Review: Life at 8 mph: How a Man with Cerebral Palsy Taught Me the Secret to Happiness by Peter Bowling Anderson

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Synopsis

In the spirit of Tuesdays with Morrie, Life at 8 mph is the rare book that celebrates the friendship between two men while reminding readers that everyone has something to offer, regardless of physical limitations.

When Peter Bowling Anderson began working for Richard Herrin, a man with cerebral palsy, Peter didn't want the job. But the role as Richard's assistant became a life-changing experience that opened Peter's eyes to what life is really about, what joy actually looks like, and how courage is truly defined.

Richard taught Peter that it was never too late to start over if only he would be willing to break through the walls he'd hidden behind for years. After five years of working with Richard, Peter had a new outlook on life, faith, and love—and a new wife he never would have met without Richard's encouragement.

Peter Bowling Anderson's heartfelt debut inspires readers to question their assumptions, push beyond their boundaries, and view their struggles as springboards to authentic, lasting happiness.

Review

The greatest blessings in life come from those humble moments when you initially judge a book by its cover. 8 MPJ started with a guy taking a part time job as a tutor for a man who he almost gave up on firsts sight. Richard, pursuing his degree, had cerebral palsy which he faced his own challenges but determined to rise above. Life had something different in mind for Peter. He ended up being the student, getting one of the greatest lessons of his life.

I really appreciate this book giving a voice to Richard. When people have a physical handicap, people tend to treat them like they are children or sometimes like they aren’t as good as themselves. How refreshing to read a character in this predicament live life on his own terms. Despite his condition crippling his physical body, he didn’t allow it to define him. He had his challenging moments but life couldn’t keep up with him. Despite his obstacles, his inspiring determination to succeed in life and be someone, made me want to see where his character would go.

An unlikely pairing but a determined by fate, their personal and professional friendship grow on a journey that takes the reader on a heartfelt journey. There are so many takeaways that are so important especially that everyone is somebody that deserves happiness, love and the right to have a great life. This book was authentic and captured a voice that deserved to be heard. There are moments that you will laugh and others that draw on upon your sympathy. There are other characters and their lives that bring value to the book but I want this experience to be about Richard’s journey. Overall, I enjoyed the read.

Review: Crashing the A-List by Summer Heacock

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About the Book:

Sometimes things can’t improve until you’ve hit rock bottom… and even after that, sometimes it needs to get worse before it can get better. That’s where unemployed book editor Clara stands in Summer Heacock’s newest romantic comedy, CRASHING THE A-LIST ). After she’s laid off during a merger from the publishing company she worked for, she’s cleaning out putrid storage units that smell like beets to make some cash and sleeping on her little brother’s couch. It can’t get much worse, right?

Clara finds the brothel “résumé” of a younger Caspian Tiddleswich—an astonishingly famous British actor—while clearing out an escort service’s storage unit. Her best friend thinks she should sell the gossip to a tabloid to fund her way off the dreaded couch, but instead, Clara accidentally blackmails the actor and the tabloids capture a photo of them together while he’s confronting her.

Caspian’s PR team sees an opportunity to promote his latest film with his new “girlfriend”—and if Clara wants to atone for her “crimes,” she’ll have to play along. Pretending to be Caspian’s girlfriend involves long silent dinners, awkward car rides, and infuriating wasted hours waiting for him backstage; all-around completely horrible for both of them…until the mutual loathing turns into something else and suddenly it’s not so bad.

This laugh-out-loud page turner is a hilarious work of women’s fiction about hitting all-time lows, the lure of PR and media, and accidental romance that readers won’t want to miss.

Review:

Keeping it light at the moment, Crashing the A-List was a rom com that gave me just the escape I needed.

Overall, I thought the premise of the book was good. Clara was enjoyable to read. The relationship between her and her best friend Cici brought some many lol moments that just made me want to be a part of their bff club.

Clara and Caspian were up and down for me. The fake aspect of the storyline is always fun because you never know where its going to lead. His douche tool moments rubbed me the wrong way for a while and probably the reason it affected my perception of his character and its experience with him. I will say where the relationship leads to in the end redeems a little but had the potential to be more.

