Mark Lieberman's Blog: Mark Lieberman's BOOK REVIEWS , page 4

Desi Arnaz: The Man Who Invented Television – by Todd Purdum

After reading a bunch of cop thrillers, I needed a break from them and even though this one wasn’t on my to be read list, I kept seeing it on the Kindle recommendations and also my wife was watching I Love Lucy. Yeah, I was intrigued. Myself, I knew of Desi and Lucille Ball from the I Love Lucy show, but that is where my information stops.

This books tells of Desi’s roots from Cuba to the USA! He had a royal childhood as his father was the Mayor of Santiago de Cuba.

If you are a fan of I Love Lucy, there is a lot of extra insight to the show as a whole from the stars, the producers, the directors, the writers, the sponsors, the guest stars, and critics. Not only was Desi acting in it, but he also had a lot of new ideas for the show that nobody else was doing at that time.

For the business aficionado, Desilu Productions was his and Lucille Ball’s production company, and Desi spearheaded it and it quickly became one of the best during that time.

Of course, there is a lot of information about Lucille Ball and her background.

Of course, there are mentions of the infidelity of Desi. Of course, they get divorced. Of course, the deaths of Desi and Lucille are briefly written about.

Overall, the book was a quick read for me, but I won’t be recommending as a “must read” to anybody.

Chosen Prey (Lucas Davenport, #12) – by John Sandford

After the first book, I was hooked on this series and have been rolling through them very quickly. Unlike all the other police thrillers I have read (Alex Cross, Michael Bennett, and the Women’s Murder Club by James Patterson and Jesse Stone, Spenser, and Sunny Randall by Robert Parker), the dialogue in these is absolutely amazing, truthful, and full of adult inneundos. Some of it is downright hysterical! There are even some really bad jokes!

I like the team of Lucas, Rose Marie, Del, Sloan, Sherrill, and Black as they always find the bad person, but how they get there is different in every book. Each of these can easily have their own books. I also like trying to figure Lucas’s love life. In one book, he had the attention of three ladies.

In the past few books, Sandford has written a little blurb about that particular book and gives extra insights into to the characters. For Certain Prey, it was turned into a movie, and he mentioned it was bad and one of biggest things was having Eriq LaSalle play Lucas Davenport. I watched it, and it was meh! I am currently watching Mind Prey with Mark Harmon playing Davenport, which, I think, is a better representation.

Oh, Lucas is with the Minneapolis Police Department, and we just moved to Minnesota three weeks ago. Some of the places and towns that are mentioned, I am sort of familiar with. The main highway that is frequented by Lucas in his Porsche is I-35, and I took that all the way from Texas. I am still waiting for Lucas to be in my town!

Vocabulary Words

Sometimes when I’m reading a book on my Kindle, I hit a word that completely stumps me. Not even a maybe-I’ve-heard-this-before kind of word—just a total blank. Luckily, the Kindle has a built-in dictionary. All I have to do is highlight the confusing term, and boom—definition served up in seconds. Technology wins!

But sometimes I go analog. I ask my wife. She has a knack for knowing weird words, and she actually enjoys figuring them out. So I read her the word, and she lights up like I’ve handed her a challenge. It’s basically like living with a real-life dictionary, but with better conversation.

Case in point: I recently finished Sudden Prey by John Sandford—a gritty, fast-paced police thriller—and two words stopped me in my tracks: recalcitrant and emolument.

Recalcitrant sounded like a dinosaur at first. Turns out it means someone who is stubbornly uncooperative. Imagine a toddler refusing to put on pants or a cat refusing to get in the carrier—classic recalcitrance.

Emolument was the second. It just sounds fancy, right? Like something whispered in a courtroom. It’s actually a formal word for salary or compensation. A paycheck with a bowtie.

In Certain Prey, I came across this word: verisimilitude. In addition to definitions, I also like the phoentic pronunciation of them, because when I asked the wife, I badgered it! It means the appearance of being true or real. And Sandford nails it. Even in the middle of shootouts, chases, and hardened criminals, the characters and situations feel believable. That’s verisimilitude in action

More proof that books don’t just entertain—they sneak in a little education too. Thanks, Kindle. And thanks, wife.

All Ears (FunJungle #9) – by Stuart Gibbs

Normally, Mark wouldn’t read this type of book. I mean, it’s a silly kids book. Wait, Mark has a kid, and he read all the other books to him, and guess what? Mark liked them. But for this one, Mark read it by himself as his son was listening to Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Mark had a few LOL moments in the book, and knew that Teddy (the kid investigator) would solve yet another animal crime.

