Reading Update #2

I finally hit double digits in books read

I have not posted a reading update since March! I had a bit of a reading lull as life got busy, but I also procrastinated writing up some ones I finished earlier. I added three books to my finished pile at the beach last week (the first three in this post) so decided to bite the bullet and make this post.

I am now at 10 books this year and am almost halfway through No. 11. Hoping to hit 18 by the end of the year since I know life will get busy again.

The Name of This Band is R.E.M. by Peter Ames Carlin: This came as a Christmas present, but I saved it for the beach so I could read it in just a couple of days. I have a high bar for R.E.M. analysis because I have read so much over the years. I really enjoyed this. I found a few flaws (OMG, he talks about "Rockville" as countrified when discussing its early origins, which could not be further from the truth), but overall, I gleaned a lot of new information or context. The interviews with family friends and early collaborators really made this worth reading. He did speedrun through the last 8-10 years, but I can forgive some of that since I doubt too many people have stories they are willing to tell about the decline of things.

Family and Other Calamities by Leslie Gray Streeter: I worked with Leslie for two years at The York Dispatch in the late 1990s and have remained friends since. I knew I would love her easy writing style and found the ride this novel provided so entertaining. The cultural references hit my sweet spot, and she creates a great sense of place for some of my favorite places. The walk through the main character’s old newsroom gave me goosebumps since that is where we met. A thoroughly delightful romp that I could not put down until I finished!

Beyond the Field: How Soccer Built Community in the United States by Brian D. Bunk: A random post on Bluesky brought this to my attention, and I jumped at the opportunity to nerd out about soccer and support a university press at the same time. At a tidy 200-ish pages, this packs a lot of information without the repetition that some academic press books can bring. I loved learning lots of little facts, not only about how the game grew and contracted in some communities, but also about the difficulties of finding solid source material.

Back After This by Linda Holmes: I will devour almost anything that Linda Holmes produces. Her third novel did not disappoint even though you knew how things would end. It is a rom-com after all. The fun is learning about the characters and how they overcome the obstacles. She draws incredibly realistic characters with deep insecurities that make the journey believable and ultimately so much fun. I have only dabbled in podcasting, while she is a giant in the field, but the inside baseball touches really bring the characters and their situations to life.

Lloyd McNeil's Last Ride by Will Leitch: Across his three novels, Will Leitch has a way of taking things that might seem depressing (a profound disability, a hostage situation, and now a cancer diagnosis) and having a little fun with them as a narrative device. The titular character faces his life-altering news in a really satisfying manner with a bunch of life lessons thrown in for good measure. I read this at a busy time and went through the first half in fits and starts, but once I had some evenings free to really read, I could not put it down. Leitch is another one I will always trust with my reading time.

Sandwich by Catherine Newman: I saw a story about a family on a beach vacation and could not resist making the purchase. The ultimate topic went in a different direction than I expected - a middle-aged woman dealing with aging and loss - but I loved every second of it. The characters jumped out as very real and layered, and I could see the beach town in my head even though it is very different from the place I visit annually with my family.

The Storied Life of AJ Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin: I am slowly working my way through Gabrielle Zevin's books, backwards by accident. This is my third one, and I liked it the least of the three, but I still liked it a lot. I am still not sure how much I liked the big jumps in time, but I ultimately felt satisfied with the conclusion. I just wish I got a better sense of some of the characters before moving years ahead. She does create wonderful images in your head, both in her use of place and the drawing of the characters.