Author: Robert Caro

Robert Caro is considered the bastion of in-depth journalism and research. His legendary tome, “The Power Broker,” is a 1300 page epic that masquerades as a biography on Robert Moses, but is actually a treatise on how you can accumulate power without holding any prominent position in government. I started it three years ago, made it 400 pages, then my daughter was born… and now it’s back on my reading list for 2021.

Not to be outdone by the multiple awards he got for it, including a Pulitzer, he then decided to produce the most in-depth biography of Lyndon B. Johnson. In fact, it’s so in-depth, the fifth volume is still being written (with each volume weighing in between 500-1200 pages). Again, more awards and yet another Pulitzer.

Which brings us to this book.

It’s a series of essays he wanted to produce and get out to the world as a semi-memoir because… well… he’s getting up in his years and doesn’t know if he’ll have time to release it.

Diving into his mind was a fascinating behind-the-scenes look on what it really takes to produce high quality content. It was a refreshing change from the constant bombardment of advice to “produce quickly” and shows the depth he lovingly takes into non-fiction, where the fad today is to produce a chapter of a good idea, followed by padded out fluff to meet a word count.

He speaks about wanting to understand how power functions, how it works, how to get it and how to wield it and found no greater example than Moses and Johnson.

Caro chronicles the years he took to write The Power Broker, going broke while writing it (he thought it would only take him nine months), but committed to seeing it to the end. He reflects on actually moving to Texas to be around the people Johnson grew up with so he can have a true understanding of what his upbringing was like. He also details the endless hours of research him and his wife spend in libraries and archives, turning over every single page.

If you’ve read all of this before, there might not be enough in this book to entice you. Much of this information can be collated through various interviews and sources freely found online.

However, if you haven’t gone down those rabbit holes and want to get a full appreciation for somebody dedicated to their craft, this is the book to pick up.

Author: Seth Godin

Jumping on a new Seth Godin book is almost a mandate in my world today, as he was the seed that originally inspired my own (almost) daily writing on this site. It’s the little tidbits of his work that stand out and get me back in the chair and thinking about how I can serve others through my own gifts and talents.

While people look at him with guidance in marketing, popularizing terms such as “The Dip,” “Tribes,” and “Purple Cow,” I look at other phrases he brings up:

“Drip, drip, drip.” (Slowly dripping your work out into the world until it breaks down barriers)

“Show up, create art, ship it.” (I’m paraphrasing here)

Knowing he was releasing an entire book purely on the practice of creating and shipping art excited me. It didn’t take long to get through this one and to my regret, I went through it too fast.

One thing to understand is this book isn’t written as a cohesive narrative that builds off of, or leading up to, a grand point, which is the typical structure of a non-fiction book. Instead, it’s a series of smaller entries, each one getting you to think about the bigger picture.

There were several notes I made throughout the book and ideas that both resonated with me and challenged me. There were also points that had me questioning and putting on the brakes, wanting to dialogue with him further on the point.

In particular, there’s a section on being an inauthentic artist. I’m going to come back to it later, but I’ve spoken about it a few times on this side with regards to magic (the audience doesn’t care, they just want a show) and I touch upon it in Teaching Outside the Curriculum. I think we have different ideas of what authenticity means and how it functions.

However, one thing it was successful in doing is reminding me to get my butt back to work and stop making excuses.

It’s just worth nothing that if you are going to pick this up, take it in small sips rather than giant gulps.

Make it to the third book. Just make it to the third book.

That’s what people told me when I thought about reading the Malazan series. Okay, fine, I made it through the first two and dived into the third.

While the first two were epic in scope and had a lot of really amazing scenes, I struggled so hard to follow it all. I know the advice is to just keep going and it’ll all eventually come together (sometimes on the second read through), but it just kept making me feel stupid. Every other page, I kept asking, “Who is this again?” or “Why is this so important?”

But… I soldiered on just to make it through the third book.

Then, being the smart person I am, started this book right as I began the school year, when everything was a mess and I could barely see straight for a month. Trying to figure out how to teach in a pandemic, while helping run a household with young children and adding a very difficult book that requires incredible focus… not the best combo.

However, as I slowly chipped away at the pages, I began to see why people kept saying to make it to the third. This is honestly the longest I’ve ever spent with a text (almost three months!), but I really get it now. I get why this series is so loved.

I get how it starts to come together. How the reader is finally rewarded.

It’s exactly the encouragement I need to continue the series, understanding the extreme amounts of focus required to get through each one.

It’s beautiful… haunting… there’s a lot going on… it doesn’t all make sense… but wow—does it ever come together.

Will I jump right to the next?

Not quite.

I need a palette cleanser. Then I’ll get back to it.

