Africa: A Very Short Introduction by John Parker and Richard Rathbone. I’ve been mainlining books in the Oxford University Press series “Very Short Introductions“. Parker and Rathbone’s Africa captures everything I love about these books; not only does it provide tons of insight into African history but also provides a history of the study of African history.
Our Noise: The Story of Merge Records by John Cook with Mac MacCaughan & Laura Balance. A fitting tribute to Mac and Laura’s almost moral duty towards the work of running a record label with tons of insight into “the little label that could” and the bands Merge Records nurtured. Who knew Lemony Snicket was in the Magnetic Fields?
The Dog by Joseph O’Neill. I highlighted a ton of quotes that captured my memories of years stuck in a conference room in midtown Manhattan. Turns out I have no idea how to find “highlights” in Kindle books checked out from the Brooklyn Public Library. So be it.
My favorite line from “The Dog”: One way to sum up the stupidity of this phase of my life, a phase I’m afraid is ongoing, would be to call it the phase of insights.