A 'lil HooHaa

Messing with the blogging world since 2005

book

Another challenge? Why not? Read all about it!

I admit it — I’m a sucker for a good challenge.

Especially one that gives you some blog fodder.

I was doing some rounds yesterday, catching up on some blog reading and trying to find a few more. I stopped by a blog I hadn’t been to in a while and saw this person was taking part in an interesting challenge — a book one.

Another challenge, you say? Sure. Let’s get reading. (photo courtesy blueprint on MorgueFile)

Basically, for the Artful Readers Club, you need to read one book a month and blog a review. Oh, and you have to do some sort of an artsy thing with it. This is where I am a tad worried.

See, I’m not always artistic or crafty. So becoming inspired by the book I’ve just read to make some sort of art might not be the easiest thing.

From the rules:

It can be anything, a painting, a journal page, a card, a collage, a tag, a sketch, a stamped piece…anything at all…and YES digital work is welcome too.

I’ll likely be looking to think of something in a photographic realm. Maybe a drawing of some sort (it won’t be that good). We’ll see where the year takes me in regard to the reading and the art.

I contacted the leader of the challenge as it was past the Jan. 1 deadline. But, it’s still open, I was told. So I’m going to throw my hat into the ring.

To do so, I’m supposed to commit to at least six titles in this post, preferably 12.

Let’s face it — I’ve got a bunch of books on my Kindle and several on my Amazon wish list I have wanted to read. Hopefully this will be the push I need to get them read. On the last Friday of each month, I’ll come back and post my review of the book and some sort of art as well.

The review — easy.

The art — there’s the challenge.

Hopefully this challenge will really push me and my creative side a bit more. Truth is, I need it right now with everything going on in my world. I’ll see what I can come up with.

Without further ado, here are the books for this 2013 challenge (these are in no particular order):

  1. One Shot at Forever: A Small Town, an Unlikely Coach, and a Magical Baseball Season (Chris Ballard)
  2. 101 Things To Do Before The Apocalypse (Jon Hanson)
  3. Sheltered (Emily Harper)
  4. Royal Flush (Scott Bartlett)
  5. Cold Crossover (Tom Kelly)
  6. The Tourist Killer (FC Etier)
  7. The Hidden Language of Baseball: How Signs and Sign Stealing Have Influenced the Course of Our National Pastime (Paul Dickson)
  8. Jaywalking with the Irish (David Monagan)
  9. Just a Minor Perspective: Through the Eyes of a Minor League Rookie (Eric Pettis)
  10. Round Ireland with a Fridge (Tony Hawks)
  11. The Bullpen Gospels (Dick Hayhurst)
  12. Forrest Gump (Winston Groom)

That last one is one I’ve wanted to read for a long time. Being it’s one of my favorite movies of all time, I’m told the book is way different. I always like to compare, but usually with the book first and the move after. I look forward to reading that one.

There are several baseball-related books on this list, too. I’ve had these on an Amazon wish list for a long time and this is the push I’ll need to read them.

A library? Dewey … what system? Cards? (photo courtesy click on MorgueFile)

Some of these books I have on the Kindle already, others I purchased last night. There’s one that I’ll have to <gasp> read in an actual hard copy as there is no Kindle version! And … imagine this … through a library!

I feel like it’s the 1980s or something.

In all reality, my goal is to read 25 books this year. I have my eyes on several more. I’ll be keeping tabs of each of those on Goodreads. If you are a member there, feel free to add me. There is also a book reading challenge there one can join and it keeps track of the books you read, which is cool. I’ve seen people with goals upward of 100 books this year.

I am impressed with people who choose to read that many books … and it is somewhat amazing. I’ll keep to the goal of 25.

Above, I posted the 12 I am doing for this challenge. But, to keep myself on mark, I’m going to post a tentative list of other books I like to conquer and read this year. Note that this can change/be added to etc. based on books that come out over the course of the year. Also, many of these are kind of pricey on Amazon, so I’ll have to see how many are able to be lent out and how many I think are worth the price. I’ll also keep tabs in hopes of a couple of them coming down in price.

Nonetheless, here’s the rest of my “list.”

