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JohnLAndBenji
I, Me, Mine | George Harrison
Pickpick

I love George Harrison‘s songs. He‘s really romantic. His writing is so good that I wish the book was longer, but at the same time is still felt complete. I found deep tracks that I didn‘t know and liked. He has photos of his notes for his songs with the original writing. I highly reccomend it!

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JohnLAndBenji
Mrs. Dalloway | Virginia Woolf
Pickpick

I read this book twice. It is safe and well written. It was mostly fun to read, aside from a man that I felt bad for that was close friends with Clarissa. There are a few men trying to compete for her early on. It is trying to be feminist in the early twentieth century when women had less rights than men. I intend on reading the sequel!

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JohnLAndBenji
Bailedbailed

I liked the chapters before If These Walls Could Scream were good and I liked them, but If These Walls Could Scream was not safe, so I‘m abandoning this book because my friend said there are more unsafe chapters in this book.

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JohnLAndBenji
Twelve Angry Men | Reginald Rose
Pickpick

We read this out loud in high school English class, and we had a lot of fun with it. Each student picked a character, and some pf us were quite passionate about it. I think I liked being the old man. It was still a trial of a murderer, so it was still dark, but it was still a good book.

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JohnLAndBenji
Pickpick

There are similarities to Silverfin, Higson‘s James bond book, and that made a few parts more predictable, but there were parts later on that were more original. I liked it, but I wouldn‘t say it was by favorite. It‘s pg13 rating violence. The other parts of the series are really complicated with in between books. If I would continue the series, I wouldn‘t know which one to read next.

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JohnLAndBenji
White Fang | Jack London
Pickpick

This book shows you how a wild wolf thinks and how its treatment affects its behavior. He takes more than his share of abuse. White Fang‘s dark experiences make him a violent outcast. He becomes the alpha, but at what price? Can a ravenous murderer find a happy ending? Some may be offended by the calling of humans gods from perspective of animals.

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JohnLAndBenji
It Ends With Us | Colleen Hoover
Bailedbailed

This book is not safe. Several reviews said that readers felt that there is censored in this book. I researched it and Lilly‘s two boyfriends are very abusive. My friend called this book pornography, so I am abandoning it

Writeme Thanks for this. I just bailed. I was soooo uncomfortable. She totally normalizes and dramatizes abuse. Very scary. 1mo
4 likes1 comment
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JohnLAndBenji
Summer Wives | Beatriz Williams
Bailedbailed

This book is nsfw/ nsfm.Mom‘s library friend fucking lied to us about it being a good book. I am pissed at my mon‘s friend and I am getting a refund on this book. Hugh is an evil pervert and I refuse to finish this book, but I hope she gets revenge on him. It is extremely frustrating how many pornography “romance fiction” books I have had the misfortune to read. I‘m not finishing this. Don‘t buy this pornography book!

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JohnLAndBenji
Bailedbailed

I don‘t care how many historians speak well of him. Animal lovers will hate how many stories he wrote with main characters killing them for sport. Some of his stories were like he was writing under the influence and sounded like they were written by 5 year olds. One of the characters in A Pursuit Race was obsessed with his bedsheet. Some of the better ones felt unfinished and/or mediocre, and at worst, one nsfw story.

JohnLAndBenji The repetition of nada in A Clean Well Lit Place was to the point where it lost its meaning. I‘m sure it would offend every hispanic person ever (edited) 8mo
2 likes1 comment
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JohnLAndBenji
Titan's Curse | Rick Riordan
Pickpick

I still love this series, but I don‘t want to give any spoilers. It is just as epic and fun as the first two books. I am starting book four later.

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JohnLAndBenji
Pickpick

I love bike riding, and I like Rush, but I didn‘t know much about the band members. I mostly liked this book. We covered poverty in Africa in school, and I was surprised how available food was to some of them. I didn‘t realize that there were families where the women did both the providing and the care taking, and was sad. Peart has a sense of humor and emotional intelligence, for the most part. I might read another of his books in the long term.

