johnnysbookrev's reviews
54 reviews

Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics by Dolly Parton

emotional funny informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

I mean, it's Dolly. I'll give it 5/5. Come on. 
For real though, this book is an unconventional method of doing a memoir or biography, but it makes sense. Dolly is a songwriter or a Songteller, so the best way to express her life to a person is through her songs. This book contains 100's of her songs, and Jolene and 9-5 are two of them. 

I've listened to this book where Dolly is the narrator. She'll actually sing the songs, which is amazing. I'm now going back to those songs I love like Jolene, taking notes, finding any great quotes that I can retain in my journal, and applying any lessons I find to my life. 

The Rock: Through the Lens: His Life, His Movies, His World by Hiram Garcia

adventurous funny informative inspiring medium-paced

5.0

A book I'll always come back too. I bought it for only $6, so I can read it/look at the pictures every year. 
I love the action scenes, the secret side, and so much more. A picture can give you 1,000 words, and that's so true. 

Unmatched: The Journey of Iowa's Brightest Star by Des Moines Register

informative medium-paced

5.0

It has articles from when Clark played in college. You get a glimpse of her life. You also get a ton of pictures and stats from some of her games. Such a good book.

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King

informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

It's a great book, but I felt like his flow of thought was everywhere. Beginning was good, but the ending has some parts where the thoughts were all over the place. 

The Heat Will Kill You First: Life and Death on a Scorched Planet by Jeff Goodell

informative sad medium-paced

4.0

I say sad because of the last chapter. The author talks about polar bears, and how they're dying because their land is being destroyed. More like melting away. 

Breaking Free from Broke: The Ultimate Guide to More Money and Less Stress by George Kamel

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

I'll give it a five. Money is a hard topic to talk about. Let's be real, but it needs to be. George is on Dave Ramsey's side with cutting credit cards. Honestly, I've made too many excuses with my credit cards, and I should just cut them up. At the moment, I'm leaving then at home and taking them off my saved accounts. 

The reality is that we need to get out of debt. Majority of Americans have one of the three major debts: auto, credit cards, and student loans. Some have all three which make it very difficult to pay for any bills. From my experience, these are suckers from my paycheck. I pay $1,200 per month for my student loans. $1,200! That's a lot of money. The idea is to get out of debt and stay out of debt. 

Fourth Wing (Part 2 of 2) (Dramatized Adaptation) by Rebecca Yarros

dark emotional funny sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Give this book a 5/5. I've read it multiple times. Had to listen to the full cast this time around to celebrate the one year anniversary! Let's go. 

It's a debut fantasy book, and I thought Rebecca did a good job for her first time. Improvement is needed, but it makes sense with this being her first fantasy book. 

Last page though. "Welcome to the resistant Violet". Ohh damn! Let's go. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing and Violence

Moderate: Grief and Sexual content

Sexual content isn't bad. It's there, but it's not as detailed as Icebreaker by Hannah Grace.

In My Own Process by Bruce Lee

adventurous funny hopeful reflective tense fast-paced

5.0

Book has a lot of pictures, but it documents Bruce Lee's life. I saw it at the bookstore I work at, and I had to check it out. 

Bruce Lee is an absolute legend. A man that resembles discipline and consistency to a t. He put in work daily, and I love that.  

I also found that the publisher is doing a special edition copy. This special edition copy is signed by Tony Hawk, burce lee's daughter, and ex-wife.  It's $300. 

Death for Dinner by Zach Neil

dark informative fast-paced

4.0

With cookbooks, they're easy to read, but much harder to implement. I can cook, but the thing for me is sticking with the recipes. I'll just start adding different stuff. 

This cookbook is all plant-based recipes. If you're into that, this would be a great cookbook to look into.

Dont Sweat The Small Stuff by Richard Carlson

informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

A book with 100 tips over how to keep the little things from taking over our life. Don't sweat the small stuff. One of my favorite tips he mentions is on page 59, which is tip 21. This tip is imagine yourself at a funeral. Who is at your funeral and what would be your regrets? Did you sweat the small stuff? The big regret people have is not spending enough time with people they love and doing more hobbies or things they want to do. This tip will be the start of changing yourself if you're not aligned or have not done what you would want to do in your life.