G-Man

'This book seems even-handed; an interesting history of the FBI that covers its directors and significant cases (Waco, Abscam etc) to the present. It also covers FBI training and undercover operations. The narrator is particularly well suited for this title. This is my first book by the author and while it claims 'secrets' of the FBI -there are some- I think it mostly covers issues in depth and gives background not generally well known. I have not 'read' about the FBI before so much of the story is new or at least in depth compared to the news. I enjoyed it!

This is not the book I was looking for. The first two chapters describe the importance of eating together and how we eat more processed (not cooked) food. The next three chapters cover barbequing and the authors adventure barbequing with a master. At this point I stopped. I wanted a scientific listen and find it in: "Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human." This book is referenced a couple of times in "Cooked". While I am a Pollan fan, and it is unfair to review a book without finishing it, I wanted something more thought provoking.

Therapists learn from their patients. Surprise.
If you are looking for a behind-the-curtain look into therapy, keep looking. The narration goes on an on about what you will do as a therapist. Schools of thought are mentioned but not discussed. I wanted to hear true life stories of success and failure in the field.
I should be higher minded, but I also wanted to hear crazy stuff people reveal in therapy.
But it wasn't there.
It is mostly a guy going on and on about what a therapist is, not an in-depth look at what therapists do. I made it half way through.

Well written and spoken. 'Love the narrator. The bad reviews are those who passionately disagree with the conclusion that semi-automatic guns should be banned.
The round up of incidents where a guy goes out and kills people =seemingly randomly= is pretty shocking even though I know all of them. The writing is very witty and in the moment. Well worth the listen.

I didn't find the first half of the book interesting and stopped listening. Randomly, one day I started listening to the second part. (The book downloads in two parts.) I enjoyed the second half quite a bit and was glad I got it.

'Very, very similar to Inside Scientology. Both books cover the formation and history of Lafayette Ron Hubbard's Dianetics book success. But Hubbard did not have control over the groups that formed around the philosophy and the profits. Thus came a group with tax free status: a church, which charges you for advancing within it.
Of the two books, I preferred this one more, tho' both are great and fascinating listens. Both are well narrated too.
If you have wondered what Scientology is all about, this is a very entertaining and factual way to find out.

My brother once said, "Did you ever notice how everything is more interesting when you have homework looming? Even bad TV?" Well this short book discusses why that is. It will get you thinking about your procrastinating and when you are likely to do it.
You know better. Still you persist.
I found this discussion of putting-things-off humorous, honest and real. It does not make lists of helpful tools so you can cure your bad habit. Instead the author just assumes that you procrastinate and will continue to do so. And the discussion goes from there. For some reason that works for changing my habits more than those hokey "you should" books. This book is as long as a movie. Once started, I didn't procrastinate. I listened to the entire book in one evening. It was fun and thought provoking and I think helpful.

I've 'read' all of Bart Ehrman's audiobooks plus his lecture series offered elsewhere and viewed his Youtube lectures because the subject matter is interesting and entertaining.
The premise of this book is the least interesting to me because I already believe that Jesus did exist in the flesh.So this is preaching to the choir.
I did not enjoy the book at first for that reason, but in the usual Bart way it still hooked me -though it took longer. Ehrman responds to many writers -point by point- who don't believe Jesus really existed. His own belief is that a man named Jesus did exist and this is pretty much the view of biblical scholars.
I read a criticism that this book dismisses writers who are outside of academia and that those inside academia would not be there if they did not believe Jesus existed. So they are all biased. This is true. True in the same way that academic biologists all believe in evolution and are biased against creationism.
After discussing and refuting many of the arguments that Jesus was just a fabrication, and many of the beliefs held in that era, then we get back onto familiar turf with discussions of contextual criticisms, sources and a final look at what Jesus may have been like and actually said. (The good stuff).
The contextual criticism is covered in many other Ehrman works of course, but I still got quite a bit from this because one does not absorb it all the first time if one is not taking notes and reviewing it.
The principle discussion was informative too. It discussed what we know about Jesus and informed me of the arguments others make about Jesus being a fabrication along with many of the curious beliefs of that period which I did not know. If you like to hear about the early Jesus movement, this is more Ehrman gold, though not completely new. That is fine by me. What I really like about the writer is his scholarship and his pursuit of the truth no matter where it leads. The book comes across as a logical, fully informed work that doesn't have a particular agenda. Ehrman is not an agenda-bender.That is worth so much in learning about Jesus and why I like his work so much.

'A great listen. Tells the story of the roots of the Christian right and some of the colorful mayor players. One part illuminates religions inability to deal honestly about sex from education/contraception/gays/priests/pornography etc.. Another part covers the Christian right using in, overtly political ways, hotbed issues like the Terri Schiavo case.
It is well researched and the narrative is informative and entertaining and shows the pious in a down to earth light. I found it disturbing how Focus on the Family's Dobson personally profited a million dollars from his interview with serial killer Ted Bundy and forgave Ted of brutally killing so many young women...and having sex their corpses. Hey, Jesus forgives. Right? Part of the draw of the book is offensive actions of the heavy hitters involved but it is not the basis of the book. The book looks philosophically at the roots of people needing/wanting some one to tell them what to do and think. And to do so uncritically. Blindly faithful. And the costs of alienating moderate Republicans. Not everyone is welcome under the big tent. My overall impression is the book saying, "Hey, look at these people. Do they really represent our Republican party?"

A good book by Diamond finally on Audible. This covers some familiar topics like those in his books Collapse and Steel, Guns and Germs. It traces human's rise, spread across the planet and effects on species and environment (worse than you think). It also discusses clashing cultures (Europeans vs natives) and how genocide is a repeating behavior of human cultures. Chimpanzees exhibit similar behaviors. As the name implies, we are the third ape. Great narrator. The author frankly states a sad truth: many species have gone extinct since the rise of humans and there are many more to go (and a lot sooner than we'd like to admit.) And of course our population is out stripping the earths resources (which is rather obvious.)

Non-fiction Drama: a random pick for me that I enjoyed. I had never heard this story before. It goes into details of the early U.S. weather service, its failings and how egos got in the way of predicting a colossal hurricane in Galveston. The focus is on one individual who worked for the service but was not heard in time. The description of the hurricane is the best part. The tale has a long lead-in that seems very well researched and fleshes out the life and time of Isaac Cline. Knowing ahead of time what is going to happen kept me interested. I like a true a story more than one made-up.