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

Tin City (Mac McKenzie, #2) – by David Housewright

Posted on 01/29/202601/29/2026 by Mark

Of all the books I have read, this is the first where the crime is killing bees, and it leads to the some deaths, bad crimes, FBI, gangs, mafia, lots of bad people, and even a new identity for McKenzie (while he sorts some things out). The person responsible for the bee killing was not…

Read more

A Hard Ticket Home (Mac McKenzie, #1) – by David Housewright

Posted on 01/26/202601/27/2026 by Mark

I like fiction crime police thrillers. I have recently finished reading all of the Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers books by John Sandford (they take place in Minnesota) and all the Elvis Cole ad Joe Pike books by Rober Crais (they take place in Los Angeles). So, I am looking for a new series, and…

Read more

The Dad’s Armoire

Posted on 01/25/202601/27/2026 by Mark

I have had an armoire since 1990 that belonged to my grandfather. I also had a matching a night table for a long time, but I gave it to my brother. That way, we each have a part of our Pop! It’s been through a lot (stuffed with clothes, some time in storage in my…

Read more

Iron Lake (Cork O’Connor, #1) – by William Kent Krueger

Posted on 01/23/202601/27/2026 by Mark

Now that I have finished John Sandford Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers books and Robert Crais’s Elvis Cole and Joe Pike books, I am ready for a new series. Cork C’Connor was recommended in of my Facebook groups. Well, I read it, and found myself a bit confused with all the characters involved and the…

Read more

Suspect – by Robert Crais

Posted on 01/21/202601/21/2026 by Mark

I have now read all of Robert Crais’s books, and I am a bit sad to say goodbye, but am really hoping a new book will be released this year. This one is about Officer Scott James, and his K9 dog named Maggie. One thing I like about Crais’s style of writing is he takes…

Read more

Hostage – the movie

Posted on 01/19/202601/19/2026 by Mark

After I read Hostage by Robert Crais, I watched the movie. Although there were quite a few differences amongst them, I liked Bruce Willis as Jeff Talley (he plays a good cop in movies – Die Hard, as an example), I liked the opening credits scene, and I liked the action and suspense. Overall, I…

Read more

The Two Minute Rule – by Robert Crais

Posted on 01/19/202601/19/2026 by Mark

For this one, I had no clue what it was about as I only wanted to read because it’s by Robert Crais, and I have read all of his other books. So, yeah, I was intrigued when I learned the main character, Max Holman, was a convicted bank robber who was just released from prison….

Read more

Warm Things (that don’t SPONSOR me…yet)

Posted on 01/18/202601/31/2026 by Mark

It’s cold, and snow has been on the ground since Thanksgiving. But, I am very glad that I have warm things, and I don’t have to suffer. It’s not like we don’t use the heat and fireplace, we do, but we don’t maximize them. If I have to go outside to get mail or place…

Read more

Hostage – by Robert Crais

Posted on 01/17/202601/17/2026 by Mark

As I have recently finished reading all the Cole and Pike books by Robert Crais, as well as Demolition Angel by Crais, it was time to tackle his stand-a-lone books. This one is about a former hostage negotiator in L.A who is now the Chief of Police in a small town. A hostage situation comes…

Read more

Voice-A-Versa: Finding My Voice(s)Behind the Mic – by Billy West

Posted on 01/15/202601/15/2026 by Mark

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me this book to read and review before it’s officially published. I knew his voice primarily from the show, Futurerama, so, yeah, when I saw this book, I was intrigued. Billy’s childhood was very rough as he was physically and sexually abused. His dad was a drunk, and the primary…

Read more

The Big Empty (Elvis Cole, #20) – by Robert Crais

Posted on 01/13/202601/13/2026 by Mark

As I have just finished with this one, I am a bit sad it was the last book, But, I am very hopeful that more Cole and Pike books will be available soon (or even Carol Starkey, John Chen, or Jon Stone stand-a-lone books). I really enjoyed all of them, even though, I knew that…

Read more

Ice Day

Posted on 01/11/202601/27/2026 by Mark

Last Tuesday, Niko’s school had a late start in the morning due to ice on the road, and about an hour or so after we got that notification through a text message and an email, they canceled school that day and told us it would be an “E-Learning Day”. I am very glad that here…

Read more

What Happened to Your Hair?: How We Played Loud… Loved Proud… and Never Backed Down… Together – by Matthew and Gunnar Nelson

Posted on 01/07/202601/07/2026 by Mark

Being a fan of Gunnar and Matthew Nelson’s dad, Ricky Nelson (whose parents were Ozzie and Harriet Nelson), I was really intrigued and wanted to learn more about them. I only knew of one song by Nelson and Nelson, (Can’t Live Without Your) Love and Affection. The book is co-authored by both of them and…

Read more

Back To School

Posted on 01/04/202601/04/2026 by Mark

After three weeks off from school (one of which he was sick), Niko goes back to school tomorrow. So, what did he do? Well, me and him went to the indoor pool at the Community Center twice. The second, it was snowing lightly and I was extremely reluctant to go, but Niko told me I…

Read more

Reflections On…Books (book, #5)

Posted on 01/02/202601/02/2026 by Mark

I notice when I am out in the world, most people tend to be doing something on their phones. Me, on the other hand, can be perfectly happy with my phone in my pocket and my Kindle in my hand reading a book. I can easily be distracted by the words on the screen and…

Read more

Happy 2026

Posted on 12/28/202512/28/2025 by Mark

Normally, I reminisce about all the great things that happened during the year from the perspective of being a dad, being a husband, being a full-time employee, being a reader, and being a writer. But, this year, I won’t go on and on and on about it. I will just say, it was a very…

Read more

Author of the Year -2025

Posted on 12/27/202512/27/2025 by Mark

Without a doubt, for me, it’s got to be John Sandford. Of the 151 books I read in 2025, 50 were by John Sandford. He was actually recommended in a Facebook book group I belong to, and when I did my research on him, I learned that his Prey series of book all take place…

Read more

Book of the Year – 2025

Posted on 12/27/202512/27/2025 by Mark

This year, I read a lot of Fiction thrillers; James Patterson’s Michael Bennett and Women’s Murder Club books and John Sandford’s Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers books. It’s not that I didn’t like them, I did and that is why I devoured them. I just couldn’t come to grips and mark any of them as…

Read more

The Forgotten Man (Elvis Cole, #10) – by Robert Crais

Posted on 12/26/202512/26/2025 by Mark

Normally, I don’t review books from a series (only, the first and the last). But, these Cole and Pike books are getting better. Yeah, they are predictable as we know Cole and Pike will figure out who did what to who. But, how they get from point A to point B is very different. I…

Read more

The Last Detective (Elvis Cole, #9) – by Robert Crais

Posted on 12/26/202512/26/2025 by Mark

I stopped reading this a few chapters in as I wanted to read Demolition Angel first as that is about Carol Starkey. In this book, she is helping Cole with a kidnapping as she works at the juvenile desk (prior, she was a bomb squad technician – hence, the title of Demolition Angel). In the…

Read more

Posts pagination

  • Previous
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • …
  • 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