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Atmosphere - Taylor Jenkins Reid - Scott Goggins

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                                                   vanessa                                                                      joan For once I agree with good reads. This was historical fiction book of the year for 2025 and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's a book about astronauts/space and also a love story (this part I didn't know going into it). I felt that the authors ability to express each individuals personality/lifestyle/character was the best part. As you see above if I had to cast Vanessa and Joan I'd pick these two people. One is Catherine Keener and the other is a cycling coach on FDJ-Suez. It's random but that's who I thought of...

Yesteryear - Caro Claire Burke - Scott Goggins

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  This was popping up on every must read list so I figured I'd check it out. I struggled to determine how good of a book it was for reasons I'm not sure of. I found myself at times not wanting to put it down and was waiting for the big reveal to answer my questions about the mystery that goes on throughout the entirety of the book. Also at the end of the book along with the reveal you start to remember back to prior character interactions and begin to see them different from your initial reaction. It's a cool light thriller book that kind of takes a spin on the whole influencer life but you are constantly trying to figure out who's the one with their head on straight and how are each of these threads going to impact this story. Do I think this is book of the year? No but it's a decent thriller and maybe a little different from your typical read but I don't read much fiction so maybe not.

A Fortune of Sand - Ruta Sepetys - May 2026

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  I have a new keyboard so maybe I can type some more this time. For the last few I was using one finger.  Ok, so this is the second Ruta Sepetys book I have read. I think this one was better because it related the story to the plight of women in the 1920s which I thought was a nice touch so, so far, 1. A Fortune of Sand 2. Out of the Easy Now I will say something you do not want to hear. I think in some ways Ruta is the poor man’s (or woman’s) Kristin Hannah. Both are decent but I think Hannah’s plot construction, the way she relates her stories to history, and overall writing style are better. Probably the many readers of this blog will disagree and be outraged but I don’t care. I feel like Ruta has an awesome plot sometimes but then doesn’t finish the story well. I also feel like Ruta is trying to do too much at once sometimes. Maybe I am way wrong. I have been wrong before.  Anyways, bisabuela told me to read another one of Ruta’s books. So I think I am going to go fo...

How to stay in love - James Sexton - Scott Goggins

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  I'd like to state that I'm not in love or in a relationship. In terms of relationship books this is probably my favorite or at the top if my memory serves me right. What this book has that other relationships don't is explicit candor. A lot of books keep a level of professionalism when they are writing their books where as he is blunt and honest. With how real, authentic and raw marriage is it makes complete sense. Everyone experiences the same things in a relationship but don't want to be open about it. In the book he says he wonders how often couples have relations (I'm not as explicit, this is a PG blog LOL).  James is a divorce lawyer that has been practicing for 30 years. We get to hear his experience with learning about these couples in extreme depth as to why their marriage fell apart. This perspective is vastly different from any other relationship book. Also throughout the book he explains his job, why it can be difficult at at times and just really inter...

Die With Zero - Bill Perkins - Scott Goggins

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  I think this book is a great influence for a better life, I think the only issue is the earlier you read it the better. I will also say this book has more of an impact if you have money but not even your millionaire, even if you are a middle class person it's still very relevant. Of course he has to disclaim the hell out of all of his statements because of people that say 'what about the pay check to pay check people' so don't say that to me if you ask me about the book. For me this is an aspect of my life that I'm personally trying to navigate which is why I picked up the book. I make good money and save a lot of it. I love training and don't really care for travel, especially solo traveling. This leads me to living an unexperienced filled life but to me I'm happy. Anyways this isn't a therapy session, what this book pushes for is maximizing your life experiences. Obviously there are constraints of money and health and time but it's all about taki...

Out of the easy - ruta sepetys - 2013

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  Not bad. Good page turner. Read this on your beach vacation. Fiction and not that long. Shout out to the Lithuanian motherland. #lithuaniaforever Ruta is Lithuanian American just like me (well kind of).  Im just reading anything basically because there is always a waitlist for the books I want and once I get them im not able to finish them before I have to return them because other people are waiting so I’m part way through the count of montecristo and the demon of unrest right now lol. Also I was reading a bit of eiger dreams by Jon Krakauer. The one climber was so poor he was eating cat food. lol (don’t worry he’s a millionaire now though lol). Peace. 

The Magic of Thinking Big - David J Schwartz - Scott Goggins

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  Another self help non-fiction book logged, sticking to our roots. It's a good book but I think the degree of how good depends on the situation of the reader. If I was a 40 year old man who is coasting through life in a low paying job that I didn't like surrounded by no one ambitious but yearning for more out of life. Then I would think this book would be a really good book. If you are someone like me who has a solid career and is pretty dedicated to their decided craft it doesn't hit quite as hard. It's chalk full of examples of how and why things work. Dressing for success, living first class, treating others with respects, etc. He basically gives you a tip such as dressing for success then gives you a couple examples as to why it's good to do that. He has like 100 examples and references tons of people which I started thinking "what was this guys job or life". It seems like he lived 50 lives. What I did get out of this book was a lot of good reminders/...