Overall, if we ask Mark his thoughts on the book, he would say, “it was ok, and I am glad I am done as I can now continue reading the Lucas Davenport books by John Sandford.”

Reflections On…Books (book #4)

I have been keeping track of the books I read on Goodreads since 2020, but since 2023, I have been writing reviews. You see, I had an online writing presence since 2011, and piggybacked on that.

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I was a high school football statistician for the Texas Sports Radio Network (TSRN) from 1997 to 2014 and for Thursday Night Lights (TNL) from 2009 to 2015. I also was the statistician for UTSA football in 2012. TSRN broadcasted games on the radio, the internet, and on their app. TNL broadcasted games on television, the internet, and their app.  

In July of 2011, I jumped on the internet BLOG bandwagon and immediately, I came up with the name of thestatmanspeaks.com. It tells you who I am; THE STATMAN. Then it tells you what I do; SPEAKS. But the speaks part means, I speak in words not audio. 

I shared my thoughts on the games I worked, posted photos, and of course there were stats, stats, and more stats. I would often compare my stats to the official newspaper stats, and I was always very close to them! 

I watermarked all the photos I used, and it made me happy when my photos would get shared by the players as they liked seeing themselves in action. To this day, I still see my pictures being shared online.

I took renovation photos of Alamo Stadium, a football stadium and the adjoining Alamo Convocation Center, a gymnasium in 2013 and 2014. Those photos appeared in a book, on television several times, the school district’s athletic website, and I was featured in a television interview with the local ABC station. I also took renovation photos of Lehnhoff Stadium in 2015 and the new Northside Independent School District gymnasium in 2016.

In March of 2015, my wife asked me if I liked being a statistician or a writer better. Without any hesitation from me, I replied I liked writing better.

So, I retired from the Texas Sports Radio Network in 2015 and Thursday Night Lights in in 2016 and became a freelance writer and photographer. The last game I covered as a writer was in 2017. I did make a one game special comeback as a statistician in 2019.

When Nina (my wife) and I announced to the world on October 31, 2015, that we were pregnant (she was, I just helped a little bit), I started writing about it on www.thedadspeaks.com.  

In 2023, I started sharing book reviews on www.bookmarkdad.com.  

In 2025, I backed up everything from thestatmanspeaks.com and bookmarkdad.com, and allowed the domain names to expire. I exported all the content from bookmarkdad.com to www.thedadspeaks.com. For, thestatmanspeaks.com content, I exported all the content as well, but they are all in draft mode.

I rarely don’t like a book other or do not finish a book. I actually have a few in my Kindle library that I got from Netgalley that I thought I would like, but I don’t. Netgalley provides Advanced Reader Copies (ARCs), basically, that means I get to read and review books before they are published officially to the world. I wish they had a way for a free sample like Amazon does. I have not yet completely given up on those books, and I really want to like them, so they remain.

I would say that 99.9% of the books I review get a 5-star rating. It means for fiction books, I liked it, the characters were fun, and the action kept me on my toes. For memoirs, it means this person had a really cool life and I enjoyed the stories they told. See, I am pretty simple. I am not a professional reviewer, I just write what I like about them and move on. Sometimes, as I am reading, other books are mentioned. If that books looks interesting to me, I will look it up and save it for a future read.

I don’t remember as a child, teenager, young adult, or even a mature adult reading books. I guess I had other things going on. I didn’t even enjoy reading school text books as I found them boring. I was 43 years old when I read several fiction humor books by Dave Barry and Carl Hiaasen! That was a great start for my reading for enjoyment and I haven’t slowed down since!

I was talking to my dad about books and he told me this story about himself, which is published in his unpublished memoirs:

My parents didn’t get beyond the eighth grade in school but they were big readers. One might think that working-class people like my parents wouldn’t be able to afford to buy too many books. True, but they had a source. Uncle Bill was our family’s book supplier. Once or twice a month either he would visit us, or we would go to his apartment in the Bronx, or we might meet him at my Grandmother’s apartment. A shopping bag or two would change hands, from Bill to my father.

Uncle Bill worked as a porter for the NYC Subway system. He cleaned trains at the end of the day. He would throw trash out but keep the discarded books. I can visualize him lugging bags of books after work and stashing them in his apartment until the appropriate hand-off was arranged.

