A Novel Idea: Heartbreaker

Heartbreaker - Mike Campbell
Da Capo
464 Pages

As many of you may know, I love music. Tom Petty is one of my all-time favorite musicians. When I saw that his guitarist, Mike Campbell, wrote a memoir about his time in the Heartbreakers, I had to read it. Finally, after several months, it was available at the Lockport Public Library, and it came home with me. I must also say that rock bios are not my favorite books to read. Far too often, they’re ego driven tripe or they’re recovering addicts that want to preach their sobriety. All that is part of the story, but often detract from the moments we came to read about. Heartbreaker by Mike Campbell doesn’t do that. He’s a straight forward rocker and his narrative of those decades is just as straight forward. It was a welcome change from most of the music biographies that I read.

A Novel Idea: Mississippi Blue 42

Mississippi Blue 42 - Eli Cranor
Soho Crime
384 Pages

Sometimes when you watch a TV show like “House of Cards,” you hope that’s not really the way Washington works, but deep down, you know that’s exactly how ugly it really is. We all already know that college football is as crooked as it gets, but we ignore it in the name of good entertainment. Eli Cranor, using his experience as a player and coach, weaves a fictional tale in Mississippi Blue 42 that exposes the dirty underbelly of the monster that is college football.

Bacon Presidential Library Vol. 41: A View From Abroad

A View From Abroad - Jeanne E Abrams
NYU Press
295 Pages

Eight books into the John Adams portion of my Presidential Reading Project and I can already say that I am a bigger fan of our second president than I ever expected to be. The consensus seems to be that Adams was not a good president, and many historians have unfairly, in my opinion, viewed him. With both Washington and Jefferson, the hero worship overshadows everything and Adams becomes a patsy. As I read more of these books, the person that John Adams was becomes clearer and clearer. It’s easy to say that he has been relegated to the wrong side of the ledger because of this. Thankfully, he’s been getting a fresh look over the past decade or so.