Overall, Cici and Clara made this worth the read. I could’ve read just them forever. With everything altogether it was a good read that keeps it light and fun.

Review: Rock Point by Carla Neggers

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Summary

Seven years after suffering an unspeakable loss, Finian Bracken is recently out of seminary and leaving Ireland to serve a small parish in the quaint but struggling fishing village of Rock Point, Maine. Here he meets FBI agent Colin Donovan for the first time…and discovers the dangerous secrets he left back home in Ireland. Smugglers are using the Bracken family’s old whiskey distillery as cover for their illicit activities—and the violent group isn’t going down without a fight.

Review

My only displeasure was that this was too short. Too my delight, as much as I’ve shared the love for Carla Neggers, this is the first time I read something from her. I’m really kicking myself at the moment.

Rock Point, the series prequel to her a Sharpe & Donovan series, has really really caught my interest. I need to catch up. Father Finn (Finian Bracken) has some qualities that have raised an eyebrow yet is fascinating. We get the backstory of his experience from Ireland to Maine. We get to know a little bit about his life and lays down the plot for some dangerous uncovered from his family’s distillery. We learn about FBI Colin Donovan.

I know I have to back track to catch up but so far its got the right appeal to get me excited to jump right in.

Since I haven’t read the other books, I’m not sure what Finn’s role will be. I felt like you get your feet wet into the series. I guess the real actions begins when you continue. Overall, this short introduction to the series was good. It was visually appealing and I felt like I was right there in the action. The plot was interesting and the characters give me some assurance of the page turning probability ahead. I’m looking forward to what’s to come.

Review: Shameless King by Maya Hughes

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Buy on Amazon | Audible

Buy on Amazon | Audible

Shameless King was a hidden gem that I’ve thrilled to have read. It was a solid romance with two mature characters who knew what they wanted. It lacked any unnecessary drama or childish games.

Shameless King is about Declan and Makenna. The two knew each other in high school and were not exactly friends. Some couple of years later, they end up in the same college class and as partners. Neither can risk failing the class and will have to work together to obtain their desired grade- while also balancing their attraction to one another.

Like mentioned earlier, I enjoyed Shameless King. I think each development flowed nicely. The romance development. The character development. The story development. It all worked separately and in junction with each other.

This could especially be true in terms of the romance as well. Declan and Makenna may have disliked each other in high school but the first moment these two characters interacts it is sparks. They were exciting and fun. And also their banter was top notch, I must add. There was never a point where I didn’t believe that these two characters should not be together. Even when they were apart, they both handle it in a mature way.

Final Analysis

Shameless King is a NA book with a rewarding romance and a constant plot that never disappoints.

Review: Identity Leadership: To Lead Others You Must First Lead Yourself by Stedman Graham

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Summary:

Become a passionate, purposeful, and meaningful leader through identifying who you are, your strengths, and your skills.

New York Times bestselling author Stedman Graham's Identity Leadership is a very personal and prescriptive guide that is based on his philosophy that a leader can't lead others until he can first lead himself-the more he works on himself -- the more he can give to those around him. To know our purpose in life, we begin with our passions, skills, and talents, and with this book we learn how to channel the best of who we are to achieve success for ourselves and those we lead.

In Identity Leadership, Graham examines why self-awareness matters, how leaders lead, the importance of communication, and much more. He then shows the reader how to step into their role as a leader and create their identity leadership plan. Key to the journey is believing in yourself, knowing your competence, continually challenging yourself, and being patient with yourself. Graham uses anecdotes from his own life, as well as discussing successful leaders, to illustrate the importance of identity leadership in each of our lives.

Self-leaders can create a roadmap that leads to personal growth, development, and improvement of performance in every area of life. Identity Leadership provides the tools-self-awareness, emotional intelligence, discipline, and more-needed to continually plan and execute learning and development of our talents and skills. These tools enable readers to commit to a personal vision and lead with purpose.