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JohnLAndBenji
Pickpick

I read this book a decade ago in high school for an elective western religions class. I liked that back then, but I liked it more the second time. Tom is an emotionally intelligent man seeking to understand different perspectives on religion as he travels through the U.S. interviewing people. He diversified the religions of his interviews, and I understand my religious peers more. There are no conversion requirements in interviews which was a plus

JohnLAndBenji You don‘t have to believe a certain religion to read this book. It is for everyone teenager and above. (edited) 10mo
1 like1 comment
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JohnLAndBenji
Street Lawyer | John Grisham
Pickpick

This book addresses a mixture of social issues some of which will be triggering. This book gives the reader an idea of what is like to be in poverty and discriminated against or being abused. After a traumatic experience, he decides to dedicate his life to help the unfortunate, and faces problems that go along with it. There is a triggering nsfw scene, but I liked everything else in a an I feel sorry the unfortunate, but liked the writing way

JohnLAndBenji The nsfw scene shows men how traumatic *censored* is with her crying for an hour. (edited) 11mo
5 likes1 stack add1 comment
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JohnLAndBenji
Bailedbailed

This book seems to be well written, but my friends said it is one sad part after another, so I am abandoning it.

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JohnLAndBenji
Percy Jackson 2 - The Sea of Monsters | Bestsellers - Books USA Press
Pickpick

There are new characters in this book, including friends and enemies. I enjoyed this book as much as the first. It half spoiled book three, but his chapter names are still spoilers also, and he pulls off spoiling it in a way that makes you want to read more. I liked book 2 as book one, and I intend on reading book three. It has fun mythology violence.

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JohnLAndBenji
Macbeth | William Shakespeare
Pickpick

I read this play in high school, and I liked how Macbeth‘s mental health slowly deteriorates. All of his decisions come back to haunt him (sometimes quite literally.) This was well written and I have good memories of acting this in class.

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JohnLAndBenji
Pickpick

I mostly liked this book. My Dad said that the Hungarian pirates were a real threat in the 50‘s when this book was taking place, so it‘s not as racist as it seems. There was a lot of action, and there is never a dull moment, but the end was too abrupt and it left too many open ended questions. James is too forgiving of his enemies. I am holding off on Double Or Die until I read more of what I already have.

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JohnLAndBenji
Pickpick

This is the only kata book I have the time and stamina for, but I prefer 3 of the Heian katas over all of the others: Heian Nidan, Heian yondan, and Heain Godan. These require lots of repetition to master, so I don‘t have the time for the other katas. I loved those katas, but disliked Heian Shodan, and Heian Sandan. If I had the time I would practice those and bruce lee combinations. Tekki shodan looks really cool though.

JohnLAndBenji ^continued but I‘ll never be able to pull off fighting two people at the exact same time. 13mo
4 likes1 comment
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JohnLAndBenji
Food: A Reader for Writers | Danielle Aquiline, Deborah H. Holdstein
Mehso-so

I read this book for my college English 101 class years ago, and I was surprised to find it on here.. All of the essays are about people‘s feelings about food. There are no tips, explanations, or instructions on how to write a good essay. It is a collection of essays, and you are expected to figure out how to write essays from reading examples. The essays were quality ones though. My teacher was a snob, so others may give a better review than I.

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JohnLAndBenji
Pickpick

This was a really fun mythology story! I loved the characters and the plot. It‘s innocent, but there are epic battle scenes. The names of the chapters spoil the chapter, but in a way that makes you curious. I didn‘t like part of the ending, but I hear book 2 solves the problem. I am going to start sea of monsters soon.

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JohnLAndBenji
Pickpick

This is an awesome book that show that two badass women spies/ warriors against German in world wars one and two that can be just as tough as male soldiers. Charlie and Eve and Finn are three close friends that stick together until the end. Kate Quinn in the author‘s notes describes how historically accurate she kept it to world wars one and two. This was a fun adult book. There is never a boring moment, so I highly recommend this book!

