The Beatles: The Biography

Author: Bob Spitz

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company (2005)

This book chronicles the inception of the most memorable band in rock and roll history right down to its demise. The author culled information from interviews, newspaper articles, other Beatles biographies, and the 1995 Beatles Anthology, to make this story fascinating, sad, and brilliant about the four boys from Liverpool who vowed to be the “toppermost of the poppermost.” The legacy of John, Paul, George, and Ringo as The Beatles in this incarnation (details and nuances are different in other biographies) will forever immortalized as the best rock and roll band around.

I received this book as a birthday gift in April after I made my love affair with The Beatles public to friends. Never having read a biography about them before, this account revealed to me why this band influenced the many recording artists today. Completely enthralled from the first page, the biographer did a phenomenal job of keeping his readers invested in The Beatles’ tale while also making minute details interesting that would be considered otherwise. A fantastic ride into the 1960s while having the soundtrack in real time, I had a blast reading and listening to the Beatles.

This particular biography spends less time referencing the music but focuses on their personal lives beginning and ending with John. The reader weaves through the trials and tribulations of the teenagers who started in The Quarrymen to the young twenty something men in The Beatles.

For the new Beatles fan, this book will not disappoint. As for the Beatlemaniac, this addition to the collection of written biographies about the band will be old news or fill in holes to the knowledge about them.

“As the Beatles, they had been to the toppermost of the poppermost. They had encountered crowds, heard the screams, felt the love. Saw the light. In a brief and shining interval, they had lived a dream that no Liverpool lad could imagine – a magical, fabulous dream, like out of a fairy tale. An unforgettable dream.”

When they woke up, they left behind a gift to music lovers everywhere – their music.

Book Challenge Progress

As far as my book challenge progress goes, I’ve read ten books out of the forty I have listed in my book challenge. Slow going but I have read a total of eighteen books this year (double the amount of books I read last year this time around) so I’m on a roll!

I’ve discarded a few books that have bored me at the first chapter (honestly, if I can’t get past the first chapter, why bother reading it when I have too many other books to read?) therefore the titles have completely been deleted off my list. I’ve already started my reading list for next year but perhaps it’s too soon?

Below, a few tips to complete a reading challenge for yourself:

Ditch your MP3 player

It’s easy to tune out everyone and listen to music on your morning commute which I understand. If you want to really finish that book you’ve been reading for over a month, take a break from your music, leave the mp3 player at home and focus on your book.

My commute is fairly short (50 minutes to and from work) so I would normally listen to some tunes while crossing the Williamsburg bridge. When I committed to completing any book I was reading at the moment, those five minutes waiting on the train platform and those fifteen minutes on the train to my destination piled up which allowed me to read at least a chapter (depending how short) or a quarter of a chapter. Add those minutes up to the commute home? And I’ve read two chapters (or one, again, depending on length) in the day.

I used to listen to my iPod while reading but found myself actively paying attention to the melodies than my story. As much as I like to tune out completely, the soundtrack of screeching train brakes and automated train advisories proved to be less distracting and intrusive.

Carry the book (or e-reader) with you

You have no idea how much time flies when you wait for someone at dinner, lunch, or brunch. Not to mention, your commute to wherever you may socialize as well as work. All those times in between add up to completing the book you’ve been reading since two months ago. You’d be surprised how much quicker the book is read when the work is physically always in plain sight.

Create a goal

Take the time to check in on how many books you want to read for the month or year, execute, and complete. Write it down so you can see it and take mini strides to complete, whether it’s a chapter or half of one; if the intention is there, it will be easier to follow through.

When I look at the book (or books) I’m reading, I commit to completing either a chapter a day, finishing the chapter I started at work during lunch, during my commute, or when I’m in bed. Because completing the book is on my mind all the time, I make that much of an effort to devote my time to reading about another world or someone else’s life.

Compile a “Books to Read” list

Coinciding with my “Read Books I Own” list, the book queue I created has significantly helped me accomplish my goals.

