An excellent book about animal behavior. This isn’t simple stuff like cats not using their litterbox or dogs jumping up on counters. The book addresses true mental disturbances in a variety of animals, and it’s pretty fascinating. The author sucks you into the book with the tale of her rescue dog, a Bernese Mountain Dog that had such severe separation…
A really great debut novel by Ling Ma. It’s a post-apocalyptic zombie novel about a millennial workaholic, Candace Chen, who works for a book publisher in Manhattan. When Shen Fever (a fatal plague that causes people to become non-violent zombie versions of themselves) begins spreading throughout the world, Candace, one of the fortunate few who manages to not become infected,…
I’ve been a Sex Pistols and a Public Image LTD fan from day one. I read Lydon’s first two books. This book is a limited edition (only 10,000 copies printed), autographed, individually numbered, in a clamshell box. The paper quality and graphic design are great. The content… that’s another story. The book is a random collection of Lydon’s thoughts and…
A simple, emotional tale, both heartbreaking and hopeful, about finding love late in life. Addie Moore and Louis Waters are neighbors in the small town of Holt, Colorado. She’s a widow; he’s a widower, both in their 70s. They live alone, in their respective houses. One day, Addie knocks on Louis’s door and asks him if he might consider coming…
In this (very) unique book, we follow Patti’s year of wandering in the year of the monkey, according to the Chinese zodiac. It’s part memoir (as she talks of concerts, museum visits, politics, the hospitalization and subsequent death of her friend Sandy Pearlman), part fiction (conversations with hotel signs), and I dunno… part fever dream? If you’re looking for any…
Recently I acquired The Criterion Collection version of Robert Altman’s film, Short Cuts. The film is inspired by a collection of nine short stories and a poem by Raymond Carver, and the boxed set includes the book. I’ve wanted to read Carver for a while, and I’m glad I finally did. These stories, of ordinary people, were dark and quirky.…
A Very Punchable Face, by Colin Jost. This is a really funny memoir by Saturday Night Live comedy writer and Weekend Update host Colin Jost. It’s filled with hilarious, self-deprecating stories from his childhood as well as his life as a stand-up comic and SNL cast member. The stories in the book are really, really funny. Laugh-out-loud funny. There’s a…
I’ve read all of Malcolm Gladwell’s previous books – Blink, The Tipping Point, Outliers, What the Dog Saw – and like millions of readers, I enjoyed them. He’s an excellent writer who really knows how to tell a story and capture your attention. Of all of his books, however, I liked this one the least. The enjoyment from some parts…
After my recent safari to the Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania where I saw many elephants, my fascination with them was rekindled, and I thought I’d read a book about them. Unfortunately, I found this book a little disappointing. I was hoping for a more scientific book, with a lot of detail about their biology and their social structure. This book…
A long, very well-researched book that covers the band, from the early days in their respective former groups (Buffalo Springfield, the Byrds, the Hollies) the group’s initial formation, the countless breakups and reformations, and their solo careers. The book gives great insight into the personal dynamics between the band members: the constant ego clashes (mostly due to Stills’s enormous ego),…
I picked this book up in a thrift store for $3, which is surprising since the book was published relatively recently (2019). I still feel like a novice, so the first few chapters – about aperture, shutter speed, focal length, exposure, focusing, and composition – were a helpful review, although the presentation was a little dull. The last few chapters,…
The 33 1/3 series of books are a collection of pocket-sized books that mostly provide a highly detailed analysis of one particular album by a group. Most of the books are short, around 150 pages or so. This book was quite a bit thicker than most, around 225 pages. I wish it was 500 pages, because I couldn’t get enough…
Two years ago, the New York Public Library put together this anthology of articles from their archives to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising. The book is broken into three sections: before Stonewall, the Stonewall uprising, and post-Stonewall. The articles consist of all types of writing, from historical accounts to personal diaries to poems and short stories. I…
This book takes you on a tour through fun, happening gay communities where you’d be least likely to expect them: in America’s red states. The author used to be a male Mormon missionary. Now, she’s a woman, married to another woman. As she takes us across the country, we meet some pretty amazing people – activists who are fighting for…
This book has been sitting in my bookcase for years. I certainly understand why it’s a touchstone for so many people. Reading her life story, you really feel and understand the struggles she faced in the Jim Crow south. What starts out as a seemingly happy childhood turns pretty tragic, as she faces constant racism, poverty (at one point living…