Book Recommendation - Stephen King 11/22/63

11/22/63 by Stephen King is the best book I have read in a long time.   5 outta 5 stars.   I thought about it all day and tried to sneak in a few paragraphs every free minute I had (sorry Wyatt).  There was a love story.   There was history (JFK assassination).  There were deep thoughts. Made me think about life. Excellent drama and suspense.  You should add this to your list TODAY.   This is not a scary book.  Most of his books aren't.  I really enjoy most of his books although they are crazy and strange.  I would hate to have his imagination and go to sleep at night.

Do you want to read what I think is his scariest?  I read The Boogeyman in a book containing a bunch of his short stories.  It wigged me out.  I also read this when I was in high school.  I think I found the full text at this site if you dare to read.  Summary - the boogeyman is the cause of infant deaths (SIDS).  I might have already talked about this on the blog.  I am too lazy to look.

One of my other favorite books of his is Firestarter which I read ages ago and doesn't seem to get amazing reviews from others so maybe I only liked it way back whens.

Some Movies and Books

Need some time wasters?  You must if you read this blog frequently (wink wink). 

On the toob:
I am REALLY late to the PBS Masterpiece Theatre TV show Downton Abbey but I dig it.  You can find it on Netflix Instant Play.  Hunter opted not to watch this so I make it through about 1 show a week.  They are on season 3 I believe.

The movie 50/50 was surprisingly good. A 27 year old is diagnosed with cancer and it follows him and his people through the trials.  Inspired by a true story. 

I like to ponder about how I would react in a life threatening situation so of course I enjoyed 127 Hours, based on a true story of a guy who gets stuck under a rock while on a hiking / canyoning trip and he is all by his lonesome. 

In a book:
Read Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford.  I gave this one 5 outta 5 stars.  There is love, war, and mistreatment of the Japanese in Seattle.  I didn't know that happened in the US.  We sent American citizens of Japanese heritage to war camps. There is a bit of Romeo and Juliet feel when a Chinese boy befriends a Japanese girl. 

Another 5 outta 5 star book, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.  What is my obsession with war?  This book is set in Germany in WWII and documents a family that adopts a child (the book thief) and harbors a Jew.  Amazing book.  I really loved it. 

I also got on a non fiction kick.  I already mentioned Dominique Moceanu's Off Balance Memoir.  I also started Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10.  I have not read very far into this one yet, but again, what is my deal with all of this war reading?

What else should I be watching and reading?  Hook a sistah up. 

Dominique Moceanu's Book

Soooo, I am still obsessed with all things Olympics, especially women's gymnastics.  I bought Dominique Moceanu's Memoir book called Off Balance. I gave the book 4 out of 5 stars because I loved to read all of the details about the Karolyis, the training, and little hints of information about some of my favorite gymnasts from the 92 and 96 Olympics.

Book Spoiler Alert! Don't read below this if you want to read the book and not know what happens.

To summarize the book:

Dominique's family gave up a daughter that was born without legs for adoption.  They believed that they did not have money to care for a child with any medical issues.  The child was 6 years younger than Dominique.  What the daughter was old enough, her adopted parents told her the truth.  This girl is an amazing athlete and lives a very full life without legs.

The Karolyis are not the people they appear to be in the media.  I can understand/forgive putting the gymnasts through brutal workouts, not allowing them to eat much, and monitoring the athletes 24/7.  I cannot understand how they were very uninvolved in the day to day training.  They provided no direct guidance and shuffled the girls between various coaches.  They always acted lovingly and supportive in front of the cameras but really did not have a strong relationship as coach / supporter and took the credit for the training even though they were not responsible.  They also didn't allow any celebrating or encouragement because it would give the athletes a big head.  According to the book, the Karolyis benefit financially from the Olympic training camps that are held at their ranch every year and they are the ones that established these camps as a requirement.

Dominique was granted emancipation from her parents at age 17 because she did not like the way her over bearing father was not keeping her in involved about her financial gains from her tours / sponsorships and apparently he spent all the money building a dream gym that never became a success.  

Dominique made quite a comeback at age 24.  I did not know about this.  She has some resentment towards a board of 3 Marta Karolyi, Kim Zmeskal, and somebody else I don't remember for voting against her entry to the 2006 National Championships.  The book did not spell out hatred towards Kim, one of her old training partners, but hinted at it.  Me being the Kim fan that I am, I had to go off and research.  They apparently are not on good terms, but I am not sure that Kim is at fault for anything.

Overall, Dominique had a very tough childhood and young adult life.  Her situation was further complicated by a Romanian father that was abusive and the lack of support from her coaches that she spent more than 40 hours a week with (the Karolyis).  She was so successful in her career because she gave up her young life and dedicated it all to gymnastics.  I imagine all elite level gymnasts have to make this huge sacrifice. 

I don't know that we can make any judgments about life in the gym with the Karolyis because we don't know all sides of the story, but the book was definitely an eye opener to me.  Even today, there are complaints about the Karolyis having too much power in the US Gymnastics world.  There was the Chellsie Memmel issue. The fact that the winner of the trials gets an automatic entry to the Olympics, but the rest of the Olympic team is all decided by a board where Marta has the influence. 

I wanted to get more answers about Kim being part of a team that voted down Dominique's return so I did some research.  It seems that more people are of the opinion that Dominique is a little bit crazy and has some incorrect hatred against Kim.  Kim asks what planet Dominique is from.  Ahh..the drama.  Ahh..the drama played up by the media.   Read the book.  Ponder the info.  Pity Dominique's lack of childhood.  Consider the fact that it is a one sided story.  You should definitely consider my opinion as I am an expert because I took gymnastics from the age of 3 to 13. I once scored a 3.0 on bars to further my credit.

In all my research, I came across a blog that posts opinions and updates about women's gymnastics almost daily.  Check it out if you would like to stay current with the events.