What Are You Reading ?

[CRAZY-HORSE]

IAN 'molly' MELDRUM "the never, um, ever ending story

the autobiography of the most iconic influential man in music media in the last fifty years...
he was a music journalist and record producer in Australia in the 1960s....
worked or Apple and has one of the first ten copies of "the white album"....
so revered was he by The Beatles that he actually was 'molly' in obla-di obla-da",(no, he didn't marry desmond, but he is gay!)
his music show in the 70s-80s was the template the early MTV copied for their show....
his best friends include Elton, Macca, Michael Jackson, Madonna...
he was the only none family member invited to Lennon's funeral...
he was Lennon's confidant that the Beatles were splitting up a month prior to it happening...
for twenty years he was the only one who Madonna allowed to be interviewed by...
Prince Charles' first one-on-one interview was with him...

lots of inside stories in this one, a light read, humorous commentary from the only man in the world
who has got closer to the 'stars' than anyone else in 'the biz'

4/5

[Music Head]

Bill O'Reilly & Martin Dugard - Killing Patton - 2014



The final year of the war and the Russians, Brits and Americans are closing in on Hitler. A race for who gets to Berlin first. The commies won. This book is as much about the other players as it is Patton. That would be Roosevelt, Churchill, Truman, Stalin and Eisenhower. We all get to divide up Europe as a result of our victory. I'm not a conspiracy guy so I'm not much into the premise of the book which is that Patton met his fate as a result of some planned plot. The man died from being in a car accident. His vehicle was plowed into by a U.S. Army truck. I'm sure he acquired some enemies over the years but it is a reach to say it his death was planned. But it sure was a good book.

Grade - A

next up - One Of Ours by Willa Cather

[DanicaL]

I am currently reading "This Book is Full of Spiders", check it out!

[Music Head]

Willa Cather - One Of Ours - 1923



Pulitzer Prize winning novel set in farm country Nebraska for the onset of the Great War.
Builds around young Claude Wheeler, from a prosperous farming family attempting to make it on his own.
He marries his childhood sweetheart, builds a house and sets out for the American dream.
His wife has her own dreams and heads off to do missionary work in China.
Claude says see ya and joins the army when he fails
Look out kid, it's something you did.
sorry, lost my train of thought there
He gets shipped to France to fight the Germans
He gets killed
the end

Grade - A

next up - Rise Of Isis by Jay Sekulow

[DanielKacey]

Right this minute a great blog on the Ents Capital UK website titled "14 Things only Grass Roots Entertainers Will Ever know!" Well funny as it reminds me of all the things I see and do when Im gigging, including the pensioners who always want 60s music ! Oh and reading this feed of course!

[Music Head]

Jay Sekulow - Rise Of Isis - 2014



Lawyer turned writer.
Laying out the law to ISIS.
He is a Fox news contributor and hosts his own radio show.
Some nice analysis as to the variations of the different terrorist groups and how they came to be.
Also good stuff on Islam beliefs and how they translate into hate for Israel and the goal of its destruction
Scary stuff and this is what we face
woe is us

Grade - C

next up - Arrowsmith by Sinclair Lewis

[Mr.Smolski]

I'm reading My Sister Lives On Mantelpiece by A.Pitcher

[Music Head]

Sinclair Lewis - Arrowsmith - 1925



Pulitzer Prize winner. Story of a biologist/doctor from his introduction to medicine in his teens to his later retirement years. A passion for learning medicine dominates the story, to the detriment of his friends and wife. Obsession is not a good thing. Setting is from rural Minnesota to Chicago and then NYC. A good read except for all the medicine details (I kept having to look up words). Well written as is Lewis's other work that I have read.

Grade - B

next up - Winston Churchill: The Valiant Years by Jack LeVien and John Lord

[Music Head]

Jack LeVien and John Lord - Winston Churchill: The Valiant Years - 1962



My hero. Saved Europe with our help of course. I will read anything by or about him. Still can't believe they voted him out.

Grade - A

next up - The Magnificent Ambersons by Booth Tarkington

[CRAZY-HORSE]

I have never read anything about Churchill but I thought he resigned from the PM position in the UK due to failing health,
I thought he had a series of strokes or something, but I could be wrong.

as a footnote:
my mum had an uncle who was a huge fan of Churchill and I remember as a child going to visit him..
the only thing I remember about him is that he continually played recorded Churchill speeches on his record player
and had pictures of the man on his walls...
all very dour and sombre for me, a kid, of eight or nine at the time.