THURSDAY, OCT. 9 — Having always been fascinated by what the moon does, I found the recent blood moon spellbinding. The full moon of the night before was one of the brightest I've seen and, per my experiment on my back deck, was bright enough to read by. A celestial booklight, so to speak. Here's what we're reading:
SOMETIMES THE WOLF
Urban Waite
OK, I'm now officially a big fan of Urban Waite. His last novel, The Carrion Birds, was a compelling crime drama that showed a definite Cormac McCarthy influence. His new book takes his game up another notch.
Set in the Pacific Northwest, the story follows a former sheriff, recently paroled after serving twelve years for smuggling drugs across the Canadian border, and his son, whose life was changed dramatically by his father's arrest and public notoriety. The tension of the father/son relationship becomes much more complicated when rumors of murder and hidden drug money enter the picture. Good guys who may not be, bad guys who are memorably evil and violent and the isolation of the landscape itself combine to create a white-knuckle thriller of the highest order. I'll be waiting anxiously for his next book.
FOOTBALL: GREAT WRITING ABOUT THE NATIONAL SPORT
ed. By John Schulian
After reading Steve Almond's thoughtful and well-argued Against Football a few weeks ago, I felt inspired to pick up this new Library of America collection to touch base with the spirit of the game I've loved for so many years.
John Schulian, himself a gifted sportswriter worthy of inclusion, does a marvelous job of selecting work from the true giants of the genre: Red Smith, Jimmy Breslin, George Plimpton, Dick Schaap, Michael Lewis, Dan Jenkins and dozens more. The book doesn't shy away from the problems and controversies surrounding the sport, but it does present a compelling argument in favor of the real-life drama and passion that not only inspires the fans, but also the masterful journalists and storytellers who provide the thrilling reading in these pages. If you truly care about the sport, I'd highly recommend both books.
PHYSICS FOR ROCK STARS
Christine McKinley
Regular readers of this newsletter know I have a taste for books that take a subject many people like to avoid - mathematics - and show how important it is to everything we do, see and think about in this world. Ms. McKinley's very entertaining new book does the same thing for physics.
By taking the equations out of the concepts (mostly), the author presents both practical and rather fanciful real-life examples of the forces of physics all around us, explains the how and why behind them, and does it all while telling her own story in a warm and somewhat offbeat way. Some of the experiments she describes, while clearly and humorously illustrative of her points, would be really hard to take part in unless, as an example, you happen to know a group of cheerleaders on their way to the Himalayas to drink mojitos. The impressive thing about this book is the way the material is presented with such clarity and humor you can read it and learn something while enjoying a natural storyteller's quirky voice. And so can your kids, which makes it even better.
I took a detour into sports trivia last week, so let's get back to reading this time, shall we? What book sticks out in your memory as having taught you something about a subject you weren't familiar with?
PS - The answer to last week's trivia question is Cy Young. The Hall of Fame pitcher is the only former player to have a post-season award named after him, which has been given out in each league every year since 1956. That puts his name in the HoF more times than anyone else's.
Until next week,
Neil
NeilNeil Rajala is Currently Director of Community & Business Services for Schuler Books, Neil's decade with the company has included the wearing of many different hats - and lots and lots of reading.
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