Skip to content
The Dad Speaks
Menu
  • Home
  • About Mark
  • Mark Meets Nina
  • Published E-Books
    • The Dad Speaks: My First-Year as a First-Time Dad
    • The Dad Gets Edumacated
    • The Statman Speaks
Menu

Author: Mark

Killer Crossover: My Life from the Chicago Streets to Basketball Royalty – by Tim Hardaway

Posted on 09/09/202509/09/2025 by Mark

I got this from Netgalley, so I can read and review it before it’s published. Before I dive in, I was a huge basketball fan (mainly San Antonio Spurs, but also the league in general) when Tim was in the NBA and this book actually brought back a lot of memories of him, his teammates,…

Read more

The Fool’s Run (Kidd & LuEllen, #1) by John Sandford

Posted on 09/08/202509/08/2025 by Mark

I just finished reading the Prey series by John Sandford, and Kidd is in some of those books. I thought I would give this series a read before I start the Virgil Flowers series. Well, I didn’t like it as much as I thought I should and am glad I didn’t start with this one…

Read more

First Day of 4th Grade

Posted on 09/07/202509/07/2025 by Mark

Last Thursday, Niko started his first day as a 4th grader at a new school and in a new city. A week prior, we got to see the school for the first time and on the following Tuesday, we got to meet the teacher. Both got the thumbs up from us and Niko, and he…

Read more

Rhymes With Prey: Lincoln Rhyme vs. Lucas Davenport (Lucas Davenport, #24.5) – by John Sandford and Jeffrey Deaver

Posted on 09/04/202509/04/2025 by Mark

I just finished reading all the Lucas Davenport series books. I wasn’t sure if I would like this story, as it felt forced by the publishers and editors – just to get something written for these two authors and characters. I am glad it was a quick read for me, as there was hardly any…

Read more

Lethal Prey (A Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers Novel, #35) – by John Sandford

Posted on 09/03/202509/03/2025 by Mark

I was a little bit sad that this is the last book in the Lucas Davenport series, but am also glad at the same time that I can start the Kidd series and Virgil Flowers series by Sandford. I have already read all the Letty Davenport books by Sandford. I will definitely be in line…

Read more

Ain’t Nobody’s Fool: The Life and Times of Dolly Parton – by Martha Ackmann

Posted on 09/01/202509/01/2025 by Mark

I got this book from Netgalley so I can read and review it before it’s published. I just happen to stumble on this book while I was browsing on Netgalley, and I was interested. I mean, I knew a little about her and wanted to learn more. I am not a fan of her music,…

Read more

Nerf Gun: a “Real Story” by Niko

Posted on 08/31/202509/22/2025 by Mark

Niko’s Story On Thursday, I was looking for water guns on Amazon, and none of them appealed to me. Then I went down the Amazon slide and looked at nerf dart guns. I saw one I wanted, and my parents reluctantly said yes. It was not a nerf brand – it was an X-Shot Insanity…

Read more

Rating My Exercise and Diet

Posted on 08/24/202508/30/2025 by Mark

On December 5, 2024, I had a heart attack. I didn’t post about it. No announcement, no press release. I kept it to myself—just my family, Nina’s family, and my boss at work. I wasn’t looking for sympathy or the usual “I’m sorry”. I told the world I had emergency surgery (that was the truth),…

Read more

Lin-Manuel Miranda: The Education of an Artist – by Daniel Pollack-Pelzner

Posted on 08/22/202508/22/2025 by Mark

I got this one from Netgalley, so I can read and review it before it’s published. I was interested in his background and how he got started, and was satisfied with that aspect. I loved reading about his passion for music, especially hip-hop and how rapping put him on the map to succeed, and succeed…

Read more

Ocean Prey (Lucas Davenport, #31) – by John Sandford

Posted on 08/19/202508/19/2025 by Mark

Have you ever read a book, and everything is flowing perfectly and then you turn the page, and boom, a main character gets killed? That happened to me in this book, and I won’t spoil it and tell you who it was, but I will tell you, I was very shocked and perplexed by it…

Read more

Niko Gets An Upgrade

Posted on 08/17/202508/17/2025 by Mark

On Friday, and on our way to Best Buy to get his new iPad, Niko told me he needed an upgrade for a long time, but didn’t ask until last Friday – he thought I would say no. We ended up trading in my iPad Air 5th generation (M1) 256 GB for a new iPad…

Read more

iPad. iPad. iPad.

