Charlie Daniels (1) (1936–2020)

Overall excellent book with pragmatic comments on a wide array of topics. I gave it three stars for reasons I'll outline at the end, but first the good part. Mr. Daniels' love of country, community and church comes through strong and with passion and eloquence. He does not mince words. This leads me to believe he actually wrote most of it, and this is not the ghost-written pablum of many books. He richly mixes in both hometown and on the road experiences. I wish his views were more widely show more accepted. We'd be a better country if people practiced the kind of civility he advocates.

I gave it three stars because the book seems overly tilted towards Christians. I am Jewish, but otherwise share most of the writer's world view on patriotism and values. I almost felt as if pragmatic and sensible values and approaches were coextensive with being Christian. I wish I felt that his agreement and approval of me would be as strong as my overall approval of him. show less

Never Look at the Empty Seats is Charlie Daniels' excellent autobiography, tracing his long life from his beginnings in a small Southern town where everyone gathered around in a neighbor's living room to catch one and only channel available on the tv to his induction into the Countrt Music Hall of Fame. Along the way, in addition to tracing his musical career and family life, he walks the reader through varied events of the late Twentieth Century from Pearl Harbor to Jim Crow to the Vietnam show more War.

What really makes this book sing is Daniels' writing talent. He speaks with an easy voice to listen to and has a real down-to-earth philosophy. Before reading this book, I knew very little of Daniels' life or even his music -other than his awesome hit Devil Went Down to Georgia and his Soapbox commentary on social and political issues, which is so well written that it proves you don't need a college education to be a great thinker.

Nevertheless, I found this book to be, not only well-written, but fascinating on many different levels. It is primarily about the musical career of Daniels. He touches briefly on his faith and on his views of current events.

Now that I have learned all about Daniels' lengthy career, I look forward to actually listening to some of his music.

Than you to Thomas Nelson publishing for this advance copy of the book. show less

I am a long time follower of Mr. Daniels on twitter and have seen his wonderful, pithy, wise thoughts each day. When I saw this book, I knew I had to read it and would love it - and I was right!

The book is a beautiful gift-style book. It's hard cover with a lovely ribbon to hold your place. The paper is really high quality and would make a wonderful gift. However, it's the words inside that are really the best and I love the Scripture that he ties to his thoughts each day.

There are 100 daily show more writings in this book packed with wisdom and delightful stories. I really love how he shared aspects of his life and how he made it through some hard times. Sometimes, we tend to think that celebrities have no problems but they are human just like you and me. He reminds us that God is there for us and gives such encouraging thoughts.

One thing he wrote that really stood out to me was, "If you can't get what you want, take what you can get and make something out of it." This quote was written in correlation with a story of a promoter that said his band would never make it. He said if he had decided to believe that, he may have just given up but he knew his band could make it and decided to use that to propel him forward. I wondered how many times in my life I let others define who I was and gave up? His story was so encouraging to me and it's just one of many that encouraged me and I felt were speaking to me personally.

I absolutely love this book! I have been a Charlie Daniels fan since the 70's and have followed his career ever since. I admire that he lives his life in such a godly way and tries to always do the right thing. This book just totally defines who he is and it's fantastic. It's a book I will read over and over again - especially when I need a little encouragement or kick to the backside! It's a great book for reminding us who we are to God. I highly recommend this book and give it 5 stars!

*This book was provided to me by BookLook Bloggers program. I received a copy of this book to review but I was not financially compensated in any way. The opinions expressed are my own and are based on my observations while reading this book. show less

I loved listening to Charlie read his story. He is relatable, humble, worldly but I feel like I'm listening to one of my Papa's friends, or an Appalachian grandpa tell a story. I have loved Charlie as a person for a long time. I have found his presence on Twitter to be that of a down to earth man who approaches his fan base. He speaks his religion without shame, which I love, and his business views are ones that I feel I can learn from. I've loved his book, and I hope I can learn more about show more him in the future. show less