DOING THE RIGHT THINGS, HENRY AARON AND ANDREW YOUNG

Sometimes you read a review of a book and you say, "Well, I can't do any better than that. There is nothing left unsaid." Such is the case with Mitch Albom's blurb for UNFINISHED BUSINESS: One Man's Extraordinary Year of Trying to Do the Right Things by LEE KRAVITZ.

"Everyone complains about not having enough time – but what happens when we get it? Lee Kravitz used losing his job as a springboard to the human things he should have done. In so doing, he turned bad into bountiful. A great lesson for us all."—Mitch Albom, author of Have A Little Faith

Of course I haven't read the book yet, but Albom's quote summed up for me exactly why I really do want to know Kravitz' story.

Oh, the stack gets higher but I do not despair.

http://www.bloomsburyusa.com/books/catalog/unfinished_business_hc_753

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A little while back I posted my review of a recent biography of Willie Mays. I still say that book was astounding in its depth of research. After reading it I agreed with the author that Willie Mays may be the greatest baseball player of all time.

Now comes THE LAST HERO: A Life of Henry Aaron by HOWARD BRYANT. Aaron's career more closely paralleled by childhood so, while I clearly loved the Mays book, I could be more personally invested in this one. Aaron was an enigmatic figure: a black star in the deep south. I also remember he batted cross-handed. I touched his forearm once as a teenager when he made an appearance at a minor league all-star game in my hometown.

The point is, with Mays' story fresh in my mind, perhaps I need to compare and contrast these two men who are forever in the discussion as best ever.

http://www.howardbryant.net/

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And, finally today, in another crossover from recent reading, civil rights leader ANDREW YOUNG and KABIR SEHGAL deliver WALK IN MY SHOES: Conversations Between a Civil Rights Legend and His Godson on the Journey Ahead.

Honestly, I feel a little icky after giving even faint praise to a Buckley yesterday so I have to get Karmic Equality today by promoting something more close to my belief system. :)

http://us.macmillan.com/walkinmyshoes

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New Releases from Hachette

New this week from Hachette one of my favorite authors, John Feinstein, delivers another golf book. MOMENT OF GLORY: The Year Underdogs Ruled Golf hits bookstore shelves this week. The book is the story of the 2003 golf season in which Tiger Woods struggled with his golf swing and didn't win a single major.

Feinstein always has impeccable sources and is a storyteller who knows how to keep the narrative going. He is one of the few writers of whom I can say I will read everything he writes that I can get my hands on.

http://www.feinsteinonthebrink.com/

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Avis Cardella gives us SPENT: Memoirs of a Shopping Addict, a cautionary tale for those among us with the compulsion to acquire "stuff" in a search for happiness. I am interested in people and their stories and this one has the potential to be a compelling and educational read.

http://www.aviscardella.com/book/

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Out in paperback this week is LOSING MUM & PUP: A Memoir by CHRISTOPHER BUCKLEY. This book chronicles the 11-month period where Christopher Buckley lost both his mother and his father, the illustrious William F. Buckley. While I cannot say i was ever fond of William F. Buckley, I did always find him intriguing. Buckley the Younger is usually pretty funny and sarcastic in his writing and I am curious to see how he handles the difficult task of writing about the loss of both parents.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/author/christopher-buckley/

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http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/

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Behind the Scenes Business Battle

New this week from Houghton-Mifflin Harcourt is WAR AT THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Inside the Struggle to Control an American Business Empire by Sarah Ellison. I often enjoy reading books about companies and their "inside stories". Ellison, a former WSJ staffer, give the real story behind Rupert Murdoch's deal to buy the paper's parent company Dow Jones. According to Ellison, Murdoch's plan all along was to go up against and try to defeat the liberal New York Times. This book was excerpted in Vanity Fair magazines June issue. I really, really want to read this book.




http://www.sarahellison.com/

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http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/

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Laughing, Drinking and Soldiering with Simon & Schuster

O.k., I'll admit it. I like Jay Mohr. I don't know why, but I do. But for some reason I'll read his books, watch his television shows and listen to his sportsradio gigs.

