I Am Also Reading
Not a surprise, of course, that my reading list over there on the right grows so quickly. I love reading! I usually have at least two or even three books going at a time. I don’t always post on them because it would take too much time. I would recommend a few that I am working on right now or have just finished.

• Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick is an incredibly interesting history of the Plymouth community in it first fifty some years. It begins in England with the religious background and ends with the end of Prince Philip’s War- a 14- month conflict between the English settlers and some of the Native American tribes in the area. There is much I had never known before (which is why we read books, isn’t it?). But what struck me was the depth of diplomatic knowledge and skill that was often exercised by both groups in most of those first 50 years. It fell apart in the end, but as Philbrick points out in the epilogue, such an extended era of peace at that time and place may be one of the Pilgrim’s great accomplishments. It is sad that it was torn to shreds by their children.

• Education of a Coach by David Halberstam is the history of New England Patriot’s Bill Belichick. I will read anything by Halberstam whether sports or politics. He does his usual high-caliber job of telling Belichick’s story and how he has so dramatically changed football with his eye for defense. It doesn’t make me more of a Belichick fan, but it is sure an insight into what it takes when one wants to excel at that level.

• Tied in with that is Blind Side by Michael Lewis. This tells another football story of change as it impacts a young man in Tennessee. It shows how the “west coast offense” and the Parcells/Belichick style defense have clashed to make one position- left tackle- a whole new world of football. Caught in this story is young Michael Oher, a sort-of homeless BIG high school student. It is nothing short of fascinating and is even more interesting on a human, personal level than Lewis's previous book, Moneyball.