You know what we haven't done for a while? A "what are you reading?" Open Thread. So let's! I'll start!
I just finished Jeff Weiss's Waiting for Britney Spears, a memoir about the writer's time as an L.A. tabloid journalist in the '00s, with plenty of insights into that scummy decade and empathy for the star herself. Incidentally, Weiss's new multi-author POW Mag newsletter, which covers rap and other miscellaneous culture, is also great.
I also just read the first book in Solvej Balle's very trendy On the Calculation of Volume series, about a woman who keeps reliving the same day. I wouldn't say I'm hooked, but I am curious to see what happens next (even if I already know most of what does).
I'm one of those weirdos who always has multiple books at once, so here is "what's on my nightstand" as they say (I do not have a nightstand). I am several hundred pages into Helen DeWitt's unclassifiable novel Your Name Here and though I still can't tell you entirely what it's "about" I think I'm enjoying myself.
I also just started Barry Walters's wonderful Mighty Real: A History of LGBTQ Music, 1969-2000, a set of shortish essays about artists (not all queer) whose music shaped and was shaped by LGBTQ sensibilities. There are some big names here, and it's not easy to find something new to say about Bowie or Prince, but Walters finds a way.
I also recommend John Lingan's Backbeats, a collection short pieces about rock drummers; he listens to and describes their work so well I had to keep stopping to listen to the songs he was writing about. Worth it for his Ringo chapter alone.
OK, I could go on all day but I'll stop now. Reading fuckin' rules.
As always, feel free to ignore this post and talk about whatever you want. This is your Open Thread after all.
