprint edition Date of Publication - July 30, 2013 Genre: Thriller, Mystery, Horror Click book cover for Amazon.com * 5-stars*
Need a new book boyfriend? Tired of muscle-bound hunks who beat people up and rarely smile? Odd Thomas is your man. True to his name, Odd is ODD, but in a good way. Don't be alarmed if he seems to be talking to himself, or staring off into space. Odd is special. He sees the dead. In Odd Thomas Dean Koontz has created the kind of hero everyone can get behind. Strange? Absolutely. Brave? Always. Lucky? Rarely. Odd Thomas is narrated by Odd himself, and he brings you inside his world of death, Stormy, and short-order cooking. Stormy is Odd's girl, and they're one great couple. A fortune telling machine once told them they were "destined to be together forever". Take a trip down a road that's long, dangerous, and odd. Let Odd be your guide as he tries to make sense of the gift he's been given. He knows that death is coming to Pico Mundo, and he's the only one who can stop it. Or can he? A one-of-a-kind character you're sure to fall in love with. - Amy Riddle-DeClerck Publisher - Bantam; First Edition Date of Publication - December 9, 2003 Genre: Sports/Non-Fiction Click book cover for Amazon.com Against the Grain is an offering of life, wisdom and defining personal characteristics, as observed through Bill Courtney’s years of American Football coaching and business success. Courtney earned renown as the focus of a 2012 Oscar winning documentary film "Undefeated", which told the tale of the Manassas High School Football team in Memphis, of which Courtney was the coach.
Using examples of how he developed the players of Manassas, perennial losers on the football field and similarly lacking in opportunity in the rest of their lives, Courtney gives his thoughts on the characteristics that make the most of people, and empower people to make the most of the abilities they have. He extols the virtues of developing a ‘faith in the power of the individual to summon the will to be the best person he or she can be.’ Running through a selection of personal qualities and ideals that have helped Courtney in life and in business, the chapters appear as though a blueprint to becoming the ideal person. This is all well and good but can leave the reader feeling slightly unworthy as they read through, but this is countered by Courtney’s assertion that he learned the hard way about adopting some of these qualities himself. Some of the ideals appear old fashioned or quaint to modern eyes, but they sufficient to resonate and provide food for thought; the tale of Jackie Smith staging her long standing protest outside the National Civil Rights museum in Memphis, employees overcoming drug addiction and a criminal life to build a successful career, the life consequences for two men involved in a neck breaking collision on the field, the ability to rise above the almost overwhelming helplessness of deprivation and tough circumstances to make it to college. His business success also provides numerous examples to illustrate these qualities, and while occasionally there’s a venture towards the dangerous “success manual” ground of “here’s the risk I took. You could do the same” that would be to misinterpret the intention of the book. It’s not a success manual as such, more a guide to the values that have helped Courtney in his life, work and play. These values are of course worthy, and are all highlighted with countless examples from the arenas of sports, business and the home. From a sporting point of view, Courtney’s views on coaching as a means of developing the person as well as the player is described thus: ‘It starts with believing that players win games and coaches win players.’ The need to be a leader in all aspects rather than merely a sporting coach is key to his philosophy. Sticking to the sporting viewpoint, there are numerous tales of High School footballers Courtney has coached over the years, and the way their character developed on and off the field aided by the coaching, support and leadership he was able to give them. It’s about these characteristics helping in life rather than necessarily helping to produce sporting superstars. As Courtney says regarding the Oscar winning film referred to throughout that ‘The whole point of the documentary "Undefeated" wasn’t that the players and Manassas were undefeated in the field; it was that they were undefeated by their circumstances.’ - Aidan Williams http://thesportsbookreview.com Publisher - Weinstein Books Date of Publication - May 13, 2014 Genre: Sports/Non-Fiction Click book cover for Amazon.com The original piece of great football writing? The spark for a whole genre? I am possibly overstating things, but not by much. It’s now over twenty years since this classic first hit the shelves and sports writing has developed beyond recognition in that time. And yet this isn’t the archetypal piece of football prose, being primarily the story of Hornby’s life from childhood to adulthood and its inextricable link to his support of Arsenal.
'I fell in love with football as I was later to fall in love with women: suddenly, inexplicably, uncritically, giving no thought to the pain or disruption it would bring…'. Is there a truer way of stating the way a fan falls in love with a sport and more specifically with his or her team? Set out with chapters primarily as match reports of key games, Hornby intertwines the goings-on on the Highbury turf with the changing situations in his life. The only constant of course was Arsenal and his unconditional love for them. But this isn’t a book about Arsenal as such; it’s a book about growing up and making sense of your place in the world. But given its now historical context it is also a glimpse into a world now long gone. First published in 1992, all of the football Hornby experiences in the book are of a pre-Premier League vintage. For those not old enough to have experienced what came before Sky’s “whole new ball game” this book is a glimpse into the past; a window into football’s dark era of riot police presence, “Football Special” trains with prison-like condition and genuine fear for safety at football. It is also a glimpse into a time when fans could attend cheaply on scruffy and rain-soaked terraces, fathers could take their sons without having to take out a second mortgage, the unique terrace chants were far more adventurous and contained far more variety than they do today, and the sanitised football watching experience of the current day was far away. However there is plenty here for the non-football nut too, as the autobiographical nature of the book contains many sharp observations on life and growing up. It would also provide an understanding of that sports obsessed person in your life. A classic of its day, that became a classic of the sports genre. - Aidan Williams http://thesportsbookreview.com Publisher - Riverhead Trade; 1st Riverhead trade pbk. ed edition Date of Publication - March 1, 1998 |
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