Make a list of books that sound interesting, that you’ve seen a blurb of on a talk show, mentioned in a newspaper article, a friend has mentioned, and so on and commit to reading those books. There doesn’t have to be any particular order or genre (unless you choose it that way), it’s all about the love of reading in an organized fashion.

Join or Organize a Book Club

I have to say, being part of a book club is tons of fun. Not only do you share your love of reading, you get to discuss these books with folks and read genres you may never have thought of reading unless suggested.

In my book club, we’ve read non-fiction, young adult, historical fiction, literary, horror, and books with magic realism. The variety I’ve encountered in close to two years is more than I’ve ever encountered in my reading lifetime. I’m a Stephen King fan so I read everything he’s written. Book club allows me to venture out and explore stories I’d never pick up otherwise.

If you have friends that share your love of literature, organize a book club that chooses a book once a month, then meets at a member’s home or a different locale; whatever works for the book club. I find that hosting makes the members of book club connect not only as book lovers but as friends as well. If you don’t know any book lovers, there are many book clubs on Meetup.com if you plug in your zipcode.

or (for those who like to go it alone)

Track your progress

Pay attention to how long it takes you to read books. I place a sticky on my bookmark with the date I started and space for the date of completion to be aware of my reading stealthiness. When you can gauge how long it normally takes you to finish a story, you can track how many books you will complete by the end of the year and realize that when a book is taking you over six months to finish on your list that’s 300 pages, abandon and move on to the next.

I started The Hobbit three times before I finally physically lost the book. Will I read it? Probably not. Chances are, I’m just that into it no matter how many people love it.

For those with e-readers, I don’t own one so I have no idea what that would look like.

Do What Works For You

At the end of the day, organize your reading habits however you please. These are a few ways that have allowed me to accomplish my reading goals. If not, I don’t know how many books I will have read at this point this year.

Happy Reading!

The Man From Beijing

 Author: Henning Mankell

Publisher: Knopf (2008)

The book starts with a wolf that enters the town of Hesjovallen that is deserted because someone came and murdered everyone. An older man discovers a body in blood, gets in a car accident, and has a heart attack, dying in the process. Enter the investigators Vivi Sundberg that has to figure out who responsible for this Swedish massacre. Then we are introduced to judge, Birgitta Roslin from another town who learns that her grandparents were killed in that massacre. Then we are introduced to these Chinese brothers – San, Guo Si, and Wu, who have to leave their home in China because the landowner has murdered their parents and will come find them to pay a debt. As the book unravels, these three stories are intertwined in a roundabout way that makes the ending anticlimactic.

 As a book club selection, this book was a doozy. Perhaps it was the translation from the Swedish language to English, but I found this book very hard to get into and read. The English was stilted, stiff, trite, too direct, too much the way people don’t talk but should, and not fun or interesting to read. The plot started interesting enough; I thought the author would stay and thrill the reader in the way the story started. I thought this story would be more of a thriller the way it started with each different character section. But as much as each part was necessary to tell all parts of this story, this didn’t work as a whole. It was so damn awkward and blah that I found it so very hard to care. There was social commentary about the Chinese government and affairs which was clunky and bogged down the story; the direction of this tale was on pause as the characters talked about the Chinese government. I was bored to tears. I found myself scanning most of those sections to see what else would happen which was Nothing! I like fiction with current affairs integrated when it’s done well; even Dan Brown made history entertaining and I’m not too enamored with his work. If you are a fan of this author’s work, pick this up. If you are not familiar with Henning Mankell’s work, avoid this and try his other series. As a stand alone work of fiction, The Man From Beijing was weak, uninteresting, and bland.

Script Reading

Remember when I interned at a literary agency last year? Now I’m a Script Reader (again). I did it awhile back when I first started in film production for Goldcrest Post Productions. What’s the difference? I’m still a gatekeeper in the creative world but in another medium. I’d say a difference is I’m a barrier in providing feedback on how words can translate on the big screen. However, the difference in what I’m doing isn’t necessarily a huge one.

Why am I script reader again after all these years? I was looking for a gig that allowed me to combine my two biggest passions: films and writing. I’ve always wanted to be a film critic (click here for reference) and haven’t completely abandoned that dream, so why not write about films? Granted, I’m writing coverage (review in screenplay speak) for screenplays not necessarily movies but it’s better than nothing.

