Finished 12-26-11, rating 4.5/5, non-fiction, 202 pages, pub. 2004

Never lie

Never cheat

Never steal

Don’t whine

Don’t complain

Don’t make excuses

Joshua Hugh Wooden’s “two sets of threes” to live by (John Wooden’s father)

John Wooden, a basketball coaching legend, won 10 national championships in his 27 years at UCLA, but it was his honest and positive approach to life that won him a multitude of fans.  This book chronicles some of the biggest moments of his life and how they influenced him, from his father reading poetry to he and his brothers to the death of his beloved Nell in 1985.  He loved his family, respected others, and was always striving for success, on the court and off.

Jason and I read this aloud to each other for a few minutes each night as Gage listened or played, a perfect book for it.  I hope that Jason will read this with Gage when he gets older.  Wooden is role model because of the way he lived his life.  He had success after success and yet he was always trying to learn lessons from perceived failings.  It was so refreshing to read about someone considered the best in their field who was also just a decent human being. He was 99 when he died in 2010.

The book had lots of pictures and lots of basketball talk and is a perfect read for fathers & sons. 

This book was from my personal library.

Finished 12-24-11, rating 3.5/5, fiction, 180 pages. pub. 2011

Don’t  you feel it?  Christmas is the force field of heightened possibility.  It’s not about religion, those myths we were brought up with are only tools to direct us toward the mystery of the under self.  It’s about the ecstatic visualization of psychic world is calling us toward balanced consciousness.  Don’t you feel that?  There is a lightness and spontaneity that is struggling to get through all the commercial static and leads us out of our linear consciousness into a global wholeness, don’t you?”

Chapter 17

James Sparrow is a very rich man with a pump handle obsession who hates Christmas.  His wife, Joyce (James & Joyce, cute right?) is a graceful woman who loves all things Christmas and would celebrate all year long if she could.  James is preparing to fly to Hawaii for the holiday when he receives a call from his cousin in North Dakota that his Uncle Earl is dying.  Seeing that Uncle Earl was the only good thing about his childhood, James charters his private jet to Looseleaf for a quick visit before continuing on to the warm beaches of Hawaii.  Only the spiritual powers in North Dakota have conspired to ground this modern day Scrooge until he learns to make peace with Christmas.

Once I looked at this book as a modern take on A Christmas Carol I enjoyed it much more.  At first the talking wolf and dream sequences put me off a bit when I was expecting a nice, sweet holiday read.  I’ve never read Keillor so I didn’t know what to expect and while I enjoyed this holiday story I won’t be rushing out to read more.

Checked this book out of the library.

Finished 12-16-11, rating 4.75/5, mystery, 299 pages, pub. 2009

Book 1, Tatoo Shop series

“Can I help you, Officer?” I politely asked his profile.  I knew how to talk to cops: Keep it cordial, no sudden moves.

He was studying the frosted letters on the window, his hands on his hips.  He didn’t look ready to grab the gun or the nightstick that flanked his stocky frame.  He turned his head slowly, his mouth set in a grim line, eyes narrowed as they settled on my face.

It unsettled me.  Usually people stared at the ink on my left arm-a detailed replica on Monet’s water lily garden, complete with a weeping willow and footbridge-or the dragon that creeps up over my right breast under my tank top.

Chapter 1

Brett Kavanaugh, owner of The Painted Lady tattoo shop in Las Vegas, is the last person to have seen a prominent runaway bride.  Brett is caught up in the mystery and finds herself doing some investigative work of her own, leading her to a dead body and big trouble.  Her brother and roommate, Tim, is a detective and tries to save her from herself with limited success.  She also teams up with a rival tattooist and a sexy Brit who obviously knows way more than he should about the missing woman and the dead man.

Brett is awesome.  She owns her own tatoo shop, but she also has a fine art degree in painting, so she’s got credentials.  She moved out to Vegas when she needed to leave the east coast and remains unimpressed with all the trappings of Vegas.  She sees it as an illusion and that makes her a smart cookie.  She is independent (which leads to some dumb decisions) but relies on the help of her friend and co-worker, Joel.  She obviously is too brave for her own good or she wouldn’t be involved in the murderous mess at all.  What’s not to love?

I have no interest in getting a tatoo and I am no fan of Las Vegas (Was there once, stayed at the Four Seasons and the Luxor.  Was sick the entire week so maybe Vegas didn’t get a fair shake) so it was a bit of a surprise to me that I loved this book so much.  I’d seen all the positive reviews, but was turned off by the cover for some reason.  This will end up being one of my favorite books this year and I can’t wait to read the next one in the series.  Who knows, maybe Brett will eventually convince me that tats are cool 🙂 (I do think that a high proportion of people with tattoos are cool, but remain less enamored with the tattoos themselves)

This book had the perfect voice and a strong mystery to make it a fast and fun read.

I checked this book out of the library.