“Beware the Ides of March” Shakespeare wrote. March represented a hefty book haul for me. I read 7 books this past month to help me power through the final days of winter into the early days of spring. Here they are as follows:
Frost/Nixon: Behind the Scenes of The Nixon Interviews, David Frost
A Moveable Feast, Ernest Hemingway
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain
Lucid Dying: The New Science Revolutionizing How We Understand Life and Death, Sam Parina
If On a Winter Night A Traveler, Italo Calvino
On Writing, Stephen King’
True West, Robert Greenfield
Reviewing this list, I now regret what I wrote on the January list about how I usually don’t read fiction. This year has been heavy non-fiction because I've been attempting to read two books simultaneously and that's how I balance both at once (That's for a later article though). Let's go over the highlights for March.
A Moveable Feast- Ernest Hemingway
There is a lot of debate about where people stand on posthumous works of great artists but, if they’re all as good as Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast then there would be no complaints. The legend around Hemingway’s memoir about his time in Paris is almost as good as the work itself. In 1956 Hemingway discovered the stories that would appear in A Moveable Feast in two trunks he kept stored at the Ritz Hotel in Paris. The book itself follows a young Hemingway through his years in Paris, surrounded by the great artists of the lost generation, while he formulates his ideals as a young artist. One of the greatest works of non-fiction ever created.
On Writing- Stephen King
Without a shadow of a doubt On Writing is one of the best books on writing ever written. King’s book spends the first half in the form of a memoir and the second half a mechanic book on all his thoughts about how to be a writer. I reread this book once, sometimes twice a year. The memoir half is some of the most inspiring stories that will make you dream not just of chasing your dreams but finding a partner like King’s wife Tabby to support you.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn- Mark Twain
I’m sure we’re all familiar with Mark Twain’s classic, most of us were required to read it in high school. Huck Finn is considered one of the greatest works of American Fiction. A coming-of-age story told through the eyes of Huck Finn (friend of the famous Tom Sawyer) in the deep South, exploring themes of freedom and civilization through the slave Jim. A must-read.
Frost/Nixon- David Frost
This book surprised me… This is a personal retelling by Frost on how he landed one of the most famous interviews in American History. Frost, a talk show host in the UK decides he wants to interview former president Richard Nixon, right off the heels of Watergate. The book recalls the thrilling build-up to this interview and the four days Nixon spent with Frost. Unlike most books about Nixon, this one does a good job of humanizing and examining the man behind the Politician. It also has a great movie companion of the same name as well.