Diamond Rio burst on to the music scene about the same time I started to really get interested in music (especially country music), and quickly became one of my favorite country groups. Like many others, I was impressed with their masterful musicianship and tight vocal harmonies. Having been a fan, the opportunity to read their story intrigued me.

Beautiful Mess begins in the midst of a crisis that could spell the end for the band, in spite of its many years of success.  The book then turns to the past to follow the early formation of the group, from a show band at Opryland USA to one of the first groups signed to Arista Records. Each individual band member gets his own mini-biography that follows their stories from childhood until they became a member of the band. Then the book delves into the band’s early success, its near destruction, and successful recovery that includes a foray into Christian music.

This book was a difficult read for me, mostly due to the shear volume of information it contains. Considering this, the book may only appeal to a limited group of people: Fans of Diamond Rio, fans of music documentaries, and those who love biographies. If a reader does not fit into one or more of those categories, they might find this book unappealing.

The book is chock full of interesting information, however, like the band’s original name and how they came to be called Diamond Rio, what instrument Jimmy Olander (lead guitarist) mastered as a child, and how he developed his unique lead guitar sound. Another interesting topic the book covers is the band’s charity work, and how they’ve used their success to help others.

Overall, the story of Diamond Rio is that of individual and corporate struggles to achieve their goals, and reflects the benefits of determination and hard work in reaching those goals. It also demonstrates an example of facing weaknesses, first by admitting that they exist, and then working to overcome them.

My Rating: Three out of Five.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their Book Review Blogger program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Allow me to preface this review by saying that I am an Alabama Crimson Tide football fan, which is odd, because while I live in Alabama now, I grew up in Texas, and moved to Alabama shortly before I finished high school. How I became a fan of the Tide deserves it’s own blog post someday, but suffice it to say, I was interested to read this book, due to Eli Gold’s status in the state as the “Voice of the Crimson Tide.” This book is not only for Alabama football fans, though, as it focuses more on Eli’s career as a whole, which does include a lot more than just the Crimson Tide.

From Peanuts to the Pressbox is a collection of stories chronicling the career of sports broadcaster Eli Gold from his humble roots in Brooklyn, New York, where his first sports job was selling peanuts at Madison Square Garden. Eli took a passion for sports and an admiration of sports broadcasting and made it a driving force in his life, and worked hard to follow his dream to create a career in sports broadcasting, and to follow his inspirations into the pressbox. Eli has done it all, from minor league hockey and baseball, to the NHL, NFL, Arena League, NASCAR (and other auto racing) and college sports as well.

Eli’s story is inspirational and encouraging. It shows the values of setting goals and following those goals with hard work and determination. It also demonstrates the importance of making friends and good connections throughout your career, and how those relationships bring not only opportunities, but a more fulfilled life. It is not the standard “climbing the corporate ladder” story, where it was necessary to use others as rungs to reach success, but shows the importance of respect and friendship, especially to someone in the broadcasting field.

The book is full of stories and anecdotes that are not only about Eli’s greatest moments. He was not afraid to poke a little fun at himself in this book, and the reader will get a few laughs at his expense. Some of the best stories come from his experiences in NASCAR, which was surprising to me, and Eli’s perspective on many of the legends of stock car racing are very insightful, and at times very personal, especially due to his closeness to many of the greatest tragedies in the history of the sport.

If you are not a sports fan, this book may not have much for you, as sports are the central focus, but sports are about people, and in that regard, there are some great people whose stories intertwine with Eli’s throughout the book. Overall, I enjoyed the book, somewhat more than I thought.

My rating, four out of five.

(Disclaimer: I am reviewing this book as part of the book review bloggers program from Thomas Nelson Publishing.  You can find out more information about this program at http://brb.thomasnelson.com. I received no compensation for this review, other than a review copy of the book.)

Book Cover

Question: Can one company change the world? That’s an easy answer if you mention the names AIG and/or Bear Stearns.  More difficult question: Can one company change the world and its community positively?  Even more difficult question: Can that company change the world and its community from a Christian worldview, and its main enterprise be the brewing of beer?

“The Search for God and Guinness” will answer that question, and many more you never thought to ask about the centuries-old Irish brewing company, famous for its Guinness Stout.  This book gives a fascinating insight into the Guinness family, from the founder and father, Arthur, down through the branches of descendants, many of which never worked for or were involved in the brewery. This book is more than just a history of the brewing company -  it delves into the role that Christian faith played in the business, and throughout the Guinness family; it investigates the impact that Guinness had on its employees and on its community; and it demonstrates what modern industry can learn from the Guinness way of doing business.

