Vagabonding by Rolf Potts

On By J. Patrick LasherIn Book, Book review, ReadingLeave a comment

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Trying to decide on where to start with Vagabonding by Rolf Potts is about like trying to decide on which one of the adventures he recounts in this book you’d like to go one first. Totted as “an uncommon guide to the art of long-term world travel” is actually a bit of an understatement. And with a forward by Tim Ferriss, it definitely peak my interest for a quick read.

Vagabonding is not a particularly long book. And given that a good chunk of it is listing external resources to tap into for your own travels, it is even shorter still. However, this is definitely an example of where quality outmatched quantity. Potts’ broad stroke guiding points is the perfect way to motivate someone to pursue the nomad lifestyle without pigeonholing them into doing exactly what he did and missing the point completely.

There are definitely several different types of people I would recommend Vagabonding to. The person who hadn’t really traveled much and wanted to expand their horizons. The person who has traveled a lot just to tick notches off there metaphorical belt and everyone in between. If there is even a faint hint of the adventurer bug in you, this book will find it and kick it into high gear.

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The Four Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferriss review!

Dark Days: A Memoir by D. Randall Blythe

On By Z. ShroutIn Book, Book review, ReadingLeave a comment

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“Dark Days” is a memoir by Randall Blythe, vocalist for the American metal band Lamb Of God.  It’s a recounting of how, in June 2012, he was abruptly arrested upon touchdown in Prague, where the band was scheduled to perform.  A nightmare situation unfolded as Blythe was told that he was being charged for the manslaughter of a Czech fan at a show two years prior.  Knowing nothing of the country’s language or legal system, Blythe spent over a month in the claustrophobic, sweltering conditions of the infamous Pankrác Prison, after which he was required to return to Prague for his trial.

Blythe also details much of his upbringing, involvement in the music industry, personal struggles, and his beliefs throughout the book.  At times it can get quite wordy, but never without reason.  Blythe always manages to illustrate how these sections relate to his prison experience, and helped him keep his sanity throughout it.

Blythe is an excellent storyteller, witty, passionate, and intelligent.  “Dark Days” runs the gamut of human emotion, and is at times infuriating, hilarious, thought provoking, and devastating.  It’s a tale of a man being dropped in an absurd and terrifying situation, and doing the right thing when everything goes wrong.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone, regardless if they’re a metalhead or a fan of Blythe’s band.  Very few books inspire me to read them a second time.  This book was an exception.  As soon as I was finished, I turned it over and started reading a second time.  And I suspect I’ll read it again soon.

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Diary of an 8-Bit Warrior: From Seeds to Swords by Cube Kid

On By Dylan LasherIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

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This book is about an 8 year old villager, Runt, who is technically a warrior and has a new pet called Jello/Jelly. There are a few problems going on in Village Town. There is a strange forest that is growing outside of the town. Mungo attacks the town. And they are doing a lot of brewing in this book. He is having weird dreams and they have a new golden handbook. Runt is almost level 100! This book is great for people 7 and up

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The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey

On By J. Patrick LasherIn Book, Book review, ReadingLeave a comment

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The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is a telling of Stephen Covey on how to be more efficient, productive, and happy in your life starting from the very bottom (which is you) and working your way to the top (which is everything else). Through his different analogies and personal stories, he guides you through how to be the best you can be. There are a lot of great points in this book.

Mr. Covey has his process broken down into 3 parts. Private Victories, as he calls them, are the first three habits dealing with getting yourself where you need to be to be the best you. Public Victories are taking the Private Victories and applying them into how you interact with other people whether professionally or personally. And the final part, Renewal, takes the previous six habits and putting in a cycle of constantly fine tuning or re-sharpening the saw if you will.

I found this book to be a bit wordy like the title is. Though I plan to take several of the lessons outlined to heart and apply them, I thought a lot of the examples were a bit too personal to the author to help me relate to the particular topic. I would have liked to have seen something that was a bit more generic instead of spending so much time learning way more than I wanted to about Stephen Covey. I would recommend this book but with the disclaimer the reader should be prepared for the content.

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Diary of an 8-Bit Warrior by Cube Kid

On By Dylan LasherIn Book, Book review, Fantacy, ReadingLeave a comment

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This book is about an 8 year old villager, Runt, who wants to be a warrior but his parents want him to be a farmer.  He attends warrior school in Village Town to make his dream come true. On his journey, he meets some new people. He meets Steve who is his combat teacher, Urf who is horribly bad at combat and is called a ‘noob’,  Breeze who is his friend and later on, his partner, and Stump who is his great friend.

This book is great for children 6 and up. If you like this book, then check out Cube Kid’s other books!

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Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling

On By J. Patrick LasherIn Book, Book review, Fantacy, ReadingLeave a comment

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The Prisoner of Azkaban is by far my favorite book in the Harry Potter series. The third book in the 7 book series by J.K. Rowling, the Prisoner of Azkaban really builds the backstory of the characters. It also introduces some history to the world of Harry Potter that hadn’t been portrayed before.

