Ryan's Book Blog – Page 28 – I read therefore I am.

Eruption: Conversations with Eddie Van Halen

September 29, 2022 by Ryan

Background

Published in October of 2021, Eruption: Conversations with Eddie Van Halen is the biography of possibly the greatest guitarists in history.

My Thoughts

I was initially pretty nervous while reading this. Sting’s bio was a terrible read and I came away not really liking the guy. I’ve always looked up to Eddie Van Halen since I first was introduced back in my high school band days. (Our lead guitarist would hit the roof of his car and say “Hail Eddie” everytime we went through a yellow light.)

You have to respect him even if you don’t like him. He certainly had his ups and downs but he bucked the entire production industry and just did what he wanted to do. A true artist.

I felt the write up was balanced with people that really knew him. It didn’t seem to pull any punches and the reader sees who Eddie Van Halen really was, warts and all. However, I came away with a new respect for him but that may be due to my rose colored glasses.

Recommendation

A very enjoyable read.

Live Long and What I Learned Along the Way

September 21, 2022 by Ryan

Background

Published in September of 2018, Live Long and… What I Learned Along the Way is an autobiography of William Shatner interspersed with ruminations and his own brand of humor.

My Thoughts

A very fun read. Shatner never comes off like he is more important or takes himself overly seriously. He seems like a great guy that has had some very interesting experiences.

Recommendation

A fun read.

Robin

September 16, 2022 by Ryan

Background

Published in May of 2018, Robin is the biography of Robin Williams. Larger than life and tragic in death, Robin Williams was and will be an enduring legacy for generations to come.

My Thoughts

What can I say? I love Robin Williams in pretty much everything he did. I didn’t know him from Happy Days but I was a fan of Mork and Mindy, his stand up comedy, and his amazing career all the way to the end. It was so sad when he left us.

Recommendation

I really enjoyed this book.

Extreme Ownership

September 12, 2022 by Ryan

Background

Published in October of 2015, this was Jocko’s first book in the realm of translating his experience as a Navy Seal into business and life in general.

My Thoughts

I read this back before I started this blog and enjoyed it just as much this time around. If you are looking for some motivation, order, disapline, or just need a good old fashion kick-in-the-butt. This is the book for you.

Recommendation

A little too military for some but I imagine it landed just right for others based on the book sales.

The Pioneers

August 30, 2022 by Ryan

Background

Published in May of 2019, “The Pioneers” is a history of a handful of white men who settled “the Ohio” (future states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin) during the American expansion.

My Thoughts

For a more modern book, I was surprised that it mentioned relatively little about the native Americans who were already in the area. This history is very much written from the perspective of the American citizens who were moving West in what may be called “the Midwest”. (That term always cracked me up. If you look at a map of the United States, no one would have called that area the MidWest…)

Not having grown up in that area, pretty much all of it was new to me so I really enjoyed it. It gave me a view of American culture that I hadn’t been aware of and and understanding of what happened in the area.

Recommendation

Worth the read.

The Body Keeps the Score

August 27, 2022 by Ryan Leave a Comment

Background

Published in 2014, The Body Keeps the Score is a book on the impacts and potential healing methods for people dealing with psychological trauma.

My Thoughts

Given the subject matter, I was very interested due to who I work with on a daily basis. My thoughts were that if I could better understand what these warfighters were dealing with the better I could communicate with them. I’d say the book gave me some things to think about but nothing is ever really definitive.

The biggest take away for me was the over reliance on pharmaceuticals in this country. (And this was from when before the pandemic…) I am generally blown away with how much we trust in our little pills to take care of everything. I’m also so tired of doctors pushing services and then charging as much and more than insurance allows. I remember when I was going to college and didn’t have dental insurance. It’s amazing what changes when they realize they won’t get paid for the extras. “Mr. Bair, you need to have a panoramic xray!” My reply, “Well, I’m not paying for it.” They go conference for a bit with dentist and then come back. “Oh ok, we don’t need to do it…”

I neglected to look at the publication date till after I was finished with the book. That’s fun in the sense of the things that still haven’t come to general acceptance over 8 years later. We are still doing the same stupid things…

Recommendation

A little dry but a good read in general.

Non Obvious

August 23, 2022 by Ryan Leave a Comment

Background

Published in March of 2015, Rohit Bhargava published the book Non Obvious as a help to spot trends and make sense of the world around us.

My Thoughts

This book was on the CMC Professional Reading Program of 2020 and I’ve been working my way through the list. However, I think it is time for this book to leave it. While it had some utility in how to build and curate your thoughts, I didn’t see what it had to do with anything relating to the Marines.

The book is also 7 years out of date so it was interesting to hear what he thought would be a big deal 7 years ago. We still haven’t paid different prices for newly released material, Venmo has stayed with us, and so on.

Recommendation

Sadly, seven years is too long a break for this book to be relevant.

Overdue

August 19, 2022 by Ryan Leave a Comment

Background

Published in March of 2020, Overdue was represented as a book on libraries. However, it really just boiled down to one young woman’s 9 months in a DC public library.

I was really disappointed in this book. It was really just non-stop whining and complaining about the author’s life and her issues. It also included every buzz term we hear these days regarding any and every group that isn’t white and male.

She spends all of 9 months in a library in Washington DC and feels like she is qualified to throw rocks at the system. Of course, she has no alternatives. She has no solutions. She just has her entitlement and “confirmed PTSD” because she had to interact with the public. So like all of her contemporary social warrior peers, she gets as far away as she can from the problem (literally moving to California) and starts writing about the problem with her perception of the world.

Of course, she is offended on behalf of the people she is championing while simultaneously ignoring their opinions and getting as much distance from them as possible.

I kept hoping there would be some resolution, some moment when she understands how ridiculous she is but it never came.

Yes, there are problems in the world. (That isn’t a surprise.) If you want to impress me, have an idea of how it would be better and do something about it. Tell me what would be better and really think through how that would be possible.

Greenlights

August 18, 2022 by Ryan Leave a Comment

Background

Published in October of 2020, Greenlights is the autobiographical musings of Matthew McConaughey (all right, all right, all right…).

My Thoughts

I’m always nervous when I read this celebrity bios. Most of the time I come away thinking much less of them but this time was different. My wife was talking to me about this book thinking that I had already read it. I told her that I had but I was thinking about Val Kilmer’s book. So, I had to read it…

I was pleasantly surprised. The first of it seemed like it he was trying to act all manly to counter he stereotypical RomCom role. As the story went on, he seemed to actually be the person he was representing. It also explains why he stopped doing those roles. If it wasn’t just fantasy, he earned a bit of my respect.

Recommendation

Not a bad read.

Battlefield Earth

August 16, 2022 by Ryan Leave a Comment

Background

Published in 1982, Battlefield Earth is a story of Earth a thousand years from now after we had been invaded by an alien civilization known as the Psychlos. They have almost no interest in us, rather they just want to mine our planet for the heavy metals.

My Thoughts

This was a pretty fun book and I remember being intimidated by it by it’s shear size when I read it as a teen. With my adult eyes, it was pretty campy and all the women had almost no character development but it was still fun.

The movie that came out a number of years ago was pretty terrible and didn’t do much to help promote the book. Oh well, Travolta tried…

Recommendation

A fun action book but pretty long.