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Book Reviews

Favorite Books of the Year

If you are looking for ideas to give to a reader on your gift list, here are my favorite books of the year. I’ve read around ninety books as I write this (it might not get to 100 by the end of the year, but it will be close). So the pool of choices is fairly broad, though of course there are thousands (millions?) unread. Still, I like these and think you might too.

So here goes, my favorites of the year:

The grand prize winner, my absolute favorite book of the year, is A Pilgrimage to Eternity by Timothy Egan. …

Book Reviews,

Three Book Suggestions

Has there ever been a better time to pick up a good book?

Staying at home is our new national calling, and reading a good book is a great investment of our extra time (besides, Tiger King is basically fast food for the brain; you really shouldn’t have too much of it).

If you need book suggestions, here are three favorites I’ve read this year. It took some doing for me to limit this to just three books!

It’s hard not to love with The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy by Rachel Joyce. This is something like a …

Book Reviews,

Book Buying Guide

Looking for a good book to buy as a last minute gift? I’ve got a few suggestions. My reading list for 2016 is over 100 books again this year and it’s been tough to keep this list short!

Winning the “Best Book to Make You Smile, Laugh, and Become Intrigued by the Storyline” award is Robin Sloan’s Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore. Set in San Francisco and Silicon Valley, occasionally in New York, it’s a fun book for anybody who loves books, coding, and fantasy.

If nonfiction story telling is more your thing, then the winner of the “Best Book …

Book Reviews, Junkyard Wisdom Book, So you think you're a writer?,

So What Are People Saying About Junkyard Wisdom?

I’m way too lazy to do a real book tour. But a blog tour sounds doable!

Maybe you remember the days when authors would go on book tours. They’d show up at the local bookstore to talk or read from their book, sign a few copies, and then head on to the next town. Some still do that.

But the more efficient way is to do a blog tour — a combination of interviews, reviews, conversations, even podcasts, all from the comfort of my computer screen. I get fewer frequent flyer miles, but it’s far easier!

Below are several blogs …

Book Reviews,

The Gospel of Wealth

Andrew Carnegie had an amazing impact on philanthropy and our understanding of wealth. His book is flawed in some ways, but well worth reading. Here’s a summer rerun for you. Originally posted a couple of years ago, it’s a good reminder.

Somebody once told me that Warren Buffet gave Bill Gates a copy of The Gospel of Wealth by Andrew Carnegie when Gates expressed interest in giving back to society. Not long afterward the Gates Foundation was created.

Is the book that powerful? Well, no. Nor do I think Gates was influenced solely by this book. But it is an …

Book Reviews,

Reading List Version 1.0

Can you believe we are halfway through 2014 already? I can’t, but then maybe because I’ve had my nose in a book the whole time. Here is my reading list for the year thus far. I highly recommend The Boys in the Boat for human interest, The Bully Pulpit for history, Soul Keeping for spiritual development, Asia’s Cauldron for current events, Street Smarts for business, It Happened in Wisconsin for a fun summer read, and Their Eyes Were Watching God for the sheer beauty of a brilliant novel.

The list below is in the chronological order of how I read …

Book Reviews,

Even more books!

If you just came across this blog recently you’d probably think I only write about good food and good wine. But alas, man does not live by bread alone. Or wine.

So to break it up a bit, here’s the list of books I’ve read the past three months. The title of each book is also a link to the actual review if you want to go deeper. Hope you enjoy it:

The Miracle of Freedom: 7 Tipping Points That Saved the World, by Chris Stewart and Ted Stewart, is not a particularly good book. Skip it.

Independence…