  • Wiffle Ball: The Ultimate Guide (Michael Hermann)
  • Wiffle Ball Summer: The Ride of the Elmoron (Geoffrey Arthur Drewyor)
  • The Legend of Bagger Vance (Steven Pressfield)
  • The Joy of Keeping Score: How Scoring the Game Has Influenced and Enhanced the History of Baseball (Paul Dickson)
  • American Gypsy: A Memoir (Oksana Marafioti)
  • Escape (Carolyn Jessop)
  • The Search for God and Guinness: A Biography of the Beer that Changed the World (Stephen Mansfield)
  • Yes, Chef: A Memoir (Marcus Samuelsson)
  • Fifty Sides of the Beach Boys: The Songs that Tell Their Story (Marc Dillon)
  • Pint-Sized Ireland: In Search of the Perfect Guinness (Evan McHugh)
  • Guinness: Celebrating 250 Remarkable Years (Paul Hartley)
  • Surviving the Mob: A Street Soldier’s Life Inside the Gambino Crime Family (Dennis Griffin)
  • CHOKEHOLD: Pro Wrestling’s Real Mayhem Outside the Ring (Jim Wilson)
  • Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream (H.G. Bissinger)
  • The Match: The Day the Game of Golf Changed Forever (Mark Frost)
  • Ball Four (Jim Bouton)

I hope to make a good dent in this list. I also have a bunch of Kindle Singles I want to tackle, but they usually can be read in one to two sittings. It’s a good transition from one bigger book to another — having that longer story/novelette in between.

I definitely need to read more books, so I’m glad I happened to read about this challenge. It should also challenge my artistic side and I’ll have to see what I can come up with. I have an idea for the baseball books… but I need to think about other things, too.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

Book review: The Following Contest is a Dark Match

As a fan of professional wrestling, most books I find on the market for that genre are real-life accounts from current or former wrestlers. There’s the occasional tell-all book from somebody who used to be in the business, too.

There’s not a ton of fiction about the sport that’s worth reading, however. That is one of the main reasons I am skeptical when I see fictional books on the profession, especially ones without any feedback on places such as Amazon. But it’s also a reason my interest piques, as I like seeing the fictional stories about the profession.

I found The Following Contest is a Dark Match for the Kindle and it was listed at fewer than 120 pages. It had a story that seemed interesting and the 99-cent price made this a perfect Kindle grab.

For the most part, I wasn’t disappointed.

The book is based on the life of Kevin Davidson, a decent, at best, independent wrestler out of North Carolina. He has a beautiful girlfriend who has money and seemingly worships him and he works as this wrestler, trying to make his dream come true. He’s a believable character, especially if you know any independent wrestlers. I know several (who I am working on some writing projects with) and the way author Chris Shore paints the picture is an pretty accurate portrayal of life on the independent circuit.

How is that?

The pay (if any) stinks, the crowds are small and the reality of making it to a place like the WWE is slim, at best.

Shore builds Davidson’s character and soon we realize that Davidson is mediocre at best. So much so that he attempts a move during a match that the promoter had specifically told him not to do. He botches it and nearly kills himself. But from that comes some sort of psychic power. He sees his future and it’s not so great.

The rest of the book helps build things a bit, showing how this lifestyle can explode quickly.

As normal, I don’t want to give away the full story here. So, I’ll let the Amazon page description tell you enough to hopefully get you hooked:

After a fall while wrestling that knocks him unconscious, Kevin awakes to find that he has psychic abilities, including clairvoyance, ESP, and the ability to see the future.

Kevin finds that having these powers can be both a blessing and a curse. As his new powers drag him into a life he never imagined, he must decide to help a young boy whose future is very dark, while trying to reconcile the truth of his first vision: if he continues to wrestle, he will be killed in the ring.

I can say that it was a pretty interesting read. I got through it in about two days and the ending is pretty solid. It also leaves the door open for future books and from reading the author’s website, it sounds like this will be a series of books. Therefore, the beginning of this book will likely eventually make even more sense in future books.

The Good

Shore tells a pretty solid story. Kevin Davidson is a believable and, for the most part, a likable character. You can really connect with him — especially if you know anybody who is a professional wrestler. He wants to make it big, but he’s like so many other independent wrestlers trying to make it — battling a serious uphill climb where the reality of making it big is likely going to end in a slide back down the hill.

