What Are You Reading

[LizzieMaine]

_______________________________________

Steinbeck's Travels With Charley is a good ice-breaker for J.S. Recounts a jaunt from NYC to California; egg coffee in Louisiana
and zeroing a rifle against wolves in Montanta, a great read. I am the same way with Gabriel Garcia Marquez...still haven't finished his Of Love and Other Demons.

Probably not the best "intro to Steinbeck," but "In Dubious Battle" is one of the great forgotten novels of the thirties. Once read, it's never forgotten.

 

[Fading Fast]

Unfortunately it's the only work by Josephine Tey that I've read but it's one of the books that I re-read every once in a while. I believe it is available on Project Gutenberg Canada.

I just put it in my Amazon cart.

 

[LizzieMaine]

"Rickey and Robinson: The True, Untold Story of the Integration of Baseball," by Roger Kahn.

I've been waiting for this one for a long time -- Kahn, the author of "The Boys of Summer," is the last surviving active sportswriter to to have known both Branch Rickey and Jackie Robinson personally, and was, in the case of Robinson, a close personal friend. He wasn't covering the Dodgers in 1947, so the story he tells is based on what he was told by the participants -- most of whom he knew well -- or on coverage from journalistic colleague who were contemporaries. As in all of Kahn's books, the personal anecdotes are the best part, shedding light on the foundation of facts laid by others.

This isn't the definitive historical study of baseball integration or of the 1947 season in general -- Jonathan Eig's "Opening Day" is probably the closest to that we'll ever get -- but Kahn's work does something more important than just recount facts. It makes you feel as though you actually *know* these people as you see the events unfold thru their eyes. Kahn has announced this will be his final book, as he moves into retirement, and he's going out with another winner.

EDITED TO ADD: I've just finished this book, and Kahn saved his most provocative anecdote for the very end, by revealing what he claims to be the real reason the Dodgers traded Robinson to the Giants at the end of the 1956 season. Let's just say that I don't think Rachel Robinson will be very happy to see this particular piece of laundry aired after all these years -- especially since there's nothing to go on but Kahn's own word for what he was told. But if it's true, it's proof yet again that even saints aren't perfect.

 

[Horace Debussy Jones]

I'm reading "Methods and Materials of Painting of the Great Schools and Masters" by Sir Charles Lock Eastwood. First published in 1847 it is the compendium of Sir Charles' research at museums, monasteries, universities, and libraries where he amassed a treasure trove of information about the technical secrets and methods of the great masters. Sir Charles was certainly not known for his writing abilities I think as the book was described as being rather ponderous to read, and is, but it contains a wealth of information about the art of oil painting from it's beginnings. Dry as dust for most, but fascinating to me.

 

[Harp]

"Rickey and Robinson: The True, Untold Story of the Integration of Baseball," by Roger Kahn.



EDITED TO ADD: I've just finished this book, and Kahn saved his most provocative anecdote for the very end, by revealing what he claims to be the real reason the Dodgers traded Robinson to the Giants at the end of the 1956 season. Let's just say that I don't think Rachel Robinson will be very happy to see this particular piece of laundry aired after all these years -- especially since there's nothing to go on but Kahn's own word for what he was told. But if it's true, it's proof yet again that even saints aren't perfect.

Socium fraudavit. :eeek: Even sliders aren't perfect.

 

[LizzieMaine]

"The Traffic In Narcotics," by H. J. Anslinger and W. F. Tompkins.

A 1953 book that's been savaged in recent decades by people who've never actually seen a copy, let alone read it. When you brush aside all the Internet codswollop about it, you find a rather measured, careful look at the history of drug addiction in the United States. Particularly interesting are the figures on the number of draftees rejected for drug addition during the two World Wars. In 1917-18, the figure was about 1 out of every 400 men unfit for military service because of narcotic addiction. In 1940-45, that figure was 1 out of every 10,000. Food for thought.

 

[Harp]

Restless Wave; My Life in Two Worlds, a memoir by Ayako Ishigaki.

 

[Fading Fast]

"Cast a Cold Eye" by Mary McCarthy. She is a talented writer, probably most famous for writing "The Group," but she does not lift your spirits. She has a negative, angry view about human relationships. Still, really good writer.

 

[LizzieMaine]

"Favorite Jokes of Famous People," collected by F. E. Nicholson.

This 1927 collection of wit and humor from the leading celebrities of the day includes some surprises. Among those represented is that noted wag, Secretary of Commerce and future President Herbert C. Hoover. Here's Mr. Hoover's favorite sally:

"During the earlier part of the Great War, I used to go back and forth frequently between London and Belgium in connection with the Belgian relief work which was under my direction. This meant crossing the English Channel between the mouth of the Thames and Flushing, Holland by a Dutch line of small boats, which being boats of neutral nations were not molested by submarines and destroyers of fighting nations. But these boats had to take their chances with the mines that were constantly breaking away from the fixed mine fields in the North Sea and were floating on the surface.

"Accidents were numerous, and many of the vessels were sunk and many of the passengers and crews had been lost. But fortunately over a period of over two years -- and many crossings -- I had missed these sinkings. These boats had to get on board at night, ready for an early morning start. I would have breakfast and luncheon and dinner on board, as it took a whole day to make the crossing. And it was my custom, in order to save a little trouble, to pay the steward for the three meals and cabin at the end of the voyage, together with his tip.

"After over two years of this travel, on one of my last trips before America came into the war, I asked the steward, as usual, to keep the account in mind and to collect from me at the end of the trip. He stood first on one foot and then the other, and finally blurted out:

"'I'm sorry, sir, but when the last boat was blown up the passengers got drowned. We may be sunk at any moment, so I must collect after each meal."

Better watch out there, Herb, I hear Eddie Cantor might be stealing your material.

 

[Harp]

Some kind soul left Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre on my desk, with intro by Joyce Carol Oates; whose advocatus diabelli
New York Times book review of Rebecca Mead's wonderful My Life in Middlemarch I criticized....so I am revisiting Charlotte's magical tale.

 

[HadleyH]

I can not let go.

My heart and my soul is with the Romanovs.... still is...even at this late date.....

I ordered this book, second hand ....great book it is too...well written.... oh the palaces ..oh the luxury...oh my God so much beauty.

the indulgence, oh the pleasure...the diamonds and the silk....the loves ....the opulence.....


The Flight of the Romanovs: A Family Saga

 

[1mach1]

Alan Moore's Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow

 

[jamespowers]

Alan Moore's Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow

View attachment 18278

Batman gave him a beat down and he ran away.

 

[1mach1]

Totally. Batman is the man.

 

[jamespowers]

Totally. Batman is the man.

Superman really isn't a man---he's a space alien. Batman is THE man.

 

[LizzieMaine]

"I recommend Batman especially, for he tends to transcend the abysmal society in which he's found himself. His morality is rather rigid, also. I rather respect Batman." -- Ignatius J. Reilly

 

[jamespowers]

"I recommend Batman especially, for he tends to transcend the abysmal society in which he's found himself. His morality is rather rigid, also. I rather respect Batman." -- Ignatius J. Reilly

He is right---for once.

 

[1mach1]

He is right---for once.

lol

 

[Harp]

He is right---for once.

More often right than wrong.
________

Laura Hillenbrand, Unbroken

 

[jamespowers]

More often right than wrong.
________

Laura Hillenbrand, Unbroken

lol lol Yes but his reputation is more wrong.