One of Baldwin’s most famous novels, Giovanni’s Room is an exquisitely written tale that I loved as soon as I started reading it, and that I have thought about ever since finishing it. Having spent the first half of 2022 reading books in something of a haphazard manner, as the second half of the year approached, I wrote down the list of books I wanted to cross off before the year had ended, and so, one grey and miserable afternoon in Bondi – of which, there have been many – I settled in to start Giovanni’s Room. It took a little over a year after recording the podcast with Cole until I would find myself in possession of a book of Baldwin’s – thanks to my friend David Wade – who lent me his copy of Giovanni’s Room. Cole said that he came to Baldwin’s work ‘embarrassingly late in life’, and I remember making a mental note to read Baldwin sooner rather than later. I think I first came across James Baldwin when author Cole Brown picked The Fire Next Time as one of his Desert Island Books.
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6/30/2023 0 Comments The long way down book1.Lightening fast readīe prepared to read this entire book in one sitting-once you get started, it’s impossible to put down. If you haven’t left this page yet to go read the extended excerpt, here are five reasons to read LONG WAY DOWN right now. But this is no ordinary elevator ride-as the door opens on each floor, a new person steps in all of them are people from Will’s life who have been victims of gun violence and they have things to tell Will that will change everything he thinks he knows. So Will takes his brother’s gun and gets in the elevator, going out to find and kill the person he thinks killed his brother. Will is overwhelmed with grief, but he knows the rules his brother taught him: No crying. Long Way Down is about fifteen-year-old Will, whose brother Shawn has just been murdered. So when I heard that he had a new novel coming out-in verse-I knew that I had to get my hands on it immediately. A new book by Jason Reynolds is always exciting-it’s well established that he’s up there with our favorite authors. Under orders from the government, Marwood is tasked with hunting down the killer across the devastated city. The man’s body has been mutilated and his thumbs have been tied behind his back. Paul’s, in a tomb that should have been empty. In the aftermath of the fire, a semi-mummified body is discovered in the ashes of St. Among the crowds watching its destruction is James Marwood, son of a disgraced printer, and reluctant government informer. Paul’s is engulfed in flames and reduced to ruins. The Great Fire rages through the city, consuming everything in its path. The first of an exciting new series of novels. From the No.1 best-selling author of The American Boy and The Silent Boy comes a brand new historical thriller set during the time of the Great Fire of London. 6/30/2023 0 Comments Elvis peter guralnickIt's at that crucial junction that "Last Train to Memphis" ends and "Careless Love" begins. According to Guralnick, those two distinct acts were separated by a curtain that fell in 1958, when Presley's beloved mother, Gladys, died, and he went into the Army for two years. But the more he investigated the parameters of Presley's life, the more apparent it became that the story was best told as a two-act drama in which an initial arc of triumph and invention gives way to musical diminution and social dissolution. Guralnick says he never intended to write two books totaling more than 1,300 pages. The book delineates the decline and fall of an American icon with musical, social and psychological details that will appeal to both Presley die-hards and doubters. What started for Peter Guralnick as liner notes for the 1987 CD reissue of "The Complete Sun Sessions" has ended 12 years later with the publication of "Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley." The new book, the second volume of Guralnick's massive biography, is a sobering follow-up to his 1994 critically acclaimed "Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley." Like its predecessor, "Careless Love" is assiduously researched, meticulously assembled and beautifully written, equal parts Shakespearean tragedy and psychological mystery. |