THEATER: Reviewing The Revue Of Maury Yeston

ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN IN THE THEATER: THE MUSICAL WORLD 
OF MAURY YESTON ** 1/2 out of ****

YORK THEATRE COMPANY 

It's no secret that Gerard Alessandrini's Forbidden Broadway shows are mercilessly funny valentine's to the musicals they spoof. His genuine love for the theater takes the sting out of some pretty waspish observations. Well, here Alessandrini plays it straight. In what may be his first musical revue, he's crafted a classically conceived tribute to the work of lyricist/composer Maury Yeston.

Yeston needs no boost. He's got multiple Tonys, two huge Broadway hits in Grand Hotel and Nine and a masterpiece with Titanic. (That one's going to be a big hit whenever it's properly revived.) But boost him Alessandrini does. Sure, Nine dominates, with five of the 25+ shows on hand. In contrast, Grand Hotel has three, his off Broadway hit Death Takes A Holiday just one and Titanic doesn't appear until the finale, since its numbers perhaps don't make as much sense out of context.

That leaves more than half the show celebrating songs new to most, a far cry from most revues for artists of Yeston's stature. His work is lovingly showcased in a pitch perfect setting. The design by James Morgan is simple and clean, the choreography by Gerry McIntyre modest as it should be, the lighting by Jacob Zedek supportive without calling attention to itself, the costumes by Melinda Hare no-fuss until they add some Forbidden-like humor and pianist/musical director Greg Jarrett is the hardest working person in the room.

Alessandrini oversees it all with impeccable taste. The show is a tight 75 minutes, the song choices intelligently balanced, the transitions between numbers thoughtfully done and ensemble moments balanced out by duets and solo turns.

The problem, I fear, is the cast. They let down a revue that deserves better. With stronger performers, this revue would be a home run. As it is, they shine best when working in groups and of course the songs of Yeston lift them up time and again. Of course,  revues should work the other way around.

Happily, while everyone falters at some point, they also have high points. Benjamin Eakeley plays the leading man capably, Alex Getlin's soft-rock vibrato is a treat the first time around, Jovan E'Sean does his best when introducing "Mississippi Moon" and both Justin Keyes and Mamie Parris make the most of any humor on tap. (Keyes' vocals simply aren't up to the demands of "Sant n' Pepper" while Parris has more to offer with her pipes throughout the night.)

Any time the cast works together the results are stronger, whether it's the tribute-to-actors ensemble opener "Anything Can Happen In The Theater," the sweet duet "You're There Too" (E'Sean and Keyes) or the far more comic "No Women In The Bible," featuring Getlin and Parris.

Like any revue worth the name, this one makes you want to revisit (or visit) Yeston's shows. Only the written to order title song feels a little by the numbers. The rest intrigue, like his own spin on The Phantom Of The Opera and the four songs from In The Beginning, a Biblical romp Alessandrini once directed in Maine, apparently. (That's a line worthy of Forbidden!) And the finale of "Godspeed, Titanic" never fails to raise goosebumps for me, whether during its original run on Broadway, at my niece's high school production a few years ago (full orchestra!) or by the cast here for their curtain call. That stirring drama will certainly have new life someday soon. Given the quality of the songs and the sturdiness of its construction, I'm sure this revue will too.

And fans of Alessandrini should keep an eye out for Forbidden Broadway: The Next Generation, which re-opens at the York starting January 15. It's one of his best.


THEATER OF 2019

Frankenstein: Under The Radar Fest at the Public ** 1/2
Minor Character: Under The Radar Festival at the Public ***
Ink: Under The Radar  Festival at the Public  ** 1/2
Choir Boy ** 1/2
White Noise ** 1/2
Kiss Me, Kate ***
Ain't No Mo' *** 1/2
Ain't Too Proud **
The Cradle Will Rock * 1/2
Mrs. Murray's Menagerie *** 1/2
Oklahoma! (on Broadway) ** 1/2
Socrates **
The Pain Of My Belligerence *
Burn This **
Hadestown *** 1/2
All My Sons * 1/2
Tootsie ** 1/2
Ink ***
Beetlejuice **
Estado Vegetal ***
Hans Christian Andersen * 1/2
Cirque du Soleil: Luzia ***
BLKS ** 1/2
Moulin Rouge ** 1/2
Bat Out Of Hell **
Unchilding **
Sea Wall/ A Life ** 1/2
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child ***
Betrayal *** 1/2
Fifty Million Frenchmen ** 1/2
Freestyle Love Supreme ** 1/2
Derren Brown: Secret ***
(A)loft Modulation * 1/2
The Great Society **
I Can't See *
Heroes Of The Fourth Turning ** 1/2
Chasing Rainbows: The Road To Oz ***
The Glass Menagerie (dir Austin Pendleton & Peter Bloch) **
Terra Firma (debut of The Coop theater company) **
Forbidden Broadway: The Next Generation ***
Dublin Carol ** 1/2
Soft Power **
The Decline and Fall of The Entire World As Seen Through The Eyes Of Cole Porter ***
For Colored Girls ** 1/2
Scotland, PA **
The Sound Inside *** (great cast, clumsy ending)
User Not Found **
Enchanted April **
DruidShakespeare: Richard III * 1/2
Broadbend, Arkansas **
Einstein's Dreams * 1/2
The Crucible (by Bedlam) *** 1/2
Pump Girl ***
A Christmas Carol (Bway w Campbell Scott) **
Barber Shop Chronicles ***
Anything Can Happen In The Theater: The Musical World of Maury Yeston ** 1/2


Thanks for reading. Michael Giltz is the creator of BookFilter, a book lover’s best friend. It’s a website that lets you browse for books online the way you do in a physical bookstore, provides comprehensive info on new releases every week in every category and offers passionate personal recommendations every step of the way. He’s also the cohost of Showbiz Sandbox, a weekly pop culture podcast that reveals the industry take on entertainment news of the day with top journalists and opinion makers as guests. It’s available for free on iTunes. Visit Michael Giltz at his website. Download his podcast of celebrity interviews and his radio show, also called Popsurfing and also available for free on iTunes.

THEATER: "Barber Shop Chronicles" Offers A Clean Shave

BARBER SHOP CHRONICLES *** out of ****
BAM -- HARVEY

Apparently, wherever you go in the world, men will boast about their sexual prowess, watch sports, bicker, joke and old men casually dismiss young men as clueless. Oh and occasionally get a haircut.

Playwright Inua Ellams captures this with his globe-spanning comic drama. It's set in barber shops dotting Africa -- Uganda, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Ghana -- with the sixth one in London. The action occurs on a single day when Chelsea plays Barcelona in a major football championship, Barber Shop Chronicles does precisely what you hope and expect it to do. It showcases a strong terrific cast, introduces us to a talented playwright and while it most definitely has much on its mind, it never fails to entertain.

The fun begins before the show as the cast mingles with the audience, urging people to come onstage and get a haircut. (Not a real one, naturally.) Music is played, actors sing along on certain tunes, dance in small groups and then suddenly the entire cast is dancing and moving together to make real the unity they will embody despite playing so many people from so many different cultures. This intro climaxes with all of them focused a terrific moment in that soccer match and boom, the show has begun.

Stories and ideas bounce all over the place as easily as the show shifts from one barber shop to the next. Some customers are new, eager to get a haircut before the store is even open, while others are old friends. Employees fester over old slights and try to win new clients. And everyone has something to say about politics, language, the lineup of their favorite team competing that day, women, white people, black people, how to raise a kid, reparations and so on. Casual references are rarely casual: if a person in one shop in Zimbabwe mentions someone they know is in London, you can be certain that person will show up at the barber in that capitol to get a fade. Soon, it's not just the ideas that crisscross the globe as those interconnections grow in significance.

Ellams easily juggles a dozen modest storylines here, ably assisted by director Bijan Sheibani. Each scene change happens smoothly, with the cast gleefully dancing and moving around props while singing a song or chant or cheer, usually one connected in some way to the site of the next barber shop's location. The movement direction by Aline David is crucial here and deserves special mention as David and the director Sheibani manage to make all these transitions a treat while moving the story forward -- key players from the previous scene remain in character just long enough to add substance to the controlled chaos.

The design by Rae Smith is easily adaptable to the space the play is performed in, simple and effective, from the signs of barber shops that adorn the walls to the globe that hangs from the ceiling and shows us what city we're traveling to next. Ditto the lighting by Jack Knowles and crucial music direction of Michael Henry. But again it's the movement you remember best, like the way the cast uses the barber's cloth draped over customers as a cape to vibrantly assist in so many dances.

In all, it's an accomplished and often pointed work. The positive vibe and effective humor also allow the piece to give voice to men with bloody anger over colonialism and brutality, resentment towards their fathers, praise for Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe and other uncomfortable opinions. Audiences are always ready to embrace a shared humanity, but they'll also hear the hard truth that centuries of oppression just might bear bitter fruit. The ensemble of a dozen actors bring to life some thirty complex characters. No wonder Barber Shop Chronicles has played around the world.