These bags were filled with paperback books. My father would grab his mysteries, my mother would locate her favorites and I would get my fix with Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, Robert Heinlein, Poul Anderson or some unknown writer, it didn’t matter. In the days of black and white TV, with only a few channels, these books provided me entertainment without parallel.

I started getting these books when I was around ten or eleven years old and the handoff continued until I was close to thirty years old. The most appreciated books came during my year in Thailand. Regularly a shoe box, wrapped and taped tightly, would arrive with books.

It’s so awesome seeing my nine-year-old son read and listen to books. I always tell him that I will never say no to books! He recently started listening to the Percy Jackson audiobooks, and it’s great to see him paying attention to the words and he also understands what is happening (unlike me, where I can’t even pronounce some of the names in the books). He also carries the Percy Jackson physical book that he is listening to in his school backpack.

I can’t even tell you how many boxes of books we have packed as we are moving out-of-state next month, but It will be very nice when the three of us can unpack them and put them away in bookcases. One of the areas in our new house is going to house a very large bookcase, and I know smaller bookcases will be purchased and placed in other areas of the house.

See, books are a part of us and they are available to each of us in the format of our individual choice.

For me, I know that when I am out in the world alone, my Kindle will probably come with me. I can be very happy reading while everybody else is doing something stupid on their phones.

Reflections On…Books (book #3)

I have been reading a lot of fiction police thrillers and often wonder how much research the authors put into it to make it sound real, because to me, everything that takes place is extremely detailed. From the actual crime (which usually takes place at the beginning of the book), to the police work involved in locating the culprit, to the legalese in the courtroom, and the chit-chat amongst everybody, it feels that that I am sitting right next to that person.

Sometimes, I just can stop reading as I have to know what happens next!

Sometimes, I do find myself going backwards in the books when I read a name, and forget who or what they are.

Sometimes, I do find the violence a bit too much. I almost quit reading the Michael Bennett series by James Patterson because he is a cop with the NYPD. I was like, enough with the terrorists and bombings.

Besides the Facebook groups I belong to and where I share my thoughts on these books, I don’t have anywhere I else I can rant or talk to. At work, we have a book club (I am of the co-admins on it), and I enjoy communicating with my teammates about books. We have met a few times through teams and I feel that I take it over as I am super excited to share my thoughts on books. Somebody asked about leadership books, and my brain went to overdrive and I mentioned a book I recently read about George Raveling, a college basketball coach, who wrote business and leadership and how it relates closely to being a coach.

My wife reads more than I do, but our tastes are complete opposite, and I know when I tell her what I am reading or what is happening, she listens, but I know she is probably not listening! My son doesn’t care, unless I am reading what he likes and right now, that is Percy Jackson. We did read the FunJungle series by Stuart Gibbs, and he has a new one coming out this month. Percy is a bit much for me, but I did enjoy all the FunJungle books.

Maybe I should host a monthly zoom book meeting for me and others who feel the same way I do or find one that suits me. On paper, that sounds great, but I actually prefer writing to talking. After I share my thoughts on the Facebook groups, I enjoy reading the positive communication from everybody and although, I don’t reply to every comment, I do my best to like every comment. Let me rephrase, if the comment is negative, which sometimes that happens, I ignore it and don’t like it. Come on, and be nice.

I also love all the recommendations on the Facebook groups. I mean, I never would’ve known about Jon Sandford and his Lucas Davenport series. A few days ago, I went through the comments from one my recent posts and added more to my Want to Read list on Goodreads.

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It’s also funny, that fiction police thrillers aren’t my preferred genre (memoirs are my favorite). I stumbled into them and it all started after I read James Patterson’s memoir. Alex Cross was my first. I then dived into all the Michael Bennett books, and just finished all the Women’s Murder Club books by James Patterson and all the Jesse Stone books, Spenser books, and Sunny Randall books by Robert B Parker and others after Parker passed away. With Parker’s books, they take place in the same realm of life, so the characters are common throughout all the books.

So, now, after all these words, which has been my favorite? Well, I really enjoyed the Spenser books. He is a former cop and now a Private Investigator. His partner in not crime is a man named Hawk! Together, they have a lot of fun doing good and bad things.

I have watched the Robert Ullrich and Joe Mantegna Spenser movies, and even Mark Wahlberg as Spenser on Netflix. I have watched some of the television series with Robert Ullrich. I know there are Hawk television shows, and I would like to watch those one day. I didn’t like Joe Mantegna as Spenser, but Ullrich and Wahlberg easily pull it off.

