I have been a long time fan of Craig Morgan's music, so I was drawn to this book to learn more about him personally. This book did not disappoint! His past personal and military experience is so insightful, as it informs his music career.

Sincere thanks to Netgalley and Blackstone publishing for an advanced listener copy in exchange for an honest review.

GOD, FAMILY, COUNTRY
Craig Morgan with Jim Defelice, authors
Craig Morgan, narrator
Memoir

This is book is an eye-opening look into the life of country star Craig Morgan. He is very candid about his life covering the time period from being a solider to an international country music star.

This book, to me, was like taking the diary of Craig Morgan’s life and reading it. He is very honest and open about all the ups and downs of stardom. I give this audiobook a solid 5 out 5 stars.

I enjoyed listening to this book on the life and times of Craig Morgan. It gives you insight into southern life, the country music industry and a very patriotic man. Definitely recommend.

God, Family, Country is an insightful, interesting and intimate look at portions of Craig Morgan's life. I have an added respect for him after reading it.

I have seen Craig Morgan in concert and am a fan of his music so I was definitely interested in this book. I love that he is the narrator, it makes it all the more personal. I also loved the snippets of his songs bookending the chapters. Very nice touch.

I'd highly recommend it to any country music/Craig Morgan fan.

I received a free copy of this audiobook via Netgalley and am voluntarily leaving a review. All opinions are my own.

✨Audiobook Review✨

God, Family, Country
Craig Morgan
Pub Date: Sept. 27th- Out Now!

🤠Blurb:
Country music icon, army veteran, father, outdoorsman—Craig Morgan shares all aspects of his life, revealing stories even his most avid fans don’t know.

💭Thoughts:
I really enjoy this audiobook. Craig Morgan narrates it himself, which is always my favorite. I’ve seen Craig in concert several times and enjoy his music. I think that helped me enjoy the audiobook more than if I wasn’t familiar with him. He comes across as a genuinely kind person who fiercely loves his family, his God, and his country. I learned a lot about his military career that I’d never heard about before.

Some of the stories are a bit disjointed and don’t flow well, but I think that’s common in the memoirs of musicians I’ve read in the past.

The most powerful story he told was about the loss of one his children. He wrote a song related to the loss and wow, it had me sobbing. I just can’t imagine that pain.

Overall, I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys memoirs, country music, and/or Craig Morgan.

“Country music icon, army veteran, father, outdoorsman—Craig Morgan shares all aspects of his life, revealing stories even his most avid fans don’t know.

In 1989, as US news outlets declared an end to Operation Just Cause, Craig Morgan was part of an elite group of military operatives jumping into the jungle along the Panamanian border on a covert operation. Fans know the country music star from his hit songs and acclaimed albums, but there’s a lot more to him—a soldier who worked with the CIA in Panama, an undercover agent who fought sex traffickers in Thailand, and a dedicated family man who lives the values he sings.

Craig details these many facets of his life and more in God, Family, Country. An on-stage appearance with his father’s band at age ten may have planted the seeds for life as a country star, but first he trained as a paratrooper in the army. After earning numerous distinctions, his path to sergeant major was all but assured. Then came a momentous decision: he left the active military to pursue music.”

I had no point of reference for Craig Morgan, country music, the US military, or any of 100 other touch points presented in this book. That doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy the ride.

The whole book is a (mildly disjointed) collection of anecdotes of Craig’s life, from boyhood to present day, though definitely not in that order. Some of the stories are funny. Some hopeful. Some gritty and raw.

Just like country music, I suppose.

My favourite part of the audiobook (besides having the author narrate, which is always such a gift) are the snippets of his songs at the beginnings and ends of chapters.

7/10

Thanks to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for this personable ARC.

The following published reviews will appear in several N. Alabama papers and the mountains of North Carolina on Sept. 27. Although the rating tool seems inoperative, I gave each title 5 stars.

Recommended for reading: ‘The Little Book of Joy,’ ‘While Nortre Dame Burned’ and ‘God, Family, Country'

By Tom Mayer
tmayer@cullmantimes.com

Theologians have long noted the spiritual difference between happiness and joy — happiness tends to be achieved externally while joy is achieved internally — so it’s not surprising that His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu shied away from one and centered on the other in their only collaborative book for children.
‘The Little Book of Joy’ (Crown Books for Young Readers) is a touching, introspective picture book written for ages 3-7 — although mom and dad will enjoy it, too.


A simple story, the authors’ large format book tells the tale — through succinct words by the authors and expansive illustrations by Rafael Lopez — of two children from vastly different backgrounds.

“One of us grew up in a house,” begins a child playing outside of a modest home in a small village, and “one of us grew up in a big house,” says a young boy, pushing about his wooden train in a palace atop a mountain — “on opposite sides of the world.”

Because we are more alike than different, each child is lonely and sad and wishes for a friend. Yet, through careful observation and experiences of the world around them, they manage to fill that lonely sadness with joy — even when it seems elusive: “Even if you slam the door and your joy can’t get in, it’s just on the other side waiting in a loving hug.”

Sharing such sentiments, the authors are uniquely suited to their task.


As the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people, the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, travels throughout the world promoting compassion and interfaith understanding. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 and the U.S. Congressional Gold Medal in 2007. 


Tutu, archbishop emeritus of Southern Africa, was similarly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, in 1984, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009. He died in December 2021.


