Mike Sinks

A Good Account, But Policy Heavy

Revisado: 09-01-24

Former President Obama does an excellent job of retelling the story beginning early in his run for the presidency and subsequently his first term. One can tell he’s a policy wonk, as he definitely gets into the nitty gritty details of how bills became laws. That said, his ability to describe his thought processes and emotions at key moments add life to the book.

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Good Story, but Meltzer's Style Is Tough

Revisado: 11-18-23

A good story and a good blend of historical research combined with dramatic creative license. That said, Meltzer goes to the well far too often on ending every chapter on a cliffhanger. After 10 (all very short chapters), I got sick of eventually hearing "but something was about to happen to change everything." Not a bad story, but painful to listen to.

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Love Rickles, but This Isn’t Him

Revisado: 11-06-23

I love Don Rickles. He’s a titan and belongs on the Rushmore of comedians. However, he didn’t write this. The first 3/4 of this book are little more than a glorified filmography and series of show dates, with a few life details sprinkled in. You don’t actually learn much about him other than he is who you thought he was. It isn’t until around Chapter 16 (right as the author decides to fast-forward through two decades at a rapid clip) where you start to actually learn about the guy. Those last six chapters were extremely interesting. I only with that most of the book was like that.

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Good Journalism, No Answers

Revisado: 11-01-23

My heart goes out to the people that the author chronicles here. But that’s all he does: chronicle. I respect the author and this is still worthy of listening to, but he missed an opportunity to talk to anyone about solutions. In the last chapter he floats the idea of unionizing, but that’s it. Good book, but a missed opportunity.

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They Know Their Audience

Revisado: 10-29-23

A book that will reinforce what people on the Left think and will antagonize people on the Right, this book knows exactly what it is and advertises itself as such. It gets credit for the meticulous research that it throws at the listener/reader, though it can be overwhelming and get lost in numbers in some sections. The narration is uneven, but not necessarily bad, just average. Worth a listen if you want to consider the merits of the argument from a certain perspective, but if you're the type to get easily triggered by hearing something you disagree with, this is not the book for you.

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Not Much New Here

Revisado: 10-28-23

This isn't a bad book, but it doesn't necessarily offer anything new. It mostly follows Washington and Franklin for 30 years, with a smattering of John Adams thrown in. It is almost as though Brands set out to talk about how people in the American colonies found themselves on opposite ends of the conflict, but forgot to actually write about them. In the last chapter or two, he seemingly remembers the premise of the book and starts wrapping up loose ends by throwing in a few stories about average people. Again, not a bad book, just not much new.

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Balanced Account, Bad Narrator

Revisado: 06-24-23

This is perhaps the most balanced account I’ve read. Truth in lending, I’m both a Packer fan and a Favre fan, but this seems to cover both the ups and the downs with fairness. The narrator, however, is terrible. His attempts to do different voices, depending on who is speaking, is truly terrible.

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A Tale of Two Halves

Revisado: 05-05-23

The first half of the book is excellent. A great story and finally some insight into what happened to Destruction. The Canterbury Tales rendition in the second half, however, is hit and miss. It’s not terrible, it’s just not great. A worthwhile listen and better than Act II, but it still finishes second to Act I.

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Good, Not Great

Revisado: 02-22-23

Overall a worthwhile effort. Sound mixing was much better here than in Act 1. I agree with many of the reviews they talk about the disconnected stories. It didn’t have the same appeal. Still worth a listen.

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Great Story, Audio Can Be a Challenge At Times

Revisado: 01-04-23

The story is excellent, but you may have to toy with the audio settings depending on which device you’re listening on. There were numerous times when I had to rewind and listen again when driving because the background track behind the dialogue overwhelmed the actors’ voices. When listening in earbuds, it was not an issue.

Excellent story and I’m excited to see what Acts II and III bring!

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