My Back Pages - September

The five books I read in September raised my yearly count to 44 books - 6 away from my anticipated 50 books by the end of the year. I'm sure I'll make it.

I started the month out with a new thriller from Michael Connelly called The Late show. It's about a women cop who works the night shift. This is a new character for Connelly who is better known for his Harry Bosch series. Nevertheless this was an enthralling page-turner.

I then picked up Mississippi Blood by Greg Iles. This is the third and final book in the Natchez Burning trilogy. Somewhere along the line I missed one of these but was nevertheless able to follow the overall gripping story about race relations in the south.

I then moved on to the Rules of Civility by Amor Towles a coming-of-age tale about a mid-twenties woman in New York in the late 1930s. Having enjoyed his second book A Gentleman in Moscow I felt I had to go back to his first novel. I wasn't disappointed.

For a change of pace I read Al Franken - Giant of the Senate. Franken's a former comedy writer from Saturday Night Live who decided to go into politics. A left-leaning liberal, and proud of it, he was successfully elected as the Democratic Senator from Minnesota. He's got some wonderful anecdotes from both careers but I found after awhile there was only so much Al Franken I could take. So this was a bit of a meh.

I managed to squeeze in one more book before the month was out, the ninth in a series of Nero Wolfe detective stories Black Orchids, which was actually two stories in one. My intention is to get through the entire Rex Stout canon although it may take me awhile as there are a total of 40 books.

In terms of what I've been watching, Ray Donovan is back and so is Designated Survivor. The Good Doctor is a new show that demonstrates promise.

In terms of music I purchased too much to list here but let me say I really like The War On Drugs new CD and discs from the Secret Sisters and Lilly Hiatt.

That's it for me this month. What about you?

Noname's Books

My Back Pages - November

I know, I know, I know I should have reported in before now. But sometimes real life just gets in the way. I attempted 5 books in November. I say attempted because I slapped a big DNF (did not finish) on Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon. I just can't seem to get into this guy. It's the second or third of his I've given up on, Not so the other four, starting with a biography of Stephen Stills called Change Partners. This followed by a hilarious biography of the guy responsible for National Lampoon called A Stupid and Futile Gesture - How Doug Kenney and National Lampoon Changed Comedy Forever. I ended the month reading yet another biography, this one of the man behind Rolling Stone magazine,. It was called Sticky Fingers: The Life and Times of Jann Wenner and Rolling Stone Magazine. A fascinating read. So last month I hit the magic number 50 I'd imagined for myself back in January. If I roll this month into my yearly total I'm at 54 books. And I still hav...

The Polka Dot Door

A long time ago, when I was 22, my first child was born. That kid grew up on a little Canadian kid's show called Polka Dot Door, produced by the TV Ontario network. And Dad, more often than not, sat through those shows with his little one. Nine or so years later when a brother, and a year after that when a sister came along number one son was moving on to Knight Rider and The Dukes of Hazzard. But there was a nice overlap where his siblings picked up where he had left off with Polka Dot Door. And Dad was right there to welcome them. So you're looking at a Polka Dot Door veteran. The show began in 1971 and ran to 1993. I didn't watch the full run but I did get in my fair share. The formula was pretty simple. A young male and female host, which seemed to change every week, sang songs, told stories, made crafts and generally did their best stimulate little brains. The show opened as follows... Imagination Day! Oh boy! ...

30 Days of Photos III #4 Sour

Check out Ziva's Inferno for the rest of today's photos.

nonamedufus

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