Chasing Spirits

 Chasing Spirits: The Building of the Ghost Adventures Crew by Nick Groff with Jeff Belanger is a non-fiction story about Nick's life and "the building of the Ghost Adventures Crew." If you didn't already know, Ghost Adventures is a popular television show on the Travel Channel where three guys: Zak Bagans, Aaron Goodwin, and the author of this book Nick Groff, lock themselves in haunted locations where they try to find proof of the paranormal. In this book Nick starts out by telling the reader a little bit about what his life was like before Ghost Adventures. He talks about his childhood, his start in the film industry, and all of his paranormal experiences along the way. The book really starts to pick up when he goes on to tell the story of how Ghost Adventures came to be. Being the huge Ghost Adventures fan that I am, this part was really interesting. Groff gives the reader a behind the scenes look at the show, how it was created, and certain investigations they have done. Groff also highlights one specific investigation throughout the entire book, where his life changed as he came face-to-face with what he believes to be a spirit of a woman and Linda Vista Hospital in Los Angeles, California.  He wraps up the story by talking about how his whole life has changed and other projects he has done since. Chasing Spirits also has some fun little things within it including photographs, fan questions, and the brief history of locations he's been to.
     Since I love the show Ghost Adventures, I may like this book more than any of you would, because a lot of it might only seem interesting to a fan. I personally loved reading more in depth about certain haunted locations that I have only seen on television, and I really loved finding out about how the show actually got started, and all of the fun or scary things that happened along the way. However, these things may not interest someone who has never seen the show at all. So I would only recommend this book to someone who is familiar with the series. I really enjoyed every part of this book. For me, it's interesting to see the show from a whole new perspective, and by reading this book I feel more connected with the series.
     Besides the talk of the show, Groff also brings up many different subjects that really make you think. For example, he tells the reader about his opinion on what he believes happens after we die, but he also allows you to form your own ideas about it. It starts to get you thinking about all of the possibilities and how nothing is 100% proven. Above all Groff emphasizes how important is to do what you love, and even if it takes a lot of hard work to get there, if you are doing something that you enjoy, you will be happy.
     When I started reading this book, I expected it to be similar to the one Zak Bagans, one of the other guys of Ghost Adventures, wrote. Although this book was very different and I absolutely enjoyed it. Anyone who is a fan of Ghost Adventures will be sure to love it too. I would give it an A for sure.

Just a heads up: If you are uncomfortable with swearing, this book is not for you, because it swears quite a bit.

The Last Season

    

  
The Last season, A Team in Search of a Soul, is written by the Nine-time NBA champion coach Phil Jackson  who is known as one of the best coaches in the history of the NBA. He has been able to lead two teams to multiple NBA championships. In this auto biography of what Phil Jackson thinks will be his final season coaching. The Lakers 2003-2004 team was loaded with star talent but the question was would they have the chemistry to achieve their goal of winning another NBA championship...

The Story starts with NBA free agency where the Lakers were able to sign future Hall-of-Famers Karl Malone and Gary Payton. Jackson believes these two players are the final pieces of the puzzle. Until Kobe decides to physically assault a maid in Colorado. Kobe ends up spends most of the season side tracked with court hearings. He is able though to make it to the all of the games but everyone can tell that Kobe Bryant just isn’t the same.

Phil Jackson says that he wanted to trade Kobe right when he got the news. Kobe would still have trade value and they would be able to acquire players with less "off-court" distractions in return. This though did not happen because The Owner Jerry Buss is betrayed as a real jerk. Making money is his main priority and if Kobe makes him money then he is not going to trade him. Mr. Buss makes Mitch Kupchak, the General Manager, baby Kobe because he’s a free agent and a future star that they can’t lose. Kobe with his enormous ego causes many team conflicts, fights with Shaq, and overall probably causes the season to become a fail. Jackson also gives insight on the Media circus of Shaq and Kobe. Where they seemed to never get along and took it out on each other in the media.

