Reviews and Comments

I thought this book was going to be about setting stuff up to ensure you don't go broke before you die. While there was some of that most of the new content in this book was focused on getting conservative Christians to ignore the liberal Christians saying that there shouldn't be any rich Christians and you should give away more of your wealth. As a left leaning Christian I find some offense in that. That being said a lot of his points on the matter makes sense, you can do more good for the kingdom long term if you invest it now and donate it later, all while ensuring no matter how much you make you always tithe 10% and giving is only beyond that once you have proven you can take care of your family's living expenses regardless of what happens, but the way he says it is really grating. Similar reasons I don't listen to his radio show generally.

Most of the good stuff in here he said before in his Financial Peace University courses, which I do highly recommend to anyone, especially if you are in debt.

Don Walliams the self-proclaimed king of comedy was unsuccessful at getting me to laugh even once. I managed one smile at the idea of the major staying at home and yanking on his own Christmas cracker.returnreturnThe story starts off well enough, a 1980s boy named Elvis wants nothing more than to see Santa, which apparently in England requires a very expensive ticket to stand in line at the department store. This santa ends up being his estranged father who isn't the busy rich businessnan mom said.returnreturnHe goes back to the toy store on Christmas eve to see if it really was dad, and to buy mom a christmas present. He gets locked in the store and a group of thieves are trying to rob it like Home Alone 2. Three hours of bad Elvis Presley jokes later the real father Christmas saves the day, and several points that could have easily been wrapped up were not and specifically referenced to in case there was a sequel. The world would be better off without one.returnreturnThe high full cast audio book is the only saving grace. I understand it's a middle grade reading level, but you can make good humor and good writing for 4th graders.

This 1997 release is Keillor's first full-length novel. Earier books were collections of "News from Lake Wobegon" stories previously heard on public radio. I liked Wobegon Boy and following John Tollefson who leaves Lake Wobegon to take a job managing a new public radio station in upstate New York in order to avoid getting married to a high school sweetheart and regular bedmate. returnreturnPlenty of dry humor. He is so scared to bring his New York girlfriend to Lake Wobegon, but the happy ending couldn't have occurred if she never came.returnreturnI liked how Keillor used the imagery of Tollefson's history in the rural Midwest to introduce new ideas to upstate New York, like a restaurant built all around serving fresh sweetcorn. Never mind that such a thing good never actually survive as anything more than a hobby for a rich man IRL. returnreturnThe story about Tollefson having to deal with sexual harassment charges in public radio and the college owned station wanting to change from primarily classical music to all talk seems like an unsightly foreshadowing of Keillor's own life when he was called out in the #MeToo movement and his final advice to the public on the matter is to never be friends with any women you work with. returnreturnThe 2006 Audio book was of high quality with Keillor reading the work himself, as a radio actor would be one to do.

I was disappointed by this book. I had been looking forward to reading it since I first heard of it, but alas.returnreturnAs a prison abolitionist I should know better than to think someone who calls themselves a prison reformer is going to have the trans I'm hoping they will. Even after three years in prison Kerik still comes out as a conservative patriotic Republican. He makes some really good points that might make some lawmakers think twice. Costs to the public to lock 'em up, the dangers of solitary confinement, attack on the families that did nothing to wrong, unnecessary lengths of sentences, problems getting employment after being labeled a felon, etc. But he still comes back to the need for punishment, including for terrorist suspects awaiting trial, and he several times tries to show that he, like many other white-collar criminals, not as bad as these guys they lock up, though he does have soft spot for nonviolent drug offenders.returnreturnI think this one is worth skipping for most people, unless you have a right-wing uncle who might have room in his heart to bleed a little bit.