Ask me next year, and I may say Lucas Davenport is my favorite series!

See, writing for me, just comes easy for me. If you want to read about how I got started writing, continue on. If not, thanks for letting me rant about books. I am already drafting a Reflections On…Books (book #2) about who influenced my love of books.

I was a high school football statistician for the Texas Sports Radio Network (TSRN) from 1997 to 2014 and for Thursday Night Lights (TNL) from 2009 to 2015. I also was the statistician for UTSA football in 2012. TSRN broadcasted games on the radio, the internet, and on their app and TNL broadcasted games on television, the internet, and their app.  

In July of 2011, I jumped on the internet BLOG bandwagon and immediately, I came up with the name of thestatmanspeaks.com. It tells you who I am; THE STATMAN. Then it tells you what I do; SPEAKS. But the speaks part means, I speak in words not audio. 

I shared my thoughts on the games I worked, posted photos, and of course there were stats, stats, and more stats. I would often compare my stats to the official newspaper stats, and I was always very close to them! 

I watermarked all the photos I used, and it made me happy when my photos would get shared by the players as they liked seeing themselves in action. To this day, I still see my pictures being shared online.

I took renovation photos of Alamo Stadium, a football stadium and the adjoining Alamo Convocation Center, a gymnasium in 2013 and 2014. Those photos appeared in a book, on television several times, the school district’s athletic website, and I was featured in a television interview with the local ABC station. I also took renovation photos of the press-box at Lehnhoff Stadium in 2015 and the new Northside Independent School District gymnasium in 2016.

In March of 2015, my wife asked me if I liked being a statistician or a writer better. Without any hesitation from me, I replied I liked writing better.

So, I retired from the Texas Sports Radio Network in 2015 and Thursday Night Lights in in 2016 and became a freelance writer and photographer. The last game I covered as a writer was in 2017. I did make a one game special comeback as a statistician in 2019.

When Nina (my wife) and I announced to the world on October 31, 2015, that we were pregnant (she was, I just helped a little bit), I started writing about it on www.thedadspeaks.com.  

In 2023, I started sharing book reviews on www.bookmarkdad.com.  

In 2025, I backed up everything from thestatmanspeaks.com and bookmarkdad.com, and allowed the domain names to expire. I exported all the content from bookmarkdad.com to www.thedadspeaks.com. For, thestatmanspeaks.com content, I exported all the content as well, but they are all in draft mode. 

I don’t have a journalism degree, but I do have a BBA from the University of Texas at San Antonio and an MBA from Western Governors University. 

I have self-published three Amazon e-books, and am proud of that accomplishment.  I sold a few copies and even got some reviews.  

It’s funny, because words, topics, and ideas hit me at awkward times.  I could be in the bathroom, driving somewhere, walking around the house, reading a book, eating dinner, taking a shower, or getting ready for sleepy time.  

Do I get writers block?  Of course, I do!  How do I remedy it?  I will either bounce ideas off my wife, take a break, or do something else.

I write because I can.  I write because I like it.  I write because it makes me feel good.  I write because I like to express myself in words rather than by my voice.   I write because it keeps me out of trouble.  I write about topics that I am knowledgeable on and topics that mean something to me.   Most importantly, I write for you.

My writing style is unique, and it captures my personality.  I don’t get embarrassed, and I have a crazy sense of humor.

Reflections On…Books

I have been reading a lot of fiction police thrillers and often wonder how much research the authors put into it to make it sound real, because to me, everything that takes place is extremely detailed. From the actual crime (which usually takes place at the beginning of the book), to the police work involved in locating the culprit, to the legalese in the courtroom, and the chit-chat amongst everybody, it feels that that I am sitting right next to that person.

Sometimes, I just can stop reading as I have to know what happens next!

Sometimes, I do find myself going backwards in the books when I read a name, and forget who or what they are.

Sometimes, I do find the violence a bit too much. I almost quit reading the Michael Bennett series by James Patterson because he is a cop with the NYPD. I was like, enough with the terrorists and bombings.

Besides the Facebook groups I belong to and where I share my thoughts on these books, I don’t have anywhere I else I can rant or talk to. At work, we have a book club (I am of the co-admins on it), and I enjoy communicating with my teammates about books. We have met a few times through teams and I feel that I take it over as I am super excited to share my thoughts on books. Somebody asked about leadership books, and my brain went to overdrive and I mentioned a book I recently read about George Raveling, a college basketball coach, who wrote business and leadership and how it relates closely to being a coach.

