Book Reviews

Whew! A 910 page hardcover book with 160 of those pages for notes, thank you’s, and the index. I learned quite a bit about ole’ Teddy Roosevelt and his, on again, off again, buddy William Taft that I did not know. I love Team of Rivals so much that I thought this was going to ‘rival’ it. Not so much. She spent too much time on details that were related to Teddy and the times that helped understand what was going on, but I found myself skimming…lots of page about McClures Magazine and others.

If you are a history buff, you’ll like this. Lots of details, lots of people, politics, and more. Me, personally, I’m ready to move on to something I can get into. Sorry Doris.

This book was recommended to me from my good friend Rees as we discussed how our parents are aging and we are dealing with many end of life issues…or will be soon.

Atul is a physician that walks himself, and us, through many of the issues people face at the end of their lives. One huge issue is that medicine can keep bodies going for a long time, but not necessarily lives, certainly not quality lives for many. It raises the issue of how do we end our lives? So many people with cancer go through treatments to kill the cancer and extend their life only to find out that they could have foregone the treatments and lived just as long, maybe longer AND they would have had more quality life with people they love. (i.e. NOT in pain, NOT medicated up so much they can’t think / communicate).

He makes the argument that we need to have realistic and open discussions with people on how do they want to live out their final days and REALLY give it to them straight on what the chemo / meds can do and won’t do.

Provocative read. Makes so much sense in many ways but I’m not sure how easy it would be if it is my father. I’ll need to do more thinking on this and maybe even re-read this book as Rees had done.

I was in need of  a book and wandering through Barnes & Noble’s when I stumbled on this one. Because I was going backpacking I did not want a War and Peace sized book, this one was just right, paperback, about 300 pages, with good reviews.

What I found was a treasure. William is a Malawian boy who tells us a story about overcoming hardship in Africa from being poor, to not being able to attend school because his family could not pay, to surviving famine, and more. BUT… then he shows how clever he is and how he teaches himself physics and about electricity to bring windmills to his small village allowing his family to read at night and ultimately to irrigate their land.

Wow, I could not put this book down. I loved it and was inspired from it. I highly recommend this reading this story about a young African boy who makes it to Dartmouth, TedTalks, and a hero in his own village in Malawi.

I enjoyed this book about a young man who was headed down the wrong path and found track in high school as an outlet that gave him self confidence and self esteem to improve his life. It is extraordinary in many ways as he ends up at the Olympics, and then crashing his plane in the ocean in WWII, and even survives a second boat mishap.

There are lots of words of wisdom throughout and was the premise for the movie by Angelina Jolie’s Unbroken.

What struck me was the power of “taking action” and the influence his older brother had encouraging him to do track. My life as a career counselor / coach I hope can influence people by “nudging them” to try something new and maybe, just maybe, I could be that “older brother” who helps a person get on a better track in their life.

Favorite quotes.

“Hope provides the power of the soul to endure”.

“Don’t ask why, ask what’s next?”

“An optimist says the glass is half full. A pessimist says the glass is half empty. A survivalist is practical. He says, Call it what you want, but just fill the glass”.