Author: Adam Minter

What happens to your stuff when you donate it?

Your joy is that it’s finally out of your house and your hope is that somebody will be able to make use of it. But the problem is we put it out of our minds the moment it leaves our hands.

The appeal of this book was largely influenced by my wife who is a master thrift shopper and always manages to snag the most incredible finds and deals at secondhand stores. However, upon perusing the shelves with her a few times (mainly to act as a filter), I often wonder how they handle the massive piles of donations happening in the back and what happens to the junk that doesn’t sell.

This is where Minter comes in with an in-depth exploration of the secondhand industry.

There were so many times in this book where points where made that I went, “Oh?”

Starting with the value of our goods and the whole mentality of buying new vs. used. For someone peeling the curtain into this world, it was utterly fascinating. I always assumed we overvalued our own items, but never considered the bias we have when we donate.

Bottom line: there is so much that gets donated every year that it literally floods the market. Quality becomes important from the reseller to the buyer, regardless of their socioeconomic status. Even a less affluent person can tell the difference between crap and decent quality.

Given the scope of the worldwide pursuit of this topic, there was quite a few areas covered: antiques, furniture, books, baby seats, clothing (much is given to the topic of fast fashion) and electronics. To be honest, the last chapter about electronics recycling and the people of Ghana was a slap in the face… and no, it’s not to point directly at the electronics dump at Agbogbloshie made so famous by reporters.

It does get spoken about specifically, but gives the full story behind it.

While my contention with non-fiction books today is the purposefully inflated word count publishers demand of the authors, this didn’t feel that way. Minter had a lot to say and wanted to speak about it in such a way that we get the full picture.

It definitely gets you looking at the stuff in your house in a more critical and careful way.

Authors: Arthur and Elena George

My own path into the depth of Religion, specifically Mysticism, came when I opened a Bible and noticed something peculiar about the very first chapter in Genesis.

God creates the world in seven days.

As a kid, I had a lot of trouble with that narrative and the explanations for it were weak. However, what I noticed is that God creates light on the first day, but the sun, moon and stars on the fourth day. The byproduct is created before the source?

That’s when I knew it was a bad idea to take anything in the Bible literally. There was something else the writers were getting at and some deeper truths to expound upon.

Then, of course, directly after the creation story is another account of creation that contradicts the first one. This is the story culturally referenced, questioned and misunderstood. It’s the Garden of Eden and to even peel the surface of the symbolism of this story is to dive into really murky waters.

As a student of Theology, with a Masters in Religion, I still couldn’t quite wrap my head around it (from a literature/cultural perspective).

This ambitious book right here does a spectacular job of explaining everything.

The Mythology of Eden is written in a straightforward, easy to understand style, but is an in-depth scholarly work on the Eden story. Every single detail is explained and nothing is left to pure speculation from the authors as evidenced by the hundreds of footnotes for each chapter.

Each motif and symbol is given its proper explanation, looking at every single possible influence, latest finds in archeology and historical evidence. As someone who has been studying this for years, I was blown away with how much I learned and the depth of knowledge that was imparted.

You will learn a lot and it can seem heavy at times, but it all leads to the final few chapters about where to go from here. After all, you are given a comprehensive view that shatters every preconception you might’ve had, so why bother looking at this story in the first place?

What does it still have to teach us?

I’m thankful the authors took on this ambitious project because it’s finally helped fill a gap that’s been with me for decades.

Author: Kate Fagan

Any death of a young person is a tragic one.

In this instance, we get an inside look at what pushed a young superstar track athlete to throw herself off the ninth floor of a parking garage during her second semester at the University of Pennsylvania.

As someone committed to the hearts and minds of young people today, I have a soft spot for trying to make sense of their struggles and joys. I’ve always been very bothered by those who want to throw young people under the bus by reaching for simple explanations for their behaviour.

I’ve always maintained that those who complain about this generation have obviously never met them.

And the life left behind by Maddy is a great insight into what’s happening. While Fagan intersperses her own life with Maddy’s, and takes some liberties over what Maddy could be thinking, the artifacts left behind give us a glimpse behind the curtain.

I was struck hard, but not surprised, of how the theme of identity plays throughout Maddy’s story. In a brilliant exposé, one that should be copied everywhere, she brilliantly articulates the dehumanizing mindset the world places on young people today (page 112). She points tot his as a major contributing factor to the skyrocketing levels of anxiety that have been trending for many years now.

Even though there was so much written here (and a big kudos to her family for allowing Fagan unfettered access to Maddy’s belongings), we can never really get the full story. A person’s thoughts always remains with them and the breadcrumbs they leave are only clues.

