Reading List March/April 2024
Four months into the new year and I have read 17 books of my 52 book goal! Which means, even though I have far less free time now that my family has returned to Shanghai, I am still on track, averaging about 1 book per week.
To do this, I have relied on audiobooks more than usual. Not that there is anything wrong with listening to audiobooks, but of the three ways to read books (physical, ebook, audio), this is my least preferred option.
I find it easier to tune out and let my mind wander when listening to an audiobook. Perhaps it’s just me, but I find myself hitting the back button on my Audible app regularly, just to keep up with the narrative through-line.
But because I’ve also added a (near) daily gym practice into my morning routine (finally), audio is ideal for this setting. I can still learn something while forcing my mass of middle-age man tissue into multiple grueling activities; each one designed by the devil himself, I am convinced.
Of the below list, five of the eight books I read in March and April were audio. This is unusual for me, as stated above, but one must adapt when conditions change.
Three months since the family’s arrival and we have settled into balanced routines; I am now more able to find pockets of time to read while at home. I have two teenage daughters and they are increasingly independent. Now that they’ve met new friends, I’ve proven less and less of an interesting attraction to them. Alas…
Currently, almost all of my “in-progress” books (some of which will be reviewed in the next newsletter) are physical copies. Again, this doesn’t really matter to me—I am not an elitist when it comes to reading. I share this only as an anecdote and, hopefully, as inspiration for you to find any method, any medium that allows you to read more.
Let’s take a look at the list:
As a bibliophile, I pride myself on being well read (what ever that means) and at least familiar with the “great masters” of literature. And many would include Gabriel Garcia Marquez in that canon of literary masters.
However, I had never read him. Something about the “magical realism” he is known for always turned me off each time I reached for, then ultimately set aside, one of his celebrated novels.
Typically, I want realism or I want magic. Combining the two just sounds confusing and ripe for dues ex machina plot contrivances that cheapen the story. Well written novels should be surprising, yet inevitable. This is very, very hard to do.
Some authors prefer to hide behind illogical puffs of creativity or whimsy. They wedge these fantastical moments into the narrative to move the action along or save the protagonists ass, when character driven choices would’ve served the story better. But it is far easier to just sprinkle fairy dust over a plot or character problem and suddenly, all is well! Logic and character obscured behind a cloud of kaleidoscope shaman smoke.
Anyhow, I’m happy to report that Until August, a lost novel published ten years after Marquez’s death in 2014, has very little magic and sticks to character driven consequences throughout.
It is a very short book, one could really call it a series of related stories, that follow the protagonist Ana Magdalena Bach as she visits her mother’s grave on a Caribbean Island each August.
As we first meet Ana, her sojourn by boat to the island has just begun. We learn that she is a reader (numerous titles are mentioned throughout) and her overall intent is pious and earnest; her only thoughts are of her mother.
Yet on the first night on the island, seemingly out of nowhere, Ana impetuously decides to sleep with a stranger she meets at the hotel bar. She is happily married— passionately so—which makes her reckless behavior all the more shocking to the reader (and herself).
What transpires is a series of affairs as she returns to lay flowers at her mother’s grave each August. With each subsequent year, with each new lover, she finds her guilt growing, but also her longing. Her marriage begins to fall apart and her relationship (and commitment) to her dead mother’s memory evolves. Could her new untamed desires be connected to the island and to her mother’s backstory?
This is a slight story, one which, while enjoyable and highly readable, feels low stakes and thinly realized overall. Calling this a novel feels more like a marketing decision than a true assessment of the structure of the work.
Still, I liked it, and if you are a Marquez fan you’ll want to read this, if for no other reason than to check it off your list.
Also, the cover design is sublime and would look great laid flat on a coffee table.
Bret Easton Ellis is one author I always look forward to reading. He is certainly hit or miss for me, but in general, I think he has a unique voice and worldview that I look forward to diving back into when a new book from him is released.
His books tend to be super graphic and ultra-violent and just as drenched in 80s music and cultural nostalgia as they are in arterial blood and sadistic sex.
American Psycho and Less Than Zero are his most famous novels, but his entire backlist is interesting and worth reading. Reading American Psycho my senior year in high school pretty much damaged me for life.
If you haven’t read that book and only saw they sanitized film starring Christian Bale (yes, it’s very tame by comparison) then you might want to prepare yourself before venturing between the pages of that particular tome. It’s deranged and brutal and sickening and yet, somehow, really, really funny.
