Once again I am behind on these, so let’s get caught up with my last four reads. The Miracle of St. Anthony – Adrian Wojnarowski What a book! Future NBA scoops guru Woj spent the 2004–04 season embedded with the basketball team at St. Anthony High School of Jersey City. The program was famously coached by Bob Hurley for 45 years. For much of that time Hurley also worked tirelessly to keep the school open, spending countless hours fundraising and donating the money he made from speaking engagements and clinics to the school. He, and others, kept it afloat until…

There’s Always This Year – Hanif Abdurraqib I started the year with this wonderful book. It is a multi-layered examination of the places we call home and how we relate to them as we age, all set against a backdrop of basketball. For the most part, Abdurraqib’s tale follows the career of LeBron James, from high school phenom to his first run with the Cavaliers, to The Decision and move to Miami, and finally his return to Cleveland and winning the title the city sought for so long. But only a fraction of the book is actually about LeBron. It’s…

I completed my final book of 2024 late Saturday/early Sunday as I was battling some insomnia. It was my 62nd book of the year, making 2024 one of my best reading years ever.[1] I read seven books in two different months, six books in three separate months, and never fewer than three books in a 30/31-day stretch. Pretty good work. Now I get to start all over again. The Siege – Ben MacIntyre I’ve read two of MacIntyre’s books before, and heard about this latest one via a couple different podcasts. It relates the 1980 takeover of the Iranian embassy…

A Spy Like Me – Kim Sherwood The second installment in Sherwood’s planned 007 trilogy, it continues to tread ground that is very unlike anything ever written for the Bond franchise. James Bond himself remains absent (mostly), as the rest of the Double-Os attempt to unravel a network that finances terror attacks before it can strike again. They’re also searching for clues for Bond’s status and whereabouts. And seem to be getting killed off at a fairly concerning rate. Oh, and is there a double agent in their midst? What sets Sherwood’s Bond work apart is how she plants them…

Happy Thanksgiving to all! Hope your travels and gatherings are safe and enjoyable. The Right Stuff – Tom Wolfe Somewhere I ran across an author/poster I follow who mentioned that they had recently read this book. In their blurb, they said something about not loving Wolfe’s writing style but still enjoying the book. I’ve never read any of Wolfe’s work before. At least for this piece, I loved his writing and the book. I have seen the 1983 movie based on The Right Stuff many, many times. Or at least parts of it, back when it used to run on…

Let the Right One In – John Ajvide Lindqvist I put several scary books on hold in late September and hoped one or two would come in before Halloween. This one actually came through after the holiday, but that was perfect as it takes place in the week before and after Halloween, 1981. In Sweden. So it’s a little weird. Not sure I realized when I added this to my holds that it was a vampire book. I haven’t done much of the vampire thing. And, I have to say, I did not love this one. Maybe it was the…

The Hobbit, The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, The Return of the King – J.R.R. Tolkien I’ve thought about re-reading The Lord of the Rings for several years and finally pulled the trigger. Which was dumb. Given how focused I am on nostalgia, memories, and anniversaries, I really should have tackled it last year, the 40th anniversary of the first time I read it. In fact, that’s how I spent the fall of 1983, working through these four books as a couple friends did the same. So much for symmetry. I honestly can’t tell you what triggered me…

Going to fire off three quick summaries of recent books before we head to the airport. Middle of the Night – Riley Sager The Only One Left – Riley Sager I was not at all familiar with Sager’s work, but when I saw Middle of the Night pop up on multiple lists of must read new books over the summer, I jumped on it. Wise choice. It is an excellent, spooky, freaky, fun mystery revolving around the disappearance and presumed death of a young boy in 1994 and his best friend’s efforts to cope with that loss as an adult,…

Trust Her – Flynn BerryThree years ago I read Berry’s A Northern Spy, about an unaffiliated Northern Irish woman, Tessa, who gets pulled into the conflict between the IRA and British authorities because of her sister. In this follow up, set a few years later, the siblings are settled in Dublin where they have carved out new lives with new identities. Until the IRA finds Tessa and threatens her family unless she attempts to turn the British agent she worked for when she was still in the North. Much of the book progresses without much happening, just the slow building…

Well, August was quite a month when it came to reading. I finished seven books last month. And that was with a vacation, the Olympics, paying more attention to baseball (at least some of the time), and watching the US Open mixed in. I guess I used my free time wisely. Also I read some very enjoyable books that kept me engaged and turning the pages. Here are the last four from that run. Thursday Murder Club – Richard Osman One of my sisters-in-law had this with her when she visited last Christmas and without asking her about it, I…