Recent and Upcoming Reads

Wednesday is about books. And reading. (And writing). Today, a list of upcoming and current books I'm loving, or looking forward to hopefully loving...maybe you have a list too? Do share it.

I love reading. And remind myself of this whenever I look through my shelves and get cross. I spot some book I bought 10 years ago and ‘forgot’ to read, I see something that was sent to me a year or two ago and I never quite made it to getting past the intro or first chapter. I don’t believe I have ADHD, but because I’ve done some recent reading into it – I’ve been getting spam-marketed all sorts of quizzes, tests, and app suggestions. And one trait/symptom I definitely possess is that hyperfocus burst where I want to become an instant-expert in a topic. Just as quickly of course, I’ll drop the books I felt I had to absolutely read. Hot spuds. Gone from my mind.

My Goodreads page is proof of this. When I was doing the music features for RNZ a couple of years back, it wasn’t enough to go on my general knowledge and listening, nor to just do a quick flick through a Wiki page. I was ordering in biographies and essay collections from the library, or finding them on my shelves, or Kindle. I was adding to Goodreads that I was tackling books about Peter Gabriel and Dolly Parton and George Harrison and John Williams.

They’re still there. Still on the shelves. Still on my Kindle. And if they were sourced from the library, I’ve definitely returned them – but they’re on my Want-list to reserve again, or they’re left lingering on my Goodreads.

It is ridiculous.

I’m sure I resemble the ADHD diagnosis in other ways. But I’m not sure I’d earn the title. I think my brain has just been corrupted by internet use. Posting what I was reading from Goodreads to Facebook was a great way to break up the silly memes and the ‘serious’ posts – links to writing by scholars and of course links to my own work too. I used to call this doing the long division – showing readers and followers on social media that I was “doing the work”; that is to say that even if they disagreed with my opinion-based writing I was doing my best to document the trail of breadcrumbs. Here was what I was watching, and listening to, and reading. And it all got very exhausting. So much so that I quit most social media last year. And I remain happy at that decision.

But I’m still documenting what I’m listening to, watching, and reading – right here via this Substack newsletter eh! And also, in different ways, over on my website, Off The Tracks.

I’ve lost a lot of the followers I had, and I’ve ditched most of the “following” that I had – if you could ever call it that. And I’m not being disingenuous at all when I say that I’m thrilled about it. I needed to grow up and move on. I needed to work out how to write for myself all over again.

So, a recent job for me was pruning some of the Goodreads wasteland. I went to Currently Reading and found HUNDREDS of books allegedly on the go. Some never had their cover creased or spine cracked. Others are nearly finished. The books in my life now are like tabs open on too many reading browsers. That’s just how it is. But I had to do something about some of it.

So I’m down to what I consider about 140 books on the go. Comical right? I might never get through these. But these are the ones I want to still be reminded of – I need to try to make an effort to get back to them. Or tell myself that I’m going to. This week I re-reserved a half-dozen of them from the library, bookmarked about a dozen more on my Kindle, and found 10-15 on my bookshelves at home. This is a new starting point.

But in and around this – books I started nearly 10 years ago in some cases – there are always new books to read. Ones I want to tell you about – as I did recently with Bono and then with the Nick Cave conversations. But I can’t write a book-missive here on each and every title that I read. Some won’t be interesting enough, and some I’ll just struggle to capture in the right way.

Looking through my Goodreads, and the pile by my bed, and the list on my phone, I thought I’d share a few current and upcoming reads that I’m digging already, or very excited about getting to. Maybe you can do the same in the comments. Share your immediate reading list, or the great things you’ve read so far this year. Okay, from me, here goes:

Your Friends and Neighbors by Neil LaBute – Okay, so I’m a big Neil LaBute fan. Huge. Love his plays particularly, and many of the movies based on them, and some of the films he’s made away from his own scripts. Also, he wrote a creepily good book of mean-af short stories. And I want him to write another. So, while I wait for that, I’ve been reading as many of his playscripts as I can find. And then, recently, in a second-hand store I found this copy of one of his best, and cruellest scripts. And it’s my second favourite Neil LaBute film. I took it home and saw inside that it used to belong to someone I know. I messaged him a photo, showing that I now had his book. He replied, “Hey, if I’d have known you wanted it, I’d have cut the middle man out”. I replied, “Hey, I like supporting the local bookstores eh”, which was probably true enough. Anyway, people always seem to find it funny that I love reading scripts as much as I do. I’m not an actor, nor could I ever be. I have no thoughts towards directing. Or being involved in anything technical on a play or movie set, I’m just a fan of words. And I find movie and play scripts a great way to learn dialogue – by which I mean learning how to write dialogue.

Lead Sister: The Story of Karen Carpenter by Lucy O’Brien – It wasn’t that long ago that I gushed about how the songs of the Carpenters Still Shine. I love the Carpenters. As I hopefully made very clear in that piece. Well, I’m a sucker for reading about the Carpenters’ story. And watching the docos. Like, Fleetwood Mac, I’m obsessed with both the music and the story. The soap opera. So, there’s this new book out about Karen Carpenter. I’m in. All in. Cannot wait to start this – it only arrived last week. The rest of the family was doing a giant order of crime thrillers from Book Depository. I felt left out. I searched for something I couldn’t instantly get locally. This stood out. Plus, I read a book Lucy O’Brien wrote years ago about female musicians. It was excellent. So I feel like this is going to be a great reading experience.

