Posts tagged as:

non-fiction

Book Review: The Shadow Effect

June 16, 2010

There was a great South Park episode where a group of superheros (named the Super Best Friends) unites to fight a cult led by magician David Blaine. The superheroes included Buddha, Mohammad, Joseph Smith, Lao Tzu, and a couple of other heavy hitters. They were predictably unstoppable. The Shadow Effect is written by three people [...]

Book Review: The Tao Of Wu

June 12, 2010

I was in Junior High when the Wu Tang Clan were starting to produce albums. Up to that point, my experience with hip-hop was MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice. I wasn’t that interested in music yet, I was just interested in liking what everyone else liked. And at the time, that meant baggy parachute pants [...]

Book Review: On Ugliness

June 5, 2010

I was probably four or five when my mom told me to quit staring at the man in the grocery store. He had a large lump protruding from the side of his neck. I couldn’t look away. It wasn’t his fault, and I’ve been stared at enough by kids to know that it wasn’t my [...]

When Something Doesn’t Work

May 15, 2010

I’m reading a book called Job’s Body: A Handbook For Bodywork. It’s by a very smart man named Deane Juhan. It kind of reads like Dune to me, in that there’s a Big Giant Thought in nearly every paragraph. Today I wanted to share a quote with you from the book that I find absolutely [...]

10 Books to Help You Get Strong and Stay Motivated

May 7, 2010

Guest Post by Melissa Tamura If you’re a reader, you know the joy of discovering a life-altering book. This post examines some of the best books available to help you maintain your physical and mental health. 1. YOU: The Owner’s Manual, Updated and Expanded Edition: An Insider’s Guide to the Body That Will Make You [...]

Book Review: The Book Of Awesome

April 15, 2010

I’ve been getting a lot of books in the mail, usually from authors who would like for me to renew their upcoming masterpieces. Sometimes I love the book and I try to review the hell out of it. Sometimes I love them less and I don’t review the books publicly. Well, I loved The Book [...]

Book Review: If You Want To Write

April 10, 2010

By Joel Frielander If You Want to Write was originally published in 1938, and revised in a second edition in 1983. And even though this book is over 70 years old, I want to say up front that I think it’s the best short book on writing that I’ve ever read. In fact, I defy [...]

Book Review: Linchpin

March 23, 2010

Even though I’ve always been a Seth Godin fan, his writing has never felt like it was directed at me. When I met him in person, his speaking presence was quite different than his writing. When he asked me how I liked the presentation he gave, I immediately said, “I like your speaking better than [...]

Book Review: The Groucho Letters

March 12, 2010

Although my Facebook profile doesn’t reflect it accurately, I’m a fan of quite a few things. I love Winston Churchill’s speeches and Sara Lee’s snack cakes. I like Otter Pops, Dorothy Parker’s essays, crossword puzzles, March Madness, and Nibs. I can’t get enough of old Soundgarden, playing fingerstyle guitar, personal records in the gym, and [...]

A Belated Review of “The War of Art.” Yeah, Let’s Talk About Resistance.

March 4, 2010

Note from Josh: This is a guest post from Jenny McCoy from Workin’ On A Ramp. Jenny interviewed one of my favorite authors, Steven Pressfield. Steven wrote the incredible Gates of Fire, Tides of War, and The War of Art, among many others. Jenny wanted to run this piece on my blog instead of her [...]

Heavy Hitting Ideas From Heavy Hitting Books

February 25, 2010

This is a guest post from Avil Beckford from The Invisible Mentor. Avil is very smart, very classy, very smart, and a very good friend of World’s Strongest Librarian. She also loves to read and that’s really all that matters. Enjoy! What makes a book timeless? Makes it resonate with us decades after the author’s [...]

10 Essential Strength Books Part 10: The Mighty Atom

February 4, 2010

Picture a man who can loosen the bolts and nuts on a tire, lift the car, put the new tire in place, and then screw everything back together with his bare hands. What does he look like? If you’re like me, you might be picturing someone like The Thing from Fantastic Four. Joseph L. Greenstein, [...]

How To Get People To Read Your Blog By Crushing Them Utterly With The 48 Laws Of Power

January 15, 2010

“How do you get people to read your blog?” I get that question a lot. Also: “Your blog is stupid, it’s only a matter of time before you crash and burn and spiral headlong into a volcano except that your head is so gigantic it will probably plug up the volcano which will then erupt [...]

Book Review – PostSecret: Extraordinary Confessions From Ordinary Lives

December 26, 2009

Having a secret can often make a person feel very alone. When reading PostSecret: Extraordinary Confessions From Ordinary Lives, it quickly becomes apparent that secrets are one of the things that unite us–we all have them. Here’s how the book–which has been compiled from the PostSecret website–works. Anonymous people mail in postcards that share a [...]

10 Essential Strength Books Part 9 – Convict Conditioning

December 21, 2009

What am I forgetting? What am I forgetting? That charming, catchy, maddening couplet has been bouncing around in my bulbous noggin for about a month. I checked all the usual suspects, but my pants were zipped, my hair was immaculately styled, and I had not left my boy on top of my car before driving [...]

Book Review: On Writing

December 19, 2009

This is a guest post from Tatiana Lensky. I think most books about writing are a waste of time that could be better spent, well…writing. If you are a writer or a wannabe, Stephen King’s book On Writing is a wonderful exception. Josh By Tatiana Lensky Emotional truthfulness that transcends time and trends: Stephen King [...]

The Greatest Book Of All Time?

December 3, 2009

One of the unexpected, but very fun things about having a popular blog is that people send you things sometimes. Weightlifting people send me equipment to try out once in a while, and authors and other book lovers send me books to read and review. But yesterday was something really special. I got a book [...]

Three Great Autobiographies About Very Different Subjects

October 9, 2009

Since I learned how to read yesterday, I spent the whole afternoon with these book things. They’re really good! Especially these autobiographies I grabbed. You may have heard that “everyone has a story worth hearing.” Maybe that’s true, maybe it isn’t. Either way, I have read some terrible autobiographies. For every wonderful book like The [...]

10 Essential Strength Books: Part 8 – Never Let Go

September 10, 2009

I’ve made no secret of the fact that Dan John is one of my greatest mentors. There is nobody I know of who is more charismatic, knowledgeable, or generous. The brief hours I’ve spent with him have been rewarding beyond measure. Without rehashing all of the reasons, I will simply point to: If It’s Important, [...]

A Life Lesson From Victor Frankl

August 28, 2009

“The one thing you can’t take away from me is the way I choose to respond to what you do to me. The last of one’s freedoms is to choose ones attitude in any given circumstance.” Victor Frankl I’ve put off talking about Victor Frankl as long as I could because it’s hard for me [...]

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