TheRicanReader

Thanks to University Press, for providing an advance reader’s copy of the eBook for review consideration. This review expresses my own personal opinion.    Over the past two years the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, has become known around the world and this book gives us a glimpse into his life and why he has become the symbol of democratic freedom.    Many of us first heard of President Zelensky after a taped conversation between him and former President Trump came to light over financial aid to Ukraine, wherein it appeared that Trump was asking the newly elected president to do him a favor, provide dirt on then candidate President Joe Biden and his family. The conversation took place before the Russian evasion and while it was part of the impeachment hearings against Trump, it revealed little about Zelensky, a man who would soon become known to millions around the world.    University Press provides a nicely written book which gives us a glimps...

The Stoic Mindset by Mark Tuitert  Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin Press, St. Martin Essential, and Mark Tuitert for providing an advanced reader’s copy of this book.  This review expresses my own personal opinion. I have not been asked to post it by the author, the publishing companies or anyone connected with the book or author. The main focus of this book, by its title, is Stoicism, an ancient philosophy that originated around 300 B.C. in Greece and migrated to Rome. At its core, which the author seeks to get to, is how can one live well? What are the practical utilities that we can apply to our everyday life? Life as the Stoics saw and lived it, is full of challenges, adversity, sadness, death, opportunities, etc. These happenings of life, the Stoics knew we have no control over, and if that was the case, how could one face the ups and downs of life in a way that would lead to a calmer mindset, to be clear about one’s position in the Universe? Tuitert wants to share with u...

With the death of Steve Jobs in 2011 plenty of tech pundits and others, thought Apple was done for. Many said that without the vision, creativity, innovation and drive of Jobs, the company would soon be adrift. For those of you who were in that camp, you were partly wrong and partly right, and for those of us who had faith, we also were partly wrong and partly wright. For you see, while Apple may not be fully the company that Steve built, it is still one of the most admired companies on the planet and the most valued. This is the story of the two successors to Jobs, responsible for carrying on his legacy, good, bad, and indifferent. The book delves into the personalities, roles, and shifting power of the two most powerful leaders in Apple, Jony Ive, Apple’s Chief Design Officer, who Jobs called his “spiritual partner,” the creative genius who brought us the sleek looks we see in the iPod, MacBooks, iPhone, iPad, Watch, and even the state-of-the-art new Apple headquarters and Tim Cook, ...

Thank you, University Press, for providing an advanced copy of this short biography of a fast-becoming music icon. This review expresses my own personal opinion. I have not been asked to post it by the author, University Press, or anyone connected with the book or author.   This is a short read on this former One Direction boy band member who has become a global phenomenon. For the diehard fans and maybe those of us who have a couple of his albums (I confess, I do) this short biography will give you a glimpse into who Styles is, his humble beginnings, which includes parents who divorced when he was young, working in a bakery shop as a teenager where customers and his boss thought he was the nicest employee, joining and becoming lead singer for One Direction, auditioning in front of the dreaded Simon Cowell on X Factor UK, which was part of moving into his solo career, to acting in the blockbuster movie Dunkirk. With determination and tenacity, as well as not letting anyone define w...

    Thank you NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and Flatiron Books for providing advanced copies of the eBook and audio book for review consideration.    This review expresses my own personal opinion. I have not been asked to post it by the author, his publishing company, or anyone connected with the book or author.   I decided to listen to the audio version narrated by Adam Lazarre-White, and so glad I did. More on this later. First, my take on the story.    Let me start by saying this book was a Goodreads Choice Awards nominee for Best Mystery & Thriller (2023), which got my vote. While it didn’t win, the mere fact it was nominated tells you this is a book to read.    For those of you who are fans of the series involving FBI Agent Aloysius Pendergast by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, former FBI, now independent criminal profiler, Alex Cross by James Patterson, and troubled former cop, now FBI consultant, Amos Decker by David Baldacci, com...

