Reading - August 2016

Adventures In The Screen Trade by William Goldman (1983)

Re-reading after recommending it to a colleague - although I had forgotten that I had only read it about a year ago (even though it's clearly there in my reading history). Enjoyable and interesting as always. I keep meaning to go and check on some his predictions (my knowledge of film history isn't good enough to know).

The Week (6 August 2016 / Issue 1085)

Guitar & Bass (September 2016 / Vol 27 No 12)

The Week (13 August 2016 / Issue 1086)

Whit by Iain Banks (1995)

No "M" in the name here so this is Literature, which means it must be About Something. Unfortunately, if it's anything other than a reasonably entertaining, diverting and slightly over-long tale about power struggles in a Scottish religious cult, then it's escaped me. In fact, I don't think it is "about" anything other than a story from an unusual viewpoint. Well told, of course, but the central character is not really engaging enough  to make me really want to know what happens. I made it to the end but still felt a bit "meh" about the whole thing.

The Consolations Of Philosophy by Alain de Botton (2000)

This was the first book by de Botton that I read, probably in 2001. His is a unique writing style, simple and yet rich, and well suited to potentially complex ideas - except they don't seem complicated when he describes them. As good a primer on the six included philosophers as can be found anywhere, I'll warrant, and full of food for thought.

Guitarist ( September 2016 / Issue 411)

The Week (20 August 2016 / Issue 1087)

The Week (27 August 2016 / Issue 1088)

Bread Matters: Why and How to Make Your Own

Andrew Whitley
2009

As the title makes clear, this isn't just a book about how to make bread at home, but also why you should consider doing so. A significant part of the book is devoted to explaining what's wrong with the loaf on the supermarket shelf: what extra ingredients go into a mass-produced loaf and why they are there. Most, it turns out, are not there for your benefit as a consumer but for the manufacturers' benefit - to make the bread keep better, look larger, fuller and more attractive and so on. I broadly knew this already but hadn't come across the detail that this book contains, which is all very interesting and in some cases, concerning.

Most interesting is Whitley's assertion (backed up by referenced studies) that much of what manifests as "gluten intolerance" in many people is actually an intolerance for inadequately fermented gluten. Modern bread is made as quickly as possible, of course, but although the manufacturers have found ways to artificially accelerate rising times, what they haven't done is replicate the more complicated fermentation process that breaks down indigestible proteins over several hours of rising and proving. The suggestion is that bread made more naturally - slowly - is better for us because it will have had a chance for the nutrients to develop properly, and in particular better for people who have had problems with mass-produced bread. (Note that he doesn't include coeliacs in this, who are actually allergic to gluten,.)

If you want to make your own bread, avoiding these unnecessary ingredients, it follows that you should use primarily home-grown yeast too, and most of the recipes are broadly "sourdoughs". I'm not a huge fan of sourdough but Whitley's approach to sourdough starters, leavens and so on (there are various names) is slightly different from any others I've read and so it's quite possible that the breads will be different too - I haven't tried to make any yet but I am keen to try.

This book is interesting, comes from a different perspective to any others I have read and is a worthwhile addition to any collection of baking books. I read this on loan from the library but will probably buy my own copy. However, it's not the right book for someone just starting out making their own bread, because it does suffer from two significant problems: first, it's too long, and second, it doesn't have enough pictures. I don't need glossy photos of nice looking loaves particularly, but illustrations of the process are invaluable to anyone starting out.

Reading - July 2016

The Week (2 July 2016 / Issue 1080)

Published only days after the referendum and already out of date. The perils of printed news.

Roarke's Wife by Beverly Barton (1997)

Kind of a combined romance/whodunnit. Appealing in places but a little unbelievable in others.

The Week (9 July 2016 / Issue 1081)

Guitar & Bass (August 2016 / Vol 27 No. 11)

At Home by Bill Bryson (2010)

I read once that Terry Deary (author of Horrible Histories) employed a team of researchers to find interesting facts, which he would then combine into books. I don't know how Bill Bryson works but given the "select" bibliography at the back - which is 26 pages long and contains over 500 books - I assume he does the same. The result is a loosely themed collection of always interesting and occasionally fascinating bits and pieces of information (I've been quoting them at people for days), but one that nevertheless feels like the information is driving the book rather than the other way round.

