Skip to main content

My Back Pages - November


I read five books last month bringing my year to date total to 61, well past the 50 I estimated at the beginning of the year. And I've yet to get through December.

The month started out with The Nix, the debut novel by Nathan Hill which has been receiving a lot off positive reviews. In it Hill flips back and fourth from the 1968 Chicago protests and 2011 in a desperate search for the truth behind why his mother abandoned him at an early age. In between Hill takes on politics, the media and addiction as well as other aspects of society. It's a well-spun tale and I quite enjoyed reading it.

Next up was the auto-biographical I Am Brian Wilson of Beach Boys fame. This was somewhat of a scattered affair but an interesting read nonetheless. Wilson - or his ghostwriter - however is no Hemingway.

Then it was on to one of my favourite authors, Ian Rankin and his latest tale of now retired Inspector John Rebus, Rather Be The Devil. I never tire of these stories and this is the 21st in the series. I hope there will be more.

I'd never heard of Tana French but I'd seen her The Trespasser here and there and read some positive reviews. This apparently is the sixth in her series of thrillers about the the Dublin murder squad. I was riveted. I'll have to investigate here previous novels in the series.

I closed out the month with The Sun and The Moon and The Rolling Stones by Rich Cohen. I know. Just what we need. Another book about the Rolling Stones. But Cohen, who toured with the Stones, worked on the screenplay for the HBO series Vinyl with Jagger and Scorsese brings and interesting perspective to a well-worn tale. I enjoyed reading this.

So here's how I rated my November reads:

The Nix - Nathan Hill ****
I Am Brian Wilson - Brian Wilson ***
Rather Be The Devil - Ian Rankin *****
The Trespasser - Tana French ****
The Sun and The Moon and The Rolling Stones - Rich Cohen ****

Let me know what you've been turning the pages of. I'm always on the lookout for something new and Different. Happy reading.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

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!  You know what happens on Imagination D
41 comments
Read more

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
Post a Comment
Read more

30 Days of Photos III #4 Sour

Check out Ziva's Inferno for the rest of today's photos.
53 comments
Read more