This is the delicate tonal dance Ellis delivers in each of his books. His characters do terrible things, but then because we are so immersed in their thoughts and internal dialogues, we identify with them even as they represent the worst humanity has to offer.
Ellis’ talent is how he balances an almost “stream-of-consciousness” diversionary flow with stark realism and specificity of plot points. His magic as a writer is how he can spin a propulsive story that always chugs forth, even as he sometimes leads the reader into cul-de-sacs of near ephemera.
But he never completely abandons the path, even as he takes field-trips into 80s rock music, gratuitous sex and masturbation scenes, right-then-left driving directions around Los Angeles and the drug and drinking culture of the super privileged, mostly white, rich and pretty teenagers Ellis chooses to chronicle.
In The Shards, we get his meta-fiction magnum opus. At nearly 600 pages, this is his longest book and that fact will either energize you or depress you, depending upon your love for the story (and for Ellis’ creative milieu).
For me, I mostly loved it.
The main character is named Bret Easton Ellis—yes, like the author—and is loosely based on his life in high school in Los Angeles during the mid-eighties. It is part teenager melodrama, part druggie confessional, part gay coming-out story and part serial killer thriller. The mix mostly works, even as Ellis sometimes strays too far into one area and the reader loses track of some of the other subplots and characters.
I found myself forgetting minor characters, cross-wiring who was who throughout; we spend so much time in Bret’s head, submerged in his neurosis and fantasies, that some of the other players come across as cardboard cut-outs rather than flesh and blood people worth caring about.
And the ending was a mixed bag for me. There are scenes of genuine suspense and horror and I found myself sufficiently creeped out more than once. But the scariest thing about the book is Ellis’ inability to deliver a satisfying denouement. Sure, there is a carnage filled climax—blood sprayed and body parts flayed—but the killer is never truly unmasked. I don’t want to spoil anything, but just know the identity of the killer is beyond vague.
And for me, this is not acceptable in a serial killer book. I get that it’s more than that, deeper than that (as Ellis is considered a literary writer, placed above mere genre writers like Thomas Harris, Johnathon Kellerman or Patricia Cornwell) but still, we need some sort of closure after 600 pages of blood and guts.
I liked it, liked it a lot and would recommend it to anyone twisted enough to enjoy reading this sort of thing. But just know the ending may leave you wanting more, and not necessarily in a good way.
Next is James Baldwin’s short, powerful novel Giovanni’s Room, which he wrote in France and based, in part, on people he met and interacted with while living there.
Baldwin is one of my favorite writers and gets to the heart of the human condition better than almost anyone I’ve ever read. His characters feel real and their hopes, dreams, desires, aches and pains become ours too.
In Giovanni’s Room he deals with a complex and intense love, written across the backdrop of post WWII European life and how that contrasts with the main character’s decidedly American upbringing and value set.
The story centers around David, an aimless American wandering through the nightlife of 1950s Paris. His fiancée has recently fled to Spain to see if she really does love him—absence makes the heart grow fonder, and all that. Unfortunately for poor Hella, David meets and falls in love with an Italian bartender, the Giovanni of the title.
Baldwin, a gay man himself, deftly writes the inner turmoil of David as he contends with the realities of loving two different people, across two different genders. He could’ve easily written this as a triumphant “coming out” story, but he doesn’t take us there, not explicitly.
The reader is instead left wondering if David will continue his life as a gay man, or suppress his inner longings to align with society’s expectations. There is finality to his relationship with his fiancée and certainly with Giovanni, but I wasn’t convinced that David fully embraced the courage he would need to continue living as a gay man during the 1950s (especially if he decided to return to America, a topic he struggled with throughout the book).
A brilliant and fast read that leaves one pondering identity, love and loss.
I think I’ve read all of Cal Newport’s books. They are clearly written, fast and contain actionable steps needed to make the changes in your life you might be seeking after being lured in by the title.
Slow Productivity is no exception. Do you want to get more done with less stress? Yep, sign me up.
If you’ve read his other books, this one doesn’t offer a whole lot of new material, but it’s a nice refresher for those of us trying to juggle more than we can handle smoothly. But, if you are new to Newport’s writing, you can start here and not be lost.
That’s it. Can’t really pontificate about this one. It’s not literature, not really open to vainglorious philosophical interpretation, though I’m sure someone will try.
Just nuts and bolts instructions for better living.
