BOOKS THREAD

I'm currently working on "Jerry Lee Lewis, his own story", by Rick Bragg. I'm only a hundred pages in, with Jerry Lee just beginning to play clubs in Natchez he was too young to legally be inside of, but it's wonderful so far. Bragg's understanding of the South and the conflict between fundamentalist religion and the sinning that normal people do, combined with his patience in drawing out his subject and his writing style have me enthralled.

 

I knocked this out in a couple of days. It's not as out-there as some of Palahniuk's stuff, but I believe it was one of his early books.

Main character is supposedly one of the last surviving members of a religious sect kinda like Jim Jones' People's Temple. Then the other survivors being dying off, through suicide or murder designed to look like suicide. Then when he's the only one left, he turns into a celebrity. No spoilers there, but that sets it all up.

Joe Bob says check it out, but not if you're on a plane.

 

Just finished The Way It Was: My Life with Frank Sinatra by Eliot Weisman, Frank's longtime manager through the end of his career. The writing isn't great and Weisman obviously still idolizes Frank but beyond that this is a fine, behind the scenes look at the final part of Sinatra's career, both on the road and off, which is glossed over by most biographers. Weisman details Frank's tour with Sammy and Dean, beefs with Liza Minelli, Trump and others, the health problems that plagued him over the final years of his life, the recording of the Duets albums and the infighting between his kids and his fourth wife, Barbara. Worth looking into for Sinatra fans.

 

"Sex with Kings" by Eleanor Herman (2010). A bit outside my wheelhouse, but a fun read about late Middle Ages/Renaissance-era kings and their mistresses, gleaned from diaries, memoirs, historic letters, etc.

Herman outlines how, among royals of the day, queens were often "a walking uterus with a crown on top," good only for creating the next generation of kings, while mistresses enjoyed the best of his majesty's company — while they lasted.

Well-organized, interesting and leavened with quite a bit of humor. You also get to learn what happened to all the "royal bastards" created by the king-mistress romps.

 

I found a copy of this at Half Price Books today while waiting for my son to finish lessons at the music shop next door. I'm maybe a dozen pages in, and really like it so far.

On the downside, there's a Half Price Books next door to the music shop where my son takes lessons, so I have an hour to kill each week. I'm gonna go broke there.

 

Man, I can't tell you how many hours I've spent (or books I've come home with) from Half Price and other used book stores. There's only one really good one here and it's about an hour round trip, so I don't get seduced nearly as often as in the past. Down side is that when I do, I'm usually buying new at full price. Let's hear it for the library!

I really like Rick Bragg's work. He can flat write, the true quill.

 

Just started my Audible for Bad Blood, the expose of Theranos/Elizabeth Holmes. Gonna be a good one.

 

Just read Jim Clapper's book. Wonky but worthwhile.

 

Legacy of Spies. John Le Carre writes a sequel to The Spy Who Came in From the Cold and the George Smiley books.

It's impossible for me to talk about it without spoilers. That being said, tone-wise, it rings quite true to the earlier books and for what it's worth, I liked it.

 

I'm looking for a long, absorbing, readable and smart work of fiction to take with me on a ten-day vacation. Something of the breadth/quality of Lonesome Dove or A Fine Balance (which I've read and highly recommend). Any ideas, please share.

 

Don't know those books, but Franzen and Richard Price novels would fit those descriptions.