Book Review: Wooden

I finally got my hands on a John Wooden book! Or I guess I should say my mom did and sent it to me for Valentine's Day.

The book did not disappoint. It was an easy read and written in a conversational tone. It was also written in segments, making it a quick and enlightening read. John Wooden was very set in how he did things and it stemmed back to the days of his childhood. He did not let others influence his beliefs or define his success for him, he was a knowledgeable confident person who defined success in his own way.

In the book he discusses where his beliefs stem from, the values he had and worked to instill in his life and his players' lives. While basketball was an important part of his life and the platform he had that brought his ideas out to the public, it was just a small part of his life. In his high school years, a teacher gave out an assignment asking the students to define success. Wooden reflected on the term for years and came up with a definition and a pyramid of success, which encompasses everything he felt is necessary for an individual to become successfully in life.

Wooden's definition of success: "Success is peace of mind that is the direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best become the best that you are capable of becoming."

A few other thoughts I found interesting:

"Know that when you are through learning, you are through."

"You never fail if you know in your heart that you did the best of which you are capable."

"You are in the presence of a true competitor when you observe that they are indeed getting the most joy out of the most difficult circumstances."

"There is a choice you have to make, in everything you do. And you must always keep in mind the choice you make, makes you."

"If we magnified blessings as much as we magnify disappointments, we would all be much happier."

The book was great and I wish I could assign it to my 18s team to read, because I think it would help. But as I would guess none of them would read it, so I took many pages of notes and hope that it will inspire my coaching over the next month.

Book Review: Sundays at Tiffany's

Back to the fiction books. This is the book my aunt Pam got me for the flight back to Portland after Christmas and I am a bit behind and just read it, in approximately 4 days. So it was a page turner, plus the 3 page chapters made me feel like a speed reader, which I am far from being!

Anywho, Sundays at Tiffany's is written under the name James Patterson and Gabrielle Charbonnet. The story starts when Jane is eight years old and has an imaginary friend. Her mother, Vivienne has been successful and and is more concerned with her looks and tangible items that say she is rich. She's not the best mother and Jane find comfort in imaginary friend, Michael. The book then jumps ahead 20 years, Jane has found herself successfully working in her mother's production company and has written a hit Broadway production about a girl and her imaginary friend. But her life takes a turn when she runs into Michael again.

Like I said it was a page turner and it's a short book. While not very realistic, but of course I realize it is fiction, it was still a tear-jerker. So if you need a light read, check it out.

Book Review: Counting Coup

Counting Coup by Larry Colton was a book brought to me by one of my 14-year-old player's mom. She asked me at one of the tournaments if I liked reading and what type of books I read, because she felt she had a book I may enjoy. So at the next practice she plopped a book in front of me.

Larry Colton is a freelance journalist from Portland, Oregon. He ventured to Hardin, Montana in the 1990s to observe how basketball and life work in a heavily populated Native American culture, a Crow reservation in this instance.

His intention was discover why good Native American athletes never make it in college. He headed to Hardin, a town known to have done well in boys high school basketball, but his story ended up being about the girls' team which made a run at the state tournament.

Basketball in the Native American culture was popular and many of the athletes were very talented and did it to bring honor to their clans. However, despite their talent they were often overlooked by colleges and many had no desire to go to college. Colton hoped Sharon LaForge, the very talented leader of the girls team would break that stereotypical behavior and go somewhere with her talent. He learned a lot following the team and getting to know the area and families in the year he spent in Hardin.

Throughout the book, Colton expresses the culture as he saw it; the tensions between whites and Indians, the poverty and laziness of the culture and the poor coaching strategies. I found it to be an interesting book, definitely interesting to learn about a culture I knew very little about. Even more interesting for the fact that Hardin, Montana was one of the places we stopped on the drive out here.

Book Review: Handle With Care

Jodi Picoult has reappeared on my book list. And I can finally say I have completed it, after reading it here and there while studying for the GMAT. As soon as I finished the test, I blazed through the final 1/3 of the book. As a Jodi Picoult book usually does, there was an interesting twist towards the end of the book and the book also had a time in court.

In this story, parents Charlotte and Sean have a daughter who was born with osteogenesis imperfecta, which means she has fragile bones that break often and cause large medical expenses. After a vacation incident, the parents hear the term 'wrongful birth' for the first time. They decide to file a wrongful birth lawsuit against their doctor, who is actually Charlotte's best friend, for not letting them know about the disease earlier to allow them to make the decision to terminate the pregnancy.

As the lawsuit pursues, the family is ripped apart with different problems and values of the suit. With many twists and additions to financial expenses the book keeps you turning the pages (and maybe shedding some tears).

Book Review: Her Fearful Symmetry

Another book down by a new author, Audrey Niffenegger. The fiction book, Her Fearful Symmetry, is written in British-English, so it took a bit to get adjusted to it. Niffenegger is also the author of The Time Traveler's Wife.

