THREE CENTS a MILE (audibook) by Mark Mooney

Published in October of 2016 by Mark Mooney

Read by the author, Mark Mooney

Duration: 5 hours, 57 minutes
Unabridged

CNN Money editor Mark Mooney's Three Cents a Mile tells the story of his 2 year trek across the world as a vagabond traveler more than 35 years ago. He left New York City and headed east, visiting Ireland, England, France, North Africa, Greece, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, India, Thailand and even more destinations with nothing more than a few dollars in his pocket and a typewriter and a notebook to compose travelogue articles that he sold to newspapers back in America.

Along the way he met playwrights, authors, poets, star-crossed lovers, thieves, hippies, drug burnouts, farmers, beggars, mystics, and he turned down the chance to meet Mother Theresa. He slept on beaches, in flophouses, on buses, above a bookstore with other aspiring writers, in an apartment building filled with strippers/prostitutes and in a barn. He traveled by plane, by ferry, by bicycle, by bus and, of course, by foot and barely made it out of Iran before Ayatollah Khomeini's revolution took completely took hold of the country. His story of the buses having to carry the right picture (the Shah or his opponent the Ayatollah) in order to be granted safe passage was both scary and funny.

Interspersed with the travel adventures are remembrances of a troubles childhood, especially his relationship with his father, a difficult man. This tense relationship is most likely the reason why Mooney took off on his world-spanning trek in the first place.

I listened to this story as an audiobook. It is read by the author, Mark Mooney, who does not have the typical voice of an audiobook reader. At first I was turned off by his reading style and the fact that I could hear papers rustling from time to time. It was clear to me that he did not put as much into the audio production as the books that I generally listen to. But, his personal style grew on me and there are times when the reader can hear that he is genuinely moved by having to actually speak the words of difficult passages and that adds to the story in a way that a professional reader could not.

I rate this audiobook 4 stars out of 5.

Note: I was sent a copy of this audiobook for free in exchange for an honest review.

This audiobook can be found on Amazon.com here: Three Cents a Mile.

THE GENERALS: PATTON, MACARTHUR, MARSHALL and the WINNING of WORLD WAR II (audiobook) by Winston Groom

Published in November of 2015 by Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Read by Robertson Dean
Duration: 16 hours, 2 minutes
Unabridged

Winston Groom, forever associated with his iconic character Forrest Gump, has written an interesting and solid history of three equally iconic World War II generals: George Patton, Douglas MacArthur and George Marshall. 

Groom's triple biography format works quite well as all three of these men's life stories were on parallel tracks once they entered World War I and they all knew one another and had worked with one another in one capacity or another through the years (the story of Patton and MacArthur meeting up and working together on the front lines of World War I is a great one).

The histories of these men during peacetime only served to reinforce my impression that both of these men were eccentric, sometimes to the point of being bizarre - especially Patton. But, in wartime these men all shined, despite some controversies. I never had much of a positive opinion about MacArthur. He always seemed to me to more of a strutting peacock than he was a competent general - more good PR than real talent. But, this book has changed my opinion of the man's talents as a general. Still a strutting peacock, though...

This was an enjoyable and informative read. Winston Groom weaves the three biographies together in an interesting way, generally using their parallel lives to reinforce each other's stories. The reader, Robertson Dean, gave distinctive voices to each of the three generals and his reading enhanced an already strong text. 

I rate this audiobook 5 stars out of 5.

This audiobook can be found on Amazon.com here: The Generals: Patton, MacArthur, Marshall and the Winning of World War II. 

THE WORLD ACCORDING to STAR WARS (audiobook) by Cass R. Sunstein

Published in May of 2016 by HarperAudio.
Read by Kaleo Griffith
Duration: 5 hours, 44 minutes
Unabridged

Besides being a Law Professor at Harvard and a former member of the Obama Administration, Cass R. Sunstein is a massive fan of all things Star Wars. 

The World According to Star Wars is a wide-ranging and mostly interesting discussion using Star Wars as a way to explain aspects of the American and world political scene, economics and family dynamics. 

He starts with a little history of how Star Wars came to be, including George Lucas's struggles in writing the screenplay, the way the actors all thought they were acting in an interesting movie that was certain to be a big flop and the reluctance by the studios to really push the movie.

But, despite the odds, Star Wars became a massive phenomenon - the series is the all-time leader in multiple categories and the hits just keep on coming. Sunstein explores why it became a big hit, looking at the timing of its release, what was going on in American culture and the like. This part was a little too long, in my opinion.

But, the rest of it was great. He discusses what the Galactic Empire symbolized, what the Rebellion symbolized and even how Richard Nixon, the USSR and mechanization are possible inspirations. He also talks about Star Wars vs. Star Trek, Fathers and sons and how Star Wars incorporates Christian themes like redemption and how the Jedi incorporate Buddhist themes.

The reader, Kaleo Griffith, keeps the book moving at an enjoyable pace. If you are a super-hardcore fanboy you probably heard a lot of this already, but if you're merely a fan you will find this book to be an interesting take on Star Wars.

