diff --git a/content/reviews/books/adult-stuff.md b/content/reviews/books/adult-stuff.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..df5c1bb --- /dev/null +++ b/content/reviews/books/adult-stuff.md @@ -0,0 +1,42 @@ ++++ +title = "Adult Stuff: Things You Need to Know to Win at Real Life - Robert Boesel, Matt Moore" +date = 2020-02-09 + +[taxonomies] +tags = ["books", "reviews", "fun", "robert boesel", "matt moore"] ++++ + +[GoodReads Summary](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26544444-adult-stuff): +Sometimes your first steps into the "real world" send you falling flat on your +face. It's natural to be optimistic about new experiences, but most of us set +ourselves up only to be let down every time. And disappointment hurts like a +$%&*#. + +News flash: You don't have to be an Einstein to survive adult life. You don't +even have to abandon your standards to get what you want. All you have to do +is keep your expectations realistic. + + + +{{ stars(stars=3) }} + +Alright, right up front, let me say that it is weird to read a book about "How +to Survive Real Life When You Just Got Passed Your Teens and Now Need to Work +and Keep a Place and Have a Life" when you're 43. But here we are. + +One thing the book does (although a bit too flourish for my taste) is to +destroy all those dreams of a perfect life: Oh, you're out of your parents +apartment? Sure, you can have that huge loft Tom Hanks have in "Big", or a +nice apartment like the ones in "Friends"? NOT! Oh, sharing with someone you +go fine? It will be like "Friends", every day! SIKE! + +So, yeah, it is not that bad, but it is not a dream. + +But instead of saying "Nope" all the time, the book tries to give some advice +on how to survive this dark times. I think it missed the point sometimes; for +example: dripping faucet? Hire someone. Why not buy two, play with one till +you understand how it fits and then try the other one. Sure, hiring someone +and watching over their shoulder how to do is something I do all this time -- +I'm not kidding here -- but you can also experiment yourself. You'd pay +double, but if you manage to understand how things work, you'll have a spare +and if you break it, at least you got it shouldn't work. diff --git a/content/reviews/books/broetry.md b/content/reviews/books/broetry.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..778b187 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/reviews/books/broetry.md @@ -0,0 +1,25 @@ ++++ +title = "Broetry Poetry for Dudes - Brian McGackin" +date = 2020-01-26 + +[taxonomies] +tags = ["books", "reviews", "fun", "brian mcgackin"] ++++ + +[GoodReads Summary](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10326288-broetry-poetry-for-dudes): +As contemporary poets sing the glories of birds, birch trees, and +menstruation, regular guys are left scratching their heads. Who can speak for +Everyman? Who will articulate his love for Xbox 360, for Mama Celeste's frozen +pizza, for the cinematic oeuvre of Bruce Willis? + + + +{{ stars(stars=4) }} + +Don't let the title fool you: It may sound like a book with bro-dude stuff, +like women being bitches, the parties all nights to get bitches and so on, but +there is none of this here. + +It's more about life, about growing up, with some fun tones -- I specially +recommend the one that describes a whole life in 3 or so pages using only +movie titles. diff --git a/content/reviews/books/christopher-walken-a-to-z.md b/content/reviews/books/christopher-walken-a-to-z.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..11ec081 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/reviews/books/christopher-walken-a-to-z.md @@ -0,0 +1,29 @@ ++++ +title = "Christopher Walken A to Z: The Man, the Movies, the Legend - Robert Schnakenberg" +date = 2020-02-18 + +[taxonomies] +tags = ["books", "reviews", "fun", "biography", "christopher walken", "robert schnakenberg"] ++++ + +[GoodReads Summary](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23838378-christopher-walken-a-to-z): +The Complete Guide To All Things Walken. + + + +{{ stars(stars=3) }} + +It's "The Big Bad Book of Bill Murray", but for Christopher Walken: Stories, +people, movies, things related to the Christopher Walken, in alphabetical +order. + +Is it good? Well, that's the point I can really say. One thing that annoys me +is that most of what is said in the book comes from other sources; Walken is +never interviewed, but all the information is taken from other books and +interviews and whatnot, but nothing directly said for the book. Also, because +I'm not a super-fan, I can't validate if things are interesting or not, so it +ends up being a compilation of information about an (recluse, private) actor. + +It may be good if you just found out about Christopher Walken and want some +opinion about his movies, and what to watch next and such and get some +information in the more boring scenes. diff --git a/content/reviews/books/employees-gone-wild.md b/content/reviews/books/employees-gone-wild.