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4 reviews

William Bryson

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William Bryson rated a book it was amazing

The Mamba Mentality: How I Play

by Kobe Bryant

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William Bryson said: " This book called The Mamba Mentality by Kobe Bryant is a 5/5 star book that I loved.

I love the author's theme of this book which is having a mindset to push yourself past exhaustion and always doing your best for continuous self improvement.
For insta ...more "

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(page 208 of 208)
— Apr 16, 2025 09:27PM

Apr 16, 2025 09:26PM · see review

William Bryson rated a book really liked it

Ball Don't Lie

by Matt de la Peña (Goodreads Author)

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William Bryson said: " The book I read is called “Ball Don't Lie” by Matt de la Pena. I give it 4.5 stars. This book is fictional but the story line can happen in real life.

I like how Matt De La Pena's theme is about coming to age.
For example, he says “ He knows he can’t The book I read is called “Ball Don't Lie” by Matt de la Pena. I give it 4.5 stars. This book is fictional but the story line can happen in real life.

I like how Matt De La Pena's theme is about coming to age.
For example, he says “ He knows he can’t keep running from his past if he wants to have a future”( Pena 8 ).
By saying this, it shows that the narrator is saying in life as a human you need to face your past so you can move on and grow as a person. The narrator was saying this about the main character Sticky who had a hard life and lets his emotions get the best of him.

I like how the author brings up the crisis of sticky getting caught stealing.
For instance, Sticky is at the store and decides to steal a bracelet for his girlfriend. Sticky says “I'm halfway to the door when the lady behind the counter says “Hey” and I freeze, like someone slapped me. I turned around, and she was looking right at me, her hand pointing at my pocket where the bracelet was hanging” ( Pena 163 ).
With this crisis happening, Sticky changes his life around after this and starts to reflect on all of his actions that he has done. He becomes a better person, becomes more civilized, and stops stealing.

I love how the author talks about and describes imagery, especially as a basketball player I can really picture it and smell it.
In addition he says “ The gym smells like sweat and rubber, the kind of smell that sticks to your skin and clothes”( Pena 78).
By saying this, It makes you think and picture what is happening when you walk into that gym. It makes you start to think of that smell of sweat.

I kinda liked how Donte was characterized as a static character, I feel like he should have tried to have a bigger impact.
Therefore in the beginning of the book Sticky introduces Donte by saying “Dante is always there sitting in the same spot giving the same advice”(Pena 13 ). Then near the end he always sees Donte and says “Dante never changes, always the same old guy with the same old stories”(Pena 189).
By those quotes it's talking about how Donte was the same person from the beginning of the book and the end. He didn't evolve to be a bigger person, he was just someone who always sat outside the rec center and talked all day about the same stuff.

I like how the author uses irony in this book.
For example, Sticky says “ I'm trying to be a good person, but everytime i turn around, I'm doing something worse than the last thing I did”( Pena 98 ).
By this being said, it means that Sticky says he wants to be a good person but his actions speak louder than words. He also knows that he is a bad person and isn't really trying is best because all he is doing is bad. ...more "

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(page 280 of 280)
— Dec 06, 2024 01:27PM

Dec 06, 2024 10:02PM · see review