Amazon Pick of the Week: The Process Is The Product

Former Iowa State and pro basketball player, Paul Shirley with a new book.

Here's the lesson Paul Shirley has learned: it doesn’t matter if it’s professional sports, writing, public speaking, engineering, or acting—there will never be enough money, fame, or success to justify all the work if you can’t enjoy the work itself. You have to fall in love with the process.

In The Process Is The Product, Paul shares the stories of failure and rebirth that have taught him this lesson with one goal in mind: helping you fall in love with your process so you can find meaning, finish projects, and accomplish the goals you set for yourself.

Featuring plenty of humor, humility, and outside sources, this is a book designed to equip readers with the tools to break big projects into smaller tasks while learning to love the work along the way.


Paul Shirley played for 17 professional basketball teams in a nine-year career, including stops in Spain, Greece, Russia, and with three teams in the NBA. He's the author of two works of nonfiction: Can I Keep My Jersey? and Stories I Tell On Dates. Paul is the founder of Writers Blok, a co-writing space in Los Angeles, and The Process, a virtual co-working platform. Ball Boy is his first novel. --This text refers to the paperback edition.

Kindle Free Pick of the Week: Illegal

This week, a dark thriller from Paul Levine.

L.A. defense attorney Jimmy Payne, overwhelmed by guilt and grief at his son’s death, also loses his wife, Sharon, to divorce, and morphs into “Royal” Payne to both cops and judges. It’s just a matter of time before he’s in deep trouble with both. Along with the trouble comes 12-year-old Agustino Perez, an illegal alien who is searching for his mother. Initially, Tino robs Payne, but Payne admires the boy’s toughness and determination and promises to help him find his mother. The trail takes them—dodging cops and assorted bad guys—from L.A. to Mexico and then back into the U.S. to confront a willful agri-tycoon who uses illegal aliens the way most people use Kleenex. Illegal is a riveting read, filled with action, pathos, and even humor. The portrait of the dangers and predations that Latinos face crossing the border is chilling and rings with authenticity. But the book’s best quality is the way Levine invests his characters with believable humanity. A compulsively readable yet character-driven thriller. --Thomas Gaughan