The other big characters — his girlfriend Julie, her father, his best friend and his co-wrestler — are all built well. You can see them and feel their emotions. The key in a good book to me is good character building and I think Shore succeeds in that.

The actual story line is different. It’s not something I would normally read. But having that sort of thing differentiates this book from others. Shore does a good job at selling it and the reader can tell there was some care in building this story.

One of the best things I liked about the book was the “wrestling talk.” Using terms like babyface, heel, kayfabe and putting somebody over gives the book the feel of wrestling. Even better, for non-wrestling fans, there’s a glossary to help with the terms. For wrestling fans, I think something like this is better because we don’t have to see terms worked around for the non-fans.

The Bad

As many of you know, one of my pet peeves in books are grammatical and/or spelling errors. The book was pretty clean, but there were three glaring mistakes later in the book that made me cringe.

At one point, there was a “were their” instead of “where their.” The were/where issue happened one more time, that I saw. And then there was a point where a character was saying “hi” or noting it, and it was spelled “high.”

Being that I only paid 99 cents for the book, I wasn’t to the point where I fully flipped. But these are the little things that my eyes always seem to catch.

There were a couple plot spots where I thought things were a little rushed and could have used a little more in detail and explanation. The ending, too, seemed a little rushed. I thought the scene itself could have been played up a little bit more. I like how Shore wrote the actual ending because it gives the reader the chance to think about what happened and make their own conclusions and it also allows that cliffhanger for the next book. But, I thought the events leading into it could have been a little deeper, thus making the ending a bit more punchy.

Overall thoughts

In the end, I enjoyed this book and will look forward to the next installment of the series. The plot is good and I think, for the most part, Shore does a very good job in telling the story. It’s a quick read, too. I like when I get into a book and finish it quickly because it means it’s a topic I enjoy and a story I’m getting into. In total, it took about three to three and a half hours for me to read, but it was a nice read.

If you are a wrestling fan, I’d definitely encourage you to snag this book and give it a read. Though non-wrestling fans might not like it as much, I’d say some still will like it because the characters are strong and the story is good. Give it a try — you never know.

Rating

This book was pretty solid. The spelling mistakes I caught do bother me, but if it’s somebody doing his own publishing, I have a hard time going too nuts about it. I’m sure if I ever finish the books I’m working on and have to go something away from traditional publishing, people will catch an error or two as well. It happens. Still, I always count these things in the ratings. The end result for me with this book was a solid read, with a good story and characters, mixed in with a few holes and errors. I’d rate it somewhere between a 3.5 – 4 out of 5 stars.

On the web

See more about Shore at his website. You can also find him on Twitter.

If you are interested in purchasing The Following Contest is a Dark Match, follow this link.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

Book review: The Best Way – El Camino de Santiago

Allow me to preface this review by saying that I am a huge fan of Bill Walker’s storytelling and how he weaves a book about hiking together. I’ve also found Bill to be quite an engaging fellow as I’ve written about him on this blog before, both with book reviews and a story I did about him and hiking long distance.

I didn’t hate his latest book by any means. In fact, it was through him that I first discovered what the heck the El Camino de Santiago was. Without doing the story about him, I might not know much about this hike, outside of the 2010 film The Way, which starred Martin Sheen.

Still, when doing book reviews, I like to be as honest as possible.

There were moments during my reading of The Best Way: El Camino de Santiago where I grumbled about it and wondered if I would plod through. Too, there were times when the book breezed by and captured my attention and imagination like Walker’s past books. The fact that there were parts that made me feel fully opposite of others made this a maddening read.

The Good

One thing I like about Walker’s books are how well he describes things. He takes basic things and makes them sound wonderful. His descriptions of the people he meets on his jaunts make you feel like you are there standing next to him and seeing these people.

The way he writes about all the little towns and places he stays and eats is very strong. When I finished this book, I had a great feel of this trip and what a person must go through to do this hike. And, if you’ve read other Walker-written books, you’ll know that you will know all about the hike when the book is finished, which is more than I can say for some other hiking books I’ve read.

Walker’s style is easy to get into. It’s conversational and you can feel like he’s telling you a story. When dealing with things such as long-distance hikes, that’s important. The reason being? Most of us won’t do a long-distance hike, so to get the full feel of what one has to go through on these hikes.