Jackson’s book is interesting because it tells of the drama that goes on during an NBA season. The inside accounts of games and players teach that the "NBA Life" isn't that great. It's not all fun and games like we tend to believe. If your not a fan of basketball then this book really isn't for you but... if you want to remember why you hate basketball you might just like it. Also, there is also a lot of swearing when players especially Kobe Bryant are directly quoted. Kobe seems to enjoy saying swear words when it really isn't necessary. Overall this book is a good read. Learning about the NBA from someone who experienced it first person makes it even better. A-

 

Heaven Is Here By Stephanie Nielson

(warning! There may be a few spoilers...!)

  Heaven is Here is a book about incredible true story of faith, hope, and love. This entire book was so incredible, and sometimes (although I tried to fake it) I even caught myself crying while reading it in class! The book is about a woman named Stephanie Nielson, a strong Mormon woman with four children who was currently living in Mesa, Arizona. In 2005, she started a blog known at the NieNie Dialogues, which became widely popular with many readers. She begins the story when she was young teen, telling her fairy tale romance story of her and her husband and him learning to fly planes. She tells a beautiful story of marriage and starting a family and her life seems absolutely perfect. 

  People envy Stephanie until she begins the next part of her story. Her accident. On August 16th, 2008, Stephanie was in a horrifying plane crash with her husband that burned forty percent of his body and hers eighty percent, sending her into a coma for three months. When she wakes up, she is horrifyingly depressed and unsure of herself. She couldn't walk, but that wasn't the worst. Stephanie's face had changed drastically. The change was so awful in fact, her daughter Jane, would not even look at her and her son whom was still a baby during the accident, thinks her sister is "Mommy".

  While I read this book I couldn't believe how incredible this woman is. She faced an unspeakable tragedy and still built back her happiness. Her relationships grew stronger, her hope grew more, and her faith was changed dramatically. I absolutely LOVED this book and recommend it to anyone who needs a lift up and good spirit. Easy A. 

Open By: Andre Agassi

This amazing autobiography by Andre Agassi is a fascinating and inspiring book that will keep the reader from putting it down.  It starts off with Andre being a seven year old little boy wanting to do what all other little boys do.  Although he wants that, his father wants him to do nothing but tennis.  His father has his whole life mapped out.  The map is titled Tennis.
   As he grows up he does nothing but tennis.  His father is so determined at getting Andre to be a professional tennis player that they grow apart.  When Andre turns into a teenager his father sends him off to a tennis boarding school so that he can play more tennis with other amazing tennis players.  While at the school Andre turns into a very rebellious kid who doesn't want to do anything the adults say.  He quits school and starts to just play tennis twenty-four seven.  Although, he hates tennis he keeps pushing and finally becomes a well known tennis professional all over the world at age twenty-two.  He finally becomes number one in the world, and one of the best tennis players ever to play the game.  Most of all, he learned to love the game of tennis.
   I loved everything about this book.  It had so many inspiring stories about his life and his trials he went through to become the greatest tennis player he could.  I am not such a good reader and, books aren't really interesting to me, but this book was impossible to put down.  Although, the book does have some bad language, if that will bother you don't read it.  I think he wrote this book to show that it takes hard work to get to where we want to be in life, but the work is worth it even though we face many difficult challenges.
  In conclusion, this is a wonderful book for many people.  It will inspire you to work hard in life and strive to do your best.  I promise you that you will not want to put this book down!
 

"Night" By Elie Wiesel

     "Night" - By Elie Wiesel, is a depressing and inspirational auto-biography about his time with his father spent in Nazi German concentration camps; Auschwitz and Buchenwald. Though it is only a 100-page book, it holds terrifying opinions and history - he talks about the death of god and how much he is sickened by humanity. The original book was an 865- page book written in Yiddish, and 50 years later, it had been translated in to more than 30 languages. 

     The book starts off by telling the reader of Elie's hometown - Sighet, Romania, and of a strange man, hollering about the horrible things "they" have done to him. The man goes all around the town, telling people that he had been abducted and brutally tortured. Nobody listened, at least, nobody but Elie. He would spend almost every afternoon with the man and listening to his stories of going to Hell and coming back to tell the tale. 