Fear: New Zealand’s Hostile Underworld of Extremists by Byron Clark I’ve only just started this, but I can’t look away when it comes to this sort of thing. It’s a frightening world. And these people are morons. And I want to know about them. Because they are dangerous, and worrying, and I wrestle with how all of this could come to be. I also try to retain some humanity and think of how good, decent people are converted, tricked, or merely drift towards this…urgh. Ew. It’s horrible. But I can’t look away.

Did I Ever Tell You This? – A Memoir by Sam Neill – I bought this with the best intentions of ripping straight into it and writing about it right here. But that hasn’t happened yet. It sits next to me in the main room of my house, waiting. And I must start it. This weekend! So maybe I’ll still have more to say about it here. But it needs no further press. The advance hype had many of us hooked. I’m a Sam Neill fan – through and through. And I can’t wait to hear how he tells his many, no doubt brilliant, funny, interesting stories. What a life and career. What a legend.

Love, Pamela by Pamela Anderson – As you’re probably working out, I’m a big fan of the memoir. Maybe particularly the Celebrity Memoir. And this is another candidate for a more thorough examination. I’m about a third of the way through this, and rather enjoying it. Too early to tell you it’s a must read, but it’s not at all bad. It seems like Anderson is on a quest to get her story out, to set the record straight or whatever. (Netflix doco recently out – will wait until I’ve finished the book before I tackle that). And fair enough. I loved the recent Pamela and Tommy mini-series; thought it was brilliantly written, and an engaging piece of longform TV. A great writer was behind it. But I don’t think it’s the one true story. Nor is it the only thing to say about Anderson.

On Poetry by Glyn Maxwell – I’ve read a lot of poetry volumes this year. A lot. I’m studying a paper at university, so that’s the reason for the increase. Though poetry is always a big part of my reading each year. But this year I’ve learned about a bunch of new-to-me great poets (Alice Oswald, Louise Glück, Anne Carson) and somewhere, along the way, I missed this book when it was released. It’s got some great essays about poetry, and some ones I really disagree with – making it even better!

The Debutante by Jon Ronson – Okay, this one is an “Audiobook” and there’s no printed version, it’s actually a podcast really. But it is listed as an Audiobook on Goodreads, and is available currently through Audible, I’m sure it’ll end up wherever you get podcasts in a few months but Audible has the exclusive. Jon Ronson is one of my favourite authors, and one of my favourite documentarians, and in recent years he’s become one of my favourite podcast hosts – and guests. And this follows a small handful of works from him in the related field of telling the story of cancelled people, or fringe weirdos that go down dark paths, or conspiracy-theorist nutcases. It’s all interesting. And in Ronson’s hands – and voice – it’s absolutely thrilling. (I always hear/read his books in his voice – so to actually have it doing the reading is a hell of a bonus). This is great. Better than his last podcast effort too.

The Philosophy of Modern Song by Bob Dylan – I couldn’t wait for this to be released. Late last year I picked I picked it up the day it was released. And did nothing about reading it. When I finally tried, I was underwhelmed. Couldn’t get into it. But it should be great. It must, at the least, be interesting. So I’m newly enthused to get into this. I think I just need to grit it out for a few pages eh…

The Meaning of Mariah by Mariah Carey – Here’s one I recently finished. Devoured, in fact. I put a classic old Mariah banger on the end of a recent Friday playlist (always part of this newsletter). And I wrote a few lines about how I got a bit hooked on listening to the first couple of Mariah Carey albums, remembering them in a way similar to those first couple of Whitney Houston records. And the first few Janet Jackson releases. Just fantastic singing, and great songs. I went all in. Decided I needed to read this book – I’d heard it was decent. And yeah, great survey of a huge life, and an even bigger career. I really dug this. Still going through the albums, as a result. I can’t care about all of her music, but the great songs and the stunning performances sure do announce themselves. I’m surprised to arrive at this understanding so late in life, but there you go.

And the one I’m waiting for still…

I reckon it might be the book of the year, or one of the non-fiction books of the year, certainly one of the best music books of the year:

Don’t Tell Anybody The Secrets I Told You: A Memoir by Lucinda Williams

We know Lucinda can write, given her amazing songs. And her parents were bright, and arty. In fact her father was a well known poet and academic. So it has to be there. I’ve been thinking about this book for months. And I still have to wait nearly a week. Do I get the audiobook and drink in every drawled, sloppy vowel from Lucinda herself? Or do I pre-order the Kindle so it just surprises me on the day, being there in front of my eyes? Or do I head in for a hardback from a local store? I have a weird feeling it’ll probably be all three for me. And that rotten but fun hyperfocus will present itself, as I’ll likely work my way through her entire catalogue. In fact, that’s the start of tomorrow’s listening planned right there…

Oh, and we have to wait a lot longer, but there’s a Dolly Parton memoir coming this year too (out before Christmas). Lord have mercy!

Okay, so that’s my list of current and upcoming great, and hopefully at the least good reads. See anything you like? See anything you’ve already read, or will add to your reading list? And have anything you’d like to recommend?