Henry, Himself

Henry is an old man. He lives with his wife Emily and their dog Rufus. He was an engineer by trade. But he is long retired now. He tries to keep active, working in the yard. He makes frequent visits to Home Depot. His wife worries about him and has prohibited him from shoveling snow on the driveway any more.

Their kids are grown up with their own kids now. They come and visit now and then. Henry is worried about money. But they are not broke. There is a family vacation house that they visit regularly. The whole family comes and everybody pitches in for some house maintenance.

Henry is worrying about his death. His doctor took a leave of absence and died on him. He thinks he has set up life insurance so that his wife can life after he dies. He feels his body getting older. He does take his dog for walks all the time.

This book is by an author I discovered that I absolutely love. I think Henry is part of a family that I have or will read more books about. I look forward to it. There is no big ending. Henry just sees some deer as he is walking his dog, and wants to rush home to tell his wife about it.

Raw Dog

I received this book as a gift. Somebody saw a Tiktok video that said the story behind Auntie Anne's pretzels was told in it. Turns out this book is actually "The Naked Truth About Hot Dogs". Yes it does have a blurb about hos Auntie Anne's was started on page 25. But the book is definitely not the story of Auntie Anne's.

After getting past page 25, I decided to quit reading this thing. Yeah the author may have done some research on the history of hot dogs. And they seemed to have traveled the USA to eat the famous hot dogs. However the style was just not my cup of tea. 2 out of 10.

Tracy Flick Can't Win

Tracy is an assistant principal. She took over when the current principal took a leave of absence. However she went back to her assistant position when the principal returned. Tracy originally wanted to be president of the USA. She went to college to study law. However towards the end of her college years, she was informed that her mom's health was very poor. She had to leave law school, never to return.

Now that the current principal is retiring, Tracy believes it is her turn to become principal. She is essentially handling all the duties now. A rich guy who leads the board backs Tracy. So all seems well. But the football team is not doing well. The rich guy courts a former great football coach that went on to coach college. This coach will return, but only if he is given the school principal position. He sucked as an administrator in the past.

Tracy had been working on a new hall of fame at the school. Two people were being inducted at the kick off. One was a former football star who went on to the NFL. The other was Diane, the receptionist of 30 years at the school. Another study had a long time grudge with the football star. He assassinated the football guy at the induction ceremony. Tracy tried to protect the football guy and got shot herself twice.

The football coach decided to pass on the principal position. Tracy got the job after all. She is recovering from her injuries. The town blames the rich guy. Strangely enough, the rich guy's wife becomes good friends with Tracy. Rich guy has essentially left his wife because she also blames him for everything, including cheating on her in the past.

Taylor Swift Biography

This was a very short biography of music super star Taylor Swift. It is written for kids. Taylor was born in West Reading, PA. At 10 years old she wanted to go to Nashville. By 11 years old, her family took her on a trip there. Later they moved there for her music career.

Taylor initially was hired to do covers of other singers. She wanted to sing her own stuff. Some smart executive signed her. She put out a debut album at 13. It was country music. By 16, she had released an album that made it to the top of the main stream charts.

My only wish was that this book was a lot longer.

The Alternative Dating Guide for Girls who Wanna Rock

I must confess that I only made it through 3 chapters out of 22 with this one. This book was written by two women. It just seemed like they were trying to fill pages. Their premise is that The Rules is not correct guidance for young women to meet and attract men. That is a good start. But the book felt devoid of any real meat.

The Dead Bedroom Fix

This book aims to help men cure a specific problem - no sex from their wife. Step 1 is to hit the gym. Improve your self confidence. Make yourself sexy. Then your wife should respond.

The book also tells you things that do not work. Taking on chores at home won't get you laid. Relying on pity won't get you laid. Even bringing home the bacon won't get your laid. Your wife does not want a simp or nice guy.

In the end, the advice may work or not. And if not, at least the husband turns into a better man that can attract other females. Quite the claim.

The Odds

This is another book from my new favorite author Stewart O'Nan. It features Art and Marion. They are a couple that are headed for divorce. Their house is going to be foreclosed on. They decided to make one last trip back to Niagara Falls. And their plan is to bet what little money they have left for a chance to salvage their finances, and in turn, their marriage.

Art apparently had cheated with Wendy. Marion also cheated with another woman. One of their kids is getting married imminently. They have not told anybody about them losing their house or their plans for divorce. Art wants to rekindle the love they had when they previously went to Niagara. Marion is not so sure about the whole thing.

The couple find it crowded. They went to Niagara at Valentines Day. Art was mad that some exhibits are total rip offs. He also gets miffed when they give away the table he reserved at a big restaurant. Art has a technique to keep doubling down on losses at roulette. He tried it successfully online. He finds Marion is luckier that him at first.

Their goal is to double their money. Then they can put off the foreclosure. Art gets sick when they are at their last day. He still tries to keep betting. Eventually Marion fills in while he tries to go to the bathroom. Art returns and takes back over as Marion's nerves are shot. They make a big bet, and are capped by a new house maximum.

It all came down to this last spin. Turns out they won. Stewart O'Nan declares that they already won.