     In Spring of 1944, the Nazi's begin shipping carloads of Jews to Auschwitz, and Elie's family is sent in the last car, a few days after the rest. A woman on their car was hysterical, screaming visions of flames and furnaces. 

     Finally, on the third day of their car-trip with only minimal amounts of food and water, they arrive at a concentration camp and see a large furnace with black smoke flowing out the top. Elie and his father go with the "healthy" group to work, while his mother and sisters are sent the Birkenau to be killed.

     Wiesel has won a Nobel Peace prize for his literature, and has gone on to write two other books about his thoughts after the Holocaust. If you haven't already read this book, you'd better find a copy and read it to yourself because it is definately a "must-read." With all it's gruesome detail and horror stories about his time spent in Auschwitz, it can make someone go from a happy-go-lucky American into a starving and dying Jew in Auschwitz.

How I Got This Way by Patrick McManus

The saying "Don't judge a book by its cover" is definitely not true for this gem of a book. Just look at the cover. You can tell right off that the book will be funny. How I Got This Way and all the other Patrick McManus books that I've read have all been the same; hilarious. This book starts out slow (for Patrick McManus) but there are certain stories that got me laughing so hard that I thought for sure I would get kicked out of the cafeteria during Patriot Time. Seriously.

 This book is a compilation of awesome stories that all talk about past adventures of the one and only Patrick McManus. He loves the outdoors so that is what he primarily writes about. Pat loved to fish, hunt, and do other crazy things in his childhood and even when he was an adult. Unlike most stories, these stories do not go in chronological order. They jump around from his childhood enterprises with Rancid Crabtree, Retch Sweeney and Crazy Eddie Muldoon to his adult mishaps (many) and his triumphs (few). But with Patrick McManus writing, he can turn a plain old, everyday story into an awesome tale that will bring many a tear to your eye from laughter. In this book, Pat writes about many things from what happens when you combine a powerful, homemade slingshot named Whopper with Rancid Crabtree and Gram's giant pumpkin, to how he became an outdoor humorist, all the way to telling the reader about his successes of creating a one mile radius between he and the deer he is hunting. The stories are all completely different but they all relate to outdoor adventures, his main form of fun.

This book is simply hilarious. Although it doesn't quite compare to the likes of some of his other books, I still really liked this book. If you haven't read any of Patrick McManus's other books, you will probably think this is one of the funniest books that you have ever read. It was entertaining and I got lots of weird looks from different people as I just laughed my head off. Surprisingly, Pat isn't just a funny guy. He is an extremely talented writer because he paints a vivid picture of what he talks about in his books. The whole book was like watching a movie. It was cool how much you could visualize the story.

If the author is trying to pass along an opinion or bring up issues, they are as follows: enjoy yourself, have a little fun here or there, take risks (as in take dangerous roads in the woods), go on plenty of camping trips, go hunting and fishing often, and do crazy stuff as a kid. I agree with his philosophies, especially the fishing part but I'm still not all the way there on the dangerous, mountainous roads. You should probably live life with a more serious outlook than Patrick McManus or his pal Rancid Crabtree, but some people live life too seriously so this is a good reminder not to make life too stressful. I totally agree. Just reading this book helped me to have a little fun, relax and laugh my cares away. This collection of tales clearly had a purpose and that was to make people laugh. I laughed. If you read this book you will also laugh. Patrick McManus shows the world the importance of laughter. He shows how sad life is without laughter by making you laugh. Sounds kind of weird but trust me, it works.

Overall, I thought How I Got This Way by Patrick McManus was really good. It doesn't have the action or suspense that most books these days have but it sure has the right amount of humor.  I would recommend this book to all, but some of Patrick McManus's other books were much better. If you would like to know some of his better books, just ask.