The Week (16 July 2016 / Issue 1082)

Apollo 13 by Jim Lovell & Jeffrey Kluger (1994)

Brilliant telling of the Apollo 13 story, which, by having a clear narrative arc, manages to bring in lots of other information about Apollo and NASA without being dull.

The Week (23 July 2016 / Issue 1083)

Guitarist (Summer 2016 / Issue 410)

The Week (30 July 2016 / Issue 1084)

Bread Matters: Why and How to Make Your Own by Andrew Whitley (2009)

Reading - June 2016

The Week (4 June 2016 / Issue 1076)

The Hunt For Red October by Tom Clancy (1984)

Classic technical thriller. Could easily have been half the length but the fact that it carries the story despite that tells you how good a yarn is spun.

The Hacker Crackdown by Bruce Sterling (1992)

Key historical document on the evolution of the internet and cyberspace and internet-related crime.

Guitar & Bass (July 2016 / Vol 27 No 10)

Not The End Of The World by Christopher Brookmyre (1998)

Hadn't read this for ages, for some reason. Great stuff as usual.

The Week (11 June 2016 / Issue 1077)

Guitarist (August 2016 / Issue 409)

Reading - May 2016

Guitarist (June 2016 / Issue 407)

Interesting article about Zemaitis guitars.

The Week (23 April 2016 / Issue 1070)

The Week (30 April 2016 / Issue 1071)

Serious by John McEnroe (with James Kaplan) (2002)

An easy and interesting read, but a little repetitive. He downplays how much effort and practice it must have taken him to reach the standard he did (all autobiographies do this, though) and the recitation of match after match gets a bit dull, although in this it probably reflects the reality of a touring life. The book could do with an update, since it's 14 years old and McEnroe is still very active on the circuit, both as a seniors player and commentator. (edit: the follow-up, But Seriously, is due in June 2017, according to Amazon.)

The Week (7 May 2016 / Issue 1072)

Guitar & Bass (June 2016 / Vol 27 No. 09)

The Week (14 May 2016 / Issue 1073)

Private Eye Annual 2009 edited by Ian Hislop (er, 2009)

I found this at the "book exchange" at work. It's been fine for occasional dips into when I have a few spare moments (it's taken me over a month to finish) but reminds me why I stopped subscribing to Private Eye - it's very repetitive.

The Man Who Sold The World: David Bowie and the 1970s by Peter Doggett (2011)

Well written, full of facts and insights ... and just a teensy bit dull.

Guitar Effects Pedals: The Practical Handbook by Dave Hunter (2013)

Effects pedals are a recent enthusiasm of mine (I had four at the beginning of 2014 and I now have sixteen, only one of which is one the original four). If you frequent the online forums, you'll see a lot of posts about Tube Screamer variants, specific op-amps and chips that supposedly contains the magic smoke needed to sound like SRV ... all very confusing to someone just finding out about these things. This book contains pretty much all you need to know to hold your own in these discussions - a history of how pedals came about, descriptions (including basic circuit diagrams) of the different types, in-depth discussions of classic pedals (like the aforementioned Ibanez Tube Screamer) and newer variants, and interviews with some prominent figures in the burgeoning world of "boutique" pedals. Great stuff for a guitar geek.

The Week (21 May 2016 / Issue 1074)

The Week (28 May 2016 / Issue 1075)

Bedlam by Christopher Brookmyre (2013)

Third time around, this is really starting to grow on me. Also, I now own it (£3 at Fopp, thank you very much).

