Reading Log: January 2022

Books acquired: “The Dreams in the Witch House and Other Stories,” H.P. Lovecraft; “Slow Days, Fast Company,” Eve Babitz; “Myth & Mirage: Inland Southern California, Birthplace of the Spanish Colonial Revival,” Riverside Art Museum

Books read: “Zappa,” Barry Miles; “Intimations,” Zadie Smith; “They Climbed the Mountain,” Glenn Wenzel; “The Two Gentlemen of Verona,” William Shakespeare; “Liner Notes,” Loudon Wainwright III

Happy New Yea — wait, we’re a month in. Well, welcome to our first Reading Log of 2022, in which I share what I read, month by month, and you do the same (unless you don’t; that’s your business).

Unlike 2021, when I read one, or occasionally two, Edgar Rice Burroughs novels per month, and in half the months read one of John D. MacDonald’s Travis McGee mysteries, I expect my reading this year to be less structured.

I’m thinking I will concentrate on my oldest unread books, from the ’00s, and my newest unread books, from 2019-on. (The backlog shrinks, but the struggle is real.) Also, with 15 (of 38) Shakespeare plays left, and having read zero last year, I want to get to some of those, if not many or all of them. Lastly, I’m going to try to read, or at least average, one book by a woman each month.

I don’t have a numerical goal for the year and never do. After 77 last year, 50 would be nice. Because I’d like to get to a few longer books, feeling freer to have, say, a three-book month would be helpful. I got so locked into reading a minimum of five books last year that other than a couple of thick anthologies, nothing was very ambitious.

Of course after all that, January ended as a five-book month, and February is off to a promising start too. Well, we’ll see how the year goes. Meanwhile, here’s what I read in January.

“Zappa” (2004): Miles gathered up existing research and didn’t talk to anyone, although he did interact with Zappa at various points in his life. Still, this is a decent effort at explaining Zappa, placing him in context and detailing his cultural impact. Miles is unsparing on Zappa’s misanthropy, need for control and inability to self examine. Certainly puts the “critical” in “critical biography,” and the book is the better for it. I’m not a fan, btw, but am curious about his life.

“Intimations” (2020): Moments and thoughts from the early weeks of the pandemic, which Smith memorably calls a “global humbling,” and with a closing essay, written post-George Floyd, on another sort of virus, that of racism, unconscious and not.

“They Climbed the Mountain” (2021): Climbing Mount Rubidoux is a daily ritual for some in Riverside and a onetime jaunt for visitors. Wenzel devotes chapters to notable people, some local, some well-known, who made the climb on foot, by car or by horse and buggy, including one president, one future president, writers, songwriters, ministers and magnates.

“Verona” (1593?): No phrases entered the language from this one, the plot is a little confusing, the motivations thin, the wrap-up unconvincing and, as they say, problematical. One of the lesser plays, but worth reading, of course. And it has Launce, one of the Bard’s great doofuses.

“Liner Notes” (2017): I own the book but listened to the audio version. As a fan, it was a treat to hear this natural performer perform his book by a lively reading and by singing the occasional song in full or in part that illustrates his personal stories. “My mom’s mom died when my mom was 7” was a great lyric, but it really sinks in when it’s joined to the story of how his mom was orphaned. No singer-songwriter has so doggedly chronicled his life as a father, husband, son and sibling as LW3. He’s still a neurotic cad, and no doubt more fun to listen to than to know. But he’s fun to listen to. The reclamation of a few of his father’s old Life magazine columns is a bonus.

Huh, so that was four nonfiction, one fiction — not how I see myself, but how I sometimes am anyway. February should be almost the reverse.

Where these books came from: The Zappa was a gift in 2004; I’ve referred to it for various columns over the years (and am cited in the endnotes for a silly anecdote about Zappa’s teenage years), but never sat down to read it until now. The Shakespeare is included in an omnibus from my college years, although for portability I checked out a version from the Pomona Public Library. The others are more recent: Wainwright from Claremont’s Rhino Records in 2020, the audio version a few weeks ago from Amazon; the Riverside from the author in 2021; and Zadie Smith from St. Louis’ Subterranean Books last summer.

Tell us in the comments not only about your January in reading but about any reading goals for 2022. In general, do you have a plan in mind, anything you want to accomplish? And thank you kindly.

Next month: It’s about time.

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Column: SB council keeps up its squeeze on mayor

Venturing once again to a San Bernardino City Council meeting, I watch as the council has a healthy discussion about the merits of eliminating the mayor’s job and simply rotating it among the seven members. In a sort of preview of how that might work, they had to run the meeting without the mayor because he didn’t show up. I write about it all in Friday’s column.

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Column: LA history mural already great, may become greater

Ever since visiting The Great Wall of Los Angeles mural in the San Fernando Valley on Labor Day weekend, I’ve meant to write about it. Even more so since visiting the Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach in December, where there’s an exhibit about it. Other priorities keep getting in the way. They might have gotten in the way this week too, except I decided to go for it and make everything else wait for a change. You can read about this amazing mural in my Wednesday column. (Or you can skip it and wait for Friday’s column — it’s a free country.)

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