Going along with the previous two books, the Prisoner of Azkaban takes place during Harry, Ron, and Hermione’s third year at Hogwarts. Unlike the first two books, however, this is the first book where the main villain isn’t the feared Voldemort. This is a nice touch as it breaks up the repetitiveness in the series of the ever growing battle between Voldemort and Harry. The Prisoner of Azkaban also dives deeper into Harry’s parentage as well as what the Potter universe looked like before book one.

This book was a great springboard for the magical world of Harry Potter to explode into what it is today. Without Rowling going into more detail about Harry’s parents and really building the foundation of this fictional world, the attachment to characters later in the series wouldn’t have been as strong and thus some of the events less meaningful. This is why this book had the most impact on the success of the story about the boy who lives under the stairs.

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Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card

On By J. Patrick LasherIn Book, Book review, Classic, ReadingLeave a comment

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Ender’s Game was one of my favorite books when I was growing up. Orson Scott Card’s story of a young boy named Ender who finds himself in a world of fear and hate towards an alien race sounds like just another science fiction novel but the plot goes into so much deeper ideas. This is another book I would highly recommend reading before seeing the movie.

A world that is rebuilding after an invasion attempt from an alien race finds itself tipping the scales from being defensive to offensive. Ender, a young man in the esteemed military academy, receives the honor of being enrolled in the officer’s school. Here he accels in his work accomplishing more and more victories until he is promoted to an even more prestigious position. However, this position isn’t all it’s cracked up to be and Ender soon finds his superiors haven’t been entirely honest with him leading him to think deeply about who he is and where his moral compass is pointing him.

I read this book at a great time in my life when I was faced with deciding on what kind of person I wanted to be. Reading Ender’s Game in high school was a happy accident and one that I am going to try to pass on to my son when he gets older. I’ll probably reread it with him and we can go through it together for even more enjoyment.

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Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling

On By J. Patrick LasherIn Book, Book review, Fantacy, ReadingLeave a comment

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Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is the second installment of J.K. Rowling’s wildly successful series about a The Boy Who Lived. Picking up right where the first book left off, it’s impossible not to get excited about what is coming next. Once again, if you haven’t read this one, what are you waiting for?!

In this book, Harry and his friends, Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley, return to the wizarding school of Hogwarts for their second year of education in the mystical arts of witchcraft and wizardry. Rowling shows her skills as an author by keeping up with the continuity from the first book in this very well thought out universe. Furthermore, her ability to show the gradual maturing of the three main characters as well as all the friends and enemies around them is impressive for a second time author.

If you haven’t already read this series, I would highly recommend it and if you have the opportunity to read it alongside children of your own, it is that much more rewarding. Reliving the magical world of Harry Potter with a young one has been very fulfilling experience. I can’t wait to read his review, hopefully coming soon to this blog. Stay tuned.

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Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone review

The Art of War by Sun Tzu

On By J. Patrick LasherIn Book, Book review, Classic, ReadingLeave a comment

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Though not a very long book, The Art of War by Sun Tzu, or Sunzi, has had a substantial impact on the world since its inception. From military strategy, as the title implies, to business tactics, many people have put its teachings to use in a variety of settings. I am not sure I am one of those people for better or worse.

The Art of War was published in the 5th century BC. Composed of 13 chapters, it was meant to be and is still used as a guide for military tactics in China. Translated into French in 1772 and English in 1910, The Art of War has made it around the world and into the playbooks of many of powerful and influential people. Kind of amazing it was originally written on little bamboo sticks.

I actually listened to The Art of War as an audiobook while I was doing my dishes one afternoon. And that’s about how long this book is. Though I didn’t have any kind of battle or situation in mind other than completing my task of cleaning the kitchen, I honestly don’t think I got a lot out of the book other than whatever your opponent is doing, do the opposite and be ruthless about it. Unless they are being ruthless, than be compassionate. Maybe someday I will go through it again and see if the meaning changes. What are your thoughts?

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The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas

On By J. Patrick LasherIn Book, Book review, Classic, ReadingLeave a comment

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The Three Musketeers (I never really got the name. They primarily use swords. Not muskets) is an amazing adventure tale from Alexandre Dumas. Though very long winded in its original form like The Count of Monte Cristo, The Three Musketeers has just as much if not more adventure than it’s successor. The Disney adaptation was pretty good as well.

The story of the The Three Musketeers is a coming of age tale of d’Artagnan, a young man looking for adventure in the early 1600’s. After leaving home for Paris, he finds he can’t fulfill his dream of becoming an honored Musketeer. He does meet 3 of the Guards’ more interesting members: Athos, Porthos, and Aramis. The four of them uncover a plot to assassinate the king and go off on an adventure all over France to thwart it.

This is a great story and with many different versions out there, it is easy to find one for all reading levels. I think at this point I have read several starting at a young age and who knows how many times I’ve seen the Disney movie with Charlie Sheen before he went crazy. I would recommend this book to just about anyone.

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The Count of Monte Cristo review