Through My Eyes by Tim Tebow

The first thing you should know about this book is that it is amazing. It is an autobiography, in which Tim Tebow, professional quarterback for the Denver Broncos tells his story. You find out that he actually has an amazing background. You usually look at people like his and assume that they are just rich and spoiled. Considering his circumstances, Tebow is very different. It really surprises you, some of the things he tells about himself. But it definately kept me intrigued.

Now, like any other autobiography or biography, it didn't necessarily keep me flipping pages in suspense, but I kept reading it because it was very inspirational, and only motivated me even more to commit to things I have a passion for, because that's exactly what he did. Surprisingly, I found out that up until high school, Tebow played baseball. And not only played it, he had a gift for it, and likely could've found himself earning a career in the sport. However, as I mentioned before, he had a passion for football, so he went the direction he wanted to, and look where it got him today.

Another thing that I personally found interesting was that he is a hard core Christian. He grew up in the shadow of his father who was a pastor and a very good man in Christ. His family went on mission trips to the Philippines, where they helped kids who were struggling, and Tim, along with his two brothers would speak to them, and help them better understand and grow closer to the Lord. Thus, throughout the book he gives full credit of his success and his blessings to the Lord, which is one of the reasons I admire him as a person. From reading this book, you can really tell that he is such a good guy, and is one who is able to handle the fame without making bad choices.

Lastly, throughout the book, you learn several important life lessons that he, and many others have been through. It shows a lot of insight, which is good because we all get insight from people we know. However it is good to get it from someone in a different position as well, and it teaches you a lot about staying committed, and believing in yourself and giving the credit to Christ. That was the best piece of information I got out of this book. But there us much for us all to learn from Tebow as a person and a player.

All in all, I give this book an A for its purpose and theme. Tebow also showed that NFL players aren't always retarded, and he can write a successful book. He definitely succeeded. Ultimately, this book is mainly inspirational, but also a little bit informational, and I would recommend it to anyone with a passion because it gives you a lot of inspiration. I know it inspired me to do my best. And even if its not a sport, there's still so much to learn from reading this book.

Marley & Me by John Grogan

In this autobiography, John Grogan tells of life with his Labrador, Marley. Marley isn't like all dogs. Marley is a dog with ADHD. He's so crazy and so hyper! When Jenny and John are ready for their first dog as a married couple, they fall in love with clearance puppy. They bring him home and find out he's a little terror with nice packaging. His severe phobia of thunder and his basically unteachable mind make him a hard dog to handle. Eventually, Jenny and John have kids and start a very lovely little family.

This book is an amazing book. It has a touching story with many great details. You can really feel like you're a secret spy who has been assigned to the Grogan's when you read this book because of these great details. I give the book an A because I absolutely loved it!

It isn't, however, a book to read if you're not okay with swearing. Often, Marley's destructive behaivior sends John and Jenny into a pit of anger, and swear words sort of fly out of their mouths. This doesn't happen very often, but this is a warning.

If you love animals, this book is definitely for you. If you love feeling like a secret agent, I would say this book is also for you because you get to know the Grogan's. This is a great book for all ages, really, and it has a good, enjoyable story. It made me laugh several times. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to read it!