Walker is colorful, truthful and doesn’t ever really hold back punches, which I fully appreciate.  It’s nice to get a story that tells the truth of the hike, whether it be good or bad.

The one big thing Walker has done here? He’s made me really want to think about doing this hike. I’ve often thought about wanting to do a long-distance hike, but I also realized that the Appalachian Trail or Pacific Crest Trail likely wouldn’t be in my future. The El Camino has a lot more meaning to it, in my eyes, and it’s something I’ll definitely be researching.

The Bad

I don’t speak Spanish.

That also means that I don’t read Spanish. For those who do, kudos. But I can’t and don’t.

There are parts of this book where Walker writes his conversations that he held in Spanish. I fully respect that he can speak, write and understand that language. And there are times when he translated what he said. But, there were also times he didn’t.

All it takes is in the beginning to note that many conversations were in Spanish. I don’t have to visually see it to be able to imagine it. In fact, it makes it harder for me to continue because it makes the reading choppy and not very enjoyable. One thing I’ve always believed is by making a reader stop and scratch their head when reading, you risk losing them.

I was almost lost.

In Walker’s previous two books, I flew through them in a few days. This one took a while. Mainly because when I hit these Spanish speaking parts or something else, I’d drift off and stay away for a day or so.

The other thing is the history lessons. Look, I love history. It was always a favorite in high school and college and I often took elective classes because of this. And I don’t mind reading about history.

But there were times where Walker went deeply into history and it took up a chapter at a time. I don’t want all of that. Personally, I’d want to see it in a shorter version. Books like this are ones I get for the stories about the trip. The people, the events, everything else. I appreciate some of the history, especially because of how long and how historical this hike is. But there were times where it seemed like it was being forced to me more than intertwined with the story of Walker’s hike.

Other may see it fully differently, and I respect that.

Overall thoughts

This was a good read for the most part.

As I noted earlier in the review, I like Walker’s style and his storytelling is some of the best I’ve read when it comes to long-distance hiking and I’ve read quite a few books about the subject.

Still, it wasn’t perfect.

Of the three Walker books I’ve read, this is probably my least favorite overall, yet it’s probably my second favorite in regard to subject. There are parts of this one that really made me think it was going to outdo his other books, but then parts where I wanted to close the book and move on.

If you are a fan of Walker’s writing, I would highly encourage you to grab a copy and read it. If you are a long-distance hiking fan or have interest in the El Camino, again, grab a copy.

I’m not sure this book will be something everyone would enjoy, but it’s still worth the read as Walker gives you a good look at the El Camino, it’s history and what it’s like to go through the hike.

Rating

This book was, for the most part, a solid read. It had some downs, but more ups. I know most major sites won’t give half-stars, but that’s their choice, not mine. For this review, I’ll give the book a solid 3.5 stars and highly encourage people to read it.

On the web

See more about Walker at his website.

If you are interested in purchasing The Best Way or any of Walker’s books, feel free to click on any of these links:

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

Book review: The Somebody Obsession

The Somebody Obsession

I stumbled across this book when I was peeking around for some wrestling books — something besides the WWE-released books. The Somebody Obsession: A Nobody’s Desperate Journey to Stardom is a book by former independent wrestler Matt Murphy. Though I’d never heard of Matt Murphy, the book sounded interesting.

This was the story of Murphy in his quest to become a superstar in the world of professional wrestling. He takes you through his life growing up with a dysfunctional and abusive family. He paints the picture of his life and what it was like growing up poor and having to fight for a lot of things. His family moved a lot, too, so he was an outcast at more than one location.

Needless to say, life wasn’t easy. And neither is the world of professional wrestling, especially on the independent circuit.

Now for my thoughts…

The good

I truly think this book can be enjoyed by fans of professional wrestling or by people who aren’t fans. The overlying theme of this book is overcoming adversity and making your own path in life, no matter what your upbringing was.

Murphy paints a picture of his life. He didn’t have it easy growing up. He was abused. He moved a lot. He never really got to get into a groove of being a kid.

Professional wrestling was his savior. He dreamed of being a wrestler and always kept that in mind. He wrote about wrestling. He focused on it. And through all of this, Murphy weaves a story of how he survived an awful childhood, which included having to move around with foster parents, his grandparents and his dysfunctional mother.

