The Big Decision
In which I panic about a sudden lack of reading material, plus talk and write about a young band on its first tour.
Last night I finished reading the graphic novel my youngest daughter got me for my birthday.
This morning, I was struck by the revelation that, as of this moment, I am not in the middle of reading any books!
It’s normal for me to have three to four books on the go at any one time. One on my nightstand, one in the living room, perhaps one for research in my office, and one on my Kindle app.
But a strange synchronicity of timing in finishing various books over the last few weeks means that none of that is now true.
I do have a book downloaded to the Kindle I haven’t started yet, but those are more my stand-by books if I find myself out of the house with some time to kill.
But the big question is what physical printed book (or books) do I start next to rescue me from this bibliographical nightmare?
On a quick count this morning, my current To Be Read stack is just over 150 books (the lowest it’s been for years). Do I pull something from there? If so, what?
An unread novel? Maybe a new novel by a friend I picked up in Barnes & Noble last week? But what about those that have been waiting years to be read?
Maybe a non-fiction book? But on what topic? There are so many to choose from. I’m I in the mood for history? Pop culture? Science? Business? Biography?
Then there’s the stack of unread graphic novels?
And the three books from the local library sitting on the top shelf of the bookcase in the bedroom?
How will this dilemma be resolved?
Alan
Other Stuff
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Brabazon Bits
This weekend I’ll be doing the last piece of work still left on my plate for the Brabazon book, selecting the photographs to be included. I have around 800 plus photos in my files, from which I need just 16. It should be a fun exercise picking out ones that best complement the text.
The manuscript itself is now out of my hands and with the publishers, but here’s a reminder that if everything goes to schedule “Bristol Brabazon: The Ocean Liner of the Skies and its Ongoing Legacy” will be published on 30 MAY, 2025 in the UK and 30 JULY, 2025 in the US.
It’s also available for pre-order on both Amazon UK and Amazon US sites.
Word Slinging
If you are in the Baltimore / Washington DC / Delaware / Southern PA area come check out the Books & Brews event next Saturday, 16th November.
I’ll be there from 11:00am until 2:30pm with some of the historical short-story anthologies that have my words in them.
Podcast Procrastinations
It’s the start of a new month, so that means Beatley stuff. The latest episode of THE FORGOTTEN BEATLES is now available on my Before They Were Beatles podcast feed. This month we turned the spotlight on The Quarrymen’s tea-chest bass player, Len Garry, and Liverpool-born singer Johnny Gentle who in 1960 found a young inexperienced band called The Silver Beatles hired as his backing group for a tour of Scotland.
You can hear both their stories HERE, or just look for Before They Were Beatles on your podcast platform of choice.
This month’s Before They Were Beatles newsletter also dropped this month, with a more detailed look at how the young Beatles ended up on that early Scottish tour, plus updates on The Savage Young Beatles tribute band’s latest gigs, and an investigation into which member of Popeye’s family was a Beatles fan. You can check it out at the link below.
Pages and Screens
Books Read in 2024 - “Cleopatra and the Undoing of Hollywood” by Patrick Humphries.
The movie ’Cleopatra’ has a deep resonance for me on a couple of levels. Firstly it was the movie that sparked my interest in Roman history, and secondly my Gran loved this movie and whenever it was on TV we would sit and watch it together. So I was looking forward to reading more about its famously troubled production and how it came to be made.
But I guess I’ll have to read a different book, for this one was obsessed with the, at the time, scandalous, off-screen Taylor-Burton romance and its participants rather than telling the story of the movie itself.
Written in a breezy tabloid style the narrative bounces around taking irrelevant sidebars to show off the author’s, admittedly deep, knowledge of movies in general, or wax nostalgic about the early sixties. It also folds back on itself chronologically leading to needless annoying repetition.
Early in his introduction the author admits he doesn’t even like the movie, so I had to wonder why he wrote the book in the first place, other than as an excuse to fawn over Elizabeth Taylor and be critical of Richard Burton’s life choices.
A strange read that is as disjointed as the movie it supposedly covers.
Our online bookstore at Bookshop.org is fully up to date with the books read so far in 2024, so you can pick up copies of any that interest you, while also helping out local independent bookstores.
Weekly Web Round-Up
Forest Comics & Books - Our online store selling comics, books, and pop-culture collectibles has made a low-key reappearance with a small selection of Doctor Who Funko Pops for sale. More items will be added in the next few weeks as we gear up to full capacity.
Batman On The Cover - The journey through Batman’s comics publishing history continues as we move into August 1969 with books published in Italy, Lebanon, Mexico, and Norway all featuring reprints of earlier US covers, plus the UK with a collage cover.
While art-wise it's a straight reprint of the cover from Batman #202 (June 1968), the more muted color tones, especially for the logo, and the Arabic script make this month’s Lebanese comic, Al-Watwat, seem far more atmospheric than the original.
Where on the Web is Alan?
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See you next time
Alan J. Porter
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