I haven't been reading many books over the past couple years. But my girlfriend bought a couple books for me for when I went on vacation with my siblings.

I read Rose Marshack's biography, "Play Like a Man."
It was nothing less than great.
It brought back a lot of memories of the Champaign-Urbana music scene from the late 80s. She wrote about her experiences on indie labels and a major in the Poster Children, as well as the early days of computer programming, and pre-internet stuff. She also mentioned the PRF, playing a PRF BBQ in Milwaukee in 2017 and some forum members who are still around.

I'm halfway through Jon Fine's "Your Band Sucks," that came out in 2015. The part I've read so far is mostly about his time in Bitch Magnet. It's a fun read.

Jon King's memoir To Hell with Poverty is a great read. Still only in hardcover though, I think.



Just started the new Ocean Vuong novel. So far, so good. Also hardcover only still, I think.

https://www.oceanvuong.com/

just finished the entire LA Quartet by James Ellroy.

I would rate them :

1. The Big Nowhere
2. White Jazz
3. LA Confidential
4. Black Dahlia

I had previously devoured his Underworld USA Trilogy, I think I liked those better, but these were still pretty good. I’m pretty surprised at how much better LA Confidential worked as a movie compared to the book. Whomever adopted it made perfect changes. However, nothing could solve the nightmare that was the Black Dahlia movie. Yikes.

On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder. A necessary rundown of reminders and wake-up calls. Chapter titles as follows-

1. Do not obey in advance
2. Defend institutions
3. Beware of the one-party state
4. Take responsibility for the face of the world
5. Remember professional ethics
6. Beware wary of paramilitaries
7. Be reflective if you must be armed
8. Stand out
9. Be kind to our language
10. Believe in truth
11. Investigate
12. Make eye contact and small talk
13. Practice corporeal politics
14. Establish a private life
15. Contribute to good causes
16. Learn from peers in other countries
17. Listen for dangerous words
18. Be calm when the unthinkable arrives
19. Be a patriot
20. Be as courageous as you can

Dave N. wrote: Sun Jul 06, 2025 7:29 am On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder. A necessary rundown of reminders and wake-up calls. Chapter titles as follows-

1. Do not obey in advance
2. Defend institutions
5. Remember professional ethics
10. Believe in truth
14. Establish a private life
18. Be calm when the unthinkable arrives

These points I take to be the most important, using spontaneous association. I will read it this week.

All Fours by Miranda July. Weird book, but I’m all in. Very Gen X-centric. Haven’t gotten to the sexy parts yet.

I got derailed and didn't do much reading offline for almost a year.
Had some time off recently and finished book five of Saga of the Swamp Thing (excellent) and Alejandro Zambra's Childish Literature, a collection of essays, short stories and a poem or two roughly revolving around childhood, raising a young child (partially during the pandemic) and family relationships. My partner got it for me, I was unfamiliar with him. It's a bit uneven, but I liked it and would recommend it, especially to parents of young kids.


https://fitzcarraldoeditions.com/books/ ... iterature/

The Aleph and Other Stories by Borges. Never read anything by him before, it's ok but I'm only 2 stories in so far.

I recently read Geezer Butler's biography "Into The Void" in a day just in time for Back to the Beginning which was a nice epilogue event to the book because the book ends in 2017. It was good, easy to read, and gave me some insights into Sabbath I didn't have before.

Currently reading Mel Brooks biography "All About Me". He and I share the same birthday. He's a few years older than me though.

I just started As I Lay Dying after gorging on 800+ pages of trashy Stephen King, cowboy fantasy, Dark Tower sequel business.