But it could be better. The actors juggle accents for six distinct parts of the world. While I can't speak to their effectiveness in making each dialect accurate, I can say it was a struggle at times to understand them, especially in the first 20 or so minutes. Onstage, suggesting an accent is often enough; clarity for the audience is far more important than approval from say, someone in Nigeria commenting they "got it right." The challenge for the actors was immense but director Sheibani and dialect coach Hazel Holder should have erred on the side of making the text clear and understandable.

Worse, the show's most conventional element is also its least effective. Barber Shop Chronicles has a compelling structure. Seeing how the lives of these different people are literally connected to one another or just hearing the same joke told and retold again in shop after shop provides all the plot we need. However, I fear either Ellams or some dramaturg urged a noisier engine to drive the story. Thus we're given a big mystery and a little one. The big mystery revolves around Samuel, a resentful young man in the London barber shop. His dad is in prison and Samuel blames his father's partner in the shop for that and continually disrespects Emmanuel because of it.

Needless to say, there's more to the story than Samuel realizes and the facts are hinted at until they come tumbling out at the climax of the show. A smaller mystery involves Emmanuel's never-seen wife. From his expression, it's obvious to the audience she has left him or perhaps is seriously ill or at least something is up. We just don't know what. That too is revealed right towards the end.

Making this conflict a mystery is far more pedestrian than the clever web Ellams weaves throughout the rest of the play. We should have been told the facts much earlier, or this story could be removed entirely and the show would be stronger for it. Worse, while Mohammed Mansaray is fine as the peeved Samuel, actor Anthony Ofoegbu is the show's weakest link as Emmanuel. It's a pity these two are surrounded by much stronger actors and yet are the focus of the biggest storyline.

Those others actors do wow, with many tackling three or four roles with aplomb, making each one so distinct you never confuse them for a moment. (Presumably the effective costuming falls under the zone of Rae Smith's design.) Adé Dee Haastrup was especially compelling in multiple roles while Emmanuel Ighodaro limned a broken down alcoholic with heartfelt specificity.

Fresh-faced Elmi Rashid Elmi gave the show the perfect grace note at the end, one which would have been all the more effective if it weren't for the heavy plotting that got in the way. But his scene begs for one obvious touch. Elmi's character says he doesn't know what it means to be a strong man (a preoccupation of most of the men in the show) because he's had no male role models in his life. The strongest person he knows is his mom. You just wait for the barber to say, "Well, if you want to know what a strong person is like, think of your mom!" Sadly, the possibility is left hanging.

Finally, Demmy Ladipo stole the show with his hilarious turn as a loud-mouthed braggart retelling his encounters with white women and black women, all of whom call him a "lover lover." In a play filled with good laughs, he got the biggest. If there's a sequel -- and why shouldn't Ellams deliver Beauty Parlor? -- let's hope that character can barge his way in for a scene or two.


THEATER OF 2019

Frankenstein: Under The Radar Fest at the Public ** 1/2
Minor Character: Under The Radar Festival at the Public ***
Ink: Under The Radar  Festival at the Public  ** 1/2
Choir Boy ** 1/2
White Noise ** 1/2
Kiss Me, Kate ***
Ain't No Mo' *** 1/2
Ain't Too Proud **
The Cradle Will Rock * 1/2
Mrs. Murray's Menagerie *** 1/2
Oklahoma! (on Broadway) ** 1/2
Socrates **
The Pain Of My Belligerence *
Burn This **
Hadestown *** 1/2
All My Sons * 1/2
Tootsie ** 1/2
Ink ***
Beetlejuice **
Estado Vegetal ***
Hans Christian Andersen * 1/2
Cirque du Soleil: Luzia ***
BLKS ** 1/2
Moulin Rouge ** 1/2
Bat Out Of Hell **
Unchilding **
Sea Wall/ A Life ** 1/2
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child ***
Betrayal *** 1/2
Fifty Million Frenchmen ** 1/2
Freestyle Love Supreme ** 1/2
Derren Brown: Secret ***
(A)loft Modulation * 1/2
The Great Society **
I Can't See *
Heroes Of The Fourth Turning ** 1/2
Chasing Rainbows: The Road To Oz ***
The Glass Menagerie (dir Austin Pendleton & Peter Bloch) **
Terra Firma (debut of The Coop theater company) **
Forbidden Broadway: The Next Generation ***
Dublin Carol ** 1/2
Soft Power **
The Decline and Fall of The Entire World As Seen Through The Eyes Of Cole Porter ***
For Colored Girls ** 1/2
Scotland, PA **
The Sound Inside *** (great cast, clumsy ending)
User Not Found **
Enchanted April **
DruidShakespeare: Richard III * 1/2
Broadbend, Arkansas **
Einstein's Dreams * 1/2
The Crucible (by Bedlam) *** 1/2
Pump Girl ***
A Christmas Carol (Bway w Campbell Scott) **
Barber Shop Chronicles ***


Thanks for reading. Michael Giltz is the creator of BookFilter, a book lover’s best friend. It’s a website that lets you browse for books online the way you do in a physical bookstore, provides comprehensive info on new releases every week in every category and offers passionate personal recommendations every step of the way. He’s also the cohost of Showbiz Sandbox, a weekly pop culture podcast that reveals the industry take on entertainment news of the day with top journalists and opinion makers as guests. It’s available for free on iTunes. Visit Michael Giltz at his website. Download his podcast of celebrity interviews and his radio show, also called Popsurfing and also available for free on iTunes.

Theater Best Of The 2010s

THE BEST THEATER OF THE 2010s -- DRAFT


Akhnaten (2019 dress rehearsal of ENO at Met)
All's Well That Ends Well (2011 at Shakespeare's Globe in London)
As You Like It (Lily Rabe for Shakespeare In The Park, 2012)
The Band's Visit (Off Bway at Atlantic or on Bway)
Boy (w Bobby Steggert)
The Divine Sister (2011, w Charles Busch)
A Doll's House, Part 2
Einstein On The Beach (2012 at BAM)
Giant (2012 Public w Kate Baldwin, Bobby Steggert)
Guys and Dolls (one night only Carnegie Hall w Nathan Lane, Megan Mullally, Patrick Wilson)
Hadestown (2016 at NYTW)
Hamilton
Happy Days (w Dianne Wiest at BAM)
The Interminable Suicide Of Gregory Church (Daniel Kitson 2011 at St. Ann's)
It's Always Right Now, Until It's Later (2012 Daniel Kitson)
Julius Caesar (2013 revival at St. Ann's, all women w Harriet Walter)
Lypsinka! The Boxed Set
The Merchant Of Venice (2010 Bway w Al Pacino and Lily Rabe)
Mouse: The Persistence Of An Unlikely Thought (Daniel Kitson, 2016)
My Name Is Asher Lev (2012, w Ari Brand)
Nellie McKay at Joe's Pub (Joan Rivers bio-musical)
An Octoroon (Soho Rep 2014)
The Old Man and the Old Moon (PigPen Theater, 2012)
Once (2012 Bway)
Parsifal (2013, at the Met)
Satyagraha (2011 ENO revival at Met)
The Scottsboro Boys (2010 Bway)
Sense and Sensibility (Bedlam, 2014)
A Show For Christmas (Daniel Kitson, 2015)
Shuffle Along
Sleep No More (Punch Drunk immersive Macbeth at McKittrick Hotel)
Sons Of The Prophet (2011 Off bway w Santino Fontana)
Spring Awakening (2015 Bway revival by Deaf Theatre West)
Sunday In The Park With George (Bway w Jake Gyllenhaal in 2017)
Travesties (Bway 2018 w Tom Hollander)
Tribes (w Mare Winningham)
Twelfth Night (2013 Bway, all male cast w Mark Rylance, Samuel Barnett)
When Father Comes Home From The Wars, Parts 1, 2, and 3


**** shows

All's Well That Ends Well (2011 at Shakespeare's Globe in London)
As You Like It (Lily Rabe for Shakespeare In The Park, 2012)
Boy (w Bobby Steggert)
Einstein On The Beach (2012 at BAM)
Julius Caesar (2013 revival at St. Ann's, all women w Harriet Walter)
Lypsinka! The Boxed Set
Once (2012 Bway)
Satyagraha (2011 ENO revival at Met)
Sunday In The Park With George (Bway w Jake Gyllenhaal in 2017)