Posted on 08/10/202508/23/2025 by Mark

On Friday afternoon, Niko asked me if he could have a new iPad. I didn’t say no, but I also didn’t say yes – I said maybe. Now I will be talking about my iPad because, for the past few weeks, I have actually been thinking about trading in my iPad. I only use my…

Read more

The Investigator (Letty Davenport, #1) – by John Sandford

Posted on 08/05/202508/05/2025 by Mark

I’ve been reading the Prey series with Lucas Davenport as the main character by John Sandford. I wasn’t planning to read this one yet—I wanted to finish the Prey books first—but I spotted it, along with The Dark Angel (Letty Davenport #2), at the library and couldn’t resist checking them both out. They also had some of the later Prey books, which I…

Read more

Television

Posted on 08/03/202510/09/2025 by Mark

Before Niko was born in 2016, television was my best friend. I got my first television in 1990, a classic Sony tube television. Up until 2010 when I got married, I always had one in the bedroom. I watched a lot of great stuff. After Niko arrived, though, TV got flushed down the toilet—rarely watched,…

Read more

Buried Prey (Lucas Davenport, #21) – by John Sandford

Posted on 07/28/202507/28/2025 by Mark

In the present time, the bodies of two young girls are found. Lucas was one of the police officers on the original case, and through flashbacks, the story shines a light on what went down back then. Lucas was a relatively new police officer and was working hard to get noticed by his superiors. Also,…

Read more

The Walking Dad

Posted on 07/27/202507/27/2025 by Mark

This is probably the most emotional blog I have ever written, and I have gone back and forth on whether or not to share it. Even had I said nope, I still would’ve kept it in draft status as a gentle reminder so I can remember what went down. I have an entry for my…

Read more

The Hamptons Lawyer (Jane Smith, #3) – by James Patterson and Mike Lupica

Posted on 07/25/202507/25/2025 by Mark

Ok, so this 3rd book in the Jane Smith series wasn’t as good I expected. And, it got confusing for me as you had to have read the first two books in order to understand the characters. I just wish new characters and circumstance would’ve been introduced. Maybe they are planning on that for the…

Read more

15 Years of Writing

Posted on 07/20/202507/20/2025 by Mark

Fifteen years ago—on July 17, 2011—I launched my very first blog post. At the time, my life revolved around Texas high school football, as I was working as a statistician for the Texas Sports Radio Network (1997–2014) and Thursday Night Lights (2009–2015). I even had a brief but cool stint with UTSA Football in 2012. TSRN broadcasted…

Read more

Broken Prey (Lucas Davenport, #16) – by John Sandford

Posted on 07/14/202507/14/2025 by Mark

In this one, a new character, Virgil Flowers, is introduced. Often referred to as “that fucking Flowers” by Rose Marie and Davenport, I am excited to read his books when I complete all the Prey books.

Read more

Niko Eats

Posted on 07/13/202502/05/2026 by Mark

On Sunday June 29th, the three of us went to a Potato Pancake Breakfast at a local festival. When I showed Niko the menu the day before, he was excited for it. It was nothing fancy, just regular or potato pancakes, scrambled eggs, sausage, and either apple juice, orange juice, or coffee. Later on that…

Read more

Posts pagination

  • Previous
  • 1
  • …
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • …
  • 69
  • Next

Hi, I am Mark. I started writing in 2011 about high school football, daddy blogging since 2015, and reviewing books since 2023. My writing style is unique, my sense of humor is a little crazy, and I’m not embarrassed to share any of it. You can email me at thedadspeaks@icloud.com.

Book Reviews (289) High School Football (302) The Dad Speaks (639)

Currently Reading

Currently not reading anything

© 2011 to 2026 Mark Lieberman/The Dad Speaks. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.

© 2026 The Dad Speaks | Powered by Superbs Personal Blog theme