Skip to main content

My Back Pages - October



Well, folks, I read seven (count 'em) seven books in October. One I didn't finish but even at that I hit the magic number 50 I estimated for myself by the end of the year. The six books I successfully waded through were, firstly, What Happened, Hillary Clinton's book on her bid for the Presidency. I''m a bit of a political junkie so I get off on this stuff but still it kinda struck me as one long whine over losing.

Next up was the excellent Canyon of Dreams: The Magic and Music of Laurel Canyon. Laurel Canyon was the fabled area outside of Los Angeles where many musicians and artists lived. Known as a 60s enclave, the book takes a look at just who lived there over the last 80 years. A fascinating read.

Next up was Lightfoot, a biography of Canadian folk singer Gordon Lightfoot. He may have been responsible for some iconic folk songs but he was also quite the womanizer and boozer. Enough said.

Then I read Dan Brown's new tome Origin, the fifth in the Robert Langdon series. Not as good as some of his previous work but an interesting tale that weaves the subject matter of creation versus evolution. Just the subject matter for an atheist like me.

Then I read a decent mystery by Iris Johansen called the Ugly Duckling before closing out the month with the tenth Nero Wolfe novel (actually 2 novellas) called Not Quite Dead Enough.

I'll be reading at less of a break-neck pace the rest of the year having reached my anticipated 50 books this month.

What are you reading?




Comments

I'm back to reading the Nero Wolfe stories too. I just can't seem to to get into other mysteries right now. I want to, but they just don't work for me. Congratulations on reaching your goal. I'm at 40 for the year myself.

Popular posts from this blog

30 Days of Photos III #4 Sour

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

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...

30 Days of Writing - Day #1 - Cheese

Well, here we go again folks. As if it weren't enough that I knocked myself out in April participating in 30 Days of Photos, now dear Nicky and Mike over at We Work For Cheese have corralled a bunch of us suckers into a 30 Days of Writing exercise. Yeah, I know. I must have stupid written backwards on my forehead. I don't know how they figured it out. They would have had to look in my mirror to realize it. Anyhoo, the first day's theme is - surprise, surprise - cheese.  And here are the internet imbeciles Nicky and Mike managed to sucker into to this little exercise:  Well, first off there's me! Once you've read my post you can visit:  Mike and Nicky ,   Cheryl ,   If I Were God ,   Katherine ,   Laughing Mom ,   Linda M ,   Malisa ,   MikeWJ ,   Sandra , Leeuna  and Still Unfinished . Okay, who cut the cheese? Well growing up in my house it was usually my mother. She prepared and served the food and the knife ...