20 Books This Year Project: #14, "Role Models" by John Waters

Yes, John Waters' idea of a role model might be different than the ones you might have. If members of the Manson Family, outsider porn directors, lesbian strippers anti-establishment designers and (gasp) Little Richard are up your alley, though, this is the book. At times sentimental, sometimes gross, I guess that makes it exactly like a John Waters movie. Come to think of it, if anyone should partner up with Frank Belmondo and his Sands and Hands restaurant, it might be him. Grade: B (of course)

20 Books This Year Project: #13, "Those Guys Have All the Fun: Inside the World of ESPN" by James Andrew Miller and Tom Shales

I like to see how things are created, and you definitely get the beginning-to-current story of how ESPN was built from a patch of mud to the global titan it is today. You also get the idea that Chris Berman is incredibly full of himself, that Keith Olbermann is painfully complicated and tortured (and, thus, very difficult), and you get that there isn't much more to do in Bristol, Connecticut than have affairs. An entertaining, overly long (745 pages) book that has its moments. Grade: B