*** 1/2 shows

A Doll's House, Part 2
Ain't No Mo (at Public)
Akhnaten (2019 dress rehearsal of ENO at Met)
Allegro (CSC revival)
Arcadia (2011 revival w Billy Crudup, again)
The Band's Visit (Off Bway at Atlantic or on Bway)
Bend In The Road (Anne of Green Gables musical at NYMF, 2013)
Betrayal
Blanche, The Bittersweet Life of A Prairie Dame (2011 NYMF)
Bob (show about Robert Wilson)
The Book Of Mormon
Catch Me If You Can (Bway w Aaron Tveit)
The Children (Bway)
Clybourne Park
The Crucible (by Bedlam)
The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time (Bway)
Derren Brown: Secret
The Divine Sister (2011, w Charles Busch)
Familiar
The Ferryman
Follies (Bway 2011 w Bernadette Peters)
The Fortress Of Solitude (musical at Public)
Forty Part Motet: Janet Cardiff Installation at PS1)
Frog Kiss (2010 NYMF)
A Gentleman's Guide To Love & Murder (Bway)
Germinal (Public UTR Festival)
Ghost Quartet
Giant (2012 Public w Kate Baldwin, Bobby Steggert)
The Glass Menagerie (Bway w Sally Field)
Guys and Dolls (one night only Carnegie Hall w Nathan Lane, Megan Mullally, Patrick Wilson)
Hadestown (off bway)
Hamilton
Happy Days (w Dianne Wiest)
The Heir Apparent (David Ives at CSC)
Heisenberg (w Mary-Louise Parker)
Here Lies Love (at Public)
The Humans (Bway)
The Hurrican Katrina Comedy Festival (2011 FringeFest NYC)
Independents (2012, FringeNYC)
The Interminable Suicide Of Gregory Church (Daniel Kitson 2011 at St. Ann's)
It's Always Right Now, Until It's Later (2012 Daniel Kitson)
King Charles III
Leonard Cohen Koans (NYC Fringe Fest 2011)
The Liar
Matilda The Musical (Bway)
The Merchant Of Venice (2010 Bway w Al Pacino and Lily Rabe)
Les Miserables (Bway 2014)
The Mountain Song (2011 PigPen)
Mouse: The Persistence Of An Unlikely Thought (Daniel Kitson, 2016)
Mrs. Murray's Menagerie
My Name Is Asher Lev (2012, w Ari Brand)
Nellie McKay at Joe's Pub (Joan Rivers bio-musical)
The Nightmare Story (2011 PigPen)
Nixon In China (2011 revival at the Met)
Octet (at Signature)
An Octoroon (Soho Rep 2014)
The Old Man and the Old Moon (PigPen Theatre)
The Orphans' Home Cycle (2011 mounting at Signature)
The Painted Rocks At Revolver Creek (Signature revival)
Parsifal (2013, at the Met)
Passion (2013 revival at CSC)
Peter and the Starcatcher
The Piano Lesson (2012 revival at Signature)
Porgy & Bess (2012 w Audra McDonald)
A Raisin In The Sun (Bway 2014 w Denzel Washington)
The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner (2013)
The School For Lies (2011 revival at CSC by David Ives, w Mamie Gummer)
The Scottsboro Boys (2010 Bway)
Sense and Sensbility (Bedlam, 2014)
Septimus & Clarissa (2011)
A Show For Christmas (Daniel Kitson, 2015)
Shuffle Along (Bway)
Sleep No More (Punch Drunk immersive Macbeth at McKittrick Hotel)
Sons Of The Prophet (2011 Off bway w Santino Fontana)
Spring Awakening (2015 Bway revival by Deaf Theatre West)
STePz (Savion Glover dance piece)
Strictly Dishonorable (1929 Preston Sturges play)
Three Sisters (2011 revival at CSC w Maggie Gyllenhaal, Peter Sarsgaard)
Travesties (Bway 2018 w Tom Holland)
Tribes (w Mare Winningham)
Twelfth Night (2013 Bway, all male cast w Mark Rylance, Samuel Barnett)
The Twentieth Century Way (2010 NYC FringeFest w Tom Jacobson)
Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
Volleygirls (2013 NYMF)
The Weir (2013 revival at Irish Rep)
What You Will (Or Twelfth Night) by Bedlam
When Father Comes Home From The Wars, Parts 1, 2, and 3
Without You (2010 NYMF Anthony Rapp)

The Movies, Books, Theater, Concerts, CDs I've Seen/Read/Heard So Far In 2019

Updated October 30, 2019

KEY: star rating is on the four star scale
          meaning of "/" or "\"
          *** is three stars out of four
          ***/ is three stars leaning towards  3 1/2
          ***\ is three stars leaning towards 2 1/2


BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS
(Increasingly, I am sampling books, reading 10%, 20% even 40 or 50% before deciding to move on. The books below are only the ones I've read completely. That also explains what looks like generous grading -- more and more, if I sense a book is not going to be among my favorites, I stop reading. Too many books; too little time!)


1. Love To Everyone by Hilary McKay (ya WW II) *** 1/2
2. The Murder Of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie (1926) *** 1/2
3. The Winter Of The Witch by Katherine Arden *** 1/2
4. The Music Of What Happens by Bill Konigsberg **
5. DogMan: Brawl of the Wild by Dav Pilkey ** 1/2
6. Cane by Jean Toomer (1923) ** 1/2
7. Underground: A Human History Of The World Beneath Our Feet by Will Hunt *** /
8. Unknown Man #89 by Elmore Leonard (1977) *** 1/2
9. The Falconer by Dana Czapnik (NYC coming of age basketballer) *** 1/2
10. Midnight In Chernobyl by Adam Higginbotham *** 1/2
11. The Hot Kid by Elmore Leonard (2005) ****
12. Pogo: Bona Fide Balderdash -- The Complete Syndicated Comic Strips Vol 2 1951-1952 by Walt Kelly ****
13. Pogo: Evidence To The Contrary -- The Complete Syndicated Comic Strips Vol 3 1953-1954 by Walt Kelly ****
14. The Complete Terry and the Pirates (1937-1938) by Milt Caniff *** 1/2
15. The Swish of the Curtain by Pamela Brown (1941) *** 1/2
16. The Last Samurai by  Helen De Witt (2000) ****
17. There Is No Planet B: A Handbook For The Make Or Break Years by Mike Berners-Lee **
18. Cherokee America by Margaret Verble *** 1/2
19. A Taste For Honey by H.F. Heard (1941) ** 1/2
20. Mama's Last Hug: Animal Emotions And What They Tell Us About Ourselves by Frans De Waal ***
21. The New Silk Roads by Peter Frankopan **
22. The Players Ball by David Kushner ***
23. What Blest Genius: The Jubilee That Made Shakespeare by Andrew McConnell Stott ***
24. The Binding By Bridget Collins ** 1/2
25. Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens (1865) *** 1/2
26. Falter by Bill McKibben ** 1/2
27. Our Castle by The Sea by Lucy Strange **
28. Endling #2: The First by Katherine Applegate ***
29. Charles Dickens -- A Tale Of Two Cities (1859) ***
30. Call Mr. Fortune by H.C. Bailey (1920) ***
31. Aloha Rodeo by David Wolman and Julian Smith ** 1/2
32. Ghosts Of Gold Mountain by Gordon H. Chang ***
33. Just Kids by Patti Smith (2010) ***
34. The Porpoise by Mark Haddon ** 1/2
35. The Book Case by Dave Shelton ** 1/2
36. Maddy Alone by Pamela Brown (Blue Door #2) (1945) ** 1/2
37. Golden Pavements by Pamela Brown (Blue Door #3) (1947) ***/
38. The Complete Terry and the Pirates Vol. 3: 1939-1940 by Milton Caniff *** 1/2
39. Blue Door Venture by Pamela Brown (Blue Door #4) ***/
40. Walt and Skeezix Vol. 1: 1921-1922 by Franbk O.  King ***
41. The Philosopher's Flight by Tom Miller ***
42. The Vagabonds by Jeff Guinn ** 1/2
43. Magic For Liars by Sarah Gailey **
44. The Philosopher's War by Tom Miller *** 1/2
45. Gasoline Alley: The Complete Sundays 1920-1922 Volume One by Frank King **
46. The Complete Terry and the Pirates Vol. 4: 1941-1942 by Milton Caniff *** 1/2
47. Travel Light, Move Fast by Alexandra Fuller ***
48. Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett ***
49. Pogo: Under The Bamboozle Bush -- The Complete Syndicated Strips Volume 4 1955-1956 by Walt Kelly ***
50. Gasoline Alley aka Walt and Skeezix Complete Daily Strips 1923-1924 by Frank King ***
51. The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead ***
52. Maddy Again by Pamela Brown ***
53. The Doll Factory by Elizabeth Macneal **
54. The Outlaw Ocean by Ian Urbina ** 1/2
55. This Was Our Pact by Ryan Andrews (graphic novel) ** 1/2
56. The Leopard by Giuseppe di Lampedusa (1958) ****
57. A Purple Place For Dying by John D. MacDonald (Travis McGee #3) ** 1/2
58. The Years Of Lyndon Johnson: Means Of Ascent by Robert A. Caro ****
59. A Hero Born by Jin Yong (Legends Of The Condor Heroes Vol. 1) trans Anna Holmwood *** 1/2
60. Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative by Mark Fisher ****
61. The Years of Lyndon Johnson: Master Of The Senate by Robert A. Caro ****
62. That Will Never Work: The Birth Of Netflix by Marc Randolph **
63. Something Deeply Hidden: Quantum Worlds and the Emergence of Spacetime by Sean Carroll ***/
64. The Years Of Lyndon Johnson Vol. Four: The Passage Of Power by Robert A. Caro ****
65. Song Of Solomon by Toni Morrison *** 1/2
66. The Pioneers by David McCullough **
67. The Second Founding by Eric Foner ***
68. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison ***
69. The Adventure of the Peculiar Protocols by Nicholas Meyer (Sherlock Holmes) **
70. Last Witnesses by Svetlana Alexievich (kids during WW II oral history) ***
71. Austerlitz by W.G. Sebald ****
72. Find Me by André Aciman *
73. The Finance Curse by Nicholas Shaxson *** 1/2
74. The Secret Commonwealth: The Book Of Dust Volume Two by Philip Pullman ** 1/2
75. The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Armin (1922) *** 1/2
76. A Brightness Long Ago by Guy Gavriel Kay *** 1/2
77. The Lost Art of Scripture by Karen Armstrong ***
78. Religion As We Know It: An Origin Story by Jack Miles ***
79. The Code Of The Woosters by P.G. Wodehouse(1938) *** 1/2
80. Permanent Record b Edward Snowden ** 1/2
81. The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu **
82. Disney's Land by Richard Snow **
83. The Final Reflection: A Star Trek Novel by John M. Ford ***
84.



