BOOKS THREAD

Ian McEwan’s “Lessons” is far from his best, but still a compelling read about the Baby Boomers and learning to stop trying to make sense of everything as we age.

 

Reading “The Library Book” by Susan Orlean, which pivots around the 1986 fire that destroyed much of the Central Library in LA, its alleged arsonist — a wannabe actor — and pans out into an examination of the history of libraries, their role and importance in communities (including as pseudo shelters for the homeless), with bio drops of many of the eccentric, interesting characters who have served as librarians and extended supporters of these institutions.

Book burning and the Nazis get their unjust due, antipodes to the Jews who have long venerated and bedazzled their Torahs and the written word in general.

Great book, very engrossing.

 

That is, indeed, a great book. I really enjoyed it.

 

I was hoping to read the history of Sesame Street, and this book did a great job of providing that, but as a bonus, there were (brief) histories of other groundbreaking educational TV aimed at youngsters: The Electric Company, New Zoo Revue, Zoom. (When I was a kid, I so wanted to be on Zoom!) It took me longer than it should have to read this book because every few pages, I was going down a rabbit hole on YouTube looking for clips, like the time the Rev. Jesse Jackson was on Sesame Street, and when Mel Brooks and Marlo Thomas were the voices of puppet babies on Free to Be...You and Me.

Joe Bob says check it out for a trip down memory lane.

 

I read this on a flight a couple of months ago - I liked it, but I also thought it was going to be a deeper dive on Sesame Street. It kind of felt like they couldn't do the full book on just that - maybe a lack of access to some people? - and then had to pad with a bunch of the other stuff. That being said, it was all still really interesting!

 

Yeah, I get that. In the sources section at the back of the book, he mentions one or two other books that were about the history of Sesame Street, so I kinda wondered why this one was even necessary. But, like you said, still an interesting read.

 

Diamond in the Rough, Shawn Colvin’s autobiography.

Mostly a giant shrug.

 

You know it’s a boring day when you read a book written by a war criminal about artificial intelligence, but that’s where I was as I read Henry Kissinger joining forces with Eric Schmidt for “The Age of AI.”

It’s fine. I suppose it was much more illuminating two years ago when AI wasn’t as covered in the media.

I’ve, shamefully, gone 38 years without reading James Joyce. I’ve started and stopped “Ulysses” three times. I’m going to go through all his stuff now.

 

"Barack and Joe" by Steven Levingston. Quick (270 pages) and decent read. Only criticism: it doesn't get to 44's presidency until page 126.

Focuses more on Joe than Barack, which is not surprising as it came out right after 46's campaign launch.

From the author of "Kennedy and King."

 

This was a quick, entertaining read by the daughter of the guy who ran the legendary Cadillac Bar in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, for more than 30 years. It was in the same family from its opening in 1924 until Cash's dad turned over the keys to the bar employees in 1979. It was pretty much a New Orleans-style bar and restaurant that was just across the border from Laredo, Texas, so there are a few recipes at the back of the book I'm looking forward to making. Mostly it's the New Orleans Gin Fizz I want to try.

Joe Bob says check it out, but not on an empty stomach because there are lots of stories about the food served there.

 

I see that Nuevo León is part of Nuevo Laredo. I suspect this is the bar referenced in “Sweet and Shiny Eyes”:

In my sweet dreams we are
In a bar
And it's my birthday
Drinking salty marguaritas with Fernando
Young and wild
We drove 900 miles of Texas highway
To the Mexican border
As the day was comin' on
We crossed the Rio Grande River
And we swore we'd have things our way
When we happened to walk in to Nuevo Leon

 

Just finished reading "Act of Oblivion" by Robert Harris, historical fiction about Oliver Cromwell and the so-called regicides who overthrew Charles I and had him executed in 1649. It largely follows two of the regicides who fled to the United States after the king's son restored the monarchy; he sent royalists in pursuit of them. They settled in Boston first (when it was little more than Harvard) and then fled to Connecticut, including New Haven and Milford, so it was fun to read about my home state in the 17th century, albeit fictionalized.

The book is also set in London and runs up past 1666, when the Great Fire consumed most of the city, and also travels to other parts of Europe, where other regicides had fled. In short, it's a dazzling array of settings.

I'd never read anything by Harris, a Brit, but I like the way he writes -- a literary style, but he keeps the narrative moving, ala, Stephen King. I'll definitely read something else by him.