Why Me? by Sarah Burleton

This is an autobiography of Sarah Burleton, where she tells about her not-so-great childhood. She was born to a mother who didn't want a baby at the time. The unlucky fact that the hospital called Sarah's grandmother instead of mother changed Sarah's life. It's the reason she's alive. It's also the reason she's abused by her mother daily.
There's nothing in this book about Sarah's toddler years. It starts when she's in first grade, waiting to see a rocket ship take off. She needs to use the bathroom, but she's already been a few times and her teacher won't let her go again. Why should she? It's not like Sarah drank two huge glasses of orange juice because her mom didn't give her time to eat her disgusting oatmeal! Things get worse when Sarah's sister, RachelEmily, is born. Sarah's mom is actually ready for a baby this time, so RachelEmily is loved so much. Later on in the story, RachelEmily is hit a few times and she develops a stuttering problem, but it's nothing like what Sarah has to go through. Shoplifting, electrocution, belts, and lots of fists are what awaits Sarah during her childhood.
Sarah eventually meets some older guys and girls and starts to hang out with them. Her mom thinks she's a druggie because of this, but Sarah doesn't care. She has somewhere to stay with people who care about her. Sarah ends up dating and living with the oldest guy until she reaches adulthood, and she eventually breaks up with this guy.
Sarah has had a happy adulthood. She tried to make up with her Mom, but that didn't really work. Sarah calls RachelEmily once in a while just to see how her life is. The ending of her childhood is good, and she tells kids that there is always hope. She says kids who are being abused should stay strong and talk to someone about it, because they deserve better.
I really liked reading this book because it told me that no matter what, you can choose to be happy. It also taught me that there are hard things in life that we have to overcome. I don't know if I recommend this book, though. It has bad language and it is a really violent book. If you don't care about that, and you want to read a book with a few good morals to it, this is a good book for you. You can feel the anger and sadness that Sarah feels when you read this. I give this autobiography a B. It's very well-written, but it's horrific, violent, and there is some bad language. Consider this my warning to those of you who want to read this.

They Call Me Coach By John Wooden

John Wooden is arguably the best coach in college basketball history. In a ten year period, he won nine out of ten NCAA national championships, including eight in a row. He also impacted the lives of his players and thousands of people.

This book starts out by talking about John Wooden's early years of growing up on a farm and playing basketball on a dirt court in Indiana. This farm boy ended up becoming an All-American basketball player for Purdue University. After college, Wooden was hired to teach at a high school and he became the coach of all the sports teams as well. His basketball team was one of the best in the state and Wooden was quickly recruited by Indiana State University to coach basketball there. After a couple of successful years, UCLA decided to hire him. It was at UCLA where he developed his pyramid of success and won a total of ten national championships. During the large section of the book talking about his stay at UCLA, Wooden instructs his audience about success. The pyramid of success is a group of attributes built upon one another that makes up John Wooden's true definition of success.

This book is great for someone who is looking for ways to become successful and/or for people who want to become better leaders. It is very instructive and I learned a lot from the different teachings in the book. I now view success as not just a single thing but a group of different aspects that when put together, form success. This book makes me want to make myself better and to get out there and work.

I agree to all of the different points that Wooden touches on and I felt like I was sitting next to him in an armchair as he told his story. Even though he talks a lot about his players and different parts of his basketball philosophy, the most important parts in this book, and the parts that have the most impact on the reader are not necessarily about basketball itself. He talks about how to live life to the fullest and to become successful.

This book was fantastic and I would recommend it to everyone. If everyone read this book, the world would be a better place. I would give this book an A.

A Child Called "It" by David Pelzer

This book is the true story of a boy named David Pelzer. His life started out great. He had two brothers and a loving mother and father. Before the abuse started, their family was filled with love. His dad was a fireman, and that caused him to be at work a lot of the time.
When Dave was a little boy, his mother suddenly started changing and claimed that she was sick. She started drinking. That's when the punishments started. First they were simple, just sitting in the corner until he was told he could go play again. The thing that confused me while I was reading this book was that his mom only punished him, not his brothers. His punishments then became more brutal. She started beating him severly and one time she even had to take him to the hospital. Of course, the injury was just an "accident". She wouldn't even let him eat either. He had to steal food from the school cafeteria and other kids lunches to get food.
At first, Dave's father was pretty much his savior. Whenever he was around, his mother acted much differently. She let him play with his brothers and eat with the family. His father soon found out about his abuse, and started to help him out by giving him food. After a little while, all he would do was just stand there and watch as the abuse happened.
David's mom started thinking of better ways to torture him. She would lock him in the bathroom with a bucket of Clorox and ammonia. He would even pass out sometimes. She would burn him on the stove, and do much more horrible things.
It amazes me that he survived through all of that torture. His father also left the family so it was even harder for him to survive. This book is probably one of the saddest books I've read. It's really sad that all of this really happened to him, and that it happens to other kids too.
He has a sequel called The Lost Boy about him being a foster child and trying to find a real home. A Child Called "It" is definitely a good book to read, but it is also really sad. It also swears and the parts where his mother is beating him is kind of hard to get past because it has so many details.

