Whatcha reading?
- Dr. Medulla
- Atheistic Epileptic
- Posts: 116681
- Joined: 15 Jun 2008, 2:00pm
- Location: Straight Banana, Idaho
Re: Whatcha reading?
Started this after it was mentioned in that prog book I abandoned. DeRogatis is generally one of the better non-scholarly music writers—accessible but doesn't dumb down.
"I used to bullseye womp rats in my T-16 back in Whittier, they're not much bigger than two meters.'" - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft
- tepista
- Foul-Mouthed Werewolf
- Posts: 37917
- Joined: 16 Jun 2008, 11:25am
- Location: Livin on a fault line, Waiting on the big one
Re: Whatcha reading?
We reach the parts other combos cannot reach
We beach the beachheads other armies cannot beach
We speak the tongues other mouths cannot speak
We beach the beachheads other armies cannot beach
We speak the tongues other mouths cannot speak
- Dr. Medulla
- Atheistic Epileptic
- Posts: 116681
- Joined: 15 Jun 2008, 2:00pm
- Location: Straight Banana, Idaho
Re: Whatcha reading?
"I used to bullseye womp rats in my T-16 back in Whittier, they're not much bigger than two meters.'" - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft
Re: Whatcha reading?
Hey Doc, where do you get your audiobooks from? I was looking at audible, but it isn't the Netflix of Books I thought it was. Is there any subscription service like that?
-
Silent Majority
- Singer-Songwriter Nancy
- Posts: 18754
- Joined: 10 Nov 2008, 8:28pm
- Location: South Londoner in the Midlands.
Re: Whatcha reading?
48) The Man With the Golden Gun - Ian Fleming. Audiobook. 1965. A book left unfinished by the author cos he upped and died before finishing his edits and polishing - leaving a terse, relatively low stakes thriller with a James Bond who's totally shattered after the apocalypse of You Only Live Twice. One of the best of the Fleming novels, despite its reputation.
49) Hail to the Chin: Further Confessions of a B Movie Actor
by Bruce Campbell. Hardback. 2017. Fun fella, like hanging out with a mate's Dad as he passes you foreign beers and tells you about the house renovations he's completed over the last few years. I watched My Name Is Bruce, Campbell's low budget directorial debut, after reading cos it had an interesting making-of, shot entirely on his property. That was a goofy product of 2007 and surprisingly sino-phobic. I read If Chins Could Kill when I was a teenager and that was the volume of Bruce Campbell memoirs to go to if you want the Evil Dead stuff.
50) The Woman In Black - Susan Hill. 1983. Audiobook. It's alright. Brilliant ending that stayed with me, but I didn't find the preceding 98% effective in satisfying my creep factor. Most of the novel seems to slide by in first gear without the tension stepping up at all. It's a silent fart with a lingering smell.
51) Perfect Sound Whatever - James Acaster. 2018. Audiobook, read by the author. Acaster - a comedian who'll make you laugh three times in a hour, but with a nice boy presence - had a rough year in 2017 which led to his wanting to get 366 albums from 2016, which he now trumpets as the greatest year ever for music. The books is half memoir of a single year and half short incapsulations of albums from 2016. It's alright.
49) Hail to the Chin: Further Confessions of a B Movie Actor
by Bruce Campbell. Hardback. 2017. Fun fella, like hanging out with a mate's Dad as he passes you foreign beers and tells you about the house renovations he's completed over the last few years. I watched My Name Is Bruce, Campbell's low budget directorial debut, after reading cos it had an interesting making-of, shot entirely on his property. That was a goofy product of 2007 and surprisingly sino-phobic. I read If Chins Could Kill when I was a teenager and that was the volume of Bruce Campbell memoirs to go to if you want the Evil Dead stuff.
50) The Woman In Black - Susan Hill. 1983. Audiobook. It's alright. Brilliant ending that stayed with me, but I didn't find the preceding 98% effective in satisfying my creep factor. Most of the novel seems to slide by in first gear without the tension stepping up at all. It's a silent fart with a lingering smell.
51) Perfect Sound Whatever - James Acaster. 2018. Audiobook, read by the author. Acaster - a comedian who'll make you laugh three times in a hour, but with a nice boy presence - had a rough year in 2017 which led to his wanting to get 366 albums from 2016, which he now trumpets as the greatest year ever for music. The books is half memoir of a single year and half short incapsulations of albums from 2016. It's alright.
- Dr. Medulla
- Atheistic Epileptic
- Posts: 116681
- Joined: 15 Jun 2008, 2:00pm
- Location: Straight Banana, Idaho
Re: Whatcha reading?