At first glance, one might consider that the author is attempting to laud the “greatness” of beer in general – that this book is a manifesto for the celebration of beer. That could not be further from the truth.  The author actually admits to never being a beer drinker himself.

For me, this was a book full of unexpected revelations.  It was surprising to learn that the conditions surrounding the early years of the Guinness brewing company were actually improved by the availability of a quality beer. The water available to most people in that era was undrinkable, contaminated with human and industrial waste.  The proliferation of distilled spirits like gin and whiskey were causing rampant alcoholism, and with that came the social issues that alcoholism creates. At the time, beer was the better alternative, since it carried no disease (due to the fermentation process), it was not nearly as intoxicating as the gin or whiskey, and actually provided some nutritional value (especially B vitamins).  There are also many interesting stories about one branch of the Guinness family that was heavily involved in the early Evangelical Christian movements, a welcome aside in a book that turns out to be about more than just beer.

Overall, “The Search for God and Guinness” is a very well written book.  The author weaves the story of the brewery, the family, and the historical significance of the times together in great detail, while managing to keep the book from reading like a history text.  Mansfield takes a very objective approach in his writing, stating the facts, and letting those facts lead to their logical conclusions.  His treatment of not only the brewing business, but the evolution of the Guinness family makes this book that much more fascinating.

My rating: 4 out of 5.

(Disclaimer: I read and reviewed this book as part of the book review blogger program from Thomas Nelson Publishers.  More information is available about this program at http://brb.thomasnelson.com)

“What Difference Do It Make” is the followup to the New York Times Bestseller “Same Kind of Different As Me”.  The sequel expands on the story of the first, delving deeper into the backgrounds of Ron and Denver, how the first book came to be written, and the lasting effects of the message from the first book.

Ron’s stories dig into the tenuous relationship with his father and dealing with the loss of his wife, Deborah, to cancer.  Denver’s stories cover more of the darkness of his past, including a stint in prison, but also show how his relationship with Ron and Deborah and the success of the first book have affected his life.  Sandwiched between these chapters are smaller pieces focusing on those who read “Same Kind of Different as Me” and have adopted its message to use their lives to help combat the problem of homelessness.

The message of “What Difference Do It Make” is one of restoration through relationships – how showing love, respect and friendship to others, can bring about hope and healing.  The individual stories encourage compassion for the homeless, lonely and hurting, calling on those who can and who have to help those in less fortunate circumstances.

Reading this book leaves you with a strong sense of the ability of individuals to make an impact in the lives of others, especially for the homeless. One of my favorite statements of this message comes from Denver:

“If all the Christians – I mean all of ‘em – got outta the pews on Sundays and into the streets, we’d shut the city down.
We’d shut down hunger.
We’d shut down  loneliness.
We’d shut down the notion that there is any such of a thing as a person that don’t deserve a kind word and a second chance.”

There are not any deep theological statements to be found in this story, but it is full of simple examples of people living out the sacrificial love that followers of Christ should exhibit. The book is well written and the arrangement makes for an easy read. The authors do a great job of engaging the reader and keeping you turning the pages. The stories are emotionally touching, and sometimes humorous. This is definitely a book that I would pick up and read again.

If you have not read “Same Kind of Different As Me, you can read “What Difference Do It Make” without feeling lost, as this book brings in pieces of the original story where necessary.

My overall rating – Four out of Five.

“Faces in the Fire” follows the interactions of the lives of four people and how each influences the other toward their own personal redemption.  The narrative is comprised of the stories of four individual characters: the truck driver turned metal sculptor, who hears the voices of ghosts in dead people’s clothing; the email spammer and self-described bottom-feeder facing terminal cancer; the tattoo artist addicted to heroin and running from the pain of her past life; and the assassin, who kills with a simple touch.

Each character’s progress in the story is shifted by a chance meeting with one of the others, and a possession is passed between them. This possession is interpreted differently by each, and becomes the key to changing their lives.

The presentation of the story is unusual, in that, though the chapters are numbered chronologically, they are presented in the book out of order and in four sections, one following each character through the narrative.  This out-of-order approach may turn some readers off, although it did not affect my interest in the story.

I found the story interesting from the beginning, although the action was a bit slow to start. The book is driven by supernatural occurrences, which add a definite element of mystery. The characters themselves were interesting, but some of their motivations seemed to be shallow at times, and it was hard to determine exactly what brought each character to their present state. Each character’s conclusion does not really provide a full resolution in the story, but only an indication of the direction of their lives. If it bothers you when authors do not tie up everything at the end, this book will leave you hanging, to a point. If you follow the common thread, at least in my mind, you can determine who the main character is, and how that story comes full circle.

Overall, I enjoyed reading this book, this being my first by this author. I plan to try a few others from T.L. Hines.