Review by J3nni315 -- Burn Zones by Jorge P. Newbery

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J3nni315
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Latest Review: Burn Zones by Jorge P. Newbery

Review by J3nni315 -- Burn Zones by Jorge P. Newbery

Post by J3nni315 »

[Following is a volunteer review of "Burn Zones" by Jorge P. Newbery.]
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3 out of 4 stars
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As the son of a British actress and Hispanic architect for IBM, Jorge P. Newbery first started working at the age of seven. The LA native didn't have to work, but Newbery was determined to be successful from a young age. From his own paper route to the CEO of American Homeowner Preservation (APO), Newbery pulled himself out of a $26 million debt.

Can you ever imagine being in the hole $26 million? That is where Newbery found himself after a natural disaster damaged hundreds of apartment units that he owned in Columbus, Ohio. The Christmas Eve ice storm knocked out power, broken tree limbs damaged roofs, and 900 units were left without heat in 0-degree temperatures. Without help from the city, the apartment complex, Woodland Meadows, would drain Newbery's money reserves. How does he dig himself out? You will have to read Burn Zones to find out.

I would classify this book as a biography, with business elements. For most of the book, I had no idea what the author was talking about. Since I am not a business-savvy person, I was utterly lost, and I had to Google a lot of terms and concepts. In the end, I learned a lot about mortgages and loans, but I found this process to be tedious towards the end of the book.

Newbery's writing style was very straightforward. The only problem I had was the amount of vocabulary and concepts I needed to research on my own. There was one analogy that he made to explain his business, APO, and I found that to be extremely helpful. He only did it once; that was my issue. If Newbery made these examples throughout the book, I would have spent less time researching and more time reading.

The organization was effortless to follow. Newbery starts with his first job and progresses chronologically through his life.

My favorite part was reading about the author's "burn zones," or a particularly tough time in a persons' life. The term comes from the author's competitive cycling days. A burn zone is the part of the race that is most challenging for the athlete. Your legs are burning, and you are exhausted, but you got to finish the race. I loved the way he used the term throughout the book, without overusing it.

I have a few more problems with this book. There were a few sections that were off-topic and did not connect to the overall tone. Some sections were politically charged, and I did not enjoy them at all. In fact, these rants made me feel uncomfortable.

This book was professionally edited. I only found two minor errors that did not take away from my reading experience. There were some formatting issues where some of the titles were on the bottom of the previous page. I found this to be a tad bit distracting. There is profane language in this book, so I would advise younger readers to stay away. Since I did not know what the author was talking about, and he became off-topic, I award Burn Zones: Playing Life's Bad Hands 3 out of 4 stars. I would recommend this book to people that enjoy business biographies.

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Burn Zones
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