CDS CDS CDS CDS CDS CDS CDS CDS CDS CDS CDS CDS CDS CDS CDS CDS CDS CDS CDS CDS CDS CDS CDS CDS CDS CDS CDS CDS CDS CDS CDS CDS CDS CDS CDS CDS (A strong emphasis on the ones I like, so don't think I love everything I listen to -- I just don't bother really listening to the ones I don't )

1. The Beach Boys -- Smiley Smile (1967) *** (esp side two)
2. The Beach Boys -- Wild Honey (1967) **
3. The Beach Boys -- Friends (1968) ***/
4. The Band -- Stage Fright (1970) ** 1/2
5. The English Beat -- Public Confidential ***
6. The Band -- Cahoots (1971) *** 1/2
7. The Band -- Northern Lights Southern Cross (1975) ***
8. Van Morrison -- The Prophet Speaks *** \
9. Dee White -- Southern Gentleman **
10. Ken Nordine -- Speak With Your Ears (1979) *** 1/2
11. David Gray -- Gold In A Brass Age ** 1/2
12. Van Morrison -- The Healing Game (1997) ***/
13. Various Artists -- Joni 75: A Celebration ** 1/2 /
14. Maren Morris -- Girls ***
15. Elton John -- Captain Fantastic and the Dirt Brown Cowboy (1975) **
16. Joe Jackson -- Fool *** /
17. Trevor Horn -- Reimagines The 80s **
18. India Arie -- Worthy ** 1/2
19. The Everly Brothers -- Roots (1968) ***
20. John Pizzarelli -- For Centennial Reasons: A Salute To Nat King Cole ** 1/2
21. Julio Gutierrez -- Cuban Jam Session Vol 1 (1956) ***
22. Lone Justice -- This Is Lone Justice: The Vaughn Tapes 1983 ***
23. Nancy Wilson -- Nancy Wilson/Cannonball Adderley (1962) *** 1/2 /
24. Nancy Wilson -- Something Wonderful (1962) *** 1/2
25. Nancy Wilson -- Tender Loving Care (1966) ***\
26. Ella Fitzgerald -- The Complete Decca Singles Vol. 1 *** \
27. Nancy Wilson -- The Swingin's Mutual w George Shearing (1961) ***
28. Antonio Carlos and Jocafi -- 20 Super Succesos ** 1/2
29. Idles -- Joy As An Act Of Resistance (2018) **
30. Mercury Rev -- Bobbie Gentry's The Delta Sweete Revisited ** 1/2
31. Bobby Long -- Sultans **
32. Ramsey Lewis Trio -- Sound Of Christmas (side one solid, side two w strings awful) 1961 **
33. Hozier -- Wasteland, Baby! **
34. Better Oblivion Community Center -- Better Oblivion Community Center (Conor Oberst and Phoebe Bridgers) ***\
35. Chet Baker and Art Pepper -- Playboys aka Pictures of Heath (1956) ***
36. Gilbert O'Sullivan -- Himself (1971) ** 1/2
37. Gilbert O'Sullivan -- Back To Front (1972) ** 1/2
38. Solange -- When I Get Home *** 1/2
39. Ben Platt -- Sing To Me Instead * 1/2
40. Bryan Adams -- Shine A Light **
41. BTS -- Map Of The Soul: Persona **
42. The Blue Nile -- A Walk Across The Rooftops (1984) ****
43. The Blue Nile -- Hats (1989) ****
44. Norah Jones -- Begin Again **
45. Johnny Cash -- The Christmas Spirit (1963) *
46. Les Paul and Mary Ford -- Bye Bye Blues (1952) ***
47. Melissa Etheridge -- The Medicine Show **
48. Ella Fitzgerald -- Ella and Basie! (1963) *** 1/2
49. Ella Fitzgerald -- Clap Hands, Here Comes Charlie! (1961) *** 1/2
50. Ella Fitzgerald -- Lullabies Of Birdland (1954) ** 1/2
51. Ella Fitzgerald -- Ella Swings Brightly With Nelson (1962) **
52. Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong -- The Decca Duets (playlist of eight songs) ****
53. Paul McCartney -- Wildlife (1971) *
54. Paul McCartney -- Red Rose Speedway (1973) **
55. Patty Griffin -- Patty Griffin **
56. The Tallest Man On Earth -- I Love You. It's A Fever Dream ***/
57. Alan Parsons -- The Secret **
58. Gary Clark Jr. -- This Land **
59. Grupo Fantasma -- American Music: Volume 7 ***
60. Billie Eilish -- When We All Fall Asleep ***/
61. Lee Fields -- It Rains Love **
62. Corey Hart -- Dreaming Time Again ep **
63. George Winston -- Restless Wind **
64. The Claypool Lennon Delirium -- South Of Reality **
65. Wynton Marsalis NYT jazz playlist *** 1/2
66. The Coral -- Move Through The Dawn **
67. 5 Minutes That Will Make You Love The Piano NYT playlist ***
68. Aerosmith -- Toys In The Attic (1975)
69. George Strait -- Honky Tonk Time Machine ** 1/2
70. George Benson -- Walking To New Orleans **
71. Ben Webster -- Ben and "Sweets" (w Harry "Sweets" Edison) (1962) *** 1/2
72. Howard Jones -- Transform **
73. Husker Du -- Warehouse: Songs and Stories (1987) *** 1/2
74. Youssou N'dour -- History ** 1/2
75. Weezer -- Teal **
76. William Tyler -- Goes West **
77. The Who -- Who's Next  (1971) *** 1/2
78. Various Artists -- The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Season One soundtrack ***
79. Vangelis -- Nocturne **
80. Vampire Weekend -- Father Of The Bride ***/
81. Doris Day -- Duet (w Andre Previn Trio) (1962) *** 1/2
82. Doris Day -- The Essential Doris Day (2014) ** 1/2
83. The O'Jays -- Back Stabbers (1972) ***
84. Nick Lowe -- Love Starvation ep ***
85. Professor Longhair -- New Orleans Piano (1972) ***
86. Lee Dorsey -- The New Lee Dorsey (1966) ***
87. Richard Thompson -- The Cold Blue soundtrack ***
88. Eric B and Rakim -- Paid In Full (1987) *** 1/2
89. Neil Diamond -- Hot August Night (1972) ***
90. Mavis Staples -- Live In London ** 1/2
91. Leon Redbone -- On The Track (1975) *** 1/2
92. Leon Redbone -- Double Time (1977) *** 1/2
93. Leon Redbone -- Champagne Charlie (1978) ***
94. Stray Cats -- 40 ***
95. Steve Earle -- GUY (tribute to Guy Clark) ***
96. Rickie Lee Jones -- Kicks **
97. Various Artists -- The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Season Two soundtrack ***
98. The Mills Brothers -- Merry Christmas (1978) * 1/2
99. The Mills Brothers -- Four Men and A Guitar (1995) **** (actually called Boys)
100. Margo Guryan -- 27 Demos (2014) ***
101. Monsieur Perine -- Encanto Tropical **
102. Morrissey -- California Sun ***\
103. Miles  Davis -- The Complete  Birth Of The Cool *** 1/2
104. The National  -- I Am Easy To Find ** 1/2
105. Nigel Wilson -- Have Yourself A Merry Little Synthmas (2018) *
106. Carly Rae Jepsen -- Dedicated **
107. Charlie Haden and Brad Mehldau -- Long Ago and Far Away **
108. Connie Converse -- How Sad, How Lovely (2015) *** 1/2
109.  Dick Haymes -- Keep It Simple (1983) ***
110. The Doors -- Waiting For The Sun (1968) * 1/2
111. Sting -- My Songs **\
112. Sturgill Simpson -- High Top Mountain (2013) ***
113. Thomas Rhett -- Center Point Road **
114. Grateful Dead -- Aoxomoxao (1969) **
115. Bruce Springsteen -- Western Stars ** 1/2
116. Madonna -- Madame X **
117. ZZ Top -- Greatest Hits * 1/2
118. Dean Lewis -- A Place We  Knew ** 1/2
119. Meghan Trainor -- The Love Train ** 1/2
120. Chris Shiflett -- Hard Lessons ***
121. Everly Brothers -- Songs Our Daddy Taught Us (1958) *** 1/2
122. Etta James -- At Last! (1960) ***\
123. Chris Robinson Brotherhood -- Servants Of The Sun **
124. Celeste -- Lonely EP **
125. Bruce Hornsby -- Absolute Zero **
126. The Fratellis -- In Your Own Sweet Time ***
127. Hawkshaw Hawkins and Cowboy Copas -- 22 Original King and Starday Hits! (2005) **
128. Hobo Johnson -- The Rise Of Hobo Johnson (2017) ***/