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JohnLAndBenji
The Carrow Haunt | Darcy Coates
Pickpick

I really liked this book. I liked seeing the characters work together until the evil ghost push the main characters to the limit. There were many ghosts, and most had tragic stories. I was shocked by what happened to some of the characters and loved how they fought back in the end. I highly recommend this book, and look forward to gallows hill.

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JohnLAndBenji

I got this book a while back at a high school tournament. I regret not spending time with it sooner. Like the old saying goes “work smarter not harder”. Instead of being a typical millennial and only playing games, I should have been using this book to learn better strategy. I will probably give this book a good review, but it is a time consuming book that I won‘t finish soon.

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JohnLAndBenji
Pickpick

This book is for, at earliest, teenagers, but the cover said it is for all ages, made by Hyperion books for children. There is too much violence for it to be for kids. That was my biggest problem with this book. Animal lovers will be triggered by how the main antagonist treats them.

Other than that, It was fun to read, and it was well written. I liked how James bond has a close woman friend that helps as a hero. I want to continue this series.

JohnLAndBenji I had to repost because I picked the wrong edition 1y
5 likes1 comment
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JohnLAndBenji
King of Torts | John Grisham
Mehso-so

Clay tries to sue drug companies to compensate victims of harmful drugs. Whorly was one of his clients, an he hated Clay‘s profit compared to his own, but 64k per case (- whorly‘s 43240) * thousands of cases = Clay‘s a millionare, so Whorly gets mad! Clay‘s greed after his first cases won affects how he handles his cases, and it comes back to haunt him. It‘s a fun book. My problem was goes out with models and fat shames women. Otherwise fun book

JohnLAndBenji Clay admits he wants Ridley partially for her body instead of why he likes her soul, and I found this to be shallow. If he had more of a soul connection with his girlfriends instead of talking about how attractive they were the whole time, I would have given this book a pick. I still want to give Grisham books another chance though. 1y
3 likes1 comment
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JohnLAndBenji
Language of Flowers | Vanessa Diffenbaugh
Bailedbailed

I stopped reading this book because I hate the main character. Victoria has a huge anger problem. She likes to throw stuff at people. She batters the bus driver for being grossed out by her stealing food and eating it with her mouth open, and that was the last straw for this book. It looks innocent and cute, but Victoria‘s behavior is so horrendous that I lost interest in it. I found spoilers and hate the idea of her being a mother.

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JohnLAndBenji
Pickpick

This is my second Darcy Coates book, and it was just as good as Craven Manor. Adrielle inherits a home from her grandmother, and at first it‘s better than not having anywhere to live, but things will change if she doesn‘t follow instructions. As it turns out, she is not alone, and the inhabitants are tormented by a tragedy that Adrielle is missing parts of its story, so there are unanswered questions about their history that carries a burden.

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JohnLAndBenji
Love Hypothesis | Ali Hazelwood
Bailedbailed

My crappy luck with romance fiction books continues.
The fake dating thing was awkward, but I assumed it would get better. It didn‘t!

Tom the supervisor of the company Olive does research with wants se*. in order for her to get credit she had to lay him and I thought, Oh her professor Adam that gives her support will help olive ruin his reputation. I thought he‘ll get fired, but no. Adam does nsfw stuff in the hotel room after her speech.

JohnLAndBenji Don‘t buy her shitty pornography book! Nobody finished this except me! I refuse to buy another Ali Hazelwood book. She should be a banned author! She may use a few advanced words, but she has negative emotional intelligence given the name of her book! (edited) 2y
5 likes1 comment
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JohnLAndBenji
Craven Manor | Darcy Coates
Pickpick

I was glued to this book. I ended up reading the last 75 percent all in one day. Curiosity surrounding the family that lived there and the history of the town kept me reading for answers. The horrors of the tragic family are slowly revealed. Contradicting records of the inhabitants of Craven manor keep everything a mystery until it is too late.

