Jan Reid: Texas Tornado: The Times and Music of Doug Sahm (Brad and Michele Moore Roots Music Series)
Wonderful biography of the American Roots Music Master and one of the original cosmic cowboys.
Tom Nolan: Three Chords for Beauty's Sake: The Life of Artie Shaw
Well written and thoroughly researched biography of one of the real greats of the Swing Era. In the late thirties and early forties swing fans were either fans of Benny Goodman or Artie Shaw. While Goodman was easily the more popular, Shaw made music of rare beauty and was a much more mercurial figure. Unlike Goodman, Shaw retired fro performing in the fifties, but lived into his nineties to see his music reissued and revived. This book does a great job of telling his life and describing his music while unflinchingly describing his unnattractive personality.
Anthony Bourdain: Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook
Effectively a series of short essays, some as short as a blog post about a variety of food and dining issues. If you've seen his TV show (highly recommended) or read his "discussions" on the internet, you've heard all this before. Entertaining in his normal neo-Hunter S Thompson style.
David Lebovitz: The Sweet Life in Paris: Delicious Adventures in the World's Most Glorious - and Perplexing - City
The author talks about his life as an American transplanted to Paris. Since is is a chef and cookbook author by trade, I would describe this as autobiography with recipes. The stories of Paris are quite good. So are the recipes.
Michael Lewis: The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine
Riveting account of several big players who saw the financial crisis in subprime lending coming and made money based on their foresight.
David Weber: A Mighty Fortress (Safehold Book 4)
Book 4 of the Safehold series continues the trend of being more action packed as the adventure unfurls. This book will be especially enjoyed by lovers of nautical fiction.
Lynne Olson: Troublesome Young Men: The Rebels Who Brought Churchill to Power and Helped Save England
Very interesting book about the English politics that replaced Neville Chamberlain with Winston Churchill as World War two started. Much more interesting and complicated than you expect.
Nathaniel C. Fick: One Bullet Away: The Making of a Marine Officer
Outstanding book that lets you see the front lines in our ongoing war on terror and the culture of the U. S. Marines.
Rick Atkinson: The Day of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943-1944 (The Liberation Trilogy)
Excellent detailed account of the US European campaign in World War II started with the Pulitzer Prize willing An Army At Dawn. Reading this while traveling in Italy helped to underscore the impact that terrain had in this hard fought theater in the war.
Dunstan Prial: The Producer: John Hammond and the Soul of American Music
John Hammond is one of the great figures in American music and an important figure in the early civil rights movement. He produced Bessie Smith's last record session and Billie Holiday's first. He was an important figure in the careers of Count Basie. He also signed Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen to their first recording contracts. I much prefer Hammond's autobiography but this is is a well told tale.
In my quick postgame recap of the game against the Charlotte Bobcats I wrote that "if the jumpers don't fall, this team doesn't win." The corollary to this of course is that if the jumpers do fall, then the Wizards are going to very pesky team to contend with on any given night.
Click here for full game recap from Bulletsforever
From a struggling reserve with a minutes limitation to a starter? It could happen for Gilbert Arenas only four days after it appeared that his return to form was going to be a prolonged endeavor. His jump shot was off target and he was slow to get in proper game shape after missing nearly three weeks of action with a strained tendon his right ankle.
see full article at: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/wizardsinsider/2010/11/is-it-finally-time-for-gilbert.html?wprss=wizardsinsider#
I went to see my Washington Wizards play the San Antonio Spurs last night. Joining me was the Grand Poobah and The Trouble Boys. It may have been the sloppiest NBA game I have ever seen. The Wizards, on the back end of back to back road games came out lifeless and the only real moves they made were the result of the lethargy of the Spurs. It was Armed Forces Appreciation night in San Antonio, and just reminded me of how much I wish attending the games was about the games and not the spectacle. I even found the piped in music annoying, even the Bruce Springsteen.
Gilbert had an off night and still managed to score 20. Gilbert for MVP!
