Capitol Book & Podcast Club – May 2019

We’re catching up with the times and have added in Podcast suggestions to our Capitol Book & Podcast Club – enjoy!

John Durham, DPT, CHH MBF Physical Therapist is reading…

When Mitch McDeere signed on with Bendini, Lambert & Locke of Memphis, he thought that he and his beautiful wife, Abby, were on their way. The firm leased him a BMW, paid off his school loans, arranged a mortgage, and hired the McDeeres a decorator. Mitch should have remembered what his brother Ray–doing fifteen years in a Tennessee jail–already knew: You never get nothing for nothing. Now the FBI has the lowdown on Mitch’s firm and needs his help. Mitch is caught between a rock and a hard place, with no choice–if he wants to live.

John Durham, DPT, CHH MBF Physical Therapist is listening to…

Guy Raz dives into the stories behind some of the world’s best known companies. How I Built This weaves a narrative journey about innovators, entrepreneurs and idealists—and the movements they built.

Criminal defense attorneys Jessa Nicholson Goetz and Nicholas (Nick) Gansner discuss high profile trials, defense strategies, popular culture’s fixation on crime, and all other things related to criminal law. We think we are kind of funny, and hope you do, too.

Debra Smagula, CHH ATX Office Manager is reading…

Swimming in the mortar-riddled shallows of the East China Sea. Jumping off bridges into the barracuda-infested waters of the Florida Straits. Trudging through a fresh snowfall in the pristine silence of a New England forest. Hunting the elusive pheasant in the frigid, windswept plains of Illinois. Trying to stay out of trouble while experiencing great adventures with my brother while Mom was busy caring for the younger children and Dad was off fighting the great fight. Always being the new kid in school. Above all, watching each others’ backs and sticking together as a cohesive family unit—us against the world. This was my life growing up in a military family. Our family was persevering and resourceful, but not unique. I’ve known many military families, and all have made great sacrifices for their country. Soldiers wear the uniform and risk their lives, but the families are compelled to live a gypsy life with all the responsibilities of holding the family unit together. These families receive only a fraction of the recognition they deserve. This is their story as well.

Kara Cox, CHM Executive Director of Operations is reading…

The Revolutionary War as never told before.

The breathtaking latest installment in Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard’s mega-bestselling Killing series transports readers to the most important era in our nation’s history, the Revolutionary War. Told through the eyes of George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and Great Britain’s King George III, Killing England chronicles the path to independence in gripping detail, taking the reader from the battlefields of America to the royal courts of Europe. What started as protest and unrest in the colonies soon escalated to a world war with devastating casualties. O’Reilly and Dugard recreate the war’s landmark battles, including Bunker Hill, Long Island, Saratoga, and Yorktown, revealing the savagery of hand-to-hand combat and the often brutal conditions under which these brave American soldiers lived and fought. Also here is the reckless treachery of Benedict Arnold and the daring guerilla tactics of the “Swamp Fox” Frances Marion. A must read, Killing England reminds one and all how the course of history can be changed through the courage and determination of those intent on doing the impossible.

Maggie Martinez, CHM Billing & Collections Specialist is listening to…

1 phone call. 1 hour. No names. No holds barred. That’s the premise behind Beautiful Stories from Anonymous People, hosted by comedian Chris Gethard (the Chris Gethard Show, Broad City, This American Life, and one of Time Outs 10 best comedians of 2015). Every week, Chris opens the phone line to one anonymous caller, and he cant hang up first, no matter what. From shocking confessions and family secrets to philosophical discussions and shameless self-promotion, anything can and will happen!

The Generation Why Podcast released its first episode in 2012 and pioneered the true crime genre in the podcasting world. Two friends, Aaron & Justin, break down theories and give their opinions on unsolved murders, controversies, mysteries and conspiracies.

Jane Shults, CHM Billing Specialist is reading…

For readers everywhere who are ga-ga for the Ya-Yas and clamoring for more and for those who are lucky enough to be discovering the Ya-Yas for the first time, comes a new book about the incomparable Sisterhood, bursting with life and funnier than ever….