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JohnLAndBenji
Drakula | Bram Stoker
Bailedbailed

This book contains racism against the Slavic, the Baltic, and people of color, it is offensive to them. I am protesting this book, and I‘m reading Craven Manor for my Halloween book now.

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JohnLAndBenji
Dracula (Barnes & Noble Classics Series) | Bram Stoker, EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS, Bram Stroker

I decided that this classic will be my halloween book for the year

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JohnLAndBenji

One of my friends recommended Jung the psychologist a while back, so I got it on sale, and look forward to reading it.

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JohnLAndBenji
This post contains spoilers
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Bailedbailed

This was another book that I thought was a safe for men book, but I‘m bailing on it for several reasons. Achilles was supposed to be a hero, but instead he impregnates a princess that doesn‘t want his kid. The king stabs a girl to death to bring wind and it worked. Then achilles plunders and Agamemnon (ally of achilles “ was giving us permission for camp followers, for spear-wives and bed slaves. (kindle page 211) I‘m dnfing this book

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JohnLAndBenji
Outlander | Diana Gabaldon
Bailedbailed

The author advertises this as a romance fiction novel, but there is more inappropriate sex stuff than romance. Claire has lots of panic attacks about r*** thatmakes the book too hard to read. My friends say to give this book up for real romance books that don‘t have unwanted sexual content. There was also a scene where a child got mutilated as corperal punishment for stealing. I should have bailed on this book sooner.

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JohnLAndBenji
Mehso-so

Most of the chapters were great and would be a pick, but the last chapter made me decide to abandon the series. She calls it not safe for men, and I agree with her that I shouldn‘t be reading stories like that. I like history, but I had the same problem with the Downtown one, and for this reason, I won‘t be reading anymore of these.

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JohnLAndBenji
post image

JohnLAndBenji copied from Brittanybooks 2y
8 likes1 comment
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JohnLAndBenji
Outlander | Diana Gabaldon
This post contains spoilers
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omg I can‘t believe they are forcing her to marry Jamie! He said it himself that he is poor. She prefers him as a close friend, but nobody listens. I feel bad for her. She‘s probably still pissed about him almost cutting her with his showing off of sword fighting!

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JohnLAndBenji
Pickpick

I didn‘t take this book seriously enough at first. I underestimated how effective communication can be. As it turns out, this book seems to be extremely useful. I like how the author used his experiences to show that his psychology for de-escalation works. It‘s a short book that anyone has time for, and you never know when you‘ll need it. I am keeping this to re-read

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JohnLAndBenji

I just got this book and I am starting it now.

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JohnLAndBenji
Pickpick

The wrath of the Taliban is depressing and traumatic and her story is no exception. Malala ‘s father is pro women‘s education where only men get it. The Pashtun tribe of Pakistan is very peaceful and has lots of passed down wisdom, and devotion to the peaceful religion of Islam. Life was good for her and her family. See below👇

JohnLAndBenji There was poverty before the Taliban, especially after a large earthquake. Then the Taliban invaded, and made life more of living hell. They destroy schools, especially ones for girls and women, mosques, and hospitals and kill anyone they feel like. Police and the Pakistani military are slaughtered. They caused nonstop violence. Malala protests the Taliban and it makes her a target. 2y
JohnLAndBenji
People forgot about her, in my opinion. She‘s a brave and strong woman who deserves our respect by reading her book.
2y
5 likes2 comments
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JohnLAndBenji
Pickpick

Gichin Funakoshi was considered to be unofficial world champion of karate (world championsips were impractical before the 50‘s) I rarely disapprove with his ideas, and if you are looking for a kata book, this is an excellent choice, and I regretted having my first kata book being Shojiro Sugiyama. because Gichin Funakoshi knows what he‘s teaching and shojiro sugayama sorta doesn‘t. Gichin is the only one allowed to wear the black gi.