Guitarist (July 2016 / Issue 408)

The Man Who Sold The World

David Bowie and the 1970s
Peter Doggett
2011

Well written, full of facts and insights ... and just a teensy bit dull

This book ticks so many boxes for me. David Bowie was the first "serious" artist I discovered as a teenager; I have known and loved all (well, most) of his seventies albums for as long as I have really loved music. Plus Revolution In The Head, to which this is explicitly a sequel/homage (apparently the late Ian MacDonald was intending to give the same treatment to Bowie as he had The Beatles), is one of my favourite books about music. If that wasn't enough, Peter Doggett wrote the fascinating You Never Give Me Your Money. And given its structure - essentially, short essays about every song - it should be perfect for dipping into whenever there is a spare moment.

Despite all those good things, I struggled with it, and I'm not entirely sure why.

The structure doesn't help actually; there's no easy flow through the book since it's always stopping and starting - I found the same with Revolution In The Head, if I'm honest. I also realised that there are larger parts of Bowie's seventies output that I am unfamiliar with than I thought (particularly Pin Ups, 'Heroes' and Lodger), so the discussions of those songs didn't engage me much.

However, where TMWSTW differs the most from the Beatles' book is that while MacDonald gives lots of interesting facts about the music (personnel, instrumentation, keys etc), Doggett concentrates on interpreting the words. I've said before that I don't listen to lyrics much. It's pop music, not pop poetry. I understand that it's much easier to write about what is said than what is not said; as the famous quote goes, "Writing about music is like dancing about architecture".

Nevertheless, it's incumbent on any music journalist to make the attempt, and while Doggett does so sometimes, it's not a particularly good or informed analysis. He admits in his introduction that he can't claim the same level of musical knowledge as MacDonald (a "trained musicologist", apparently) and so paid more attention to other aspects - to the detriment of the book, in my opinion.

I learned many things about David Bowie I didn't already know and it served me as a reasonable substitute for a biography (I find them pretty dull usually). It also gave me some interesting things to think about next time I listen to the albums. What it failed to do - and this is the fundamental test for any writing about music - is make me want to rush back and hear them again with new ears. And so on those grounds it must be judged as less than a success.

Reading - April 2016

The Week (2 April 2016 / Issue 1067)

Guitarist (May 2016 / Issue 406)

Guitar & Bass (May 2016 / Vol 27 No. 08)

The Science Of Discworld by Terry Pratchett, Ian Stewart & Jack Cohen (1999)

A great way of injecting science in the guise of entertainment. Given the age of the book (17 years!), it's possible that some of the facts and theories might be slightly out of date, but still as good a primer as any on the thinking around how did the universe start and how does evolution work. Very readable and amusing.

The Week (9 April 2016 / Issue 1068)

The Art Of Being Brilliant by Andy Cope & Andy Whittaker (2012)

Relentlessly trivial and shallow - although mercifully short - book on being happy. Could be condensed into about 2 pages.

Global Village Idiot by John O'Farrell (2001)

Amusing articles from a left-wing perspective, suffering from the usual problem that these kind of articles do - the perceived need to end on a joke. See Clive James's TV reviews for an object lesson in how to do it properly.

The Week (16 April 2016 / Issue 1069)

Lunarbaboon Vol. 2 by Chris Grady (2016)

Still by turns sweet, funny and whimsical, another lovely compilation of the best bits of Lunarbaboon. And (even better), this one has my name in it! (as a funder of vol 1)

Licence Renewed by John Gardner (1981)

The original relaunch of the James Bond "franchise" - in book form, anyway. being somewhat separate from the film franchise. As far as I know, none of the post-Fleming novels have become films (although some of the films have been novelised). I bought this from my local library while in my teens and still like it. It has all the right components, almost "Bond by numbers", but it's still a good read.

The Sacred Art Of Stealing by Christopher Brookmyre (2002)

My first Brookmyre and still a favourite.

Guitar Aficionado: The Collections edited by Tom Beaujour & Christopher Scapelliti (2013)

Lavish coffee table guitar porn. Beautifully photographed and presented, but difficult to read in practice without breaking the binding, putting fingerprints on the shiny pages or accidentally scuffing the jacket. Made worse by the fact that it was lent to me in pristine condition. Also, it turns out you can see too many pictures of '59 sunburst Les Pauls. Who knew?