Back in September I bought a new computer. It was the first time I had one in over a year. The purpose was simple. I wanted to make my YouTube videos again. I didn’t upload a single video in 2018.
But I really enjoy putting in the time to create something. My videos are always about books and my new goal is to start again next week. I already know what my first two videos will be about and I’m crazy excited to get back to it! If you’re curious about some of my previous videos, check them out here.
I haven’t read a single page of any book since I started my new job less than two weeks ago. It goes without saying that I’ve finally shown you all of the videos I’ve made so far this year. But I bet you’re tired of those damn reviews, right? Heck, I’m a bit tired of them myself. So I took this opportunity to talk about something I’ve been wanting to address for YEARS. Seriously. One of the things I see everywhere on BookTube, Bookstagram, and book blogs is people telling me how nerdy or dorky reading is. I just had to set the record straight in my latest video. It’s less than four minutes! A quick watch!
Now tell me what YOU think! Do you think reading is dorky?!
I’m probably the last person in America to have started this series. I mean, at this point Rick Riordan is writing a dozen other series he started after concluding this one. Oh well. Better late than never, right? Anyway, I have only good things to say about this one! Watch and see!
I know what you’re thinking. You have never heard of this book. Not surprising. It’s about a company that provided elite athletes with steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs right around the turn of the century. If there is any sports fan deep inside you, then perhaps you might find this book worth reading.
If you’re curious at all to learn more about one of the other things I’m immensely passionate about, then give this video a watch! Baseball is way more important to me than most people realize, and that’s exactly how I want it.
This was the fifth book I read for my 2017 Reading Challenge. It fulfilled the requirement to read a book about baseball.
The third book from my 2017 Reading Challenge also happens to find itself as one of Amazon’s 100 Books Everyone Should Read. For me, Things Fall Apart was a book I struggled to get into. It wasn’t that it was poorly written or that the story was mediocre. It just took a little while to develop, but I couldn’t put it down once I realized the direction it was headed in. This is another of those 20th century classics everyone seems to have read before me, but eh. Take a couple of minutes to see what I thought of it and tell me if you’ve read it!
It fulfilled the requirement to read a book with a diverse main character for my 2017 Reading Challenge.
This was the second time I tried reading this after it was a DNF in 2014? It was a DNF at some point. Anyway, it was the first book I’ve read that had time traveling elements. Though I do watch the TV show, Timeless. And anyone who doesn’t like Back to the Future is crazy. So I’m not exactly a time traveling virgin. Wait, what?
Moving on.
As always, tell me if you’ve read this book and what you thought of it! I bet we have differing opinions.
This book fulfilled the requirement to read a book about time travel. Two down, 23 to go!
I bet you have no idea who she is. I’ll tell you. She started just a few years ago on YouTube. Then she hosted a web series for Fox Sports. She then began hosting her own weekly show on Fox Sports 1. But I’m not clamoring for anyone else to write a book, whether they’re in sports or not.
Let me tell you why I’d buy her book. She’s funny, witty, loves sports, and doesn’t back away from her opinion. She has no problem calling out athletes or officials who act badly. And I mean she really calls them out. We need more of her not just in sports media, but in general. We need people to speak up and speak out whenever a wrong is committed against another person or a group of people. Sometimes it may be an athlete against another person, but it also may be a political candidate talking about one of us “regular” people. The notion that “celebrities” should not have opinions or speak out about issues they’re passionate about is ridiculous. And Un-American.
Her show is sports comedy, but not everything is related to sports or comedy. And I’d be eager to here how she feels about a number of different things, whether we’re in agreement or not.
I love Bill Nye. I follow him on Twitter, which makes us best buds. RIGHT?
Seriously though, one of the hardest things for me to accept within the last decade of my life was how much difficulty I have with scientific concepts. I remember struggling all the way back in middle school. Give me a paper topic and I’ll write you a 98 paper the night before it’s due. Give me a lesson on history and I’ll likely never forget it. Give me a literary masterpiece to analyze and I’ll write a damn good paper and remember the story for years to come (looking at you, Dracula). But put me in a science lab and I’ll crumble. Perhaps that’s why I majored in a social science?
My point is that science is difficult for me. But this book is written FOR ME. One thing I do know is that climate change is real, it’s happening right now as I type this, and humans are contributing to it. You’ll hear people say “I don’t believe in climate change.” all the time, and that’s fine. But there is no “believing” and “not believing”. Not with this.
Which is why this book is so important. At some point all of us will have to face reality because our planet is the only one we have at the moment. It’s our only home, and we’re doing our best to leave the issue of climate change to be dealt with by our children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren. We’re just kicking the can further and further down the road. And our continued inaction will come back to bite us. There’s no doubt about it.
Bill Nye is pushing 60. He didn’t have to write this book. He’s under no more obligation to help save our planet than the rest of us. He wrote this book looking at the future, but also looking at the present. The people of today are going to be the ones who begin making the necessary changes to help preserve our planet, our planet’s resources, and our way of life. Because humankind has never had a greater say in the future and preservation of our planet than we do today.
I know many of you aren’t interested in my videos, but I implore you to take a look this one time. Not because I care about views or subscribers, but because this book is not just entertainment or a good story, it’s IMPORTANT. This is the first time I can say a book I’ve read is more than a book.
I know we’re in August now and I’m only four books into my 2016 reading challenge, BUT I’ve actually read two more I haven’t talked about just yet. Hehe. I’ll finish. Because it’s so easy.
Anyway, the requirement I fulfilled by reading Friday Night Lights was a book I’d already seen the movie for. Which you definitely should have seen the movie by now since it was released in 2004. I can’t tell you how great this book really is. This might sound stupid to you, but I believe it should be assigned reading in any sports-related class in Texas high schools and universities. Because if you’re studying to go into the Texas sports market you should understand how important sports can be. This book gives the reader incredible insight into the world of Texas high school football, but more importantly it gives the reader incredible insight into small-town Texas life. It is simply a remarkable work.
Now take just a few minutes for my complete thoughts!
What’s the best sports book you’ve read? The best one for me (just narrowly) is still Moneyball, but boy this book couldn’t be any closer.
Johnny Reads 