Lopez splits his time between San Diego and San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, and his drawings reflect that heritage. His artfully uncomplicated, colorful and flowing drawings complement the universal message.
The combination of all three makes this storybook one for all ages to treasure.


Barbara Benson is a gifted educator, and she has much to teach us in her memoir, “While Notre Dame Burned.”

With her beloved husband dying in a hospital room, Nortre Dame was aflame — “the two disasters, international and personal, would forever be linked for me,” Benson writes of the April 2019 events, on which she later elaborates — and in this touching, brutally honest narrative, we become linked, too.

From their early travels moving on faith and little more from Massachusetts to the mountains of North Carolina, Benson layers the journey with stories of family, friends, nature and the soul-crushing weight of the world, writing for her “readers to know that the path forward is painful and crooked, doubling back on itself at times.”
Leaving out little — Benson captures and releases her anger in these pages as well as her love and devotion — this memoir offers comfort, albeit solace that is sometimes cold because that is the way the world can be.
Those looking for such comfort, or simply a truth-telling tale, will welcome the chronicle and poetic digressions in the recounting of a life well-lived — and unexpectedly lost.

Though meticulously written and noted — Benson taught high school English in Boone, N.C., for much of two decades before sharing her talents at Appalachian State University — “While Notre Dame Burned: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Learning to Live Alone” is no pedantic account.

It is what it purports, a shrine built for her husband and all those who have lost a best friend — and a lesson in living with and beyond grief.


Few men have lived a life as interesting and diverse as Craig Morgan — a country superstar you’re as likely to meet in a local Walmart as you are on the stage of the Grand Old Opry — and while it took him 58 years, he finally got around to sharing it with us through more than a song.


”God, Family, Country” (Blackstone Publishing) is both Morgan’s memoir and a tale of the road less chosen — from his boyhood days and his time as part of an elite group of military operatives, to his marriages, his singing career and the tragic sharing of the death of his 19-year-old son.

With heartfelt ease — really, you’ll feel as if you’re reading in a rocker on the front porch of a childhood summer memory — Morgan gives us a backstage pass to some of his biggest hits, such as “Almost Home” or “That’s what I love about Sunday,” and nearly everything in between.


With a bit of help from Jim Defelice — co-author with former U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle of “American Sniper,” and other titles — Morgan shares his heartwarming childhood growing up with his extensive family in Nashville, his training and travels as a paratrooper, how he joined forces to break up a child sex trafficking ring in Thailand and the decision he had to make between military service and his music.

While we know the outcome of that choice, what we don’t know fills the pages like the grand adventure his life has been — and is becoming. Morgan’s not done — that’s clear by the end of the book — and with his cavernous capacity for the words of this title, we can expect another chapter, if not another book, sometime down the road.


An aside for those looking to take the journey now, though: If you have the means, eschew the e-book and pick up both the audio and print versions of the story. Blackstone Publishing always releases superior print editions, but the audio book is in Morgan’s own voice, adding a deeper dimension — and not to mention a song or two — to the story of his life.

God, Family, Country
by: Craig Morgan and Jim DeFelice
Blackstone Publishing - Audiobooks
release date: 9/27/2022
genre: Biographies & Memoirs, Nonfiction (Adult)

Full of personal stories about his family, military service, and musical career, Craig Morgan's memoir is authentic and very enjoyable. Listening to Morgan narrate his story on audiobook makes it an even more personalized and intimate look at his interesting life.

As a music lover of many genres, including country, I often read memoirs of musicians to learn the stories behind the stages and songs. I like Morgan's meaningful and down to earth songs about real life, and love his performance of That's What I Love About Sunday.

The book is surprisingly fascinating, with a completely compelling and relatable writing style by the team of Morgan and DeFelice. Morgan takes readers through the exuberant highs and heartbreaking lows of his life. He goes deep into his roots in Nashville, Tennessee and his service in the Army around the world. The well-paced story is also one of falling in love, marriage, and building a family. He shares his faith, hobbies of hunting, fishing, and motorcycle riding, as well as an exciting transition to a country music career. The glimpse into his writing of one particular song brought me to tears. All of these components add up to a riveting audiobook memoir!

Thank you to Net Galley and Blackstone Publishing - Audiobooks for the advance copy and opportunity to provide my unbiased review.

I received a copy of this audiobook for free from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review and I loved it so much. First of all, I want to start off by saying I was already a huge fan of Craig Morgan, but after listening to his book, it really sealed the deal for me. He is such a humble and genuine guy and I felt like as I was listening to his book, it was as if we were having a conversation with one another. I could literally listen to him all day. Craig has lived an incredible life, including some very hard times, and I love that he allowed his fans a deeper insight to it all. the courage and strength he possesses after all he has endured is truly inspiring. I highly recommend this book and definitely listen to the audio version....I love his voice!

Thank you to Blackstone Publishing - Audiobooks and to NetGalley for an ARC of this audiobook.

I am a country music fan, so I know some of Craig Morgan's music. I was intrigued to learn more about him, so I thought I would give this book a try. I really enjoyed this one. He talks about his family, his military career and the loss of his son. It was a really honest book, and I enjoyed every minute of it. I really liked that he read his own story too.

I would recommend this book to Craig Morgan fans as well as country music fans.