I read his first book in which he described his time on Saturday Night Live, a time that wasn't the happiest for him. But this week he brings us NO WONDER MY PARENTS DRANK: Tales from a Stand-Up Dad.

One review says the book is as "charming as it is irreverent."

Good enough for me.

http://books.simonandschuster.com/No-Wonder-My-Parents-Drank/Jay-Mohr/9781439173213

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Next up is Daniel Okrent with LAST CALL: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition. I have read about ten reviews of this book and, without exception, they all praise the author's meticulous research and detail. Variously praised as a "page turner" or "fascinating" and "entertaining", it should appeal to non-fiction lovers across the board.

From his website:

"For a while, I wanted to call my book How the Hell Did That Happen? -- how, in other words, did a nation that loves its freedom install in the Constitution an amendment that sorely limited that freedom. I backed off from using it as a title, but I believe I've answered both that question and its corollary -- how Prohibition happened, and what it did to America. I hope you'll join me on a voyage toward answering both questions, and that you'll enjoy reading about it as much as I enjoyed writing about it."

I would like to read this book and it doesn't hurt that the author is one of the founders of fantasy baseball. I mean, I am predisposed to like him.

http://www.danielokrent.com/

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And, finally, in paperback this week comes HORSE SOLDIERS: The Extraordinary Story of a Band of U.S. Soldiers Who Rode to Victory in Afghanistan by DOUG STANTON.

This book intrigued me when it originally came out in hardcover, but I never had an opportunity to grab it. The book tells how a small group of Special Forces soldiers entered Afghanistan on horseback following 9/11 to pursue the Taliban.



http://www.dougstanton.net/

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http://www.simonandschuster.com

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Intellectual Wednesday with Rodale Books

Rodale Books released an interesting non-fiction title this week: THE INTELLECTUAL DEVOTIONAL BIOGRAPHIES: Revive Your mind, Complete Your Education, and Acquaint Yourself with the World's Greatest Personalities by David S. Kidder & Noah D. Oppenheim. The (I think) fifth in the series of Intellectual Devotionals promises to be one of those kinds of books I like to keep nearby for those days when nothing else sounds good. As far as the daily entries go...well... I'm not very good at staying within the confines of daily readings. But I do really want to read this book. At least then I can pretend to be intellectual and stuff.

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Tuesdays With Random House

Random House has a couple of new release books that interest me this week, and a couple which come out in paperback today too.

First, a heavily promoted title on Twitter, OTHER PEOPLE'S REJECTION LETTERS: Relationship Enders, Career Killers, and 150 Other Letters You'll Be Glad You Didn't Receive edited by Bill Shapiro. Shapiro hit it big with OTHER PEOPLE'S LOVE LETTERS a while back.

http://www.randomhouse.com/crown/features/other-peoples-rejection-letters/

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Next up, a cute little offering from Kate Moses entitled CAKEWALK: A Memoir. Promoted as a funny and touching memoir of a crummy and crumby childhood. As an added bonus, nearly every chapter includes a recipe by Ms. Moses. Reading and eating are two of my favorite things.

http://www.katemoses.com/site/books/cake-walk/

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Out this week in paperback is a winner of both the Pulitzer Prize (perhaps you've heard of it) and the National Book Award (no slouch either), THE FIRST TYCOON: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt by T.J. Stiles. To say this book should be on the shelf of every serious non-fiction reader is to state the obvious. And, living in Nashville, I am confronted by the Vanderbilt name on a daily basis...might as well get some context.

http://www.tjstiles.com/disc.htm

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And, finally this week, Nassim Nicholas Taleb delivers THE BLACK SWAN: The Impact of the Highly Improbable (Second Edition, with a new section: "On Robustness and Fragility". If you like Malcolm Gladwell, and I do, this book seems to be a book you might enjoy. I really want to read this one.

http://www.fooledbyrandomness.com/

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http://www.randomhouse.com

http://crownpublishing.com

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It's a Harper Collins Monday

Harper Collins has several books coming out this week worth a mention in the non-fiction world. This week Harper Collins delivers a couple of baseball books, two humorous memoirs and an old favorite goes into paperback. Several HC books are vying for my non-fiction attention.
First up, let's talk sports. STEINBRENNER: The Last Lion of Baseball by New York Daily News baseball columnist Bill Madden (and a member of the baseball hall of fame) delivers a no-holds-barred bio of former owner George Steinbrenner. While decidedly not a Yankee fan, I bet this book would be interesting for anyone, even myself, who lived through the years when George was at the helm.