129. Hector Lavoe -- La Voz (1975) *** 1/2
130. Brad Mehldau -- Finding Gabriel **
131. Sonny Clark -- The Sony Clark Trio (1960) *** 1/2
132. Branford  Marsalis -- The Secret Between The Shadow and The Soul *** 1/2
133. Santana -- Africa Speaks ** 1/2
134. Buddy and Julie Miller -- Breakdown on 20th Avenue South ***\
135. Chris  Jones -- The Choosing Road **
136. Josh Newcom -- The Blues Gonna Getcha **
137. Curtis Mayfield -- Curtis (1970) ***
138. Eels -- The Deconstruction (2018) ***
139. Jacob Miller -- Natty Christmas *
140. Jamie Cullum -- Taller ** 1/2
141. Jamila Woods -- LEGACY! LEGACY! **
142. Jessica Pratt -- Quiet Signs **
143. Jimmy Webb -- SlipCovers **
144. Josh Ritter -- Fever Breaks ** 1/2
145. Jackson Browne  -- Running On Empty (1977) *** 1/2
146. Jackson Browne -- The Pretender (1976) ***
147. Janet Jackson -- Control ** 1/2
148. The Japanese House -- Good At Falling **
149. Jenny Lewis -- On The Line ** 1/2
150. the Jonas Brothers -- Happiness Begins ** 1/2
151. Joy Williams -- Front Porch ***\
152. Julio Gutierrez -- Cuban Jam Sessi0on Vol. 2 ***
153. Willie Nelson -- Ride Me Back Home ** 1/2
154. The Waterboys -- Where The Action is ***
155. Various Artists -- The Great Gospel Men: 27 Classic Performances *** 1/2
156. Kate Bush -- The Kick Inside (1978) ****
157. Lil Nas X -- 7EP ** 1/2
158. The Rolling Stones -- Beggars Banquet *** 1/2 \
159. Kate Bush -- Lionheart (1978) ***
160. Lewis Capaldi -- Divinely Uninspired To A Hellish Extent **
161. Little Steven -- Summer Of Sorcery **
162. Lizzo -- Cuz I Love You *** 1/2
163. Luther Russell -- Medium Cool *** \
164. Maddie Poppe -- Whirlwind ** 1/2
165. Neil Young -- Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere (1969) *** 1/2
166. Motown: The Complete #1s (11 CD set) *** 1/2 \
167. Max Von Essen -- Call Me Old-Fashioned **
168. Various Artists -- Once Upon A Time In Hollywood *** 1/2
169. Dionne Warwick -- She's Back... **
170. The Divine Comedy -- Office Politics **
171. Kaiser Chiefs -- Duck ***
172. Prince -- Originals ***
173. The Go-Gos -- Vacation (1982) ***
174.  Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers -- Moanin' (1959) ****
175. The Go-Gos -- Talk Show (1984) ***
176. The Regrettes -- How Do You Love? ** 1/2
177. Barbra Streisand -- Love Is The Answer (2009) ***/
178. The Raconteurs -- Help Us Stranger ***/
179. Yola -- Walk Through Fire **
180. Various Artists -- Come On Let's Go: Powerpop Gems From The 70s and 80s ***/
181. Various Artists -- Burnwood Playlist: This Won't Take But A Minute Or Two *** 1/2
182. The Roches -- The Roches (1979) ***
183. Van Morrison -- Veedon Fleece (1974) *** 1/2
184. The Maytals -- Never Grow Old (1964) ***
185. Mariachi Los Camperos -- De Ayer Para Siempre *** 1/2
186. Burning Spear -- Marcus Garvey (1975) *** 1/2
187. Sheryl Crow -- Threads ***/
188. Lydia Mendoza -- La Alondra de la Frontera: Live! (1982) *** 1/2
189. Jesse Malin -- Sunset Kids ***
190. Daryl Hall & John Oates -- Change Of Season (1990) *** 1/2
191. The Highwomen -- The Highwomen *** (but why not Highwaywomen?)
192. The Beatles -- Abbey Road 50th Anniversary Boxed Set ****
193. Los Lobos -- Llegó Navidad (holiday music) *** 1/2
194. Various Artists -- Country Music (soundtrack to Ken Burns doc) ****
195. Tanya Tucker -- While I'm Living (Brandi Carlisle labor of love) *** 1/2
196. Nick Cave -- Ghosteen *** 1/2
197. The Judds -- Greatest Hits (1988) ***
198. The Judds -- Greatest Hits Volume Two (1991) ** 1/2
199. Vince Gill -- Okie **
200. The Judds -- Christmas Time With The Judds (1987) **
201. The Ramsey Lewis Trio -- Sound Of Christmas (1961) **
202. The Ramsey Lewis Trio -- More Sounds Of Christmas (1964) * 1/2
203. Rodney Crowell -- Texas ** 1/2
204. Jim James -- The Order Of Nature ** 1/2
205. Lakou Mizik -- HaitiNola ***/
206. Jim Sullivan -- If The Evening Were Dawn (2019 release of demos) ** 1/2
207. Doris Day -- With Love ***\
208. Dionne Warwick -- & The Voices Of Christmas **
209. Wilder Woods -- Wilder Woods ***
210. Michael Kiwanuka -- Kiwanuka ***//
211. Jeff Lynne's ELO -- From Out Of Nowhere ***/
212. No Man's Land by Frank Turner *** 1/2
213. Phil Wickham -- Christmas **
214. Blue Magic -- Blue Magic (1974) *** 1/2
215. Thin Lizzy -- Deep Lizzy playlist courtesy Burning Wood *** 1/2
216. Bryan Adams -- Christmas EP ** 1/2
217. Dave Stryker -- Eight Track Christmas **
218. Big Thief -- Two Hands **
219. The Doobie Brothers -- Toulouse Street (1972) *** /
220. The Doobie Brothers -- Takin' It To The Streets (1976) ***
221. Dori Freeman -- Every Little Star *** 1/2
222. Joel Paterson -- Let It Be Guitar! Joel Paterson Plays The Beatles ***
223. Vince Guaraldi -- It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966) **
224. Various Artists -- It's A Prog Rock Christmas *
225. The Avett Brothers -- Closer Than Together ** 1/2
226. Alexi Murdoch -- Towards The Sun (2011) *** 1/2 maybe, but Nick Drake should sue
227. Angelique Kidjo -- Celia *** 1/2
228. The Band -- The Band 50th Anniversary (1969) ****
229. Beck -- Hypersoace *** 1/2
230. Bob Dylan -- Travelin' Thru: 1967-1969, Bootleg Series Vol 15 sampler ***
231. Bobby Helms -- Jingle Bells (2019 album) **
232. Booker T and the MGs -- In The Christmas Spirit (1966) **
233. Brittany Howard -- Jaime ** 1/2
234. Calypso Rose -- Calypso Rose & Friends ** 1/2
235. Chicago -- Chicago Christmas *
236. Chrissie Hynde -- Valve Bone Woe ***
237. Chuck Brown -- The Spirit Of Christmas *
238. Van Morrison -- Three Chords and the Truth ***
239. Leonard Cohen -- Thanks For The Dance ***/
240. Sturgill Simpson -- Sound & Fury *** 1/2
241. Grace Potter -- Daylight **
242. Frank Sinatra -- My Way (1969) (first two tracks winners) **
243. Gruff Rhys -- Pang!
244. The Grascals -- Straighten The Curves **
245. Alexi Murdoch -- Time Without Consequences (2006) *** 1/2
246. Simply Red -- Blue Eyed Soul **
247. Lea Michele -- Christmas In The City *
248. TobyMac -- Light of Christmas *
249. CeeLo Green -- CeeLo's Magic Moment ** 1/2
250. John Basile -- Silent Night **
251. Josh Rouse -- The Holiday Sounds of Josh Rouse ** 1/2
252. Timi Dakolo -- Merry Christmas, Darling *
253. Judy Collins w Jonas Fjeld -- Winter Stories ***
254. Keb' Mo' -- Moonlight, Mistletoe & You **
255. Ne-Yo -- Another Kind of Christmas **
256. Latvian Concert Choir -- Christmas Joy In Latvia (2008) ***
257. Randy Rainbow -- Gurl, It's Christmas **
258. Robbie Williams -- The Christmas Present ***/
259. Weezer -- Christmas With Weezer (2008) ** 1/2
260. The Imaginaries -- Hometown Christmas **
261. Soundgarden -- Superunknown (1994) *** 1/2 just not my cup of tea
262. T. Rex -- The Slider (1972) ***
263. Taylor Swift -- Lover ** 1/2
264. Trisha Yearwood -- Every Girl **
265.



