Books acquired: “Dear Los Angeles: The City in Diaries and Letters, 1542 to 2018,” David Kipen, ed.; “Endurance: My Year in Space, A Lifetime of Discovery,” Scott Kelly; “The Library Book,” Susan Orlean

Books read: “Edgeworks Vol. 1,” “Edgeworks Vol. 2,” “An Edge in My Voice,” Harlan Ellison; “The Blood of the Lamb,” Peter De Vries; “A Pleasure to Burn,” Ray Bradbury

As promised, March was a month of edginess, at least as far as book titles was concerned. three with “edge,” one with “blood,” one with “burn.” Your gentle columnist and blogger must have mayhem on his mind.

But it wasn’t as bad as all that. They’re just titles!

I kind of cheated with the “Edgeworks” books, by the way (speaking of edginess). Each collects two Ellison books. In the case of Vol. 1, I hadn’t read “An Edge in My Voice” and hadn’t read a portion of “Over the Edge,” which Ellison revised with a few uncollected stories for this volume. Introductions were also new. So I counted it. But I also counted my separate volume of “Voice” because I actually read the book that way. And then, for real cheating, I counted Vol. 2, which collects two books I’d read separately earlier this decade, because I realized I hadn’t read the new introduction (20-some pages).

Ehh, what are you going to do. I just wanted it on the record that I’d read them and this is the handiest way to do so. I should probably count them as 1 1/2 books rather than 3. Make a note of it at home. Anyway:

“Edgeworks Vol. 1” (1996): First in a projected 20 volumes that became 4 volumes, another aborted series that aimed to present the complete Ellison and stopped even sooner than Pyramid/Ace did. Behind a somewhat generic cover lie two very different books with “edge” in their titles, one collecting fiction and the other nonfiction. The fiction side swaps in some otherwise-unreprinted stories, and there’s a new, long introduction. Completists will want this, but otherwise, collecting these volumes seems unnecessary. That goes for “Vol. 2” (1996) as well: It’s got the early rock ‘n’ roll novel “Spider Kiss” and the ’80s story collection “Stalking the Nightmare,” which has a Stephen King foreword.

“An Edge in My Voice” (1985): Akin to Henry Rollins’ long 21st century run as an LA Weekly columnist, Ellison’s yearlong stint for the alt-weekly in the early 1980s brought a recognizable name with a sometimes angry, profane style. For good or bad, Ellison was less focused, churning out columns that often ran 2,000 to 5,000 words on whatever topic(s) occurred to him. Nearly 40 years on, most of them are still fun to read, and he won a PEN Award for them.

I’d been reading “Voice” from my nightstand, a column per night, since late January, wrapping up in late March.

“The Blood of the Lamb” (1961): De Vries was a purveyor of lightly comic novels, many excellent, but “The Blood of the Lamb” wrestles with life, death, fatherhood, medical science, the capriciousness of fate and man’s relationship with God (if any). Yet the tragedy is balanced as on a knife’s edge with De Vries’ trademark humor. A tour de force. I can’t imagine what readers at the time thought; it’s as if “Weird” Al Yankovic released “Blood on the Tracks.”

“A Pleasure to Burn” (2010): Collects published and unpublished Bradbury stories from the early 1950s that carry social comment, especially about a conformist culture, like “The Pedestrian,” and book burnings, primarily through two novella versions of the story that evolved into “Fahrenheit 451.” Both are similar to each other but different enough from the novel (no immersive TV, no “green bullet” audio capsule, less Mechanical Hound), for example) to be worth reading for devotees. Frankly, I didn’t think I’d be able to finish this 300-pager as I started it around March 22. But a Metrolink weeknight trip, with an hour wait at Union Station for my train home, gave me the opportunity to read 90 pages, and then I finished March 28. Huh. Bradbury isn’t too demanding, it must be said. I even had time to get a good start on a book for April.

Also, I skim-read “Fahrenheit 451” over the weekend to refamiliarize myself with it and better understand the changes for the finished product. It’s a great book, no question, but in some ways I liked the earlier versions better; there’s less gasbaggery from the fire chief (Bradbury’s skills do not include realistic dialogue), and the addition of Faber coaching Montag from afar via the earpiece seems awkward and manipulative. Give me half a book, or at least 3/8, for this one. Hey, my score is improving.

“Lamb” was the clear winner this month. And not because March came in like a lion and went out like a (wait for it) lamb.

Let’s see, I got the “Edgeworks” volumes via mail order upon publication in 1996. (I’ve already read Vol. 3 and never bought Vol. 4, which had no new material other than an introduction, I don’t believe.) “Voice” was bought in 2012 at Stories in Echo Park. “Lamb” came from Pasadena’s Book Alley in 2005, after I read an excellent New Yorker profile of De Vries. And “Burn” was acquired from Glendale’s late Book Fellows in 2011.

As usual, I’m pleased to have knocked a few older books off my to-read list. Much more to come.

How was your March, readers? Please let us know in the comments. Feel free to cheat if you wish. I’m afraid I’ve set a bad example for you all.

Next month: dreams and unreality.