see below👇

JohnLAndBenji Gichin funakoshi teaches the correct application, and shojiro sugayama doesn‘t know it. You won‘t find Funakoshi covering his eyes like Sigiyama does in his version of tekki nidan. 2y
JohnLAndBenji In 25 shotokan Kata, Sugiyama has his students risk their safety doing jumping spinning flipping kicks or risking them breaking their finger trying to push a punch up with the top of the fist with their pointer finger sticking out in Unsu, which is not a kata that Funakishi requires or teaches. (edited) 2y
JohnLAndBenji Shojiro sugayama has his students do techniques in slow motion that are supposed to be done full speed in real life like moves 2 and 4 in the beginning of heian yodan. Gichin funakoshi would never tell his students to do a slow motion block to stop a punch. 2y
JohnLAndBenji I don‘t like their elbow block that they both use because it is a safety hazard. Stepping into an attack to avoid one behind it will create bad habits and is another hazard, but they both use it. Therefore if you are going to get a kata book this is the right one. Nakayama‘s books are great, but that‘s for another review. (edited) 2y
4 likes4 comments
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JohnLAndBenji
Pickpick

Poppy has the dream job of writing for a magazine that advertizes travel. She gets to go all around the world on vacation to write advertisements for each place. But it‘s not enough for her. She wants love, and her closest manfiend is the perfect person, but she has competition and they aren‘t sure if they are the ones for each other. This is mostly a fun bubbly but adult love story, but there are a few serious parts.

JohnLAndBenji Emily Henry is original with her book and it was mostly enjoyable, aside from a few sad and/or serious parts. I like the discussion questions in the back. I recommend it! (edited) 2y
7 likes1 comment
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JohnLAndBenji
Song of Achilles | Madeline Miller

I am almost done with The People we meet on vacation and I plan on starting this soon.

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JohnLAndBenji
Pickpick

Some people are unaware of how much strategy is involved on martial arts. They think it‘s random arm swinging. Bruce lee teaches proper defending techniques and strategy that people who make up their own systems don‘t know. There are small details and theory and he covers the fundamentals including advice, how to block or evade attacks, how to deceive and outsmart your opponent. It‘s not a list of combinations, but it is still very useful.

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JohnLAndBenji
The Catcher in the Rye | Jerome Salinger
Panpan

This depressing book is about an immature loser that struggles to keep friends and flunks high school. He‘s socially awkward and doesn‘t fit in. But I honestly didn‘t feel that sorry for him. He‘s pessimistic and hateful about everything. It may be a historic book but it is overrated.

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JohnLAndBenji
Pickpick

This book also has high high quality photos and the band member‘s opinions on their own songs. I was unaware of how many beatles songs were cover versions. I noticed that Lennon is overly critical of his own songs on average. My dad and sister also loved this book so much that we all have our own copy.

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JohnLAndBenji

My parents got books 1-4 for me for Christmas a few years ago. I started it again yesterday on my first vacation day of this trip. I read several chapters years back, but I remembered so little that I decided to start the book over.

JohnLAndBenji I am on part 2 of book 1 now. (edited) 2y
4 likes1 comment
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JohnLAndBenji
Best Karate, Vol.3: Kumite 1 | Masatoshi Nakayama
Pickpick

The author is a 9th degree black belt. This is probably my favorite best karate book from the series. You get to see black belts spar each other with commentary and learn strategy. There are also techniques that you learn from this book including advanced ones. These photos are not from standing still. They are photos taken in a split second before smartphones! It was awesome!

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JohnLAndBenji
Karate-Do: My Way of Life | Gichin Funakoshi
Pickpick

Don‘t look at his martial art system and say he‘s violent. He preaches and practices that karate is strictly for defense. He was considered to be the unofficial world champion by many karate students, and he‘s just as good at with emotional intelligence. They retired the black gi out of respect for him. His autobiography will show you who he was, and it‘s something that every karate student should read

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JohnLAndBenji
The Essential Feminist Reader | Estelle B. Freedman
Pickpick

I read this book for a college social science class. It gives a brief history of famous activists and quotes them and summarizes what they preached and fought for. This was another book that I binge read instead of following the schedule of the course syllabus.