MOVIES TV MOVIES TV MOVIES TV MOVIES TV MOVIES TV MOVIES TV MOVIES TV MOVIES TV MOVIES TV MOVIES TV MOVIES TV MOVIES TV MOVIES TV MOVIES TV MOVIES TV MOVIES TV MOVIES TV MOVIES 

(Not TV movies, of course, but movies and TV -- and TV movies if it comes to that. Mostly I only list TV shows when I've tackled an entire season at once or reappraising an entire series after it's over This doesn't really capture my ongoing watching of current TV.)

1. Sweepstakes Winner (1939) no stars
2. Captain Marvel **
3. Giant Little Ones *** (gay swimmers)
4. Leave No Trace (2018) *** 1/2
5. Minding The Gap (2018) *** 1/2
6. Wildlife (2018) *** 1/2
7. Mowgli: Legend Of The Jungle (2018) **\
8. Us (w Luis) **\
9. Border (2018) ***/
10. Sweet Country (2018) *** 1/2
11. The Tale (HBO, 2018) * 1/2
12. Woman's World (at MOMA w Noam) **
13. Running On Empty (1988) ***
14. Shazam (2018) w Zoe * 1/2
15. The Good Fairy (1935 at MOMA w Noam) ***
16. Apollo 11 (doc) ***/
17. Avengers: Endgame **
18. El Rebozo De Soledad aka Soledad's Shawl (1952; dir Roberto Gavaldón) ** 1/2
19. La Noche Avanza aka Night Falls (1952; dir Roberto Gavaldón) **
20. Knock Down The House (Netflix doc OAC) ***
21. La Diosa Arrodillado aka The Kneeling Goddess (1947; dir Roberto Gavaldón) ** 1/2
22. Walking On Water (doc on Christo) ***
23. The Tin Drum (1979) (at Moma) **
24. Happily Buried (1939) * (waffle iron musical short)
25. Radio Hams (1939) (ham radio operators short) * 1/2
26. Killing Eve Season Two ***\
27. BookSmart ** 1/2
28. No Place To Go (1939) *
29. John Wick Chapter 3: Parabellum **** (ok, ** 1/2 , but still, pretty awesome)
30. Rocketman ** 1/2
31. Godzilla: King Of The Monsters *
32. Glimpses of Australia (1939 short) no stars
33. The Mad Maestro (1939 animated short) * 1/2
34. Toy Story 4 ***\
35. Girl Crazy (1943) ***
36. The Kid (1921) ***
37. Spider-Man: Far From Home ***
38. Last Black Man in San Francisco *** /
39. Crawl **
40.  The Lion King (2019 version) * 1/2
41. Once Upon A Time In Hollywood ** 1/2
42. The Girl From Mexico (1939) * 1/2
43. Juarez (1939) * 1/2
44. Jewel Robbery (1932) *** /
45. Hobbes and Shaw *
46. Luce  **
47. The Farewell ***
48. The Nightingale *** \
49. The Leopard (1963) *** 1/2
50. Within The Law (1939) ** 1/2
51. Atlanta Season One *** 1/2
52. Tell No Tales (1939) ** 1/2
53. Blackmail (1939) ** 1/2
54. A Family Affair (1937) (start of Andy Hardy series) **
55. Monos (esp cinematography) ***
56. Give Me Liberty (Russian-American car service driver) *** /
57. Aquarela (cinematography, editing) *** 1/2
58. The Little Princess (1939) ***/
59. Linda Ronstadt: The Sound Of My Voice ** 1/2
60. Blinded By The Light **
61. Synonyms (Israeli-French drama) **
62. Pain and Glory (Almodovar) ***
63. Sorry We Missed You (Ken Loach 2020 film; acting, writing) *** 1/2
64. Mindhunters Season One ***
65. Say Amen, Somebody (1982) ****
66. Close Encounters Of The Third Kind (1977) live score w NY Philharmonic *** 1/2
67. Psycho (1960) live score w NY Philharmonic *** 1/2
68. Hustlers * 1/2
69. Atlanta Season Two *** 1/2
70. The Cave (Syrian doc on docs) ** 1/2
71. Fleabag Season One ***
72. Deadwood Season Two *** 1/2
73. Mindhunter Season Two ***
74. American Dharma *
75. Fleabag Season Two *** 1/2
76. Judy * 1/2
77. Dark Magic (1939 short w Robert Benchley) * 1/2
78. Parasite ***
79. By The Grace Of God (Ozon) **
80. Popeye The Sailor: Customers Wanted (1939 animated short) ** 1/2
81. Harriet *
82. The Current War: Director's Cut (at Lincoln Square w TJ)
83. Country Music (Ken Burns doc) ***
84. Filibus: The Mysterious Air Pirate (1915) **
85. Amazing Grace (at BRIC w Noam) ****
86. Western Stars (Springsteen) **
87. Joker * 1/2
88. Picturesque Udaipur (1939 travel short) **
89. Popeye The Sailor: Leave Well Enough Alone (1939 cartoon short) * 1/2
90. The Insider (1999 film at MOMA) *** 1/2
91. Akhnaten  (English National opera revival, dress rehearsal at Met w Garrett) ****
92. Doctor Sleep **
93. Chernobyl (HBO miniseries) *** 1/2
94. Honey Boy (Noah Jupe v good) ** 1/2
95. Popeye: Hello How Am I (1939 cartoon short) *
96. Popeye: Ghosks Is The Bunk (1939 short) * 1/2
97. Ford V Ferrari (Noah Jupe v good, again)***
98. Jojo Rabbit (Archie Yates v amusing as best friend Yorkie) ***/
99. Knives Out ** 1/2
100.



THEATER CONCERTS THEATER CONCERTS THEATER CONCERTS THEATER CONCERTS THEATER CONCERTS THEATER CONCERTS THEATER CONCERTS
(The names after the shows are the people who joined me at the performance.)

