Cody Hall

The first Red Rising book was excellent, and now I’m into the second. I like it as much as I liked the first.

It’s an interesting combination of Hunger Games and Ender’s Game.

This is the second book of a trilogy on the 26th President of the United States of America.

I was asked recently if I could talk to any person in history, who would it be. After nearly completing this book, I answered quickly with “Theodore Roosevelt.”

He was on another level; a man with grit and toughness on the level of present-day Navy Seals. But he wasn’t a meathead. He was well-read and polished. Not only was he tough, he had incredible political acumen. Living with boundless energy, he accomplished more for the USA than most other Presidents, even up to the present day.

This week I finished the first of a six-book (so far) sci-fi series by Pierce Brown. I’ll be reading book #2 after this.

The pace is excellent and I like the first-person perspective. It makes the characters, story, and events more visceral.

This is the second book of three in Edmund Morris’ excellent work on the 26th President of the United States. The first book was excellent and all three have great reviews.

I enjoy seeing how the different personalities of various US Presidents worked themselves out within differing periods of our nation’s history. Each period required and received leaders with nuanced differences in their approach to leadership.

Roosevelt’s swashbuckling approach to life and nation-building would be so out of place today. But, it was exactly what the US needed at that time and resulted in remarkable advancements for our interests globally.

I finished this one this week and, wow, what a narrative. Theodore Roosevelt represents a mindset in leadership that I’d love to see our country return to. In learning about some of the experiences that made up his early life, I’m more convinced now than ever: leaders are formed in the crucible.

Perhaps we have few good leaders today because of the good times (prosperity) created by men such as Roosevelt, who suffered many hardships. It has been said:

Hard times produce good men
Good men produce good times
Good times produce weak men
Weak men produce hard times