For those of you keeping track, August was when things started Going West again. Only 22 books read this month, but this was largely due to some of them being on the enormous side (for example, the two New Yorker compilations, to say nothing of the Lewisohn book about the Beatles... hundreds upon hundreds of pages, and it stops in 1962?). As always, the asterisk means a re-read. Only one of those this month, so yay for me?
The Victorian Internet by Tom Standage. The story of the telegraph. Peculiar that such a 19th-century story should be affected by the time-lapse between its writing and the present, but the word “Internet” in the title explains all. (1 August)
A History of France by John Julius Norwich. JJN was the son of Lord Duff and Lady Diana Cooper, and this reads exactly the way I’d expect knowing this parentage. It’s informed, gossipy, quite entertaining and very informative for all its relative brevity. (2 August)
The Best of the Rejection Collection edited by Matthew Diffee. A bunch of cartoons not accepted by The New Yorker, as submitted by otherwise successful cartoonists. In most cases it was obvious why they’d been rejected. The worst of the book, though, was the idiot question-answer routine that prefaced every cartoonist’s contribution. I skipped most of these once I figured out what was going on. (2 August)
Mad Women by Jane Maas. Amusing memoir of an advertising woman who started out in the mid-60s. (Wonder if she’s any relation to Don the agent?) Some of it quite entertaining, the latter chapters perhaps not so much. (3 August)
The Silk Roads: Peoples, Cultures, Landscapes ed. by Susan Whitfield. Massive (450+ pp) but hugely informative book, with lotsa pix and good captions. (4 August)
Silk, Slaves, and Stupas: Material Culture of the Silk Road by Susan Whitfield. Agonizingly academic and so a tough slog. Took me three nights to get through this. (5 August)
Conversations with the Great Moviemakers of Hollywood’s Golden Age at the American Film Institute by (ed?) George Stevens, Jr. Amazingly long, with nuggets of information buried amidst mounds of self-serving blather. Not sure why I stuck with it. As it was, I mostly skimmed the last three chapters. (7 August)
Silk Road: A New History by Valerie Hansen. Focusing on geography and location, at least as the starting point of the history. I might have overdosed on silk roads history by this point. (9 August)
Pictures at a Revolution: Five Movies and the Birth of the New Hollywood by Mark Harris. I love this guy’s writings about movies. This one’s the story of the five Best Picture nominees at the 1967 Oscars. Well-written and informative. (9 August)
Toy Time! by Christopher Byrne. Another of those listicle-type books. Some of the articles (about toys I actually played with) were interesting, or at least potentially so. I would have liked more detail about these items―and less about My Little Pony or Teddy fucking Ruxpin. (10 August)
The Beatles: All These Years: Tune In by Mark Lewisohn. About 1,000 pages, and that just gets the guys into their early 20s. Exhaustively researched but a smooth, easy read. Had to borrow it from the library twice in order to finish it. (13 August)
The Regency Underworld by Donald A. Low. Not long (180+ pp) and not as detailed as I’d hoped. Some interesting bits but no real through-line to it. (14 August)
The 60s: Story of a Decade by The New Yorker. Some famous journalism (Arendt, Baldwin, Capote, Carson) and historical moments (assassinations, Woodstock) as seen at the time. Not always wise but definitely interesting. The short stories were a pleasant surprise. Another 700-page monster. (17 August)
The Orphans of Raspay by Lois McMaster Bujold. Latest Penric novella. On the lightweight side, I’m afraid; she almost seems to be coasting. Of course, Lois is nearly 71; she could be excused for being a bit tired. (18 August)
The Flowers of Vashnoi by Lois McMaster Bujold. A Vorkosigan story, only half the length of Orphans. POV is Ekaterin, not Miles. (19 August)
The 50s: Story of a Decade by The New Yorker. Maybe not as engrossing as the ‘60s volume. But hey, that’s the 1950s for you. The piece about teenage gangs was fascinating, in a sad sort of way. (20 August)
Angel of the Crows by Katherine Addison. Sherlock Holmes as an angel? Fanfic? Well, it was a smooth and quick read. (22 August)
*The Last Hot Time by John M. Ford. My favourite of his, by far. Every time I read it I discover something new. (24 August)
Fanny in France by Alice Waters & others. Turned out to be a YA food- and cookbook. Some basic French recipes, but not hugely interesting. (26 August)
Travels With Alice by Calvin Trillin. Not as much Alice as I’d expected, in fact (Abigail and Sarah get more space). Wonderful anyway. And ch. 8 features many of the people mentioned in the Waters book. (27 August)
Wanderlust by Rebecca Solnit. A supposed history of walking. About 30% informative by volume, and maybe 30% entertaining. Seems a bit of a stretch to include garden design and mountaineering and revolutions in this history… (28 August)
The Decadent Society by Ross Douthat. Hardly worth the wait, but I wasn’t really expecting it to be. In some respects even worse than I’d anticipated, and not at all comparable to Robert M. Adams. (30 August)
2 comments:
I loved The Beatles: All These Years and am eagerly awaiting the next volume, if he ever finishes it. I would have liked to read the extended edition, which adds about 800 pages to the book, but it wasn't available as an ebook (which is the only way I can read these days).
In theory Lewisohn is promising volume 2 for 2023, but that deadline has already shifted several times, so I'm not holding my breath. I'm not sure I'd have wanted to attempt the extended edition; the version I read was already stupid dense with material.
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