My wife reads more than I do, but our tastes are complete opposite, and I know when I tell her what I am reading or what is happening, she listens, but I know she is probably not listening! My son doesn’t care, unless I am reading what he likes and right now, that is Percy Jackson. We did read the FunJungle series by Stuart Gibbs, and he has a new one coming out this month. Percy is a bit much for me, but I did enjoy all the FunJungle books.

Maybe I should host a monthly zoom book meeting for me and others who feel the same way I do or find one that suits me. On paper, that sounds great, but I actually prefer writing to talking. After I share my thoughts on the Facebook groups, I enjoy reading the positive communication from everybody and although, I don’t reply to every comment, I do my best to like every comment. Let me rephrase, if the comment is negative, which sometimes that happens, I ignore it and don’t like it. Come on, and be nice.

I also love all the recommendations on the Facebook groups. I mean, I never would’ve known about Jon Sandford and his Lucas Davenport series. A few days ago, I went through the comments from one my recent posts and added more to my Want to Read list on Goodreads.

It’s also funny, that fiction police thrillers aren’t my preferred genre (memoirs are my favorite). I stumbled into them and it all started after I read James Patterson’s memoir. Alex Cross was my first. I then dived into all the Michael Bennett books, and just finished all the Women’s Murder Club books by James Patterson and all the Jesse Stone books, Spenser books, and Sunny Randall books by Robert B Parker and others after Parker passed away. With Parker’s books, they take place in the same realm of life, so the characters are common throughout all the books.

So, now, after all these words, which has been my favorite? Well, I really enjoyed the Spenser books. He is a former cop and now a Private Investigator. His partner in not crime is a man named Hawk! Together, they have a lot of fun doing good and bad things.

I have watched the Robert Ullrich and Joe Mantegna Spenser movies, and even Mark Wahlberg as Spenser on Netflix. I have watched some of the television series with Robert Ullrich. I know there are Hawk television shows, and I would like to watch those one day. I didn’t like Joe Mantegna as Spenser, but Ullrich and Wahlberg easily pull it off.

Ask me next year, and I may say Lucas Davenport is my favorite series!

See, writing for me, just comes easy for me. If you want to read about how I got started writing, continue on. If not, thanks for letting me rant about books. I am already drafting a Reflections On…Books (book #2) about who influenced my love of books.

I was a high school football statistician for the Texas Sports Radio Network (TSRN) from 1997 to 2014 and for Thursday Night Lights (TNL) from 2009 to 2015. I also was the statistician for UTSA football in 2012. TSRN broadcasted games on the radio, the internet, and on their app and TNL broadcasted games on television, the internet, and their app.  

In July of 2011, I jumped on the internet BLOG bandwagon and immediately, I came up with the name of thestatmanspeaks.com. It tells you who I am; THE STATMAN. Then it tells you what I do; SPEAKS. But the speaks part means, I speak in words not audio. 

I shared my thoughts on the games I worked, posted photos, and of course there were stats, stats, and more stats. I would often compare my stats to the official newspaper stats, and I was always very close to them! 

I watermarked all the photos I used, and it made me happy when my photos would get shared by the players as they liked seeing themselves in action. To this day, I still see my pictures being shared online.

I took renovation photos of Alamo Stadium, a football stadium and the adjoining Alamo Convocation Center, a gymnasium in 2013 and 2014. Those photos appeared in a book, on television several times, the school district’s athletic website, and I was featured in a television interview with the local ABC station. I also took renovation photos of the press-box at Lehnhoff Stadium in 2015 and the new Northside Independent School District gymnasium in 2016.

In March of 2015, my wife asked me if I liked being a statistician or a writer better. Without any hesitation from me, I replied I liked writing better.

So, I retired from the Texas Sports Radio Network in 2015 and Thursday Night Lights in in 2016 and became a freelance writer and photographer. The last game I covered as a writer was in 2017. I did make a one game special comeback as a statistician in 2019.

When Nina (my wife) and I announced to the world on October 31, 2015, that we were pregnant (she was, I just helped a little bit), I started writing about it on www.thedadspeaks.com.  

In 2023, I started sharing book reviews on www.bookmarkdad.com.  