He tells a good story. He gives you description that you’ll be able to follow. And that continues beyond his childhood — it is the same when he tells about his highs, lows and ending in professional wrestling. He takes you through his thoughts and the personalities (some major names) who he deals with.

The bad

This book was independently published, which kind of seems fitting. But with that comes with issues. By doing things that way, there are some silly mistakes — such as spelling and grammar errors. Sometimes he seems to ramble a bit, when things could have been condensed. Other times, there were things that I would have thought would have had some more details and explanation, but left me scratching my head.

For the most part, those things didn’t take away from the story. Still, there were times that I’d see a basic error and would nearly yell out. That’s the writer in me, however. I hate seeing errors in books.

This wouldn’t stop me from recommending it to someone else as it’s not like the whole book was an error. But it’s something I would note, just in case people pick up on things like this as I do.

Overall thoughts

What I loved about this book, compared to many wrestling books as I have read, is that it’s candid. Murphy doesn’t hold any punches and calls several people out, including the legendary Harley Race. But he’s also human — he really gives you that slice of life that isn’t always perfect. He’s someone who you can cheer for throughout the book. If you aren’t a wrestling fan, he’ll be the person who will make you care about the book — no matter the subject.

If, however, you are a wrestling fan, Murphy is the face. Against all odds, he battles. He goes against corporate America (WWE), sees the good and bad of the wrestling business and tries to overcome the evil that it can be. Alas, faces don’t always win. So be ready for the heels (bad guys) to put all sorts of road blocks up in Murphy’s way.

I liked the book. It was a fun read and the Kindle edition was priced very well. Give it a go and see Murphy’s story.

Rating

Overall, I liked it. It was a solid read and it kept me interested. I enjoyed the stories and I liked how Murphy brought the reader into the book. There were some frustrating errors, but overall it was pretty strong. I’ll give it a soft 4 — as I think it’s probably a bit better than a 3.5. Give it a read!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook by clicking the button on the right side of the page!

Book Review: The Cards of Unknown Players

I need to start out by saying The Cards of Unknown Players is a Kindle e-Book. It appears to be in other digital forms, too. (A quick check shows it on the Nook, so I imagine it’s out there for other formats, too).

This book reads fast. I don’t think it took me more than a night. Maybe two. It’s a nice story about a father and his son, collecting cards and some life lessons. It’s not just about baseball cards, though. It’s more than that.

The product description says:

A disabled boy finds the baseball card of a non-existent major league player and the boy’s father embarks on a quest to find out how that could have happened. What he finds will give him hope for all the unknown players.

What happens is quite interesting. It’s a cool tale and it’s the right size. With the story being somewhat focused, having a quick read makes it good.

Now for my thoughts…

The good

The story.

Cards of Unknown Players

In this day and age, some books are really in-depth or not thought out. This one is good because it has a solid story. From finding the card, to finding the story about the card.

Where the card leads the father is good, too. It’s not very predictable, which is good.

What I really liked was that in a day when stories seem to go off on different directions all the time, this story stayed on the same line. It didn’t stray. You learned the details. You met the people. And you saw where things went and how they developed. That was a nice part of this eBook.

The bad

The book was far from perfect.

Some might say it was too short. Some might complain about character development (there’s a little, but not a lot). The writing isn’t the most perfect in the world (some grammar and spelling issues). But overall, it’s the normal complaints. I didn’t think there were any major errors to the book and being it kept my attention quite well, some things I overlooked.

Still, it wasn’t perfect, but with it’s length and story, most things can be overlooked.

Overall thoughts

Besides being a fast read, it was good. It was, for lack of a better term, wholesome. It’s a good thing to show relationships between a father and a son and this does it. The other good part is that one doesn’t have to be interested in baseball or baseball cards to read this story.

The book’s plot and ending weren’t predictable, which is nice because it takes you away from thinking this is another sappy book. Though the ending is happy, the way you get to it isn’t the normal way.

Rating

Based on everything from above, I would give this book a strong 3.5. I don’t think it was perfect. The story was strong and the characters were believable. I liked it overall and would recommend someone read it.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook by clicking the button on the right side of the page!