100 Comments

LOFT BOOK CLUB LETS DO IT

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Yesssssssss

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I’m down with that!

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I would love that!

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Pleeeeeeeease!

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Any update on making this a reality, Crystal?

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The Sly Stone book was great. I’m a Rush nerd and finished Geddy Lee’s memoir over the holidays. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to see him when he came to town on his book tour. I recently re-watched Mother Night with my son and felt compelled to read it again so now I’m down a Vonnegut rabbit hole.

“There are plenty of good reasons for fighting...but no good reason to ever hate without reservation, to imagine that God Almighty hates with you, too. Where's evil? It's that large part of every man that wants to hate without limit, that wants to hate with God on its side. It's that part of every man that finds all kinds of ugliness so attractive....it's that part of an imbecile that punishes and vilifies and makes war gladly.”

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Fellow Rush nerd here from Canada. I'm diving into Geddy Lee's memoir this weekend, and just finished watching his interview with Strombo this afternoon. Such an interesting guy and a powerful interview. Highly recommend! PS Rush played my high school in the 70's! :)

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I have the Strombo interview in my to-be-watched list on YouTube. His interviews are usually excellent.

Played at your high school? While you were attending? That’s awesome. Best high school story I can come up with is when the Exotic Birds played in my friend’s basement circa 87/88 when Trent Reznor was in the band.

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Yes, they played my high school in 1975 while I was attending! Love your story of the Exotic Birds with Trent Reznor playing in your friend's basement :)

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Pretty sure they played my junior high in about '72.

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David Sedaris is a personal favorite of mine. Do you read him? A well written cookbook is worth a read (like Vegetable Love) which I just finished. I also read comedian memoirs and they are very enjoyable!

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I don’t think any one person has ever made me laugh more (or harder) than David Sedaris. He’s an absolute treasure. :)

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He can also make me sob.

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Yes, me too. Do you have a favorite? I love them all, but, if I were forced to choose, I might have to go with Me Talk Pretty One Day. I still have one cd from the audio set stuck in my car's cd player, so it's definitely one I have listened to many times over. Haha

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I have listened to very few books, but Bossy Pants (Tina Fey) has been on repeat.

I think the diaries by David S. Is my favorite. When he writes about family, it just gets me. Same with Jeff’s books.

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I am also reading toooo many books at once: The Hobbit (I finished the trilogy in 2023 but didn’t read the Hobbit, oops), Set Boundaries, Find Peace by Nedra Glover Tawwab, Friendship in the Age of Loneliness by Adam Smiley Poswolsky, and I’m listening to How to Write One Song :)

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I love talking about books!!! And, I’m always juggling several at one time. Someone asked me once how I remember what’s happening in each, and I compared it to TV serials that aren’t binge watched. Simply put, I never confuse characters and stories from Star Trek with characters and stories from The Afterparty. Right now, I’m reading/listening to (for various reasons): The Enemy at Home, Inciting Joy, Again and Again, Hell of a Book, and Great Circle. Oh, and I’m really looking forward to reading a new book by Steve Moriarty titled Mia Zapata and the Gits: A True Story of Art, Rock, and Revolution.

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Current book: Sonic Life (Thurston Moore)

Current records: Perfect Saviors (The Armed), Finding Wallflowers (Petty), Live and Loud (Nirvana), Everybody Knows This is Nowhere

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Thank you for the always appreciated reading / listening list.

I am so grateful to my Mother for being a voracious reader. She always had 5 books or more going simultaneously. She told me as a tot that it’s like talking to several friends each day. “You don’t talk to only 1 friend all day everyday do you?”

They are such comforting friends.

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Cold Enough For Snow is so good...!

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I love hearing about what you and others are reading. I’ve been on a Louise Glück medium dive (is that the less intense version of a deep dive) in the past year or so. I also got the Lou Reed book from the library with ambitions intentions, but it was just. So much. So much Lou Reed. Currently reading the 2023 anthology of Best American Food Writing, where I just learned about rosin potatoes.

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Currently reading your new book which I got for Christmas!

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That’s a solid TBR pile! If you end up enjoying Loved and Missed, I highly recommend reading anything and everything by Kate Zambreno next. Book of Mutter and Drifts were stunning and often left my head in the same place it lands after I listen to Cousin (in a good way, of course 😅)

Happy reading, Jeff!

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Is that red plate a tray with a rooster on it by chance? I’m reading James McBride’s Heaven and Earth Grocery Store.

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I am in between books at the moment and am waiting for something to strike my interest. It could happen at any time so my antennae are up.

The last novel I read was "Bomber" by Len Deighton. It's a fictional account of a WWII bombing raid seen from the perspectives of the people on both sides. It's a very strong indictment on cruelty and banality of war. An excellent book.

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Yes to more book recs!

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Do you know Jon Fosse’s Scenes From A Childhood? Great short short stories (including a highly relatable guitar tuning one...)

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I'm reading Septology now, but it's a stop/start one for me. Maybe I'll stop and pivot to this shorter one. Thanks, John!

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.... So I don’t have to work as a waffle waitress

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Beat me to it!

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I'm so glad I'm not the only non monogamous reader. I have a giant stack and choose from it depending on my attention span at the moment, mood and time of day. The most interesting book I'm reading right now is "The Body Keeps the Score" about how we hold trauma in our physical bodies. It's fascinating.

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