I liked this book it was pretty okay. The ending was really great but boy did it take time to get there. Lots of little tiny stories throughout kind of expected for Garrison Keillor but he really isn't as great at telling stories as he was in the eighties.returnreturnI finished it in just one day so that's mostly because it was an audiobook and I had a long trip that day. If this was dead tree version i'm not sure if I ever would have made it to the end.returnreturnRich guy from the edge of the Prairie become such through no thanks to his own hard work he hates Christmas his wife loves Christmas he wants to go to Hawaii his uncle is dying he gets there things are not as he was told he has a really strange not quite sexual experience with his cousin? OK, I guess what happens in North

I liked this book, but it wasn't what I expected. The subtitles "three women that survived" was a bit of a misnomer for a number of reasons: One, it wasn't just about these three women, but about their whole family; Two, while each of the three sections was named after Grandma, Mom, and kid appropriately they all where from the same perspective and the same family; Three, the portions of the book that were most interesting where actually from the men's perspectives. It indicates that this is the story of the Mennonites that survived the Soviet holocaust against German farmers. However upon reading it I am convinced that calling the capture of the Mennonite property and the exploitation of their labor for the greater good, was no difference than that of others sacrificed for the Russian revolution. returnreturnIt was different to read a book where the leftists, particularly the anarchists, where portrayed as the antagonists. Thesee simple mennonite farmers were welcomed by the Czarina to come to Ukraine to tame the Russian soil as she being of German heritage herself was aware of the Mennonite history of growing something out of nothing invited them with a promise to be free to worship and live as they please. Great until the Russian Revolution. Young menonites turned on their tradition to take up arms, particularly after the Nazis showed up.Women were regularly rapes by the red army. They came to Germany to sVe their lives, but eventually most of them died when the Russians took Berlin. They attempt to return to their simple ways but this was impossible in East Germany, they escaped to West Berlin and emmegraged to Paruaugy. Again these farmers take something for nothing but their youngest can't take her arranged marriage and bolts to town.returnreturnI had thought they were going to be turned on by the Nazis but as the entire European narrative was based on the evil communists that was disappointing. All in all fairy entertaining finished in just a week.

Not Keillor's beat work but you take what you can as far as Wobegon stories these days. With a title like that released in 2020 I thought it would be how covid effected the little town on the edge of the prairie. However there's no mention of social distancing, only one slight jab at masks, and instead a "virus" that infects people through unpasteurized Norwegian "Portuguese" cheese that makes folks act without inhibition. Folks act rather non-Minnesotan, then the city council brings in a therapist to try to help put things back in order.

I liked it, but it would probably be better as an audio book red by Red Green than as an eBook. I'd just feel like it would be more like he's pulling for us and we are all in it together. returnreturnOtherwise, some good one-liners (though like any good old-fogey his one-liners are longer than one-line).

I like stories that wind up everything in a nice little package and the characters live happily ever after. That is not how The Warehouse ended, so it's hard to like it. I'm left not even sure if one character is symbolic only or still a real person truly in love.returnreturnThe beginning was slow as they build the near future world where global warming has made it nearly impossible to be outside, where a mysterious black Friday massacre had led to the end of nearly all brick and motor stores and an Amazon-like megalith rules the market and MotherCloud is the new version of a company town where you live, work and play in a lifestyle that complety revolves around their monster regional warehouses that load your next order and deliver it via drone.returnreturnHart had some inconsistencies in his world. For example we are informed that all of the products in the warehouse are arranged in such a way that no two similar products are anywhere near each other so no customer accidentally gets the wrong product based on a warehouse worker picking the wrong one. That actually mags a lot of sense. But later in the book our protagonist ends up being delayed by trying to find the right puzzle, or had to look the book section, contrary to how he previously told us the warehouse works.returnreturnGibson is the evil CEO of Cloud. Midway of the book I'm convinced he is the devil. But at the end when he's supposed to reveal how evil he truly is, we'll maybe I've fallen for his capitalist bullshit because I honestly think he is a lot closer to the savior of the world he claims to be than the monster his author paints him as.returnreturnAll in all I can't recommend, but I think others might absolutely love it.

My wife had been homeschooling, or perhaps unschooling, our kids for years now. I go back and forth on how I feel about it. These kinds of books help me keep things in perspective. Nancy Wallaces first book was about how she got her kid out of public school in the 80s when that was a thing in the states. We don't have that problem now. It was beneficial to see her going through the same troubles I have and wondering if they are doing enough. I kept wondering how these kids would survive in 2020s. We'll I emailed one of them and asked. To my surprise I got a reply same day. I still have a hard time thinking of art as a meaningful career, even more so now that I feel my oldest is going down that path, but if I support and let her make hey own friends with people of all ages, she'll do just fine.