3 Books I Read During COVID
Disclaimer: This is not a book recommendation list. I had some time between finals ending and my internship starting and there is only so much time during the day you can play golf. These are the books I read when I wasn’t golfing. If you’re looking for a Book Rec article go to someone smarter like Bill Gates. I’m sure he has a Medium page.
Also, I wanted to write this to let my friends and family know that I do know how to read despite the short, nonsensical responses to emails and texts. Or the lack of response. Sorry, but if it’s more than two lines I’m not going to read it. My attention is being pulled in way too many directions when I’m on my phone and/or computer. Half the time I forget what I need to do right when I open the device up. It’s frustrating enough as is.
Michael Jordan: The Life by Roland Lazenby
I actually bought this book and started reading it 3–4 years ago, but it’s like 700 pages long so I only got about 1/2 way through before starting something else. But when “The Last Dance” aired it was a perfect time to dust it off and finish the thing like a true champ would. In fact, the half-way point of the book covers the beginning of his professional career, making it easy to progress through and watch the 10-part documentary with synced-up timelines. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if the story arc of the documentary was outlined based on the book because there was very little that wasn’t covered. The controversy following Sam Smith’s book “The Jordan Rules”, Rodman’s trip to Vegas, the fight with Steve Kerr, Pippen’s battle’s with Krause were all in the book, and mirrored in the same manner in “The Last Dance.” Additional content not covered in the documentary included MJ’s legend after his Bulls career-which was pretty cool. For a time he was part owner and played for the Wizards, which was an interesting dynamic worth exploring. Also, coverage of how his brand and savvy business moves made him so incredibly wealthy post-playing career is unlike any athlete before or after him. If you decide to pick up this behemoth, I recommend reading from page 1–300, then watching the documentary, then reading the last 75 pages.
The Believing Brain by Michael Shermer
Honestly this book sucked. Don’t read it. I’m usually a sucker for easy-to-digest pop-psych books about things like growth mindset, power of habit, say shit in the mirror three times each morning and it’ll come true type reads, but this book was not that. Some of the people he profiled at the beginning were interesting like the Doctor who was religious, and why, even though science and religion are opposing forces and belief systems, he is able to be both. The chapter on conspiracy theories certainly helped me understand why people, especially in today’s media cycle were there are so many sources of “truth”, are so quick to believe that coronavirus was created by the democrats and China is the root of all the world’s current problems. It certainly made me question a lot of things I held as truth. However, Shermer is a Phd and the book seems to be written for Phd’s. It was a slog to get through, and the material was dense. Perhaps my opinion would be different if I had the right expectations, but, I probably wouldn’t have bought it if I knew what I was getting into.
The Tao of Bill Murray by Gavin Edwards
Until recently, I didn’t know much about the Bill Murray mystique outside of his acting personas. Ghostbusters and Caddyshack are two of my favorites and his cameo in Space Jam was an all timer. But this 300 page book is filled with anectdotes and short stories about Bill just inserting himself into everyday people’s lives and providing an incredible experience. Stories include him bartending at a random dive in South Carolina and giving patrons whatever is closest to him despite appearing to listen intently to their orders, wandering into a Gym at Harvard and playing in a scrimmage with the women’s JV basketball team, reciting impromptu poetry to a group of construction workers during their lunch break, and many, many more. He’s so rich from early blockbusters that he can just wander from adventure to adventure, not knowing what the next day will bring or where he’ll be. This free-spirited philosophy on life was imbedded in him during his stint at Second City, an improv group, in Chicago prior to his stint on SNL. He made the decision, while there, to treat his entire existence as one big improv show. Post-college I have succumbed to a life of operating by my calendar-if it’s not scheduled the meeting or activity doesn’t exist. Reading this book has made me think about inserting more serendipity during my day-to-day, but I think I’ll just try and get Ghostbuster’s rich before I start living my improv life.
Bonus: American Kingpin by Nick Bilton
I’m a little over halfway through this book and it will most certainly be one of my favorites when I finish. It’s a mix between “Breaking Bad” (the greatest story of entrepreneurship in history. Judged by me.) and “Bad Blood” (my favorite book). The book follows the true story of Ross Ulbricht, a native Texan who, after completing his Phd in Physics at Penn State, uses his genius to create the Silk Road: the Amazon for illicit drugs and weapons. Not only is it a classic story of the Feds chasing the anti-hero, a patented recipe for success (see: Sopranos, Breaking Bad, Dexter, etc…), it is also an education in the limits of Libertarian and Government overreach philosophies.
American Kingpin is the only book on here I’d call a “must read.” Read the MJ book if you are a huge fan of his or the ’90s Bulls-otherwise it’s really long. The Bill Murray one is a quick read and has a lot of funny stories so read if you like the guy. Steer clear of the other one.