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/columnists/madden/index.html

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Staying on the diamond, and specifically with the Damn Yankees REGGIE JACKSON: The Life and Thunderous Career of Baseball's Mr. October by Dayn Perry. Even though Jackson never played on a team I could like, I always liked him. In the days before sportswriters would write openly of players they couldn't stand (see Barry Bonds), I had no idea Jackson was thought of as a prima donna until late in his career. Regardless, I would love to know more about this enigmatic slugger.

http://reggiejackson.com/

http://daynperry.com/

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History comes knocking with another highly-anticipated Kenneth C. Davis gem: A NATION RISING: Untold Tales of Flawed Founders, Fallen Heroes, and Forgotten Fighters from America's Hidden History. See http://bookspin.blogspot.com/2010/05/on-my-radar-monday-edition.html

http://www.dontknowmuch.com/

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Described as a real-life To Kill a Mockingbird, Alex Heard gives us THE EYES OF WILLIE McGEE: A Tragedy of Race, Sex, and Secrets in the Jim Crow South.

http://eyesofwilliemcgee.com/

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Late night favorite Craig Ferguson hits paperback with his AMERICAN ON PURPOSE: The Improbable Adventures of an Unlikely Patriot.


http://www.cbs.com/late_night/late_late_show/

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Speaking of paperback, one of my recent favorites CRAZY FOR THE STORM: A Memoir of Survival by Norman Ollestad hits the shelves this week. Get this book for anyone who loves avdventure. See http://bookspin.blogspot.com/2010/05/still-crazy-after-alluha-year.html

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An intriguing release this week is THE LOST GIRLS: Three Friends, Four Continents. One Unconventional Detour Around the World by Amanda Pressner, Jennifer Baggett and Holly Corbett.

http://www.lostgirlsworld.com/

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And, finally, a book I will be reviewing: MANHOOD FOR AMATEURS: Pleasures and Regrets of a Husband, Father, and Son by bestselling fiction author Michael Chabon.

http://www.michaelchabon.com/Michael_Chabon/Home.html

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http://www.harpercollins.com

Still Crazy After All...uh...a Year

(Note: this is my original review of this book. CRAZY FOR THE STORM is coming out next week in paperback. I cannot recommend this book strongly enough.)

Well, I hate to sound overly dramatic, but I have just finished one of the best books I have read in a long time.

To be released in May from Ecco, an imprint of Harper, is Crazy For the Storm by Norman Ollestad.

On February 19, 1979, I was in a plane crash with my father;
his girlfriend, Sandra; and the pilot of our chartered Cessna.
Sandra was 30 years old. My dad was 43. I was 11.
Just after sunrise, we slammed into a rugged 8,600-foot mountain
engulfed in a blizzard. By the end of our nine-hour ordeal,
I was the only survivor.

In my estimation, it is a true test of a writer's abilities if they can tell you awful things in a beautiful way (see Rick Bragg's All Over But the Shoutin'). In alternate chapters, Ollestad tells the story first of the plane crash and in the next chapter, wonderful tales of a young boy's relationship to the world around him, but especially the one with his own father.

Larger than life, Ollestad's dad had been a child actor and an FBI agent -- albeit one who dared to criticize in print the famed director, J. Edgar Hoover. This tidbit is merely spice in the soup which was the life the father led. Throughout the book it is proven that Ollestad's dad, also named Norman, was one of those people we often envy -- they live life on the edge, fast and rebellious, and far too often flame out early.

All the characters in the book, even the minor ones, are painted with such a realistic brush that I felt real empathy for young Norman throughout all the adventures with his dad. Despite what some people may see as a reckless and "pushy" style of fathering, what comes shining through is the real love between the two.

