August 2019 Books

Larry Kane's Ticket to Ride: Inside the Beatles' 1964 Tour that Changed the World is his memoir of his time traveling with the Beatles during their 1964 and 1965 tours across the U.S. He tells us about his early skepticism about the Beatles; he believed they would turn out to be just a flash in the pan. But two tours with the Beatles changed his view, and he became convinced of their lasting contributions and worth. I took this book on vacation, and found it to be a good read. The author clearly has remained a loyal fan of the Beatles, and his anecdotes were interesting and entertaining. I don't think the book is especially well-written. I think it was quite repetitive in parts, and could have used the skills of a good editor. Larry Kane was involved in news reporting for his entire career, first in radio news, and later in television news, but he isn't a great writer. Nevertheless, I found this enjoyable, and would recommend it to anyone who's interested in the Beatles.

I've been meaning to read this book for a long time, and finally did so. I found it to be as fun and entertaining as all the reviews had led me to believe. At only around 200 pages, it's a quick read, and covers what you would expect in a book on punctuation: apostrophes, commas, dashes, semicolons, colons, questions marks, exclamation points, parentheses, etc. Truss writes in a humorous style and includes lots of good and bad examples of punctuation. She also delves into the history and origins of each mark of punctuation. She cites lots of other writers on punctuation and includes their works in her bibliography. Lots of fun for grammar nerds!

I loved this first book by Amor Towles. We had read A Gentleman in Moscow for our book club last year, and decided to read this earlier novel this month. It has wonderful writing, intriguing characters, and a plot that keeps you turning the pages. It's about Katey, a secretary and editorial assistant in 1938 Manhattan, and the friends and relationships she formed during the course of the year. It's very atmospheric, and equally funny and touching in places.

This is a wonderful novel. It tells the story of Roy and Celestial, a young married couple whose life is turned upside down when Roy is unjustly accused of a violent crime, convicted, and sentenced to 12 years in prison. It tells the story from the perspective of Roy, Celestial, and their friend,Andre, who Celestial comes to lean on while Roy is incarcerated. These characters are well-developed and the dialog, emotions, and plot are completely realistic. I loved Ms. Jones' writing, and look forward to reading her other three books.

I finally got around to reading this popular book from a few years ago. It's a lovely romance set on the island of Guernsey, which was occupied by the Germans in WWII.