In 2025, I backed up everything from thestatmanspeaks.com and bookmarkdad.com, and allowed the domain names to expire. I exported all the content from bookmarkdad.com to www.thedadspeaks.com. For, thestatmanspeaks.com content, I exported all the content as well, but they are all in draft mode. 

I don’t have a journalism degree, but I do have a BBA from the University of Texas at San Antonio and an MBA from Western Governors University. 

I have self-published three Amazon e-books, and am proud of that accomplishment.  I sold a few copies and even got some reviews.  

It’s funny, because words, topics, and ideas hit me at awkward times.  I could be in the bathroom, driving somewhere, walking around the house, reading a book, eating dinner, taking a shower, or getting ready for sleepy time.  

Do I get writers block?  Of course, I do!  How do I remedy it?  I will either bounce ideas off my wife, take a break, or do something else.

I write because I can.  I write because I like it.  I write because it makes me feel good.  I write because I like to express myself in words rather than by my voice.   I write because it keeps me out of trouble.  I write about topics that I am knowledgeable on and topics that mean something to me.   Most importantly, I write for you.

My writing style is unique, and it captures my personality.  I don’t get embarrassed, and I have a crazy sense of humor.

Rules of Prey (Lucas Davenport, #1) – by John Sandford

I belong to several Facebook groups for books, and this author was recommended as a possible series for me to read. Although it’s not my preferred genre, I have really been enjoying fiction police thrillers.

I have read all the Alex Cross books, Michael Bennett books, and just finished all the Women’s Murder Club books by James Patterson.

I have read all the Jesse Stone books, Spencer books, and Sunny Randall books by Robert B Parker and others after Parker passed away.

I know, that I am not the only one who reads these books and gets sucked in immediately to the story, and wants to keep on reading to see what happens. Oh, only two minutes in this chapter, let me continue. Wait, they caught the bad guy. Oh, only three minutes in this chapter, let me continue. At some point, I do have to stop and get on with life itself and that being to take care of the son, take care of the wife, take care of the cat, take care of the house, and then take care of myself. The book will be waiting for me the next day. It’s OK, I tell myself!

So, for this one, I remembered it being recommended, and after I did some research, it looked like a Mark book! I also liked the fact it takes place in Minnesota. We are moving to Minnesota next month.

Lucas Davenport is a police officer in Minneapolis, and his way of doing things is uncoventional. He has a very interesting hobby and one that I have never read about; he creates role playing games. He is also a master manipulator. He doesn’t care about whom he sleeps with and they don’t seem to care either. And, yes, him and his fellow police officers do indeed catch a bad guy in this book.

I am hooked, and have already gotten the second book from the library. I also saw that a few of the books have been made into movies; one starring Eric LaSalle as Davenport and another one starring Mark Harmon as Davenport. Yes, I will watch them.

Women’s Murder Club – by James Patterson

Now that I finished all twenty-five books in the series, what am I supposed to do now? Can I get a table at Susie’s Cafe and wait for Lindsey, Claire, Yuki, and Cindy to arrive?

I really enjoyed the series, and each member of the club could easily have their own series of books.

I loved the fact that they are each very strong characters working in male dominated positions and they don’t take crap from anybody. Throughout the books, we see them go through bad things, good things, and funny things, but they always have each other to lean on during happy and sad times.

I definitely won’t be the first person to say that I am looking forward to the next book in this series, and can’t wait to see what the future brings to the Women’s Murder Club.

My Next Breath: A Memoir – by Jeremy Renner

I don’t typically read memoirs like this, but I was drawn to Jeremy Renner’s story after hearing about his devastating accident on New Year’s Day 2023. This book is his raw and deeply personal account of that day and the long, painful road to recovery that followed. Renner doesn’t shy away from the trauma—nothing is off-limits.

What struck me most was the vivid retelling of the accident itself. Surrounded by family and friends at his Lake Tahoe home, Renner was critically injured by a snowcat. His nephew and neighbors stepped in immediately, doing everything they could—keeping him warm, steady, and doing the best they could under extreme circumstances to stop the bleeding. It’s hard to read those moments without feeling the weight of fear and helplessness. Renner’s deep love for his family and friends helped him persevere.

Some parts of the book didn’t hold my attention, and I skimmed through those sections. The quiet glimpses into his childhood added a layer to the story, as if foreshadowing the strength he would later need.

It’s a quick read, but one filled with pain, hope, and quiet resilience. If you’re drawn to stories of survival and the emotional toll of recovery, this one lingers.