I rate this audiobook 4 stars out of 5.

This audiobook can be found on Amazon.com here: The World According to Star Wars.

THOSE GRAND OCCASIONS at the END of the ROAD (audiobook) by Tom Bodett

Published by Random House Audio in 2009
Read by the author, Tom Bodett
Duration: 2 hours, 15 minutes.
Abridged

This book focuses on town celebrations, thus the references to "Grand Occasions" in the title. The quirky town of End of the Road, Alaska puts its own twist on everything. If you follow this series, that is no surprise. If you have not followed this series, do not start with this one. It is excellent but it depends on the listener actually knowing who the characters are beforehand.

Adolescent Norman Tuttle struggles with being treated like a kid when at Thanksgiving and in other family activities. Meanwhile, the town gets a town Christmas tree thanks to finally getting a public park and, of course, this somehow becomes controversial. New Year's celebrations become more than a bit weird due to the weather. 

Perhaps the funniest story is about how the town tries to open a safe that was used as a time capsule. Why? In their excitement to put important documents in it decades ago someone put the only copy of the plans to the city water system in it and now no one can get the capsule open. In their defense, they were asked to put important documents in the time capsule and the water plans are certainly important and no one needed them for years.

Tom Bodett's voice and the piano accompaniment are perfect for these stories. I cannot recommend this series enough.

I rate this audiobook 5 stars out of 5.

This audiobook can be found on Amazon.com here: Those Grand Occasions at the End of the Road. 

THE END of the ROAD (audiobook) by Tom Bodett

Originally published in 1989.
Audio edition published in 1999 by Bantam Doubleday Dell Audio
Read by the author, Tom Bodett
Duration: 2 hours, 30 minutes
Abridged

This is the first of Tom Bodett's excellent "End of the Road" series and it is a joy to meet the quirky people who live in this small town in Alaska.

It starts with the annual town parade and festival in the local quarry (it's easier to clean up a quarry, at least that's the theory), complete with fish tossing and a pistol shooting contest and ends up with a great story of two friends who travel from Alaska to Florida to pick up a brand new fire truck and then drive it back to Seattle to ship to Alaska by ship. It is the road trip of a lifetime.

Great quotes from the book:

"Men share some of their most intimate moments leaning against vehicles with their arms crossed, looking at anything but each other." 

"I don't think there's a man in America who didn't spend at least a year of his young life sure that he'd grow up to be a fireman"

This audiobook can be found on Amazon.com here: The End of the Road.

I rate this audiobook 5 stars out of 5.

DIES IRAE: DAY of WRATH: A Novella by William Forstchen

Published in 2014 by Spectrum Literary Agency

William R. Fortschen notes in his introduction to Dies Irae: Day of Wrath that he felt compelled to write the story after a long discussion with a couple of friends about ISIS and the porous nature of America's southern border. What he came up with is this novella that is jam-packed full of action and very short on things like character development and a real resolution. But, it was written as a warning more than anything else.

The main characters are Bob Peterson and his wife Kathy who live in Maine. Bob is a middle school teacher. ISIS-backed terrorists have invaded America to launch a series of attacks on schools in smaller towns across the country, including Bob's.

Bob breaks school rules and state laws by carrying a pistol on his person in the school, and on this day that is a good thing...

Fortschen's descriptions of the ensuing death and mayhem are over the top but effective. To be honest, this book reminded me of Stephen King's orgies of blood and chaos in books like The Stand and Cell and I think that Fortschen would welcome the comparison.

Is this book a great book? No. It is over-the-top and alarmist.

That said, it is a compelling read, even though this public school teacher is very much against arming teachers in a school setting.

I rate this book 4 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Dies Arae: Day of Wrath.

ENDANGERED (Joe Pickett # 15) by C.J. Box

Published in 2015 by G.P. Putnam's Sons

Technically, Endangered is a Joe Pickett and Nate Romanowski novel but they have no interaction throughout the book. Nate has been released from prison because of a complex deal between the feds and Joe Pickett's boss, the Governor of Wyoming. But, one of the conditions of his release is that he cannot have any contact with Joe Pickett - a part of the deal that was tossed in out of spite by the FBI agent that negotiated the deal.

Romanowski agrees and heads off to a new life with his new love interest.  They have opened a business in which he will use his hunting falcons to clear out smaller birds from barns and the like. But, Romanowski soon discovers that he was mostly let out of prison to become bait for the people that he testified against in prison so that the FBI can have a chance to nab them - maybe before they kill Nate, maybe not.

Meanwhile, Wyoming Game Warden Joe Pickett is dealing with troubles of his own. His adopted daughter April has returned to Twelve Sleep County, unbeknownst to her family. They find out when she is discovered on the side of the road nearly beaten to death. Pickett has his suspicions of the real culprit even though the clues are pointing to a strange loner who lives on the edge of town...

This is an exciting, suspenseful addition to the series. Lots of action, lots of drama and multiple story lines. The ending was satisfying, if not a little too pat for my tastes. 

I rate this book 5 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Endangered (Joe Pickett #15).