What I have been reading lately #52

The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man-- James Weldon Johnson

I was assigned this in college but never actually read it. It was different from what I expected (and, I'm pretty sure, not all that autobiographical). James Weldon Johnson is perhaps better known as the author of the lyrics to "Lift Every Voice and Sing" (aka "The Negro National Anthem", aka "The Black National Anthem").

The Neighborhood of Baseball-- Barry Gifford

This book is a memoir of one man's relationship with the Chicago Cubs. I've read it several times and have always enjoyed it.

Another Day of Life-- Ryszard Kapuscinski

A Polish journalist's account of the last days of Portuguese colonial rule in Angola. Another book that I've read several times and enjoyed.

There's a Boy in the Girl's Bathroom-- Louis Sachar

My daughter Alexandra recommended that I read this to my fourth grade class. They enjoyed it very much.

Time for Outrage (Indignez-vous!)-- Stephane Hessel

This book was written recently by a former French resistance fighter about the need to return to the old-fashioned values of liberty, equality, struggle against oppression, etc. A good book, and it only took a few minutes to read.

Change-- Mo Yan

Mo Yan is an author I have enjoyed reading in the past, and I enjoyed this book as well. It is a short memoir of his life growing up during the Cultural Revolution and in the People's Liberation Army.

Moving Through Here-- Don McNeill

This is a collection of article from the Village Voice about the hippies, Yippies, and other assorted folks in New York City and California during the 1960s. McNeill died at a young age in a drowning accident.

Fugitive Days: A Memoir-- Bill Ayers

This is an account of Bill Ayers journey from being an student anti-war activist to helping to found the Weather Underground and spending the better part of the 1970s as a fugitive from the FBI. It was very interesting.

Out of the Whale-- Jonah Raskin

Jonah Raskin wrote this book in the mid-1970s about his life. His parents were members of the Communist Party USA; he became a college professor and then a left-wing radical and Yippie. I enjoyed reading this book.

Abandoned books and/or movies #11

These are the books I have stopped reading over the past three months.

Rat Girl-- Kristin Hersh

Eating Mud Crabs in Kandahar: Stories of Food During Wartime by the World's Leading Correspondents-- edited by Matt McAllester

Intern Nation-- Ross Perlin

Skyjack: The Hunt for D.B. Cooper-- Geoffrey Gray

Ballad of the Whiskey Robber: A True Story of Bank Heists, Ice Hockey, Transylvanian Pelt Smuggling, Moonlighting Detectives, and Broken Hearts-- Julian Rubinstein

Los Macheteros: The Wells Fargo Robbery and the Violent Struggle for Puerto Rican Independence-- Ronald Fernandez

Foucault's Pendulum-- Umberto Eco

Ocean's of Words-- Ha Jin

Sleeping Where I Fall-- Peter Coyote

A Radical Line-- Thai Jones

The Making of Black Revolutionaries-- James Forman

Dangerously Funny: The Uncensored Story of the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour-- David Bianculli

What I have been reading lately #43

Journey to Topaz - Yoshiko Uchida

Journey to Topaz is a novel about a Japanese-American girl named Yuki who is interned along with her family during World War II. I read this book out loud to my class of fifth graders.

Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle

This was Arthur Conan Doyle's first collection of Sherlock Holmes stories. Notice that the title does not have the word "the" in it.

I'm Not Scared - Niccolo Ammaniti

This novel is about a boy and his friends growing up in a remote part of Italy during the late 1970s. It is a thriller, and, despite the title, I found it to be very scary.

Shenzhen: A Travelogue From China - Guy Delisle

From the author of Pyongyang and Burma Chronicles, this book is about when Guy Delisle spent some time in China working for an animation studio. It is the last of Delisle's books like this.

The Sign of Four - Arthur Conan Doyle

This is probably my favorite of the Sherlock Holmes novels (as opposed to the story collections). Notice that it only has one "the" in the title.