1. Frankenstein (at Public) ** 1/2 
2. Minor Character (at Public) ***/ 
3. Ink (at Met) (w Noam) ** 1/2 
4. Choir Boy (at MTC) (w Noam) ** 1/2 
5. Chambre Noire (at Public) (w Noam) ** 1/2 
6. Weightless (at BRIC) (w Diego) (left early feeling ill, but quite promising)
7. Be More Chill (on Broadway) (w Noam) * 
8. Grease (at UN International School)  (w Noam) 
9. Das Rheingold (at the Met w Noam) ** 1/2 
10.  White Noise (at the Public) ** 1/2 
11. Kiss Me, Kate! (alone) ***
12. Ain't No Mo (at Public w Zoe) *** 1/2 
13. Ain't Too Proud (w Cohen) ** 
14. Die Walkyrie at the Met (w the Machine and Christine Goerke as Brünnhilde, Eva-Maria Westbroek as Sieglinde and Stuart Skelton as Siegmund) *** 1/2 
15. The Cradle Will Rock (at CSC w Noam) * 1/2 
16. Mrs. Murray's Menagerie (at Ars Nova w Noam) *** 1/2 
17. Socrates (at Public w Noam) ** 
18. Siegfried (Ring Cycle at Met w Noam) *** (thrilling final act) 
19. Oklahoma! (at Circle In The Square w Evans) ** 1/2 
20. The Pain Of My Belligerence (solo) * 
21. Burn This (w Zoe) ** 
22. Hadestown (w Noam) *** 1/2 
23. All My Sons * 1/2 
24. Tootsie (w Noam) ** 1/2 
25. Ink (w Noam) *** 
26. Beetlejuice (w TJ) ** 
27. Estado Vegetal (w Diego) *** 
28. Hans Christian Andersen * 1/2 
29. Götterdämmerung (at Met w Noam) *** 1/2 
30. Tolkien exhibit of drawings, maps, timeline (!) etc at Morgan Library (alone) *** 1/2 
31. The Vessel outdoor public art at Hudson Yards (w Noam) ** 
32. BLKS (w Zoe) ** 1/2 
33. The Tale Of Genji exhibit at Met NYC (alone) *** 1/2 
34. Cirque Du Soleil: Luzia (w Noam) *** 
35. Octet (at Signature, alone, in previews before locked) ***/ 
36. August Wilson Annual Monologue Competition (w Noam) *** 
37. Nickel Creek/Punch Brothers at Carnegie Hall (w Noam) *** 1/2 
38. Legally Blonde (at Notre Dame Catholic Girls School in Manhattan) (w Jamie)
39. Octet (at Signature)(alone)  *** 1/2 
40. Moulin Rouge! (w Zoe) ** 1/2 
41. Corinne Bailey Rae at SummerStage (w Noam) *** 
42. Bat Out Of Hell (w Luis) ** 
43. Unchilding (w Noam) ** 
44. Sea Wall/ A Life w Jake Gyllenhaal, Tom Sturridge (w Noam) ** 1/2 
45. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (w Noam) *** 
46. Patty Griffin at Lincoln Center OutDoors w opener Yola (w Noam) *** 
47. Walt Whitman at the Morgan Library *** 
48. The Philadelphia Story (staged reading at Circle In The Square w Luis and Noam) ***  
49. Betrayal (on Bway w Tom Hiddleston) (w Zoe) *** 1/2 
50. Derren Brown's Secret (Bway w Stephen Garrett) *** 
51. Roy DeCarava photo exhibit (w Noam) *** 
52. Freestyle Love Supreme on Broadway (w Zoe) ** 1/2 
53. Fifty Million Frenchmen at the York (w Noam) ** 1/2 
54. (A)loft Modulation (w Noam) * 1/2 
55. The Great Society w Brian Cox (w Stephen Garrett) ** 
56. I Can't See (Halloween in the dark event) (solo) * 
57. Heroes Of The Fourth Turning (w Noam) ** 1/2 
58. Chasing Rainbows: The Road To Oz (Paper Mill, w Noam) *** 
59. The Glass Menagerie (dir Austin Pendleton) (w Noam) ** 
60. Richard Serra exhibits in art district (w Noam) *** 
61. Terra Firma (debut of The Coop) (w Noam) ** 
62. Dublin Carol at Irish Rep (w Noam) ** 1/2 
63. The Decline and Fall...Through The Eyes Of Cole Porter at York (w Cohen) *** 
64. Soft Power at Public (w Noam) ** 
65. Forbidden Broadway: The Next Generation at Triad (w TJ) *** 
66. For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When The Rainbow is Enuf (Noam) ** 1/2 
67. Scotland, PA (w Luis) ** 
68. Panama Hattie (at York w Cohen) ** 
69. Iolanthe at NYGASP (w TJ) ** 
70. The Sound Inside (w Noam; **** prod of ** 1/2 play) *** 
71. Vija Celmins art exhibit at Met Breuer -- good to great retrospective, w Noam *** 1/2
72. Madama Butterfly at the Met (w Garrett; left early) **  
73. Roy De Carava jazz photo exhibit at David Zwirner, w Noam ***/ 
74.  User Not Found (site specific piece by Dante or Die) alone ** 
75. An Enchanted April (musical w Noam) ** 1/2 
76. DruidShakespeare: Richard III (alone) * 1/2 
77. Broadbend, Arkansas (two monologues, w Noam) ** 
78. Einstein's Dreams (musical, w Noam) * 1/2 
79. The Crucible (by Bedlam, w Noam) *** 1/2 
80. Pumpgirl (Irish Rep, w Noam) *** 
81. A Christmas Carol on Bway w Campbell Scott (w Noam) ** 
82. A Woman of the World w Kathleen Chalfant solo (w Noam) unrated 
83. Fire In The Mirror (Signature revival of Anna Deveare Smith play) *** 
84. 

KEY: star rating is on the four star scale

          meaning of "/" or "\"

          *** is three stars out of four

          ***/ is three stars leaning towards  3 1/2

          ***\ is three stars leaning towards 2 1/2

Updated October 30, 2019

BookFilter Reading List

BOOKFILTER 2018 TITLES TO READ

Angel Mage by Garth Nix fantasy
Boom Town by Sam Anderson history of Oklahoma City
Bowlaway by Elizabeth McCracken litfic 2-5-2019
Darkness At Noon by Arthur Koestler new edition CLASSIC
Drive Your Plow Over The Bones of The dead Polish mystical mystery by Olga Tokarczuk
The Factory by Hiroko
Famous Men Who Never Lived by K Chess sci-fi debut alternate NYC
Geography of Rebels Trilogy by Maria Gabriela Llansol
Gods of the Upper air by Charles King SCIENCE HISTORY Frank Boas margaret Mead
The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa
Our Man by george Packer bio of Richard Holbrooke politico 5-7-2019
Sand by Wolfgang Herrndorf NYRB
The Season debutantes
The Ship of Dreams Titanic by Gareth Russell
Shoot For The Moon by James Donovan nonfic space race Apollo 11
Stalingrad by Vasily Grossman nonfic NYRB
This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar FANTASY
Whiskey When We're Dry by John Larison

With The Fire On High by Elizabeth Acevedo (YA)

**********The Long-Legged Fly by James Sallis mys classic reissue introing Lew Griffin #1-6
9/10, 10/15, two on 11/12, two on 12/3

Girl Woman Other -- Dec 3 out
Lost Children Archive
Night Boat To tangiers
Topeka School

Twenty Years After by Dumas new trans of Three Musketeers by Lawrence Ellsworth 

DECEMBER 2019


12-3-2019

Disney's Land by Richard Snow THEATER POP CULTURE

The Clergyman's Wife Pride and Prejudice Molly Greeley

Girl Woman Other by Bernardine Evaristo BOOKER

An Old Man's Game by Andy Weinberger MYS 60s-ish retired private eye w dementia wife

Superior Women by Alice Adams LITFIC

Dread Journey by Dorothy B Hughes -- Hollywood producer and tossed-aside starlet MYS REISSUE Amer Mys Classics

************The Long-Legged Fly by James Sallis mys classic reissue introing Lew Griffin #1-6
9/10, 10/15, two on 11/12, two on 12/3

12-10-2019

Africaville by Jeffrey Colvin LITFIC DEBUT families in US and small town in Nova Scotia founded by former enslaved peoples

THEATER FILM Sidney Lumet by Laura Spiegel

THEATER CLASSICAL MUSIC Dangerous Melodies by Jonathan Rosenberg history of classical music from WW I to  Cold War

The Book of Science and Antiquities by Thomas Keneally litfic


12-17-2019



12-24-2019


12-31-2019


JANUARY 2020


1-2-2020

Breaking The Two Party Doom Loop by Lee Drutman CURR EVENTS



1-7-2020

Such A Fun Age by Kiley Reid LITFIC Young black babysitter and viral moment

HISTORY Wilmington's Lies: White Supremacy by David Zucchino

Yellow Earth by John Sayles CURR EVENTS LITFIC MOVIES

FANTASY The Night Country by Melissa Albert sequel to The Hazel Wood

Boys & Sex nonfiction by Peggy Orenstein CURR EVENTS

Franchise: The Golden Arches in Black America by Marcia Chatelain HISTORY BUSINESS GBN

THEATER Rocket Man Elton John bio by Mark Bego quickie

The Gimmicks by Chris McCormick LITFIC Aremenian Genocide and pro wrestling

The Art of War by Sun TZU new trans by Michael Nylan

Don't Believe A Word by David Shariatmadari book on languages

CLASSIC A Sportsmans Notebook by Ivan Turgenev

FANTASY The Lovecraft Squad: Rising created by Stephen Jones


1-14-2020

*****Arguing With Zombies by Paul Krugman CURR EVENTS

Bubble In The Sun: Florida Real estate leading to Great depression by Christopher Knowlton HISTORY CURR EVENTS

A World Without Work by Daniel Susskind CURR EVENTS

Tightrope by Nicholas Kristof struggling working class CURR EVENTS

A Beginning At The End by Mike Chen post-apocalyptic hopeful

*****America Manifesto by Bob Garfield WYNC CURR EVENTS

Infinity Son by Adam Silvera FANTASY launch of series

Night Theater by Vikram Paralkar India litfic fantasy

Race of Aces by James R Bruning HISTORY WW II Pilots AARP

The Peacock Detectives  by Carly Nugent YA middle grade


1-21-2020

The Founding Fortunes by Tom Shachtman HISTORY

POP HUMOR FICTION Heart of Junk by Luke geddes debut, antique mall, reality tv, kidnapped beauty queen kiddie etc.

