Hobbit Lessons by Devin Brown book review

Posted on February 23, 2014 by Guillermo Paz

This is the second book of Devin Brown on The Hobbit I read, as I already reviewed The Christian World of The Hobbit a while back. I have to say I enjoyed this book a bit more, as it is wider in its target. The Lessons it contains can be read by everybody, nevermind which is his / her religion; and that is quite an interesting difference between the two books.

It is also focused on a few teachings from The Hobbit and goes deep inside the meaning and the life lessons instead of translating Tolkien´s words to a biblical analogy.

This is the kind of book you will want to read with a Continue reading →

Animals Talking in All Caps book review

Posted on July 22, 2013 by Guillermo Paz

animals-talking-in-all-caps-book-review Let´s talk a bit about Animals Talking in All Caps.
This is a Tumblr turned book in a trend that will probably go futher the same way as blogs turned books happened. In this case, the books tries to cash in the Meme wave too, as it selects the gimmick of making animals talk, aka internet magic.

The book is very succesful in pulling its gimmick and can certainly catch everyone´s eyes in a bookshelf at a bookstore, and only due to the fact of having animal pictures talking can be a sure shot as a gift.

Wether you find the texts funny or not is just a question of personal taste, and even though I much prefer Grumpy Cat´s memes on Pinterest, I can see Continue reading →

Unthinkable by Clyde Phillips book review

Posted on July 13, 2013 by Guillermo Paz

I´m luckily on a roll. I just finished On These Courts by Wayne Drash, a book that deserved five stars and went on to read Unthinkable by Clyde Phillips next. Another five stars book. Two in a row, baby! Not a lot of these I´ve reviewed so far, as it is actually only the fifth review in this site that I give five stars to, including How Life Imitates Chess and Cannibal Serial Killers.
I have to admit though, it kinda feels like I cheated, since by knowing about the author I could certainly expect a good outcome; after all, Clyde Phillips is not only a great writer, but he was also the EP and Showrunner of Dexter´s first four seasons, the EP of Nurse Jackie and the creator of Parker Lewis Can´t Lose. I mean, freakin´Parker Lewis! That was my Continue reading →

On These Courts by Wayne Drash Book Review

Posted on July 12, 2013 by Guillermo Paz

Anfernee Penny Hardaway was the next big thing in basketball in the nineties. Shaquille O´Neal and him paired in Orlando was going to be the great dynasty of that decade. But it was one of the things that never came to full fruition. They lost the NBA Finals to the Rockets and the dynasty to be self imploded, with Shaquille going to the Lakers and Penny Hardaway´s career derailed by injuries. The star that was supposed to win multiple championships, ended up being a champion as a coach of teens in Memphis. And that is the story told by this book by Wayne Drash.

Pitched as “A story of hope and inspiration, struggle, and triumph, On These Courts reveals the Continue reading →

101 Must-See Movie Moments by Nell Minow Book Review

Posted on July 12, 2013 by Guillermo Paz

The Movie Mom has done it. She reviews 101 Must See Movie moments in this book. The book is not at all about the 101 must see movies. Just the moments.

The official description says: Movie critic Nell Minow (known as “The Movie Mom”) describes 101 must-see movie moments that illuminate cinematic story-telling, from the DBTA (dead by third act) character there to give the hero a learning experience to the unexpected on-set “mistakes” that turned out better than the script.

But that´s not the only thing. The book is very succesful in Continue reading →

The Best of The Best – The Next Chapter – 1001 – 1100 By Chess Informant Book Review

Posted on July 4, 2013 by Guillermo Paz

So, if you are following this site, or my Social Media Accounts, you know I am a chess aficionado, not a great player whatsoever, but rather an intensive amateur standing at 1754 ELO points (from the last time I entered an valid international championship three years ago). But this year I decided I wanted to do more, a lot more, and so FM Josip Asik at ChessInformant was kind enough as to send me a package filled of Chess Books for me to study and analyze in hopes of getting my game to the next level. Continue reading →

Slam Dunk Vol 29 Comic Book Review

Posted on June 21, 2013 by Guillermo Paz

Putting aside the fact that it is reading a comic book about japanese highschool basketball, once you get past that, you can enjoy the comic story and the drawings and the characters. The story of this volume is about a player that is so good that is going to try and find new challenges in America, because there are no other players in Japan that actually can be a threat to them.

That is, until a freshman player does, in his last game in Japan.

The comic goes back and forth between the back story for the main character and the game itself. Even though both characters are fierce competitors, Continue reading →

Who I Am By Pete Townshend book review

Posted on June 21, 2013 by Guillermo Paz

He is one of UK´s biggest rock stars and icons. And that alone is saying something, as the United Kingdom has produced some of the biggest names in music, ranging from the Rolling Stones and The Beatles, to U2 and Blur and Oasis. Among that royalty is The Who, a band that not only featured some of the most celebrated albums ever, and also produced some pieces like rock operas as Tommy, and managed to become the voice of a generation. And, if that was not enough, Pete Townshend is the epytome of the rock guitar player, both criticized and celebrated for his on stage antics and tricks that ultimately made every guitarist after him take at least one page out of his book. Continue reading →

Chicken Soup for the Soul Raising Kids on the spectrum Book Review

Posted on June 14, 2013 by Guillermo Paz

This review was done by Dayana in Spanish for her blog and for mine in English.

This is a book that its full title is longer as it is 101 inspirational stories for parents of children with Autism and Asperger´s by Dr Rebecca Landa of the Kennedy Krieger Institute, Mary Beth Marsden, Nancy Burrows and Amy Newmark. And follows the lines of the whole Chicken Soup for the Soul collection of telling short life stories of different themes, in this case, parenting stories that have to deal with Asperger´s and Autism.

It has some things that made me think of other books like Family caregivers and Stay at home moms, as they tackle, albeit from diferent perspectives and spirits, stories that are related. Continue reading →

Notes of a Tourist on Planet Earth by JD Smith book review

Posted on June 9, 2013 by Guillermo Paz

When I started studying stand up comedy, my professor told me, there´s no harder task than to make someone laugh. After all if you want to cry you can use a good onion and it will make you cry, but there´s no vegetable that can make you laugh. So we need to cherish those who make us laugh.

And what´s most important, not everybody laughs at the same things. In the case of Notes of a Tourist on Planet Earth by JD Smith I was not fully engaged to it and failed to laugh from what I read, but I can see some other people laughing wholeheartedly at the texts. I guess I am not the target. After all, I did not like the Hitchhiker´s Guide to the Galaxy. So, what I am Continue reading →

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