Review:

To be honest, when I saw Stedman Graham, I immediately thought of Oprah. I really didn’t know much about him but greatly appreciate having the opportunity to learn about him from reading this book. Identity Leadership, really presents some great information and guidance to set roots and develop someone into a more purposeful leader. Getting to know his background, it was refreshing to read his perspective through his evolution of his personal experiences to his hard earned success.

There were so many moments that resonated with me. One of the things that stands out most with me is his commentary on the perspective of a twenty four hour period. He has two questions that became a catalyst for this thought provoking journey. What are we doing to empower ourselves? What are we doing to develop our gifts, our strengths, our talents? He said, “If you want your life to get better, then take control of it. It’s up to you and no one else. Don’t wait for others to define who you are or what your potential is.” Nothing could be truer.

What I found refreshing was his perspective on being an effective leader. Once you know who you are, than you can be an effective leader. You have to first learn how to lead yourself. You have to know what you are good at and be willing to put in the time and effort to be the best version of you. He shows you how to set your own path in motion. He shares successful leaders in their respective fields to show their path, obstacles and successes. He has exercises and shares tools to help build yourself. He shares nine principles that will achieve your vision and goals to maximize your full potential.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed his book and took away valuable and insightful information that will help for my own future. This would be a great resource for companies and business classes to incorporate in their curriculum. Anyone out there having goals or aspirations to evolve professionally should embrace the ideals and tools available in this book. I’m looking forward to reading his other books and gladly recommend checking this one out.

Review: Goodbye Paris by Mike Bond

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Summary:

Special Forces veteran Pono Hawkins races from a Tahiti surfing contest to France when he learns that an ISIS terrorist he’d thought was dead, Mustafa al-Boudienne, has an Iranian backpack nuclear weapon and plans to destroy Paris. Pono was once Mustafa’s prisoner in Iraq and is now the only one left alive to identify him.

When Pono reaches Paris he finds that his closest comrade has been kidnapped, and that the date to destroy the city is fast approaching. Joining forces with allies from US and French intelligence, and with a fearless and brilliant French agent, Anne Ronsard, with whom he soon falls in love, Pono sets out against impossible odds to catch and kill Mustafa and his terrorist cell before they can destroy the most beautiful city on earth. As they dig deeper into the terrorist networks, their own lives are more and more endangered, while the terrorists change tactics again and again to outwit them as the time to save the city runs out.

Spanning a fast two weeks in and around Paris, Goodbye Paris is a window to today’s France, its elegance and poverty, humanism and fanaticism, beauty and despair, to the still-magical French countryside with its white castles and dark forests, the food, wine, and joyous ironic people, the magic of the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame and the tragic fate awaiting them.

Another Pono Hawkins adventure following the best-sellers Saving Paradise and Killing Maine, Goodbye Paris takes us into never-before revealed depths of covert action on three continents, to insider secrets in the war against terrorism, into intense memories of combat in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere, and to the depths of love when everything seems lost.

Based on the author’s years of experience with terrorism and Middle East wars, and his deep knowledge of French and US intelligence and military operations, Goodbye Paris is a stunning thriller, an entrancing love story, and an exciting account of anti-terror operations from Paris and Morocco to Afghanistan.

Goodbye Paris is a hallmark Mike Bond thriller: tense, exciting, and alive with real details and places, and that will keep you up all night.

Review

To be honest, I didn’t connect to this book as quickly as I’d hope. It was about midway into the book that it really grabbed me and once it did, I found the plot really exciting. This was my first exposure to Pono Hawkins and I found him very likable and would explore other novels featuring him.

There were many elements to the plot that keeps you interested. I loved the themed titles of the chapters. It brought an anticipation of what’s to come stirring your curiosity of what’s next. The historical and political relevance incorporated in this intricate plot puts the reader right in the center of the action. His storytelling provides a great visual for the readers with its descriptive locals and we really get in the head of the characters through the dialogue. Not to mention, some of my favorite moments between Pono and Anne, are very funny.

Overall, despite my late jump into the book, it was worth the read. The book had an action packed plot filled with interesting characters that keep you turning the pages. I’m looking forward to see what adventure lies ahead for Pono Hawkins. If you enjoys thrillers, you might want to check this out.