Because I had such a crazy weird hectic 2024, I got behind in posting—and even writing up—my recommended reading lists. I finally jumped ahead and posted October’s earlier this month. I’m nearly done with November’s. But I still needed to catch up on all the good things I read over the summer.
I don’t remember much about June, except that I was going balls-to-the-wall to save my business. I was also writing and getting some other things done. Dean was still healing from his fall/surgery, and I had massive dental appointments. So, I guess I remember things in general but not in specific. I have no idea how I managed to read anything, but I did.
As I’m writing these up, I’m discovering some interesting things. Such as Otto Penzler’s Bibliomysteries, an anthology filled with novellas, does not have an ebook edition. The novellas are available separately. I read the hardcover. I managed a couple of novels, but only one was worth recommending. And then there’s the memoir, below, which I just adored.
So…here’s what I loved way back in June (!)
June 2024
Baum, Gary, and Giardina, Carolyn, “Going, Going, Gone,” The Hollywood Reporter, March 14, 2024. I vividly remember when I learned that film canisters stored in Hollywood vaults were actually burning. That the archival copies of classic films were disappearing, gone forever because of bad storage. I was worried, horrified, and appalled.
The same thing is happening with digital files, although they’re not actively burning. Digital films are being stored, badly, and sometimes not even the correct copy is in the archive. Read this article and worry, as I do, about some of your favorites. Let’s hope that this gets solved.
Couch, Aaron, “William Shatner: THR Icon,” The Hollywood Reporter, March 14, 2024. A great interview with William Shatner. He was chosen as a Hollywood Reporter icon. The interview goes into quite a bit of depth about his long career, so I found it fascinating. And then there’s this quote:
I’ve bumbled my way through my life with a growing realization that all the plans you have for your life are dependent on the guy driving a car behind you or in front of you. The accidents that you have no control over, whether they’re physical, like falling down a flight of stairs, or emotional, like the person you love the most doesn’t love you — and everything in between — you have no control over. So you may think you’re like, “I’m going to control. I’m going to choose that motion picture,” or go onstage choosing elements of your career, thinking you’re making a career move. It has nothing to do with reality at all.
Yeah. Ouch. But sooooo true.
George, Elizabeth, “The Mysterious Disappearance of The Reluctant Book Fairy,” Bibliomysteries Volume 2, edited by Otto Penzler, Pegasus Books, 2018. This story is fantasy. Delightful fantasy. And surprising in its own way. I cannot say much more except to add, wow, did I like it.
Lovesey, Peter, “Remaindered,” Bibliomysteries Volume 2, edited by Otto Penzler, Pegasus Books, 2018. Perfect little cozy mystery about cozy mysteries. And collecting. Even the opening two sentences are cozy-perfect. “Agatha Christie did it. The evidence was plain to see but no one did see for more than a day.” Lovely. And a very enjoyable read.
Morrow, Bradford, “The Nature of My Inheritance,” Bibliomysteries Volume 2, edited by Otto Penzler, Pegasus Books, 2018. Fascinating story about a wayward son who inherited over 50 Bibles upon his father’s death. Quirky and heartfelt, it’s one of the most memorable stories in the volume.
Paretsky, Sara, Pay Dirt, William Morrow, 2024. Paretsky wrote a VI Warshawski novel mostly set in Kansas, which is where Paretsky grew up. I missed the Chicago stuff a great deal, but the book is strong without it. And V.I. is marvelous as usual. Worth the read.
Penzler, Otto, editor, Bibliomysteries Volume 2, Pegasus Books, 2018. I loved this volume. I’d read some of the novellas before, when I was ordering ebooks. And “The Little Men,” by Megan Abbott, which I thought I included in a previous Recommended Reading List, but can’t find at the moment. This volume will keep you entertained for days. It did so with me.
Pompeo, Joe, “Death & The Masque,” Vanity Fair, The Hollywood Issue, 2024. I’m not sure why this piece caught me, but it really did. Maybe because I was on the fringes of punk rock for decades. Maybe because I’ve been in dingy squalid little punk clubs, back when I was too stupid to understand the danger. Maybe because there’s an edginess here that interests me on a deep level. Whatever it is, I found this piece fascinating. I think you might too.
Taupin, Bernie, Scattershot: Life, Music, Elton & Me, Hachette Books, 2023. When I finished Bernie Taupin’s memoir, Scattershot, I immediately did two things. First, I ordered an ebook copy for a friend whom I figured would like it. (She liked parts and loathed parts. I’ll get to that.) Second, I knew I had to recommend it….but…I also realized that if I met Bernie Taupin, I doubted we would get along. There’s a lot in this book that I find—well, let’s just say the man and I don’t seem to agree about a lot of things. One thing we do agree about, though, is art and its importance. He is the lyricist behind some of my all-time favorite songs. He has a perspective that shows up in the book that is both skewed and spot-on.
He clearly wrote this, not some ghostwriter. And someone at Hachette ordered a light (or non-existant) copy edit. (This bothered my friend, a former copy editor. I just decided to go with it.) I was hooked from the author’s note forward. He starts the book this way:
I never intended this to be a conventional autobiography. My brain doesn’t work that way. I have no sense of specific timelines, and recollections and dates are as bad as my sense of direction.
Then he goes on to quote Lou Reed, who said Just because I wrote it doesn’t mean I know what it’s about. Taupin adds, What people want isn’t always what I can provide. Information on lyrical composition isn’t always forthcoming, certainly not when the keys to recall are lost. Who, and why, and what they’re about is ponderable but never definitive.
I underlined much of this book, some of it about art, some of it about business. I also smiled at the connections. His introduction to New York came through a writer for Cashbox named Eric Van Lustbader. Some of you will recognize him as a fiction writer, not a music journalist. They bonded over sf and fantasy, and they loved some of the same authors I loved (many of whom I knew). That was a lovely surprise. There are others throughout, such as the fact that he comes to Las Vegas every year to participate in the PBR, the Professional Bull Riders competition. You see, he has a ranch and horses and…really, just read this. You’ll be happy you did.