WWE: Then. Now. Forever Vol. 2

WWE: Then. Now. Forever Vol. 2 by Eric Harburn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I bought this book out of simple nostalgia and is did not disappoint. The book covers some of the most prominent debut, returns and moments in WWE/WWF history. I can't say I loved the artwork in the book but I did remember most of the moments well (more WWF stuff).

I really do like the way these comics are written as if the "characters" played by the wrestlers are real. The book contains legendary debut, returns to glory, retirements, and some stories that are just there to fill space. It is really because of stories like these "Goobiltgook", that I took a star off.

One story I will I must coment on is the first one. The Montreal Screw Job. This is told from the Shawn Michaels character point of view, and paints Shawn as a bit of a victim here. This as a proud Bret Hart fan I cannot stand for!!! Yes it is no secret that Bret and Shawn were never good friends, and had a personal rivalry, and yes wrestling is a business. Though Shawn in his own words was VERY involved in the planning of the "Screw Job". Read the introduction of his first book Heartbreak and Triumph for an account of what happened.

Great to see my old faves and including "Phenomenal" new talent, we well as reliving great moments. Just slightly spoiled a bit by a couple of pointless stories and a bit too cartoony artwork. I wish the art work from the cover galley or cover art was used on the inside as well.

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Understanding Our Cosmos: The Philosophical Way

Understanding Our Cosmos: The Philosophical Way by Bhaktee Kale
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I recived a free copy of ths book in exchange for an honest review. I have no connection to Bhaktee Kale.

A good little book. I am not a philosopher, so I like the simple format of the book and the arguments are well thought out, and the writing style is more of an easy discussion format. Which I also like, rather the continuous quotes of what some philosopher said. There are some quotes but the quote is discussed and explained. In a theory format so nothing can be taken as fact.

The only down side is it is a bit too simple on some places, and in one chapter I think the author went on a tangent then came back to the topic. Also I am not sure of the title, there is not much talk of the Cosmos in the book. Unless the author includes us all as cosmic and God as a cosmic entities.

I think the simple format is great for non hard-core philosopher types like me, to them it probably would seem too simple, but I quite liked it so it deserved a round up rather then down.

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Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do: Jeet Kune Do Techniques and Fighting Strategy

Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do: Jeet Kune Do Techniques and Fighting Strategy by Sam Fury
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I recived a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I have no connection to Sam Fury or Diana Mangoba.

I really enjoyed this book and it very concentrated and informative. I the Sam Fury and Diana Mangoba have down really well in this book is Bruce Lee's idea about making the Martial art its own. I have read other book by Bruce's student that held the man in such high regards that they saw Jeet Kune Do as Bruce Lee's art (which it 100% is), but everything had to be done the way Bruce did it. This to me actually goes against the whole principle of JKD, as it is about personalising the Martial art and it's techniques to yourself. There are very few people as physically and mentally gifted as Bruce Lee, and he made based this art and his personal fighting style on what worked and highlighted what he was best at. So if something worjs better for me why unlearn what I am good at to copy another person's style which does not play to my strengths. Bruce himself said

"Take what is useful, disguard what is not"

The authors of this simple put it as
"What works for you, might not work for me".

The other one of Bruce's principle that this books gets over very well is to keep things simple. JKD is based on fewer techniques but doing them well another Bruce quote (not in this book), is

"I do not fear a man who knows 1000 kicks, but the man who has practiced a kick 1000 times".

To this end the book keeps shows a few simple techniques, with easy to follow instructions and illustration. The book does also have a few simple drills. I also like the way that different techniques from different martial arts are blended together.

This is a short, simple, but informative and I think true to Bruce Lee's original principles in creating JKD as well as adding the authors own ideas and experiences. A very enjoyable and practical book.

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20 Diamond Rules for Ultimate Well-being

20 Diamond Rules for Ultimate Well-being by Ashraf Haggag
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a honest review. I have no connection to Ashraf Haggag.

I really enjoyed this book. It is a short but straight to the point. I might be biased as many of the points in this book, are very much in line with my own way of thinking. It was great to have many of them reaffirmed and made me look at things in a slightly different way.

The message of each of the 20 rules might be simple, but that is why they are so effective. I also like the fact the Ashraf discusses a practical method of how to achieve each rule. Then at the end of every chapter he add famous quotes for each rules.

This is a great book, with a great message. It is simple and effective. Short but straight to the point. It reminds me of SMART targets. Specific, Measurable, Agreeded upon, Realisable, Time bases. Everyone of these rules falls into these categories which makes them so effective.

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Health and Wellbeing

Health and Wellbeing by Moses Guru
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received a free copy if this book in exchange for an honest review. I have no connection to Moses Guru.

I really liked this book. Moses Guru presents facts in a great conversational manner making the easy to remember. The only one thing I did not like is I think the book was too biased in one direction. This was the vegan point of view. As a meat eater I would have like someone to show all thing in moderation would have been a better way to go.

What was brought up is even vegans do need certain supplements in their diet. I did like the that exercise in conjunctor with diet is needed to maintain a healthy life style, but I don't think enough was made of this point.

A good book full of useful facts, with great conversations and easy flow writing. This my personal opinion I prefer people to write the way they speak. Maybe that makes me weird but I like it. Another thing that I was a little disappointed about was I did not get more insight into who Moses Guru (The character) actually is, especially from the last chapter of the last book. However a very good read.

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The Brave and the Bold: Batman and Wonder Woman

The Brave and the Bold: Batman and Wonder Woman by Liam Sharp
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Was a bit disappointed in this book. There were good parts to it but I think it could have been a out better. The art work is good, it actually grew on me the more as the book went on. The story is ok. I did like the Irish fairy tale feel of the story, and I liked. I do like when an author brings their cultural background into a story, though many of the characters did look more Scottish to me then Irish.

The part I think did let the story down us that it was pretty slow then rushed to the point that I felt things were left out. I was also very disappointed by the final battle. The thing a few more pages on these parts were needed.

All in all an ok story and possible a start/setup for more to come. Good artwork. Though I would have liked to have slightly smaller panels if it freed up more pages to fill up gaps in the story.

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The Man of Steel

The Man of Steel by Brian Michael Bendis
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Wow, what did Superman do to upset Bendis. Ok I will admit I am not a Superman fan, but I got hooked by the hype of Michael Bendis writing Superman. Unfortunately this book just reinforced my opinion of Sups, but even I felt sorry for the "Man of Steel". Short of what the Joker did to him in Injustice this total dismemberment of every aspect of Superman's life is pretty much all he need for a villain turn.

3 major event are happening devouring Metropolis and especially Superman. His life professional and personal is wrecked. There is a mysterious arsonist on the loose, and the main villain with a goal to destroy the whole Kryptonian race. This is another thing I did not like this guy had Superman at his mercy a number of times but just left him there. I also did not like the way the stories were drawn out all of this could have been done in half the number of issues.

I don't think I will be back to see where this run goes. Very disappointing after all the hype.

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