But, if there’s an opportunity to get some real self-reflection and action to prevent another tragedy from happening again, we owe our thanks for what was written here. This is a story that should be read.

Author: M.J. DeMarco

One word summary: refreshing.

This is an honest book that doesn’t rely on some gimmick to keep it interesting. The language in here is strong, but it’s done in a way to show authentic author voice.

While the book leads towards the path of entrepreneurship as a source of freedom (taken from the author’s own story as the baseline), it’s the smacks to the face along the way that resonated with me.

There‘s a moment in our lives when we either realize we’ve been caught in a script and want out, or accept the script of how life should be and vehemently defend it. DeMarco is heavy handed in his approach to tell you all these scripts we believe and propagated by ‘gurus’ are manufactured.

Real change starts with dispelling the myths, setting a new course and working like hell to get there. These are all ideas I intellectually knew, especially when it came to writing (oh goodness the myths about what it takes to be one), but it was his perspective that made it sink in.

The neat intersection of his ideas and the world fighting a pandemic right now is seeing the societal scripts falling apart. All those things that “couldn’t be done” or “can’t be done” are being done right now. It’s not clear, clean or efficient, but we’re on a pathway there… which is exactly the ready, fire, aim mentality we all need.

However, my biggest appreciation for this book is it doesn’t hook you into wanting to buy more books like it. Instead, it kicks you to take action.

Well worth the read.

Author: Steven Erikson

Where do I even begin?

Oh, I know! Let me explain the process of reading this book:

First 300 pages–What the f!#k is going on!? Who the hell are all these people!?
Why did so many recommend this series to me!?
I’m here because I loved Rejoice, A Knife to the Heart and this writing isn’t anywhere near it!

Page 301–Oh! Oh! No way! It’s making sense now! Holy sh!t this is epic!
frantically turning pages

End–That was satisfying. Another!

Wow… this book does not hold your hand, at all.

It’s not for the feint of heart and if you even think about casually picking away at this, forget it. Put it back on the shelf and go elsewhere. It requires your full focus, paying attention to every detail and a willingness to slow your reading speed down to a halt.

In other words, it will require intelligence.

Just when I thought the days of high fantasy were over, slowly sailing into the background while endless swaths of urban fantasy took the scene, glimmers of hope appeared. Authors willing to stand up and offer something new, grand and rewarding for fans of the genre who have been hopefully waiting for something other than a Tolkien/Jordan knockoff.

Erikson is one of them and I’m excited to be going through the series now, especially when I know the series is complete.

Expect another review when the final one is finished with many expletives, possibly uncensored.

Author: John Green

There’s something satisfying about picking up a John Green book because you know it’s going to be a coming-of-age story, but not in a goofy, commercialized way.

It’s the over-the-top characters you want to relate to, yell at and befriend. And like his other works, it’s about brokenness and working through the pains of life.

Looking for Alaska is teenagers at a boarding school who have twisted backgrounds and befriend each other. What I love is the deviation from the typical plot arc of a drawn-out acceptance of the main character.

Nope–he fits into his group right away and the adventures begin.

I suppose I liked him because the awkward protagonist without a clue is a common motif in my own writing. However, it works really well here because this book divides into two sections (with the crossover point being a hard slap to the face) and the reader gets the satisfaction of seeing some self-actualization near the end.

If you like Green’s writing style, or any of his other books, and want to see where it all began, this one is worth reading.

The Enchantress by Michael Scott


I waited until finishing the series before writing another review.

First, I finished a series, which is something I haven’t done in a long time. That’s already a good sign.

The series started as an action packed narrative filled with historical figures and mythology. In that regard, it easily gripped me.

However, a multiple book series can easily veer off course. Either the story is relegated to nothing but forced action scenes loosely chained together (*ahem* John Wick 3 *ahem*) or goes off in a wildly different direction that’s loosely connected to the first book.

This did neither.

By the third book, the action calmed down, but the depth of the book and its mysteries kept you gripped. It reminded me of the fantasy books I so loved and cherished in high school where almost nothing happens for 600 pages, but you couldn’t stop reading.

I suppose if you didn’t grow up in a time where literature taught (or assumed) patience, the series would lose you. My own bias is the whole idea of “something always needs to be happening!” is nothing more than a reflection of our current society that has chipped away at our patience and made us fearful of our own boredom.

I live for the slow reveal and the climatic reward for sticking it through. And while the final battle scenes didn’t live up to what I felt the author was preparing for, the twist at the end made up for it. I felt delighted as it was happening.

It confirmed my instincts this series was worth finishing.

You have an array of characters, all introduced and handled well so you never lose a sense of who everyone is. There’s magic, conspiracy, history, myth and contemplation of the human spirit.

What more could you want?