"One Shot at Forever" by Chris Ballard

 WOW! One Shot at Forever--A Small Town, An Unlikely Coach, and a Magical Baseball Season by Chris Ballard is a really, really good people book!  It is also a good baseball book.  It is the true story of a small High School and a bunch of farm boys with a very cool coach.  Against all odds, they have a chance to win the state championship.  I loved the team--what a great bunch of boys!  The games are very exciting to say the least.  The best part of the book is years later when the coach talks to all the guys and they look back on the year they had.  I got into this book right away.  It's all good--you will be glad you read this one!
(Gerard's review)

Karen's review:
One Shot at Forever by Chris Ballad is an enjoyable true story about a small rural town high school baseball team that no one wanted to coach until Sweet, the new hippie English teacher reluctantly volunteered.  With his laid back attitude, unconventional methods and philosophy of keeping it fun he proved that his coaching style could produce a winning team.  This is a baseball book that takes you inside the inner workings of a ball team and lets you know how the coach thinks and also the players.  This was a coach that was there for his players and it wasn't about his ego.  

My favorite player was John Heneberry, the pitcher who couldn't throw a fast ball.  I thought the coach was a funny guy and really admired how he motivated his players and brought out the best in them.  The accounts of the tournament games were well done and tugged at my heart.  I couldn't help but feel the Macon Hawks was my team.  It's a heartwarming story about the cohesiveness of a ball team and how the town rallied around them.  I loved after Sweet retired, he made his land into a wildlife preserve!  I recommend this book to anyone who likes baseball. 

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during June and July to THE WARRIOR PROJECT which helps wounded warriors and their families returning from current conflicts. We encourage you to check it out and perhaps make a donation of your own!

Tuesday Teasers: 3 For You

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should  Be Reading. Anyone can play along, so I thought  I  would play for fun! Just do the following

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on  that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away!   You don’t  want  to  ruin the  book for others!)
• Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can  add the book to their TBR  Lists  if they  like your teaser.   

Karen's:

"And I sleep with it in case I wake and find a strange man in my bedroom." I stuffed the dagger back under the pillow.

From page 49 of Surrender, by Lee Nichols (the last book of the Haunting Emma series. 

"Alright, I've got some rules to go over," he said. "The first one is that I'm not going to have many rules."
Next, he announced that practice was optional.

From page 39 of One Shot at Forever--A small Town, An unlikely Coach, and a Magical Baseball Season by Chris Ballard.

Gerard's:

A day lasts much, much longer when you're hungry and worried about the person you are supposed to take care of. Eventually, though, the sky darkened, and I went through the dog door and curled up in a tight ball under the stairs, my stomach aching and empty.

From page 137-138 of A Dog's Journey by W. Bruce Cameron. (Posting review of this tomorrow.)

Happy Reading! We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during May to Joni and Friends for Camp Scholarships for families with special needs children.

"Outlaw Platoon" by Sean Parnell and John Bruning

Outlaw Platoon:  Heroes, Renegades, Infidels, and the Brotherhood of War in Afghanistan by Sean Parnell and John Bruning is an amazing book about Sean’s platoon fighting in Afghanistan.  It is gives so much insight into combat and what it’s like for our soldiers.  After reading about the horrible things that happen, I have a better understanding of what soldiers go through and why they are never the same when they come back from war.  I really liked the leadership analysis and the platoon dynamics.

It is interesting to see how such a diverse group of men can become like family and how they back up each other and sacrifice themselves to bring back the wounded and dying.  The writing was so good I felt as though I was right in battle with them.  This is an emotional and inspirational book that gave me a greater appreciation for our service men and women.  I think every American should read this one! 
(Karen's review)

WOW!  AWESOME!  After you read Outlaw Platoon by Sean Parnell and John R. Bruning you will gain a ton of respect for our men and women fighting over in Afghanistan. Sean holds nothing back which makes this book so good.  I could almost feel the bullets flying all around me!  Then ending brought tears to my eyes and pride in the U.S.A.   Thank you for your service, Mr. Parnell, and to the entire Outlaw Platoon.  God's blessings to all of you!
(Gerard's review)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during May to Joni and Friends for Camp Scholarships for families with special needs children.

"Surrender" by Lee NIchols

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Surrender by Lee Nichols is the last book in the Haunting Emma series that I enjoyed.  This series is part fantasy with ghosts, wraiths, ghasts and also about friendship, loyalty, forbidden love and adventure.   I liked the humor throughout this series and recommend it if you want a light, entertaining read.  The first two books in this series are:  Deception and Betrayal which you should definitely read first.  Surrender is mostly about romance with lots of action near the end.  The ending was good, but not the ending I was hoping for.  I would have had Emma give all her powers to Bennett and then go with Harry and live a normal life.  My favorite character was Coby, the popular high school football player who dated Emma and died but continued in the story to the end as a ghost.
(Karen's review)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during May to Joni and Friends for Camp Scholarships for families with special needs children.

"Dream New Dreams" by Jai Pausch

If you read the "Last Lecture" or saw it on YouTube, then it's a no-brainer you have to read this book by Randy's wife.  It tells the story of how Randy and Jai dealt with his cancer and also how they explained it to their children.  The second part of the book deals with Jai being without Randy.  The book is sad, but also interesting in how one person coped with a devastating loss.
(Gerard's review)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during May to Joni and Friends for Camp Scholarships for families with special needs children.