Thank you University Press for providing an advanced copy of this short biography of America’s 26th president. This review expresses my own personal opinion. I have not been asked to post it by the author, University Press, or anyone connected with the book or author.  This is a quick read about the life of Theodore Roosevelt, better known as TR or Teddy (a name he only let his mother call him), one of the most influential and groundbreaking presidents the country has known.  The book is a perfect summary for readers of presidential history.  University Press (UP) does a good job in distilling down this American trailblazer who persevered through early childhood sickness, he suffered from debilitating asthma, to become an avid hunter, explorer, adventurer, politician, statesman, conservationist, naturalist, and an unstoppable force in shaping the American political and social landscapes. As the writer points out, TR left behind a written legacy of 45 books, helped shaped ...

Thank you NetGalley and Author Emily Dreeling for providing an advanced reader’s copy of the eBook for review considerations. This review expresses my own personal opinion. I have not been asked to post it by the author, their publishing company, or anyone connected with the book or author.  This is a children’s book, early to intermediate readers.  This is the final chapter of River and the Tremendous Yellow Wellie trilogy. I’d rather use the word episode, for like a good Netflix or Apple TV+ series, you want more stories of River and her amazing friends the Wellies. For the benefit for my American friends, the Wellie, formally known as the Wellington boot, is a waterproof boot popularized by Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington.  In this episode, her friends, the Wellies, step forward to help River not only overcome her fear of math, but also her struggle with self-confidence. I don’t know about you, but like many kids, I struggled with certain subjects, math was on...

Thank you University Press for providing an advanced copy of this short biography of Charlie Munger. This review expresses my own personal opinion. I have not been asked to post it by the author, University Press, or anyone connected with the book or author.  This is a quick read about the life of Charlie Munger, one of the most influential financial wizards in the world today. If you are interested in how the Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate got to where it is today and what makes it so successful, then you have to know the men behind it and Munger is the other part of the fantastic duo.  Many successful people have a right-hand person, their wing-person so to speak; General Ulysses S. Grant had William Tecumseh Sherman, Jimmy Carter had Rosalyn Carter, and Warren Buffett has Charlie Munger.  Surprisingly, the book points out, Munger did not start out in finance, far from it. After serving a stint in the army, as a meteorologist, he followed in his father’s and grandfathe...

Thank you University Press for providing an advanced copy of this short biography of Viola Ford Fletcher. This review expresses my own personal opinion. I have not been asked to post it by the author, University Press, or anyone connected with the book or author.  This is a short biography of the oldest known survivor of the Tulsa Race Massacre, Viola Ford Fletcher, who was only 7-years old, when one of the most savage atrocities in American’s history took place in 1921 when angry white mobs brutally attacked and killed scores of innocent Black citizens in Tulsa, Oklahoma, a day that should always live in infamy.  Mrs. Fletcher, also known as Mother Fletcher, born in 1914 is now 109. Her brother, Hughes Van Ellis, the second oldest survivor, a newborn during the massacre, recently died at the age of 102. Mrs. Fletcher, in my opinion, is nothing short of an American hero and icon. This short book chronicles her long life and vividly shares with us what she endured during that m...

Fairy Tale by Stephen King [book:Fairy Tale|60177373] The Tampa Bay Times in their review of Stephen King's latest novel, Holly, says King's storytelling skills are not dimming one bit. I could have told them that after reading Fairy Tale (FT).  I’ve haven’t been a regular reader of King's novels, horror is not my genre. That said, I am now a fan of King’s work and open to reading his stories that are not hard core horror as in the case of my reading Billy Summers and now Fairy Tale, neither of which I would consider squarely in the horror genre, the kind that keeps you up all night and haunt you long after you have finished the book. Neither Billy Summers (see my review of that book on GoodReads) nor FT, in my opinion, fit that category.  FT is a dark fantasy, told by the main character, seventeen year-old Charlie Reade. Charlie, experienced gut wrenching sadness and loss at the age of seven when his mother was struck and killed while crossing the town bridge bringing home...