BOOKS THREAD

"Ghostbuster's Daugher: Life With My Dad, Harold Ramis" by Violet Ramis Stiel finally arrived at my local bookstore. I ordered it two months ago.

Harold Ramis certainly comes across as a good guy.

Sort of lacking on details from some of his films, especially Stripes. But, the author was a little girl then.

It's a good read.

 

Have I sung the praises of "Sunny Days" yet? It's a history of educational children's television that starts before and goes beyond Sesame Street.

 

And I just added something else to my Amazon wish list. Thanks a lot.

: )

 

Thanks for the heads up. I read his "United States of Arugula" years ago.

 

Connivence Store Woman ...2016 japan award winner recently translated. Picking up at libary tomorrow.

 

Sounds interesting. And two thumbs up for using the library.

 

This one's been out for a while, but I just got around to it. I haven't read anything since the semester started in August, and I haven't read any fiction in a long time, so I started this on Friday and finished it this evening. Good story of some strange goings-on at a 24-hour bookstore. Really enjoyed it.

Joe Bob says check it out.

 

I read this too and enjoyed it: 3/5. What I didn't like was the Google-savior arc later in the story.

 

Starting out, this wasn't what I thought it was going to be, and I didn't like it. The author is sort of an Australian Borat, pranking folks at public gatherings. But then I got wrapped up in the story, and it still wasn't exactly what I thought it was going to be, but it turned out better than it started.

A white supremacist gets killed by a black guy (that's no a spoiler), but there's a bunch more to both of their stories. Whose story is true? Do we know everything about either of them? Nobody knows. Still, an overall enjoyable read.

Joe Bob says check it out, but go in with an open mind.

 

TL;DR -- Magician gets fed up with his own career, goes to India.

There is one scene at the end of the book that shows incredible generosity by a family living in the worst of the worst slums. That was pretty moving.

Don't read this if you're looking for tips on how to do magic, though he does reference in the story several books that will teach you that. This is a memoir of what happened after a magician got burned out and went to India, supposedly home to the roots of magic.

I read this in a day; really enjoyed it.

Joe Bob says check it out.

 

This had been on the shelf for a while. I bought it right before Shaver played a concert here, and I got it signed. Started reading it a couple of days ago, and it pretty much confirms what all has been written about him since he died. He was a hell-raiser who loved Jesus. But only about half the book was his memoir. The back half is made up of lyrics from his songs, so it didn't take me as long as I thought it would to read this. (I skipped reading the lyrics.)

Joe Bob says check it out, and RIP Billy Joe.)

 

I have read dozens and dozens of rock bios including pretty much every significant book written about The Beatles. But Craig Brown's new book, 150 Glimpses of TheBbeatles might be the most unique bio I have ever read of any artist. Not the standard cradle to grave format of your usual bio, it collects 150 "episodes" (can't think of another word) from throughout their career to tell their story. Some are dealt with in a page, others over several pages. Much of the material is familiar but their are some offbeat things you don't find elsewhere: fan mail, visits to the childhood homes of Lennon and McCartney as part of a tour group, touring whatever was left of the days they played Hamburg, a breakdown of the "Paul is dead" theory, a discussion of the Abbey Road cover. a deep dive into a fight between Lennon and a DJ at Paul's birthday party and loads of other nuggets. It's hard to find anything new to say about The Beatles after all these years but this book succeeds in bringnig a fresh look to their story.