Every time I read a new script, I’m reminded why I write and why I choose to express myself through words than another form of media (like painting). Each new script that arrives in my email is met with two emotions: excitement to read a possible script that can live on celluloid after I’m gone from this planet or dread of the trite material presented for me to read. Most often, I review the script with an open mind and at times, am pleasantly surprised. Most of the time, the execution is off, the writing is awful, and I don’t see the movie receiving the “OK” to be seen on the big screen. Some things should not be made into moving pictures. Other screenplays, if only for entertainment and monetary purposes, are permissible to live on celluloid for all of eternity. But not everything.

Some advice? Write a story that matters to you (similar to writing a short story or novel) and try not to write what’s in style. Sometimes, the trends work against your favor. Good luck!

Side note: Even though I am not paid to review scripts, I have good sense as to what works, the kind of budget movies need, and do not hold back. For those aspiring screenwriters, I am open to reading your work and providing useful feedback. I would never charge writers for feedback. If I get a significant amount of requests, then I’ll reconsider. For now, it’s free.

Alias Grace

Author: Margaret Atwood

Published by: Doubleday (1996)

Grace Marks is convicted of murdering her employer, Thomas Kinnear, and his mistress/headmaid, Nancy Montgomery. She is thrown in prison for being the accessory. James McDermott murdered them and threw Grace under the bus with him, except he was executed and she was sentenced to prison. Her “sentence” is to work at the governor’s home. A psychiatrist, Simon Jordan, intent on opening his own mental institution, tries to coax the real story out of her while dealing with his own demons. In the end, Jordan, and everyone involved, learns more than they can handle.

Atwood’s prose is top-notch. How this is the first novel I’ve ever read by her boggles my mind. As a historical novel, the story based in reality about a woman in Canada named Grace Marks, Atwood did a phenomenal job at re-creating this world by using first hand accounts and old records to make this story as realistic as possible. By the novel’s end, I wanted to know more about this Marks woman and do my own research.

Would I recommend this? Hell yes. Although as one of Atwood’s best novels, I was told (I was amongst Atwood fans in my book club) this wasn’t her best. If she wasn’t at her best in this book, I’d like to see her at her Best! This was a great read. Highly recommended for history buffs and literary buffs alike.

Rain: Beatles Tribute Band on Broadway

On May 18, 2011, I watched the Beatles Tribute band Rain on Broadway. With my newfound Beatlemania, one of my close friends who is also a Beatlemaniac, invited me to watch the tribute band to see how much they would be able to recreate the sixties and how well their covers would be, of course. It was his fourth time attending.

The show was absolutely perfect for this Beatles fan and any Beatlemaniac for that matter. Prior to the band starting, the audience is sitting with a soundtrack from the sixties and Beatles trivia on the two TV screens on each side of the stage.

The Starlight Crystal

Author: Christopher Pike

Published by: Archway Paperbacks (1996)

A week before Paige Christian is about board the spaceship Traveler as part of her father’s crew, she meets and falls in love with Tem. Albeit Paige leaving, they promise to write to each other. She vows she’ll see him again. With each hour that passes when she does board the ship, years go by and Paige suffers heartbreak. On the ship, the Shamere, an alien race, plan to obliterate the remaining human race (they’ve been in space for thousands of years at this point) but do not succeed. Without giving too much away of the remainder of the story, time weaves upon itself for Paige and love prevails.

At times, convoluted in execution but the message of love was clear. Pike’s books have that contemporary touch even though most of them were written in the late nineties. I think his work is the only work (some of them anyway) that doesn’t feel dated at all. I remember when I first read this and how I scratched my head in confusion – but when I re-read it as an adult, I could appreciate the beauty of the story he wrote even with all the craziness. The time travel isn’t explained particularly very well; it gets muddled in the process but doesn’t detract from the overall message. I really enjoyed this book and I’d like to re-visit this in another decade and see what I’ll be able to cull from it. Pike is still great.