Reading and Listening

Reading...

Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson. Excellent book. Broken up as short vinettes about various people living in the same small town. The characters are richly colored, even as they are simply drawn. They are grotesque, even as they are banal and benign and brave. They are us.

Wise Blood by Flannery O'Connor. This month's BookPeople book club pick and one of my favorite novels of the 20th century. Speaking of grotesque. O'Connor writes freaks from a foundation of faith, and treats them with the humor, love, and frankness they deserve.

No Perfect People Allowed by John Burke. A book by a seasoned church planter, living here in Austin. It's nice to learn from someone who has been there.

Tomorrow by Graham Swift. Isn't out in stores yet. Not as good as Waterland (his best) or Last Orders, but better than all the rest. Start here and you won't be disappointed, and you'll still have someplace else to go. Written as a letter from a mother to her children, revealing to them a 16 year family secret. Swift does family secrets better than anyone writing today.


Listening to...

Preludes by Warren Zevon. Posthumous release of unreleased material. Includes recorded interviews by Austin's own Jody Denberg. A must for any Zevon fan.

North Pole by The Primary 5. Teenage Fanclub's drummer's own pet project. Imagine Fanclub if they had listened to less Big Star and more Byrds. Pure pop. Great stuff.

There's No Home by Jana Hunter. Jolie Holland doing freak folk instead of straight folk/blues. If Jolie Holland was a man.

Still wearing out Rock Plaza Central. I really can't say enough about it. If you love Will Oldham and Neutral Milk Hotel and still don't own this...well, shame on you.