Read Recently (Not Really):
Sometimes I’m amazed people still read this thing looking for book recommendations because lately I’ve sucked at posted about what I’ve read. Like really sucked up the joint.
Here’s the catchup, all in one place…
Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
A lovely sad, poetic character study. Makes you want to cry and sigh deeply. Then call your best friends because life is too short not to.
Instant Love by Jamie Attenberg
Quick read, debut novel. Seems like chick lit at first sight but is really quite sad and tragic by the end. More about how expectations and fantasy can blind us to our own happiness.
Post-Soul Nation by Nelson George
1980s, black culture, the topic’s like friggin catnip to me. I also liked George’s use of a calander as an organizing principle. Not as intellectually rigorous as hist seminal “Hip Hop America” and but if you look past the bluster and bragadoccio, there’s a solid document of a decade there.
“Talking Right” by Geoffrey Nunberg
Perhaps the densest book I’ve read this year. Nunberg has done maybe 15 years worth of research for this barely 250 pages volume and dragged in a bibliography that would humble Harold Bloom. It’s great stuff that bears multiple rereadings, especially since Nunberg tries to outfancy his subjects at times, much to books detriment. Overall, though, it’s a juicy, thoughtful look at where the Democrats stumble on framing political debate, where Republicans succeed and how that imbalance can be corrected.
All caught up now….