A Child Called "It"

This heartbreaking memoir by Dave Pelzer, sends you through the third worst abuse case in California as an eye-witness. It will change every reader who can finish the book.

David was born into a loving home. His father provided for them as a firefighter and his mother nurtured them. They'd go on gourmet picnics, long Sunday drives and annual vacations. All was well.

But, that all changed when David's mother became an alcoholic. She started not caring. He noted that she wouldn't bother getting ready in the morning, and most days she'd lounge on the couch and drink, and drink, and drink. Her drunkenness lead to multiple abuse attacks on one of her five children. Dave was her prey.

At as little as about three he was beaten against counters, hit and ordered to do slave work. Some days she would send Dave searching for an unknown item. She'd swear and scream and slap until her husband came home.

Soon those treatment's were too small for her "bad-boy." She would starve him, and make him sprint to school. He'd earn food and thirst by doing the dishes within a certain time limit. If that wasn't successful he'd scrounge through the garbage cans and well fed pets' bowls. Later did she catch on, and she'd do all she could to prevent him from eating, even out of the wastebaskets. He was forced to live in the basement on an army cot and he would run to school every morning.

His father and hero soon found out about this abuse. He would do very little to help. He'd given him a little food once or twice, and came home on time so Dave wouldn't get beaten, but Dave's hero soon turned into a silent bystander.

The abuse happened everyday. His mother thought out her plans elaborately, and the accounts of each one are described in this book. She had put him in a homemade gas chamber, full of Clorox and ammonia and at one point stabbed him. All I could think throughout this book was, "What human would do this to a poor child?!" The abuse was straight from heck and it was so hard to read through the tears.

I am absolutely amazed by this guy. He seriously survived all of this and is able to share it to millions. Despite all the stuff that had happened to him, he was able to think that one day, he would be out and all would be well. He's a great example of being positive no matter what and this book really showed me that if he could do it through all of that abuse, I could keep a smile on my face with challenges fifty times less than that.

The book was obviously violent. It was sad and very disturbing. But somehow I still managed to love it. I feel weird saying I loved a book like this, but it was very good. There was also some strong language sprinkled in there, but it was justifiable, I mean he's an abused child and there would be some strong feelings against the situation.

A Child Called "It" is an emotional, inspiring book. It is hard to read, but once you are through, you can't help but feel for all the children who need help. It opened my eyes to child abuse. I felt so bad for David and all the other children involved. I didn't yell once for a long time after reading this book, because I just couldn't be angry, knowing I wasn't in anything like David. Like I said before, it's life-changing. This book deserves an A, and a very large box of tissues.

A Long Way Gone

Ishmael Beah brought his nightmare to life, in A Long Way Gone. Ishmael gets caught up in Sierra Leone's civil war. Through the first of the book he's running away from his home, his family, and his childhood. He is running away from the war, afraid of becoming a boy soldier. When he doesn't have an option but starve to death, or join the army, he becomes a murderer.

Killing, drugs, and Rambo movies become his life. Until he is taken into rehabilitation and his life turns around, again.

This book brought me close to tears on every other page. It makes you feel the pain of losing everything, and appreciate what you have. This book is the real deal, it happened to a boy two years younger than us. Think of a seventh grader with an RPG and bayonets... Children should be able to play soccer, and listen to music. Not fight each other til the death.

This book is a very good read. Some of it is very hard to swallow.
Like when the messenger comes into camp with RUF engraved into his middle, and all the fingers but his thumbs are missing... This book makes you open your eyes when your complaining about your parents grounding you, at least you still have them.
I suggest this book to anyone who is sick of perfect fairytales. It gives you insight on other countries problems. And it is always on the move. Read it!