An emotionally charged addition to Rebecca Wells’ award-winning bestseller Little Altars Everywhereand #1 New York Times bestseller Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, YA-YAS IN BLOOM reveals the roots of the Ya-Yas’ friendship in the 1930s and roars with all the raw power of Vivi Abbott Walker’s 1962 T-Bird through sixty years of marriage, child-raising, and hair-raising family secrets.

When four-year-old Teensy Whitman prisses one time too many and stuffs a big old pecan up her nose, she sets off the chain of events that lead Vivi, Teensy, Caro, and Necie to become true sister-friends. Told in alternating voices of Vivi and the Petite Ya-Yas, Siddalee and Baylor Walker, as well as other denizens of Thornton, Louisiana, YA-YAS IN BLOOM show us the Ya-Yas in love and at war with convention. Through crises of faith and hilarious lapses of parenting skills, brushes with alcoholism and glimpses of the dark reality of racial bigotry, the Ya-Ya values of unconditional loyalty, high style, and Cajun sass shine through. Necies wise credo, “Just think pretty pink and blue thoughts,” helps too…

But in the Ya-Yas’ inimitable way, these four remarkable women also teach their children about the Mysteries: the wonder of snow in the deep South, the possibility that humans are made of stars, and the belief that miracles do happen. And they need a miracle when old grudges and wounded psyches lead to a heartbreaking crime…and the dynamic web of sisterhood is the only safety net strong enough to hold families together and endure.

After two bestsellers and a blockbuster movie, the Ya-Yas have become part of American culture — icons for the power of women’s friendship. YA-YAS IN BLOOM continues the saga, giving us more Ya-Ya lore, spun out in the rich patois of the Louisiana bayou country and brim full of the Ya-Ya message to embrace life and each other with joy.

Jay Sanchez, CHM IT Manager is listening to…

The podcast of Comedian Joe Rogan…

Anna Torres, CHM Accounting Specialist is listening to…

We’re at our most vulnerable when we go to our doctors. We trust the person at the other end of that scalpel. We trust the hospital. We trust the system.

Debra Newell is a successful interior designer. She meets John Meehan, a handsome man who seems to check all the boxes: attentive, available, just back from a year in Iraq with Doctors Without Borders. But her family doesn’t like John, and they get entangled in an increasingly complex web of love, deception, forgiveness, denial, and ultimately, survival. Reported and hosted by Christopher Goffard from the L.A. Times.

Laura Harms, CHM Payroll/Accounting Manager is reading…

The Silent Patient is a shocking psychological thriller of a woman’s act of violence against her husband―and of the therapist obsessed with uncovering her motive.

Alicia Berenson’s life is seemingly perfect. A famous painter married to an in-demand fashion photographer, she lives in a grand house with big windows overlooking a park in one of London’s most desirable areas. One evening her husband Gabriel returns home late from a fashion shoot, and Alicia shoots him five times in the face, and then never speaks another word.

Alicia’s refusal to talk, or give any kind of explanation, turns a domestic tragedy into something far grander, a mystery that captures the public imagination and casts Alicia into notoriety. The price of her art skyrockets, and she, the silent patient, is hidden away from the tabloids and spotlight at the Grove, a secure forensic unit in North London.

Theo Faber is a criminal psychotherapist who has waited a long time for the opportunity to work with Alicia. His determination to get her to talk and unravel the mystery of why she shot her husband takes him down a twisting path into his own motivations―a search for the truth that threatens to consume him….

Alaira Clay, CHM Billing Supervisor is listening to…

Join NYT Best-Selling Author and Side-Eye Sorceress Luvvie Ajayi of AwesomelyLuvvie.com as she rants on all things society and pop culture. Her unique brand of loving judgement, hilarious shade and necessary truth-telling will keep you wanting more. Plus, her all-star guests stay dropping gems! Use #RantsandRandomness to discuss on the interwebs.

Melisa Arnette, DPT, CHH Austin Administrator is listening to…

Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices and direct our relationships.