An Array of Reading Material

Photo by Alejandro Escamilla via Unsplash.

I have to confess that I read nothing for months. When we were living in the hotel, I simply didn’t have the attention span to actually sit down and read something start to finish. But starting at the end of last year, I finally got my groove back.

A good book does wonders for my mental health. There’s really something to be said for being able to step out of my own head and leave the client words behind before I fall asleep.

Here’s what I’ve read since December.

• The Hours Count. I was told that I would “absolutely love” this fictional story of a woman who befriends Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, but instead I just felt saddened by the hopelessness of the characters’ situations.
• I Must Say: My Life As a Humble Comedy Legend. It’s hard not to like Martin Short, the person. This is one of those memoirs where his story reads a little too much like he’s ending each paragraph with a hashtag. (#blessed) But it’s worth it for great stories about the crew of Canadian comedians, and any anecdotes about Gilda.
• Man v. Nature. These short stories were recommended to me. Each and every story is full of twists, idiosyncrasies and and general bizarreness that will stick with you long after the book ends. They’re some of the best short stories I’ve read, even the creepy ones.
• The Goldfinch. It’s very long and I can’t figure out what the fuss is about. I almost abandoned it several times, but kept reading to try to figure out what the critics saw in it.
• Mycroft Holmes. Sure, it has the novelty factor of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, but it’s actually a perfectly enjoyable Holmes story in its own right.
• Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident. The Assistant plowed through all eight books in the series and wanted to discuss characters with me. I read one. It was enough. They’re not bad books, but they’re no Harry Potter.
• Island of the Blue Dolphins. The Assistant’s class is reading this, which happens to me *my* favorite book from fourth grade. He brought it home and I read the whole thing in one evening. Still excellent.
• Where’d You Go, Bernadette? The first half was great, a compelling read told in different voices. Funny, goofy and fun to read. The second half had characters making decisions that were completely out of line with the personalities established in the first half. I think the question is more “Why’d you go, Bernadette?”
• Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of the Beatles. This was a very interesting book. I’d always wondered how the sound of the Beatles had evolved (it wasn’t *entirely* because of the drugs), yet still managed to stay distinctively Beatle. A large part of that sound came from the skills and creativity of teenage engineer Geoff Emerick.

Now I need new books. What’s on your reading list?

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