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d5ba1a2 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/reviews/books/employees-gone-wild.md @@ -0,0 +1,38 @@ ++++ +title = "Employees Gone Wild: Crazy (and True!) Stories of Office Misbehavior, and What You Can Learn From the Mistakes of Others - Richard Burton" +date = 2020-01-26 + +[taxonomies] +tags = ["books", "reviews", "fun", "richard burton"] ++++ + +[GoodReads Summary](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23130072-employees-gone-wild): +Richard Burton has tales you won’t believe actually happened over his decades +spent as the attorney hired by companies to protect them when their employees +act out. Employees Gone Wild collects some of the most outrageous and +absolutely-true stories (names changed to protect the guilty of course) from +Burton’s years on the job, along with his indispensable practical advice on +how companies and the people that work for them can avoid the same pitfalls. + + + +{{ stars(stars=3) }} + +Strange office stories happen everywhere, being passed along from generation +to generation of new employees by old sages. + +And this book captures the stories of one of those sages. + +Some of the stories are funny, some are really weird, but all of them have +some points in case you get caught in a similar situation, by someone who has +some ideas about labor law and works for HR (the author mentions that he is, +actually, a labor lawyer, but since there is a disclaimer that you shouldn't +take the suggestions as facts, I'm downplaying the position a bit). This means +that every freaky story have some pointers on what one shouldn't do and what +management should do in case something like that should happen. + +The last chapter is a downer, though. Instead of funny/freaky, the stories are +mostly discrimination and the tone gets really serious -- with reason. + +Still, it's kinda interesting seeing that your office is not the only weird +one diff --git a/content/reviews/books/k-is-for-knifeball.md b/content/reviews/books/k-is-for-knifeball.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..de41b2e --- /dev/null +++ b/content/reviews/books/k-is-for-knifeball.md @@ -0,0 +1,35 @@ ++++ +title = "K is for Knifeball: An Alphabet of Terrible Advice - Avery Monsen, Jory John" +date = 2020-01-26 + +[taxonomies] +tags = ["books", "reviews", "fun", "avery monsen", "jory john"] + ++++ + +[GoodReads Summary](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14553581-k-is-for-knifeball): +From the authors of the breakout bestseller All my friends are dead. (more +than 175,000 copies sold) and in the humorous vein of Go the F**k to Sleep +comes a laugh-out-loud collection of bad advice that turns the children's +alphabet book on its head. Adorable illustrated characters lead readers down a +path of poor decision-making, and alphabetical, rhyming couplets offer +terrible life lessons in which O is for opening things with your teeth, F is +for setting Daddy's wallet on fire, and R is for Raccoon (but definitely not +for rabies). With plenty of playfully disastrous choices lurking around every +corner, this compendium of black humor may be terrible for actual children, +but it's perfect for the common-senseless child in all adults. + + + +{{ stars(stars=3) }} + +What would happen if you mix "Please Go To Fucking Sleep" with an ABC book? "K +is for Knifeball". + +It's a "for-kids-but-not-kids" kinda of book: For example, "D is for Drifter, +which you should call to get in when your parents aren't at home" and "F is +Food, which you should give for the drifter living under your bed" (or +something around those lines)... Pretty much what "Go To Fucking Sleep" does. + +Surely one wouldn't recite the book to a kid anyway, and being really short, +I'm not sure about the re-readability of it. Still, it is somewhat amusing. diff --git a/content/reviews/books/the-league-of-regrettable-superheroes.md b/content/reviews/books/the-league-of-regrettable-superheroes.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0bea57d --- /dev/null +++ b/content/reviews/books/the-league-of-regrettable-superheroes.md @@ -0,0 +1,47 @@ ++++ +title = "The League of Regrettable Superheroes: Half-Baked Heroes from Comic Book History - Jon Morris" +date = 2020-02-02 + +[taxonomies] +tags = ["books", "reviews", "fun", "comics", "superheroes", "jon morris"] ++++ + +[GoodReads Summary](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23164984-the-league-of-regrettable-superheroes): +You know about Batman, Superman, and Spiderman, but have you heard of Doll +Man, Doctor Hormone, or Spider Queen? In The League of Regrettable +Superheroes, you’ll meet one hundred of the strangest superheroes ever to see +print, complete with backstories, vintage art, and colorful commentary. So +prepare yourself for such not-ready-for-prime-time heroes as Bee Man (Batman, +but with bees), the Clown (circus-themed crimebuster), the Eye (a giant, +floating eyeball; just accept it), and many other oddballs and oddities. +Drawing on the entire history of the medium, The League of Regrettable +Superheroes will appeal to die-hard comics fans, casual comics readers, and +anyone who enjoys peering into the stranger corners of pop culture. + + + +{{ stars(stars=4) }} + +An encyclopedia of failed super-heroes. + +The intro for the book is really good in the point that, today, super-heroes +are all in rage in the movies. But there are those who failed to get some +attention and died in the darkness of the comic book world. + +So, here they are. + +I just felt it could have a bit more about the background of the heroes. Sure, +some were promotional heroes (like NFL hero, the trucker hero, and so on) but +still, what was the catalyst for the creation of such hero: Was it the times, +the culture change, some requirement from higher ups, drugs...? Also, powers: +Some have a short list of super powers they got, but they are not complete -- +surely, it's mentioned that some heroes go through several revisions, so their +powers change, but one could consider a revision another hero and just keep +the powers with the heroes+revision. I'm saying this 'cause, as an +encyclopedia, it would be nice to have an index by powers, so when one is +looking for that hero that have, say, the power to create bubbles, one could +just check the index for "bubbles" and there you go. + +The book also need some more careful work by the editors. There are a couple +of misspellings around, like a "thsoe" in the middle of the sentence. It's not +that hard to figure out what was meant in these cases, but still... annoying.