Category Archives: Reading

What Are You Reading in February?

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What is on your end-of-winter book list? I’m finishing up preliminary work for my novella; as a result, I haven’t been able to devote too much time to reading. Here’s where I’m at this month…

Since 1st February, I’ve finished:

  • Under the Big Black Sun: A Personal History of L.A. Punk by John Doe with Tom DeSavia and Friends (Foreword by Billie Joe Armstrong)

I’m Currently Reading:

  • Treat Me Like Dirt: An Oral History of Punk in Toronto and Beyond 1977-1981 by Liz Worth
  • Hotel Florida: Truth, Love, and Death in the Spanish Civil War by Amanda Vaill
  • The Last Love Song: A Biography of Joan Didion by Tracy Daugherty
  • Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life by William Finnegan

Which book on your list do you most look forward to reading, and why?

Please share with me in the comments!

What Are You Reading in January?

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What is on your book list, as the new year begins? Are you binge-reading your way into 2017, or taking a break from a well-read 2016? I’m off to a slow start, mostly because I am writing a novella of my own. Here’s where I’m at so far…

Since 1st January, I’ve finished:

  • Beautiful Boredom: Idleness and Feminine Self-Realization in the Victorian Novel by Lee Anna Maynard
  • Everybody Behaves Badly: The True Story Behind Hemingway’s Masterpiece The Sun Also Rises by Lesley M. M. Blume
Hemingway and Friends

Hemingway and Friends

Ernest Hemingway, with Harold Loeb, Lady Duff Twysden, Hadley Richardson (Hemingway), Donald Ogden Stewart, and Pat Guthrie

I’m currently reading:

  • Trotsky: Downfall of a Revolutionary by Bertrand M. Patenaude
  • The Electrifying Fall of Rainbow City: Spectacle and Assassination at the 1901 World’s Fair by Margaret Creighton

To be read by 31 January:

  • Across an Untried Sea: Discovering Lives Hidden in the Shadow of Convention and Time by Julia Markus

Which book on your list do you most look forward to reading, and why?

Please share with me in the comments!

I Read a Lot of Books in 2016, But Still Didn’t Reach My Goal…

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I read 82 books in 2016, but fell 28 short of my (rather ambitious) goal of 110. My year was way too busy to read as much as I would have liked. I finished the majority of the books during the first half of the year, as life obligations slowed my pace after summer. On the bright side, 2017 will get off to a good start reading-wise, as I am close to finishing half a dozen books.

Here’s a list of every book that I finished in 2016, with some very loose ratings.

KEY:

*=Read as research for my novella

**=This designation means that I liked the book in spite of myself, but as such find it too hard to assign a fair grade

1=You are my enemy

2=We’ll stay acquaintances, thanks

3=I like you, but I don’t like you like you

4=You are my friend, but not my best friend

5=You are my love match, but don’t expect fidelity Continue reading →

What Are You Reading in December?

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What is on your reading list, as the days become darker and shorter? Do your habits change as the weather turns cold? I’ve been way too busy this month to do much reading, and I’m not going to be able to slow down between now and the new year.

Since 1st December, I’ve finished:

  • Labor and Freedom by Eugene V. Debs
Eugene V. Debs, 1897

Eugene V. Debs, 1897

I’m currently reading:

  •  e. e. cummings: A Life by Susan Cheever
  • Anarchism and Other Essays by Emma Goldman
  • Beautiful Boredom: Idleness and Feminine Self-Realization in the Victorian Novel by Lee Anna Maynard

Which book on your list do you most look forward to reading, and why?

Please share with me in the comments!

What Are You Reading in November?

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What is on your reading list, as the days become darker and shorter? Do your habits change as the weather turns cold?

I’ve been much too busy by half to read as many books as usual. At this rate, I won’t make my 2016 goal of finishing 110 books.

Since 1st November, I’ve finished:

  • The Only Street in Paris: Life on the Rue des Martyrs by Elaine Sciolino
  • Making Tootsie: A Film Study with Dustin Hoffman and Sydney Pollock by Susan Dworkin
  • Caravaggio: Painter of Miracles by Francine Prose

I’m currently reading:

  • Film Noir FAQ: All That’s Left to Know about Hollywood’s Golden Age of Dames, Detectives, and Danger by David J. Hogan

To be read by 30th November:

  • Hooray for Captain Spaulding: Verbal & Visual Gems From “Animal Crackers” by Richard J. Anobile
The Marx Brothers, 1931

The Marx Brothers, 1931

Which book on your list do you most look forward to reading, and why?

Please share with me in the comments!

What Are You Reading in October?

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I have been too busy to do much reading this month, but, between now and Halloween, I’m going to try my best to make up for lost time.

Since 1st October, I’ve finished:

  • Louisa Catherine: The Other Mrs. Adams by Margery M. Heffron
  • Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf Goodman by Bergdorf Goodman and Sara James Mnookin
Louisa Catherine Adams by Edward Savage, 1794

Louisa Catherine Adams by Edward Savage, 1794

I’m currently reading:

  • Shane by Jack Schaefer
  • Prick Up Your Ears: The Biography of Joe Orton by John Lahr

To be read by 31st October:

  • 100 Million Years of Food: What Our Ancestors Ate and Why it Matters Today by Stephen Le
  • VJ: The Unplugged Adventures of MTV’s First Wave by Nina Blackwood, Mark Goodman, Alan Hunter, and Martha Quinn with Gavin Edwards

Which book on your list do you most look forward to reading, and why?

Please share it with me in the comments.

Happy reading!