Books I Read in 2021, Vol. V

 

THE WORLD ACCORDING TO TOM HANKS: The Life, the Obsessions, the Good Deeds of America's Most Decent Guy
Gavin Edwards

"Niceness gets a bad rap these days. Our culture reveres those who troll the hardest and who snark the most. At times, it seems like there's no place anymore for optimism, integrity, and old-fashioned respect. Enter 'America's Dad': Tom Hanks. Whether he's buying espresso machines for the White House press corps, rewarding a jovial cab driver with a night on Broadway, or extolling the virtues of using a typewriter, Hanks lives a passionate, joyful life and pays it forward. [This book] takes readers on a tour behind the scenes of Hank's life: from his less-than-idyllic childhood, rocky first marriage, and career wipeouts to the pinnacle of his acting career and domestic bliss with the love of his life, Rita Wilson. Contemplating the life, the achievements, and the obsessions of Mr. Tom Hanks may or may not give you the road map you need to find your way, But at the very least, it'll show you how niceness can be a worthy destination."

I wasn't planning to read this book, but when I saw it on the library shelf, I couldn't pass it by. Hanks is all the things the publisher's write-up (above) claims he is and I personally find it hard to pass by any YouTube video that features him on a talk show or at a Rock-N-Roll Hall of Fame induction (his speech about the Dave Clark Five should be in a hall of fame all its own). Any movie he's in is on my must-see list. That being said, there is a lot of info in this book that was revelatory to me...and enjoyable to learn. Two thumbs up for this not-really-a-biography biography.

First line: Tom Hanks is a really nice guy.

Page 56/5th sentence: "One thing I find myself doing is removing the question marks from my dialogue," Hanks said.

Last line: Four decades later, Hanks could say that he had turned himself into the kind of actor that he had always wanted to be.

Books I Read in 2021, Vol. IV

THE DARK HORSE: A Longmire Mystery
Craig Johnson

"It's more than Mary Barsad's beauty and wealth that set her apart in a place where most criminal cases are generally 'Bubba shot Skeeter while they were drinking beer in the cab of Skeeter's truck and trying to figure out if Bubba's Charter Arms revolver was loaded.' .... Wade Barsad, a man with a dubious past and a gift for making enemies, burned his wife's horses in their barn; in return, she shot him in the head six times, or so the story goes. But Sheriff Walt Longmire doesn't believe Mary's confession and is determined to dig deeper."

This is the fifth book in the Longmire series, and I'm glad I've decided to read through all of them. Craig Johnson has a way with words that describe geography and character without getting bogged down in dry exposition. This book's central mystery is compelling, with a mostly-unexpected twist that doesn't feel like a gimmick.

First line: It was the third week of a high-plains October, and an unseasonably extended summer had baked the color from the landscape and had turned the rusted girders of the old bridge a thinned-out, tired brown.

Page 56/5th sentence: Sit down.

Last line: Dog started and made a move to fetch it, but I grabbed his collar, and we both watched as the black hat hung over the void of the Powder River, pitched to one side, and disappeared into the northbound water below.