The story starts with twin sisters inheriting their aunt's, their mother's twin, flat in London. They could only inherit the flat and money after they turned 21, lived there for a full year and never let their parents into the flat. After turning 21, the twins move to London and learn the area and meet the people in the building. The twins are connected in all they do and constantly dress the same. Valentina the weaker of the twins is sick of being controlled by Julia and constructs a way to get away from her sister. The idea seems impossible and all that is discovered in the process explains the struggles that separated their mom and aunt.

Book Review: The Lucky One

The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks is the first book I have managed to finish in what seems like forever. It is definitely the longest Nicholas Sparks book I have read up to this point, but not a bad selection if you have time to read it. This book was another Goodwill find that I don't believe was read prior to me buying it, but I am not complaining because I only paid $4!

The story is told from the point-of-view of three main characters, who in the first few sections do not know each other but of course as the book continues on their lives become more entwined. Thibault is an ex-marine and walks across the country to discover his 'destiny' and find the person, Elizabeth, whom is his lucky charm in order to re-pay her. The town, Hampton, (there is even a shout-out to Hampton, Iowa) is run by the Clayton family, which becomes a problem for Thibault because Elizabeth used to be married to Keith a member of that family. The lives of Thibault, Elizabeth and Keith become more connected throughout the story and there is a struggle for power throughout. The end surprised me, but it still almost ended too happily ever after.

This wasn't my favorite Nicholas Sparks book by any means, but it wasn't bad enough to stop me from finishing.

Book Review: Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas

Fiction again, sorry. Since the library failed me I haven't been back. My roommates and I were at Goodwill looking for a couch a while back and got sidetracked by the books the large book selection they had. For only $2 a piece we stocked up, why buy a book at full price when you can get them that cheap? And most didn't look like they were previously read!

Anyway, Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas is by James Patterson, a different author than I have been reading so I thought it was worth the purchase. I also have had people tell me it was pretty good. Thinking of James Patterson as an author makes me think more of murder mysteries, so I was a bit skeptical of this book.

After getting into it, I really started getting into the plot. It was suspenseful and I wasn't able to predict the end before it happened. It was also a very detail oriented and emotional book. I was almost to tears near the end! I don't want to say much about the plot because I think it would ruin the suspense for those of you who read it, but I definitely think it is worth a casual read!

Book Review: The Wedding

Yep, I have finished another book. It would seem from my postings that all I do is go on adventures and read.....not a bad life huh? The Wedding is the first Nicholas Sparks book I have read in over a year. It is also one that got thrown into my stuff in my rush to pack, because Jodee so graciously helped me pack and was in charge of books. So I finally read it and it was great, because it was less predictable than the last one I read. I didn't suspect the surprise that happens in the last 10 pages. So I highly suggest you don't give up on it before you get there...and DO NOT read ahead either!

This book is the follow-up to The Notebook, however after seeing the movie a thousand times in my life I decided not to read it before. I also hate the differences between movies and books and chose not to put myself through the stress of the differences. Noah is still alive in this book and has almost reached the age of 90, while still doing well for his age he is slowing down. One thing that stuck with me was everytime Wilson, his son-in-law, visited him he asked, "You doing okay?" Noah always responded with "Could be better, Could be worse, though, too."

I found that little saying so true. We get ourselves to a point in our lives where we think nothing else can go wrong because it's already so bad. But is it really? Your view on life is a mindset, you have to see it through a positive lens! Choose to see the good and not dwell on the bad! As I ran through the streets of Forest Grove I thought about this saying quite a bit today and decided, Life is truely what you make it, sure it could always get worse, but you're alive and free, why complain?

Book Review: The Coast Road

Another Barbara Delinsky book has hit my hands. When my mom and I were wandering downtown Forest Grove we discovered an antique store that also sells used books. So I got one, as did both my parents.

This book is set in the northern coast area of California. The main character Rachel has been divorced from Jack, a workaholic, for about 6 years and been living with her 2 daughters, Sam and Hope, in the canons of Big Sur. In a hurried night she is hit from behind while driving and pushed into a valley off the highway. Upon being rescued she is still alive and put into intensive care with a severely broken leg and in a coma. Not knowing who else to call a friend calls Jack. He is finds it necessary to drive the 3 hours to be at the hospital with Rachel and support his daughters. The next part of the story continues with Jack taking care of his daughters and spending his time at the hospital. He puts off work for weeks and starts to see the things he was missing in life and quits his firm in order to make a change and put his family first.

While at times the story is predictable it does have a good point. Enjoy life; don’t just get wrapped up in working and making a living. If all you worry about is measuring your success in money you have failed. There is so much around to appreciate and it’s important that you do just that. Find time for your family and those important to you.