A number of years ago I stumbled across Brian Earl’s podcast CHRISTMAS PAST during my seemingly never-ending search for additional Christmas content. Brian’s podcast explores the long-standing traditions which make up the holiday seasons while also trying to uncover their often elusive origins. The episodes are pretty short, usually under fifteen minutes each, but pack…
SMASH follows author Ian Winwood through years of research, writing and interviews surrounding the 90s explosion in punk music. Earlier this year, I read Dan Ozzi’s SELLOUT, a book that looked at the major label feeding frenzy that swept punk, emo and hardcore music in the 90s and 2000s. While SMASH covers a lot of…
Is it weird to say that I’ve only read 71 books so far this year? The last two years, I had read over 100 books each year, so I’m definitely down considerably. But 71 books is still more than a lot. Of those 71, here are my Top 10 reads. Fiction We Spread – Iain…
A seven time Stanley Cup champion with the New York Islanders, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Colorado Avalanche, Trottier recounts his road from Saskatchewan farm boy to NHL All-Star in his memoir, ALL ROADS HOME. Trottier’s career ended just after I turned ten years old in 1994, so it’s safe to say I missed the bulk of…
Novelist As A Vocation is a sort of mish-mash memoir/writing advice book in the vein of Stephen King’s On Writing, from author Hauki Murakami. Admittedly, I’ve only read one of Murakami’s novels, The Wind of Bird Chronicle, and I didn’t particularly enjoy it. However, when Penguin Random House offered me a copy for review, I…
Written by New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman, Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and The Breaking of America examines the life and career of real estate mogul Donald Trump and his rise to the United States presidency. Having covered Trump for over 20 years through a variety of publications, it would be safe…
CRAZY IS MY SUPERPOWER is the memoir of retired professional wrestler April “AJ LEE” Mendez-Brooks. I want to say straight off the bat that if you’re expecting a comprehensive look at AJ’s in-ring career, you’re not going to get that here. Although AJ’s time as a wrestler was relatively short (2007-2015), she does not spend…
I’m Glad My Mom Died is the memoir of child-actor-turned-author Jennette McCurdy. It would be an understatement to say that this book is one of the hottest memoirs of 2022; and with good reason. Not only does McCurdy’s memoir tackle the curse of a brutal and unrelenting “Momager” on a child actor, but it also…
Every Read Thing 