The Wishbones

This is the second book I bought by Tom Perrotta. The title is the name of a wedding band called the Wishbones. However the book is about Dave, who is a guitar played in said band. He has been dating his girlfriend Julie for 15 years. He describes that time as dating "on and off". Dave is a courier in the New York City. He describes it as a dead end job.

Dave's love is music. The wedding band is a way to get paid a bit to do what he likes. He really wants to be on tour with a better band. But so far, such an opportunity has eluded him. Dave had a tragedy when his girlfriend's parents caught him and Julie naked at their house. He is trying to get back into better standing with those parents.

At one wedding, Dave meets Gretchen. Apparently they had met before. But he does not recall much about her. Gretchen is unlike Dave's girlfriend. She is tall and slender. She lives in New York City. Dave eventually thinks he loves Gretchen. However Gretchen cannot stay with a guy who is about to be married to his long time girlfriend.

The Fugitive Game

Kevin Mitnick is a hacker. He is able to make long distance calls for free. He can listen in on other people's phone conversations. He can read your email. Originally he was caught and sentenced when young. Then before his probation is up, he goes back to hacking.

Mitnick goes on the run. A New York Times reporter and another famous hacker track Mitnick down. The FBI eventually captures Mitnick and arrests him. There is a lot of suspicious activities by the reporter and other hacker. They end up getting deals for a book on Mitnick, movie rights, and even a video game.

The FBI is also a bit suspicious with this case. They bust into Mitnick's apartment before they actually get the search warrant. They also have the civilians along when they are tracking Mitnick. Then there are also shenanigans when Mitnick is tried for his alleged crimes.

The author of this book is somewhat sympathetic to Mitnick. He also has a lot of conversations with the hacker that are recounted in this book. I plan to read another book about Mitnick, from the reporter and other hacker's points of view.

Astrophysics for People in a Hurry

I have watched author Neil DeGrasse Tyson speak a number of times. He seemed interesting. So did the subject matter. However the guy goes into describing the moments after the Big Bang, spouting out all kinds of vocabulary that he never defines. What a waste. Did he even get a novice to review his writing?

Tyson does make some interesting observations. But they get lost among his discussion of complicated matter that just won't make sense to the average person. Yeah. I get that he has a Ph.D in Astrophysics. That does not mean he should not break complex topics down into understandable prose.

This book was a huge disappointment. I only got one-third of the way in before I gave up. Maybe this guy should hire a ghost writer to help explain physics to the regular person. I even had a couple semesters of physics in college and I could not understand a lot of why this guy was writing.

Little Mix: Ready to Fly

This book has all 4 members of the girl band Little Mix sharing their journey to stardom. They all entered the British X Factor competition. Some of them tried year after year to get in. Initially they were being judged as solo performers. Later they got paired up in groups. Finally they came together as a group in the contest, and won the competition.

The book is set just after Little Mix won the X Factor competition back at the end of 2012. They tell how they started and came to win the competition. They also talk about them going on tour with the X Factor. There are stories about a lot of crying due to stress. They all seem very close with their mothers.

I learned that Little Mix had a coach during the X Factor, who I thought doubled as a judge. Simon Cowell was not one of the judges. But he became involved with them when they won the whole competition. Lots of good pictures in this coffee table style book.

A Perfect Failure - Fante Bukowski Three

Fante is living on his own. He is late on his rent. He wants to break out as a famous writer to prove he is not a failure to his father. We learn that when younger, he went on stage and shared his prose. However he was boo-ed off stage.

Fante gets a gig ghost writing an autobiography for a Disney channel star. This gives him a sizeable advance. Initially Fante just inserts his own history into the book. The publisher balks at this. So Fante has to sell out and write according to the star's history.

Fante's dad has a stroke. So Fante needs to fly back to his hometown. Fante's friend Norma is giving her final live performance that Fante will miss due to this trip. Fante goes to the hospital and, while his dad is knocked out, reconciles with him.

In the end, nobody shows up for Norma's live performance. Near the end of her time slot, Fante shows up to support her. Norma is happy. There is a hint that she may even be in love with Fante. They both share their real names with each other.

Bold and Determined

Victor Pride has a lot of advice for men. His main thesis is to quit the 9-to-5 job and build your own business. He is also a strong advocate for lifting heavy weights in the gym. He advises you to carpe diem and start now. He recommends you eat steaks with lots of butter.

Pride is against going into debt. He has advice to avoid laziness. The most concrete is to have written goals daily and achieve them early in the morning. He says that you should be obsessed about building your business and avoid hobbies.

Pride does think that you need one day off a week to relax. But every other day should be 110% effort towards your goals. I suspect his writing comes from his blog. Each of the many chapters are short stand-alone ideas. I would not mind reading another of his advice books.