Been awhile since I've done one of these.
Audiobook:
Joe Posnanski, The Life and Afterlife of Harry Houdini. I don't care about Houdini, really, but Posnanski is a fantastic narrative writer. This book tries to answer the question why Houdini remains a touchstone close to a century after his death.
Tub:
David Renton, Never Again. I've read this before, but I'm re-reading to see whether I could use it in my punk class. My suspicion is no—it's a bit too focused on the Anti-Nazi League and other oppositional efforts to the NF to justify using in a punk seminar. Still, it's well worth (re)reading.
Bedtime:
Matthew Worley, No Future. Another book being read for possible inclusion. This has a lot more promise, tho I might hold off so that I can test out Kevin Mattson's book from last year once more.
Audiobook:
Joe Posnanski, The Life and Afterlife of Harry Houdini. I don't care about Houdini, really, but Posnanski is a fantastic narrative writer. This book tries to answer the question why Houdini remains a touchstone close to a century after his death.
Tub:
David Renton, Never Again. I've read this before, but I'm re-reading to see whether I could use it in my punk class. My suspicion is no—it's a bit too focused on the Anti-Nazi League and other oppositional efforts to the NF to justify using in a punk seminar. Still, it's well worth (re)reading.
Bedtime:
Matthew Worley, No Future. Another book being read for possible inclusion. This has a lot more promise, tho I might hold off so that I can test out Kevin Mattson's book from last year once more.
"I used to bullseye womp rats in my T-16 back in Whittier, they're not much bigger than two meters.'" - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft
- Dr. Medulla
- Atheistic Epileptic
- Posts: 116681
- Joined: 15 Jun 2008, 2:00pm
- Location: Straight Banana, Idaho
Re: Whatcha reading?
My apologies for missing this when you first posted. I used to do audible, but the value got worse when if got wrapped up with Amazon, so I went the pirate route. My main source is this: https://forum.mobilism.org/viewforum.php?f=124
You may have to register to access stuff to dl (can't recall), but that's what yahoo burner email accounts are for.
"I used to bullseye womp rats in my T-16 back in Whittier, they're not much bigger than two meters.'" - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft
-
Low Down Low
- Unknown Immortal
- Posts: 5025
- Joined: 21 Aug 2014, 9:08am
Re: Whatcha reading?
The Posnanski book is entertaining alright. He has a narrative style that is quite gripping, not very stylistic, but sweeps you along. I didn't know that much about Houdini so would have appreciated an orthodox biography, but I guess there are sufficient of those already so was a good trick to take the angle he did. Helps that his obvious enthusiasm for the subject shines through on every page.Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑04 Nov 2021, 6:46pmBeen awhile since I've done one of these.
Audiobook:
Joe Posnanski, The Life and Afterlife of Harry Houdini. I don't care about Houdini, really, but Posnanski is a fantastic narrative writer. This book tries to answer the question why Houdini remains a touchstone close to a century after his death.
Tub:
David Renton, Never Again. I've read this before, but I'm re-reading to see whether I could use it in my punk class. My suspicion is no—it's a bit too focused on the Anti-Nazi League and other oppositional efforts to the NF to justify using in a punk seminar. Still, it's well worth (re)reading.
Bedtime:
Matthew Worley, No Future. Another book being read for possible inclusion. This has a lot more promise, tho I might hold off so that I can test out Kevin Mattson's book from last year once more.
- Dr. Medulla
- Atheistic Epileptic
- Posts: 116681
- Joined: 15 Jun 2008, 2:00pm
- Location: Straight Banana, Idaho
Re: Whatcha reading?
Ah, glad that you found it entertaining. I've loved his baseball books (and columns), but have had the Houdini book in the queue forever because, eh, I'm just not that intrigued by the story of Houdini. But it's good to know that you found the tale compelling enough, so I'll certainly see it thru.Low Down Low wrote: ↑05 Nov 2021, 4:36amThe Posnanski book is entertaining alright. He has a narrative style that is quite gripping, not very stylistic, but sweeps you along. I didn't know that much about Houdini so would have appreciated an orthodox biography, but I guess there are sufficient of those already so was a good trick to take the angle he did. Helps that his obvious enthusiasm for the subject shines through on every page.
"I used to bullseye womp rats in my T-16 back in Whittier, they're not much bigger than two meters.'" - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft
-
Low Down Low
- Unknown Immortal
- Posts: 5025
- Joined: 21 Aug 2014, 9:08am
Re: Whatcha reading?
