It has been a while since I blogged about books I have been reading, apart from a graphic novel. I do not get through a huge number of books, but I have a big pile I am working through. I do still read mostly paper books. I think this is my first post in the Hive Book Club, but I keep a log on Rambling Readers, which is part of the Fediverse I mentioned the other day.
How Music Works by David Byrne
Yes,it is the guy from Talking Heads and he draws on his experience to write about what music can mean to people as well as how it gets made. I love to get into the minds of other musicians and this is a good one. He talks about the spaces music is performed in and how technology has changed it. A fair bit of the book is autobiographical and then he talks about the financial side works too. Things are changing, but it can still be expensive to record, promote and tour. I think most musicians could learn something from this book and will be interesting to fans too.
How Not To Grow Up by Richard Herring
Comedian Richard Herring has a history of exposing his life. He blogs every day (which I tend not to read) as well as doing numerous podcasts and writing books. I posted about his account of his testicular cancer. This one is from a few years ago before he settled down to have a family. He really did get about with numerous partners, some much younger than him. It seems that being a reasonably famous comedian can make a man attractive. He wrote this around the time he turned forty and was having a bit of a mid-live crisis. It is an entertaining read, but also a little sad as he did not seem to always find happiness. He does seem happier with his life now.
My copy is signed as I got it at one of his shows where he interviews other comedians. He has not totally grown up as he did draw a penis.
The Last Devil To Die by Richard Osman
The Thursday Murder Club books have been a massive success for Mr Osman. He had the advantage of being a very popular TV presenter in the UK, but he writes well too. The stories feature a group of pensioners who enjoy solving mysteries and are very good at it. This one features drug deals and murder. There is some comedy in there, but also a really touching story of dealing with a partner with dementia. I am not going to spoil the plot for anyone. The first book has been filmed by Netflix with a top cast. It will be fun to see how the characters appear in that.
Illuminations by Alan Moore
Moore is famous for writing graphic novels such as Watchmen and V for Vendetta. This is a collection of (mostly) short stories with no pictures. They are very varied with some supernatural elements. One takes place in my home town of Bedford that really was the home of a doomsday cult. The longest story takes up half the book and is a history of the comics industry in an alternative Earth with a strange cast of characters. I will say that I found some of it hard going, but then I really enjoyed others. He is a man of deep thoughts.
Humble Pi by Matt Parker
We just passed Pi Day (March 14th, i.e. 3.14 in US dates) and this book is all about numbers. Actually it is about when humans get them wrong. That can have serious consequences as when planes run out of fuel or buildings fall down. I really enjoyed this one, but then I am a bit of a maths nerd. I think it could appeal to a wider audience as you do not need much technical knowledge to follow it.
As I mentioned earlier, I have plenty of books to work through, them will probably last me until Christmas when I can ask for more.
Happy reading!
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