I've been a bit distracted for the last two weeks because of the beginning of the college football season, and it didn't feel as if I were turning a whole lot of pages this week. But somehow, I managed to finish four books: A Town Called Solace, The Secret Hours, Paperback Jack, and Nobody's Fool. That's probably because I enjoyed each so much that I was always happy to get back to any of them.
I'm still working on Brian Kilmead's Teddy and Booker T, and have also started Jerry Lee Lewis: His Own Story by Rick Bragg, Half-Life of a Stolen Sister by Rachel Cantor, Woman with a Blue Pencil by Gordon McAlpine, and Crook Manifesto by Colson Whitehead.
Crook Manifesto suddenly became available from my library, so it's the short-fuse book of the week. I've been a fan of Colson Whitehead since finally discovering him via his wonderful alternate history novel The Underground Railroad a while back. This one is, I think, the first time that Whitehead has ventured into series novels. It uses the same main characters from his previous novel, Harlem Shuffle, and gets off to a rousing start in Part I. Whitehead is just one heck of a storyteller.
I'm not very far along in any of those yet, so it's not likely to be a week with a lot of new adds to what I'll be reading, but these are the ones most likely to come up next:
I like the way Gordon McAlpine thinks, and I'm fascinated by the novel of his I'm reading now, The Woman with a Blue Pencil, so I'm looking forward to this tale about a now seventy-year-old Sherlock Holmes who is brought out of retirement by author Conan Doyle (author of the Sherlock Holmes series) in real life because someone is threatening to kill Doyle. It sounds like a fun story that is wide open for a lot of inside jokes that fans of the Sherlock Holmes books will appreciate.
In the last few weeks, I've seen Everyone in my Family Has Killed Someone featured on several of the book blogs I follow, and it sounds like something I will enjoy. It's an murder mystery written by Australian author Benjamin Stevenson, and the main character, as the title says, may be the only member of his crime family who hasn't killed someone. The book jacket makes it sound as kind of an homage to the likes of "Holmes, Christie, Chesterson..." Lots of potential here.
I've never had the pleasure of seeing Lucinda Williams in live performance, but the singer's voice and style combination is one of the most recognizable I've ever encountered. She always comes across as such a tortured soul that I'm looking forward to hearing what she has to say about her life experiences in Don't Tell Anybody the Secrets I Told You. Williams is from Louisiana and according to the jacket was always told that she was "too country for rock and too rock for country." I can believe it. She's special.Happy Reading, y'all...
I love Lucinda Williams...her voice and her songwriting skills are so amazing. I bet her book is really interesting. And I've seen lots of reviews of Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone, too. It does look like it could be really good. Good luck getting all of these read before they're due! :D
ReplyDeleteHappy to hear from another Lucinda Williams fan, Lark. I don't runt into many of those for some reason, probably because she does tend to fall through some of the musical genre cracks. If the memoir is as well written as her songs, the book should be great.
DeleteUnbelievable, to me, all those books going on at the same time!
ReplyDeleteAlthough I was never diagnosed as ADD as a kid (did they even do that in those days, I wonder), I'm pretty sure that I still have it to a certain degree. My way to partially compensate is to switch over to an entirely different style book when I notice my attention beginning to wander, Nan. It works for me, but I'm sure it's not for everyone.
DeleteHi Sam, I have A Town Called Solace in my bookshelf and will read it this year and glad that you liked the novel. That's all the encouragement I need. The Woman With A Blue Pencil sounds interesting as well.
ReplyDeleteThe Lucinda Williams memoir I am curious about. Memoirs are fascinating. I admired Matthew Perry's memoir for example because of his incredible honesty but also the generosity he showed to everyone in his life. He didn't reveal their secrets.
But I have read other memoirs where the writer refuses to count their blessings and has a chip on their shoulder throughout the book. I have one such memoirist in mind who shall remain nameless.
I'm really hoping that Lawson has one more great novel in the works, Kathy, because at 77 she's running out of years if she waits her usual span between books. Keep your fingers crossed that she still wants to publish.
DeleteI see what you mean about a memoirist who is only writing in order to get even with everyone in their life who ever "wronged" them, especially if they refuse to take any responsibility for what may have happened. We may have spoken about memoirs before, but have you ever read one of Mary Karr's? She is very honest and frank all the way through them, and she has even written a book on how to write a memoir.
Hi Sam, Unfortunately I never got around to Mary Karr but I need to give her a try. My favorite memoir probably Vivian Gornick's Fierce Attachments. She is alo an excellent essayist and book reviewer but as with Mary Larson, Vivian is about 84. Still she is editing this year's Best American Essays so will be curious to see what she chooses. Also really enjoying McMurty's memoir.
DeleteMary Karr is a few years younger than me but we grew up in the same county, probably 7 or 8 miles from each other's homes, so I can tell the truth of what she shares in her memoirs. It's all pretty bleak sounding, but as a kid I had nothing to compare it to so it didn't seem all that bad at the time. She's quite a talented songwriter, too, and has collaborated on an album with Rodney Crowell who is a South Houston boy. They found so much in common when they met, that it really shows in their music together.
DeleteThanks for the info on Vivian Gomick. I'll check into her memoir.
Look forward to hearing what you think of Holmes Entangled if you get to it, that could be a lot of fun! Everyone in My Family was a mixed experience for me. Hope to review it over the next few days.
ReplyDeleteI'll look forward to your thoughts on Everyone in My Family, Cath. I don't read many Australian authors because they so rarely seem to turn up in this country. That's the main attraction to me at this point. I should be starting the Holmes book in the next day or two beause I finished Woman with a Blue Pencil this afternoon.
DeleteYou've been reading so many good books lately, Sam! I like Colson Whitehead, too, but still haven't read Harlem Shuffle. My daughter said I definitely need to before picking up Crook Manifesto. So many books...
ReplyDeleteI agree with your daughter about it being best to read Harlem Shuffle first, JoAnn. I read it when it first came out, so I was a little hazy on the details, but knowing the book even in broad terms helps make Crook Manifesto a lot better because Whitehead keeps referring to incidents from the first book in this second one. And many of the characters are the same in both books, so that helps too.
DeleteEVERYBODY IN MY FAMILY HAS KILLED SOMEONE has been getting tons of buzz. I bought a copy on my Kindle, but I haven't gotten to it yet. I hope we both enjoy it! I'm looking forward to hear your thoughts.
ReplyDeleteI had to cull a few library books from my TBR stack, and that one didn't make the last cut. I hated to return it, but it's still on my list and I'll come back for a copy when time allows. In the meantime, I'll look forward to your reaction to it.
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