Zander
The name Zander Hollander may not mean much to the majority of my readers. But for some of us, mostly men who grew up in the late 70s and early 80s loving sports, he played a huge role in our formative years as sports fans. Mr. Hollander, who was the creative force behind the Complete Handbook series, died last week…
March Books
The Secret History – Donna Tartt I know Tartt is one of the hot American novelists of the moment, with her novel The Goldfinch getting a lot of acclaim last year. I believe this, her debut, came on the qualified recommendation of Brother in Books, Dave V. He had a mixed view of the book, but suggested I begin with…
February Books
The Passage – Justin Cronin I resisted this book for some time. I would read a blurb about it, or see a positive review, and move it back up my To Read list. Then, I’d read a synopsis, see it had a vampire component to its plot, and decide to pass. What pushed me over the edge? I came across…
January Books
Four books in four weeks to kick off the year. But one of those was a children’s book I knocked out in an afternoon, so I’m feeling like I didn’t take advantage of January the way I should have. Also, I’m skipping one book, just because I’m still thinking about how to write about it. It’s the first time I’ve…
December Books
I read 55 books in 2013. Not bad. Not bad at all. Here’s the last of the bunch. A Christmas Story – Jean Shepherd You Better Not Cry: Stories for Christmas – Augusten Burroughs Shepherd’s work is an annual tradition for me. Before I can watch the movie, I have to go back and read the original essays it was…
Books, JFK
Six Seconds in Dallas: A Micro-Study of the Kennedy Assassination – Josiah Thompson Case Closed: Lee Harvey Oswald and the Assassination of JFK – Gerald Posner Well, I got a little obsessed around the anniversary of JFK’s assassination. Aside from numerous TV documentaries watched and online stuff read, I came across an Errol Morris film that features Josiah Thompson. After…
Books
A full month of books, but also one in which I got obsessed by a specific topic late. So I’ll chop this into two entries: one for the non-obsession books then a second, tomorrow, for the books that haunted my dreams for a couple weeks. The Things They Carried – Tim O’Brien The Quiet American – Graham Green I began…
Books
A Spy By Nature – Charles Cumming. I read Cumming’s Trinity Six earlier this year. After a slow start, I really liked it. I keep hearing Cumming’s name listed as one of the best young espionage writers going, so dove back in for another. Here, he focuses on a young British man, Alec Milius, who is drifting through his early…
Books
Whoops. It looks like, between our early September travels and the various changes I made to the site last month, I never posted my list of August books. My bad. Here they are, to be followed shortly by my September list. 30 – VJ: The Unplugged Adventures of MTV’s First Wave – Nina Blackwood, Mark Goodman, Alan Hunter, and Martha…
Books
30 – VJ: The Unplugged Adventures of MTV’s First Wave![][image-1] – Nina Blackwood, Mark Goodman, Alan Hunter, and Martha Quinn with Gavin Edwards. I knew before reading this, from the reviews, that it wasn’t considered to be nearly as good as I Want My MTV, the oral history of the glory days of MTV I read last year. But that…