I follow Dan Koe on YouTube and enjoy his social media and entrepreneur trainings and life lessons. His content is low-key inspirational and direct—just the way I like my influencers to be.
I don’t need fluffy. Just give me the info and make it make sense.
When I heard that he had written a book, I downloaded it immediately. And let me tell you, I was not prepared for what I received.
The book is far more philosophical and “woo-woo” than his social media persona would suggest. It’s not full cosmic moonbeam, crystals and Mercury in retrograde bullshit, but it’s close enough to give me pause in some sections.
However, overall, I really liked the book. Like so many of the books in this genre, there isn’t a whole lot new here (I’ve probably read 200 self-help/self-development type books) but he does have a unique way of packaging the lessons and take-aways.
For me, when I look to some of these lifestyle gurus, I need them to not be cringy for me to pick up what they are throwing down. Dan Koe only makes me cringe a little bit and I’ve never thrown up in my own mouth while watching one of his videos. And that’s saying a lot when it comes to the “life-style design”, Jordan Peterson worshipping, productivity bros that proliferate on the internet nowadays.
This guy seems just this side of cheesy. And he has some interesting takes on everyday problems. Check him out, if you are so inclined.
I’ve been on an Anthony De Mello kick these past few months, having only recently discovered his work.
De Mello was an Indian Jesuit priest and psychotherapist who died in 1987. He built a following by speaking to the nature of the human condition and how to reach enlightenment through very simple and direct awareness of reality.
That really is all there is to his teachings. If you see things as they really are, truly see them, then all, as De Mello argues, is well. Of course, he shares this insight over the course of numerous stories and examples, but overall, the teachings are simple.
Ever since my college years, I have been on a journey to find some sort of spiritual and philosophical system that resonates with my personality. I am skeptical by nature and not easily swayed by evangelical attitudes of blind belief.
The universe is observable to a certain extent and we should strive to see what there is to see, while we are alive to see it. I realize that there are sub-visual realms that contain particles of reality that I cannot readily observe. But that’s not the mystery I am trying to unlock. Let the scientists chase that particular rabbit.
I want to know how to live a satisfying, happy and content life. Period. End of story. That is my only aim and De Mello claims this state is reachable, if only we can become more aware of reality.
Reading this book didn’t give me x-ray vision to all my problems. However, it did send me down rabbit holes of introspection and contemplation that are beginning to pay dividends as they are already informing my daily habits and choices.
If you are not familiar with De Mello’s teachings, I suggest this one or Awareness.
For those of you interested in writing, I highly recommend this book by John Gardner. Stephen King’s On Writing is probably the best selling “how to write’ type book out there, but there are plenty worth adding to your shelf, this being one of them.
Gardener is direct and instructive, but also very poetic in some of the ways he describes things. He uses some of this own writing to highlight points and I found these passages particularly enlightening.
He is definitely snooty and isn’t shy to share his disdain for certain types of books, writers and editors. I found myself picturing a grumpy old man, sitting by a fire in a luxurious study and lecturing a small group of handpicked apprentices seated at his feet. This elitist attitude isn’t shared to scare off any would-be writer, rather, he just wants to be realistic and not gloss over how hard the life of a writer can be.
More than once he mentions that the average writer makes about $5000 a year. And this book was published in the 80s; I can’t imagine it’s gotten much better.
Anyhow, his aim is not to discourage, but to harden the writers carapace against the arrows of uncertainty and rejection (as well as the exhausting daily grind of putting fingers to keyboard).
A must read for any aspiring writer.
And finally, 1000 Words by Jami Attenberg. While John Gardner’s book was gruff and pointed, this one feels like a warm huge. If you are a writer looking for community and belonging, this book is for you.
The title is taken from the foundational exercise that the author embraced upon to get out of a writing slump and breathe new life into her practice. She started sharing her progress on social media and before long, she had created an online community of writers, focused on producing 1000 written words per day.
Writing is typically a solitary pursuit, so the advice and inspiration contained in this book is designed to help struggling writers feel less alone as we sit and stare at a blank page for hours upon hours each day.
I liked this book, didn’t love it. It’s just ok, for me. There were some really great ideas shared and some heartfelt examples, but I feel like I’ve heard most of this before. I never once felt the need to write down a takeaway or like I just had to order a hard copy to annotate later.
Fluffy and superficially empowering, but little of substance or lasting impact. But if you just need a jolt of feel good creative inspiration, like we all do from time-to-time, then check this one out.