In later chapters, the son finally comes to grips with the loss of his father. With a decades later trip to the crash site, son talks to father in the solitude. He apologizes to the ghost of his dad's girlfriend. And, in one of those epiphanies we all experience from time to time, he realizes that memory is sometimes faulty but that there is always some mystical influence on our lives.

I cannot say enough how much I loved this book.



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http://www.normanollestad.com/

http://www.harpercollins.com

What I'm Reading Now

Every once in a while it all comes together: a book you really want to read is as good as you expect. Yesterday I received Hampton Sides' HELLHOUND ON HIS TRAIL: The Stalking of Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Largest Manhunt in American History. The narrative moves quickly and, even though you know what's coming....the suspense still builds.

So far, so good.

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http://hamptonsides.com

http://doubleday.knopfdoubleday.com/

On My Radar - Monday Edition

I haven't always like studying history. Just ask Mr. Runyon, my 12th-grade history teacher. Many days I would walk in, place my books on my desk, and then go meet one friend or another and go off on our own adventures while my classmates had to settle for what I ignorantly considered to be boring stuff like Emancipation Proclamations and Manifest Destinies.

As I have said before, a vacation to Washington DC, and a trip to be a best man in Boston kindled my adult interest in the history of America. Now I can't get enough trivia about our wars, our expansion westward and our journey from colonies to world power.

To that end, I have many of Kenneth C. Davis' books on my shelves. Talk about the marriage of history and trivia, Davis is the master. His new book, out next week, A NATION RISING: Untold Tales of Flawed Founders, Fallen Heroes, and Forgotten Fighters from America's Hidden History sounds wonderful.



I can't wait to read about the past in the future.

Davis is the author of the "Don't Know Much About..." series. A terrific addition to any history lover's bookshelf.

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http://www.dontknowmuch.com

http://www.harpercollins.com

On My Radar - Friday Edition

Even though I live in Nashville, the home of country music, I am not a huge country music fan. Like everyone, I have my own personal taste in music. The country music that I like tends to be either old school George Jones or Merle Haggard, or more contemporary folk-country like Nanci Griffith or Todd Snider. But I try to take each performer on their own merits.

To be honest, I haven't heard that much of the music of Chely Wright but I know of her. In reading the publicity about the book, she sounds like someone I'd like to read about:

In her memoirs, titled 'Like Me,' Chely traces her musical journey back to her childhood in Kansas. She chronicles her dreams and aspirations of a career in music, and the harsh realities of recording contracts and concert tours. Chely shares stories from her seven trips overseas to perform for U.S. troops, as well from as her friendships with stars like Vince Gill and Brad Paisley.

I think I'd like to read this book.

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http://chely.com/

http://www.randomhouse.com

On My Radar

Today's On My Radar is LIFE WOULD BE PERFECT IF I LIVED IN THAT HOUSE by Meghan Daum. They say don't judge a book by its cover, but, after many years in book retail I can tell you that people do. We all do. Book titles also grab us and I am not ashamed to say a book with a cute title will get my attention every time.

I used to change the furniture around in my bedroom several times a year. I would get bored with the layout and try to find the perfect way to display all my stuff. I didn't know about feng shui. I didn't know what I was doing was called "interior decorating." And I certainly didn't know all the jokes about guys who liked it.

But this book is about the house...not a home, the actual physical house. To be more precise: the perfect house. The ideal of it, the search for it and the dream of it making you whole.

I have never read Ms. Daum, but I just went to her website and subscribed to her column.

I want to read her book.

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http://www.meghandaum.com

http://www.randomhouse.com

What I'm Reading Now

I love her on the Daily Show with John Stewart and now I'm getting to know why she's so damn funny. So far I've learned that she was practically "allergic to the Sun" growing up, that she wanted to marry Jesus, and she was desensitized to porn by the time she was nine years old.

And I'm only on page 57.

I KNOW I AM, BUT WHAT ARE YOU? by Samantha Bee arrives June, 2010 from Gallery Books, a division of Simon & Schuster.

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