1. What are you currently reading? Ticket to Ride: Inside the Beatles 1964 Tour by Larry Kane. Larry was 21, just out of college, and working in the news department of a Miami radio station. He was a broadcast journalist, not a disc jockey. (In other words, he wanted to be Walter Cronkite, not Dick Clark.) That's why he was lukewarm, at best, about being assigned to the Beatles beat in 1964. He was sure they were a frivolous phenomenon, a flash in the pan, and this wasn't the hard news story he wanted to cover.
Of course, the Beatles changed the world. And being on that tour was a career-making opportunity for Kane.
His non-fan, reporter's perspective gives his tale a tone different than you generally get from Beatles' books. He writes about the entire scene -- the fans, the other journalists, the Beatles' entourage, the local police -- and not just about John, Paul, George and Ringo.
On a personal note, I received this book as a gift from my mom back in 2010. She was so excited for me to read it, but died before I got to it. Thank you, Mommy. I'm enjoying it.
2. What did you recently finish reading?
Thereby Hangs a Tail by Spencer Quinn.
Our narrator is Chet the Jet, a big dog who likes to leap. He works with Bernie Little, a workaday PI. As he likes to say, "Bernie and me, we work cases."
Chet is a good boy with a big heart. He loves smells, he loves to eat (often, but not always, food), he loves balls (but not basketballs), and he loves Bernie (always the smartest person in the room).
But was this a good mystery? It was OK. Having Chet as narrator is a gimmick. An entertaining and most charming gimmick, to be sure, but this book is not about the plot. Thereby Hangs a Tail is #2 of a series. If I happen upon another Chet-and-Bernie, I'll read it. But I won't be seeking this series out.
3. What will you read next?
Maybe another biography? Or a mystery. My TBR pile is stacked dauntingly high with both.