I probably wouldn't have touched it if I wasn't curious to learn more about houdini tbh, so that definitely helped. I subscribed to Sports Illustrated for several years, when Posnanski was on staff, and always enjoyed his columns and pieces. They were like an antidote to the staleness and cynicism of the likes of Rick Reilly.Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑05 Nov 2021, 6:35amAh, glad that you found it entertaining. I've loved his baseball books (and columns), but have had the Houdini book in the queue forever because, eh, I'm just not that intrigued by the story of Houdini. But it's good to know that you found the tale compelling enough, so I'll certainly see it thru.Low Down Low wrote: ↑05 Nov 2021, 4:36amThe Posnanski book is entertaining alright. He has a narrative style that is quite gripping, not very stylistic, but sweeps you along. I didn't know that much about Houdini so would have appreciated an orthodox biography, but I guess there are sufficient of those already so was a good trick to take the angle he did. Helps that his obvious enthusiasm for the subject shines through on every page.
- Dr. Medulla
- Atheistic Epileptic
- Posts: 116681
- Joined: 15 Jun 2008, 2:00pm
- Location: Straight Banana, Idaho
Re: Whatcha reading?
If you've never read Pos' The Soul of Baseball, where he travels with Negro League great Buck O'Neil, you absolutely must. O'Neil possessed such a pure optimism and faith in humanity that it'll melt the coldest, most cynical heart, and Pos was an ideal writer to capture it. If that's the only thing he ever wrote, it'd be enough to hang his hat on.Low Down Low wrote: ↑05 Nov 2021, 6:53amI probably wouldn't have touched it if I wasn't curious to learn more about houdini tbh, so that definitely helped. I subscribed to Sports Illustrated for several years, when Posnanski was on staff, and always enjoyed his columns and pieces. They were like an antidote to the staleness and cynicism of the likes of Rick Reilly.Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑05 Nov 2021, 6:35amAh, glad that you found it entertaining. I've loved his baseball books (and columns), but have had the Houdini book in the queue forever because, eh, I'm just not that intrigued by the story of Houdini. But it's good to know that you found the tale compelling enough, so I'll certainly see it thru.Low Down Low wrote: ↑05 Nov 2021, 4:36amThe Posnanski book is entertaining alright. He has a narrative style that is quite gripping, not very stylistic, but sweeps you along. I didn't know that much about Houdini so would have appreciated an orthodox biography, but I guess there are sufficient of those already so was a good trick to take the angle he did. Helps that his obvious enthusiasm for the subject shines through on every page.
"I used to bullseye womp rats in my T-16 back in Whittier, they're not much bigger than two meters.'" - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft
-
Low Down Low
- Unknown Immortal
- Posts: 5025
- Joined: 21 Aug 2014, 9:08am
Re: Whatcha reading?
Ah yes, I'm aware of it but not read. I'm not even a baseball fan to be honest about it, I read for the story and the writing which is why I can still list Boys of Summer as among my favourite sports books. And even though I tend to read very few sports books these days, I will assuredly get around to the O'Neil one at some stage.Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑05 Nov 2021, 7:39amIf you've never read Pos' The Soul of Baseball, where he travels with Negro League great Buck O'Neil, you absolutely must. O'Neil possessed such a pure optimism and faith in humanity that it'll melt the coldest, most cynical heart, and Pos was an ideal writer to capture it. If that's the only thing he ever wrote, it'd be enough to hang his hat on.Low Down Low wrote: ↑05 Nov 2021, 6:53amI probably wouldn't have touched it if I wasn't curious to learn more about houdini tbh, so that definitely helped. I subscribed to Sports Illustrated for several years, when Posnanski was on staff, and always enjoyed his columns and pieces. They were like an antidote to the staleness and cynicism of the likes of Rick Reilly.Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑05 Nov 2021, 6:35amAh, glad that you found it entertaining. I've loved his baseball books (and columns), but have had the Houdini book in the queue forever because, eh, I'm just not that intrigued by the story of Houdini. But it's good to know that you found the tale compelling enough, so I'll certainly see it thru.Low Down Low wrote: ↑05 Nov 2021, 4:36amThe Posnanski book is entertaining alright. He has a narrative style that is quite gripping, not very stylistic, but sweeps you along. I didn't know that much about Houdini so would have appreciated an orthodox biography, but I guess there are sufficient of those already so was a good trick to take the angle he did. Helps that his obvious enthusiasm for the subject shines through on every page.