Mind and matter

Mind and matter: a life in math and football / John Urschel and Louisa Thomas, read by Sullivan Jones, 241 pgs.

A fascinating memoir by the guy who retired from the NFL to spend more time on his Phd program at M.I.T. studying math.  Urschel tells of being a puzzle obsessed kid who took a college calc course as an 8th grader. He describes himself as "not an natural athlete" who is built like a football player and worked hard to develop those skills.  He seems like a natural mathematician, not that he didn't work hard at that too but it seems to have come easier to him.  Loving both of these pursuits and working hard in both, he finally decided to retire from the NFL after a bad concussion made his brain unable to do that math.  Very interesting to read about his life and studies.

Chasing Space: An Astronaut's Story of Grit, Grace, and Second Chances

Chasing Space: An Astronaut's Story of Grit, Grace, and Second Chances by Leland Melvin, 241 pages. Narrated by Ron Butler.
Leland Melvin has lead an amazing and inspirational life. He has degrees in chemistry and in "materials science engineering," he played, briefly, in the NFL, and worked as a NASA astronaut, going on two shuttle flights. Along the way he also composed with Pharrell Williams, met the Obamas several times, and hosted a TV show.
He does a good job of sharing his inspirational story, emphasizing the roles of bot perseverance and serendipity in his life, and he gives a great deal of credit to his parents. A fun book to read or to listen to.

The Last Mile

The Last Mile by David Baldacci  420 pp.

Former police officer, Amos Decker, introduced in Memory Man, suffers from hyperthymesia aka perfect recall and synesthesia which causes him to see certain past events as colors. Decker has become part of an FBI task force to work on unsolved crimes. After hearing a story on the radio about Melvin Mars, convicted of the murder of his parents and due to be executed when a death row inmate in another state confesses to the murders, Decker convinces the task force to investigate that case because he feels a strong connection to Mars, both because of being wrongly accused of the murder of his family as Decker once was, and because they each were college football champions with promising NFL careers. What is revealed in the investigation involves racially motivated crimes that took place before either man was born. The story is convoluted and is very far-fetched and often just "too much". But the characters are appealing and intriguing or despicable and evil. I like the Amos Decker character and hope to see more books about him.

Hold Me Closer

Hold Me Closer: the Tiny Cooper Story by David Levithan  200 pp.

This is a companion to one of my favorite YA books, Will Grayson, Will Grayson. That novel was written by my two favorite YA authors, Levithan and John Green. In Will Grayson... the large, gay, football playing Tiny Cooper writes and directs an autobiographical musical play about his big gay life. Hold Me Closer is the script of that musical complete with song lyrics and some added commentary. The only thing I wish it had was the music to the songs. The play chronicles Tiny's life and mainly focuses on his search for a partner to love. One of the musical numbers is a parade of his ex-boyfriends telling the reason things didn't work out with each of them. An appearance by the ghost of Oscar Wilde who tries to council Tiny is an added bonus. There are some thoughtful lessons in this short book but Levithan doesn't beat you over the head with them. I especially liked Tiny's former babysitter telling him that you aren't less of a person if you are not one half of a couple. You don't have to read Will Grayson... before you read this but it will add more depth if you have.

Johnny U.: The Life and Times of Johnny Unitas

Johnny U.: The Life and Times of John Unitas by Tom Callahan, 292 pages.
Uggh. I accidentally deleted the whole review of this book. It was very insightful and the most beautifully written book review I have ever written. Oh, well.
I got a Johnny Unitas football helmet back around 1966, so I always knew he was somebody. Callahan tells why Unitas was somebody, and how that all came about, but he doesn't necessarily tell it in a clear manner.
It is an interesting tale that should have made an interesting book. The narrative switches points of view frequently, and it's always assumed that you know who is talking, but sometimes the narrator is identified by name, sometimes by nickname, and sometimes it is someone who was talking a page or two ago. Often the book seems more like a series of loosely related articles than a single cohesive work. Not a necessary read for anyone.

League of Denial: The NFL, Concussions, and the Battle for the Truth

League of Denial: The NFL, Concussions, and the Battle for the Truth by Mark Fainaru-Wada and Steve Fainaru, 399 pages. Detailed and interesting account of the cost to football players, old and young, of repeated violent blows to the head while playing the game. The authors document that the NFL has a great deal of data on the affect of repeated concussions, but do their best to hide that data, so that the game can go on as it is, and the money can keep coming in. According to the authors there are a fair number of doctors who are prepared to keep ignoring the damage done to the health of the players so that they can continue to be part of the NFL or sit on the sidelines with an NFL team. Check our Catalog.