Recipe For A Perfect Wife by karma Brown -- housewife works through cookbook and notes of 50s housewife POP FIC

Small Days and Nights by Tishani Doshi LITFIC

The Janes by Louisa Luna book #2 MYS



1-28-2020

LITFIC Run Me To Earth by Paul Yoon v Oprah orphans Laos etc

MYS LITFIC The truants by Kate Weinberg debut mys, Agatha Christie, Donna Tartt

HISTORY CURR EVENTS The Bomb nuclear weapons policy by Fred Kaplan

THEATER -- MYS Mortal Music by Ann Parker -- san fran 1881-1882 opera diva comes to town

Rewriting the Rules Of The European Economy yb Joseph E Stiglitz Nobel winning economist CURR EVENTS

FANTASY Highfire by Eoin Colfer dragon and teen rebel in Louisiana

Early -- premie babies SCIENCE by Sarah DiGregorio

My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell teen girl and her teacher sexual relationship LITFIC

Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu -- pop culture about TV show and bit player turned Kung Fu guy. Comic tale of assimilation etc POP CULTURE



FEBRUARY 2020


2-4-2020

NYRB Winter in Wartime by Jan terlouw YA WW II

****MYS SCIFI Golden In death by JD Robb Eve dallas #50 by Nora Roberts

HISTORY Eight Days At Yalta by Diana Presto

YA LGBT The Gravity of Us by Phil Stamper teens of NASA astronauts

AARP MEMOIR Brother and Sister by Diane Keaton

FAITH LITFIC The Convert by Stefan Hertmans historical fiction noblewoman falls for Jewish boy

****** The Resisters by Gish Jen dystopian baseball novel

The Professor and the Parson by Adam Sisman FAITH CON ARTISTS

The Freedom Artist by Ben Okri litfic

AARP PARADE Unconditional Love memoir by Jocelyn Moorhouse , directing, autistic child, return to directing

MYS A Divided Loyalty by Charles Todd mys Ian Rutledge

MYS CLASSIC The Siamese twin Mystery by Ellery Queen reissue


2-11-2020

HISTORY MYS SCIENCE American Sherlock birth of CSI by Kate Winkler Dawson

HISTORY BIO Franklin & Washington The Founding Partnership by Edward J Larson

LITFIC PENGUIN CLASSIC LGBT BLACL Romance in Marseille by Claude McKay

POP CULTURE Nobody does It Better oral history of james Bond by Edward Gross Mark A Altman

The Bear by Andrew Krivac dystopian litfic, father and daughter alone in world

Felicity Carrol and the Murderous Menace by Patricia Marcantonio MYS NEW SERIES

******Weather by Jenny Offill LITFIC NYT PICK AUTHOR read Dept of Speculation

HISTORY 1774: The Long Year of Revolution by Pulitzer finalist Mary Beth Norton

POETRY Strangers by Night by Edward Hirsch

FANTASY The Unspoken name by A.K. Larkwood Fantasy debut


2-18-2020

THEATER Counterpoint: Bach and Mourning by Philip Kennicott

HISTORY Congress at War by Fergus M Bordewich Civil War focus on Congress

The Wolf Of Oren-Yaro by K.S. Villoso FANTASY series launch

The Lucky Star by William T Vollmann LITFIC 672 pages

A Beautiful Crime by Christopher Bollen MYS queer con artists in Venice

The Aosawa Murders by Riku Onda JAP MYS acclaimed writer first Eng trans

Citizen Reporters by Stephanie Gorton McClure's Magazine HISTORY JOURNALISM



2-25-2020

****The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson author of Devil in the White City. Churchill during the Blitz.

CLIMATE CRISIS The Future We Choose by Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac

Soot by Dan Vyleta sequel to Smoke Dickensian fantasy

These Fevered Days by martha Ackmann ten days in life of Emily Dickinson BIO

Scratched by Elizabeth Tallent Memoir by writer lost i wormhole of perfectionism

The lost Diary of M by Paul Wolfe LITFIC lover of JFK, LSD user etc story of Mary Pinchot Meyer

A HIgh Five For Glenn Burke by Phil Bildner QUEER SPORTS MIDDLE GRADE

Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde -- essays and speeches GBN



MARCH 2020


3-3-2020

THEATER Actress by Anne Enright legendary theater actress w daughter following in footsteps

SCI-FI Docile by KM Szpara novel debut

The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich litfic based on her grandfather

We Ride Upon Sticks by Quan Barry -- 80s set novel about female hockey team/witches in Salem

Dorothy Day by John Loughery ad Blythe Randolph BIO FAITH POLITICS HISTORY


3-10-2020

***********A Bond Undone by Jin Yong -- book two in Legends Of the Condor Heroes

THEATER AARP POP CUL Barry Sonnenfeld, Call Your Mother bio

THEATER Shakespeare in a Divided America by James Shapiro


The Bramble and the Rose by Tim Bouman MYS set in rural Pennsylvania, second in series



3-13-2020 ??

Cinema '62 by Stephen Farber et al POP CULTURE MOVIES



3-17-2020

The House In The Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune QUEER FANTASY

The Mountains Sing by Que Mai Phan Nguyen LITFIC VIETNAM

Nobody Will Tell You This But Me -- memoir by granddaughter and grandmother, writer for Jimmy Kimmel first printing 100k

Brightstorm by Vashti Hardy YA steampunk UK hit

City Spies by James Ponti -- ew YA series of five kids trained by MI5



3-24-2020

NYRB Marrow and Bone by Walter Kempowski WWII LITFIC


************ The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin

*******The Glass Hotel by Emily St John Mandel author of Station Eleven LITFIC

Enter The aardvark by Jessica Anthony big push, politics, sexuality, stuffed aardvark




3-31-2020

NYRB LITFUC Michael Kohlhaas by Heinrich von Kleist

THEATER -- Almost Maine by JOhn Cariani play turned into YA novel



APRIL 2020

4-7-2020


Afterlife by Julia Alvarez LITFIC BESTSELLER

The Age of Witches by Louisa Morgan witches in Gilded Age NYC FAN PERIOD

Sin Eater by megan Campisi HIS-FIC MYS FANTASY

Coffeeland by Augustine Sedgewick HISTORY

They Went Left by Monica Hesse YA HOLOCAUST

THEATER The Astonishing Life of August March by Aaron jackson LITFIC

THEATER Shakespeare For Every Day Of The Year by Allie Erisi

The Beauty of Your Face by Sahar Mustafa LITFIC

LITFIC Redhead by the Side Of the Road by Anne Tyler

THEATER FANTASY The Glass magician by Caroline Stevermer set in NYC Gilded Age fantasy


4-14-2020

*****BIO MUSIC -- Odetta: A Life in Music and Protest by Ian Zack BHam Alabama born

HISTORY The Year 1000 by Yale historian Valerie Hansen

How To Pronounce Knife by Souvankham Thammavongsa stories immigrants in big city

NATURE What It's Like To Be A Bird by david Allen Sibley

Fifty-Two Stories by Anton Chekhov trans by pevear and volokhonsky

LITFIC Bubblegum by Adam Levin alternate history w no internet GAINESVILLE writer

LITFIC POP Perfect Tunes by Emily Gould -- aspiring singer-songwriter in destructive relationship

MYS CLASSIC Death in Fancy Dress by Anthony Gilbert first pub 1933


4-21-2020

The Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd FAITH JESUS LITFIC

The Paris Mysteries short stories by Edgar Allan Poe MYS CLASSICS

THEATER GAY YA In The Role Of Brie Hutchens by Nicole Melleby trade acclaim girl entering eighth grade determined to star in school play but afraid to come out


THEATER __ This Is Shakespeare by Emma Smith analyszes flaws and inconsistencies, embraces them


4-28-2020

The Knock0ut Queen by Rufi Thorpe LITFIC LGBTQI YA closeted teen and tall freak

All Boys Aren't Blue by George M JOhnson QUEER YA memoir manifesto essays



MAY 2020

5-5-2020

Old Lovegood Girls by Gail Godwin LITFIC

Hollywood Park by Mikel Jollett CULT MEMOIR POP

The Motion of the Body Through Space by Lionel Shriver LITFIC

SPORTS FAITH Buddha Takes The Mound by Donald Lopez

HISTORY RACE On Account of Race by Lawrence Goldstone Supreme Court White Supremacy

We Need To Talk by Jennifer Risher memoir about wealth MONEY


5-12-2020

POP CULTURE TV THEATER Sunny Days rise of kids tv by David Kamp

HISTORY The Black Cabinet By Jill Watts FDR and Black advisers

Lou Gehrig the Lost Memoir by Alan D Gaff AARP BIO SPORTS

THRILLER The End of October by Lawrence Wright medical thriller NYT writer

HISTORY PIRACY Enemy of All Mankind by Steven Johnson

LITFIC CLASSIC Black Shack Alley by Jospeh Zobel Penguin reissue

CURR EVENTS LGBT The Pink Line by Mark Gevisser Sexual and gender identity around the world.

Pew by Catherine Lacey LITFIC FAITH oddity

Glorious Boy by Aimee Liu WWII FIC

Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas -- elite school, secret pact etc big push LITFIC

THEATER Shakespeare for Squirrels by Christopher Moore -- mys combined with Midsummer. Nutty, playful, detective tale.


5-19-2020

LGBT LITFIC BOys Of Alabama by Genevieve Hudson

HISTORY CURR EVENTS IMMIGRATION One Mighty and Irresistible Tide battle over immigration 1920s-1960s by Jia Lynn Yang



5-26-2020

Love in the Blitz by Eileen Alexander NONFIC MEMOIR WW II

1939: A People's History by Frederik Taylor HISTORY WW II

The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner BESTSELLER BOOKCLUB

The Cubans ordinary lives by NYT Anthony DePalma CURR EVENTS

Camp by L.C. Rosen YA QUEER



JUNE 2020

6-2-2020

CURR EVENTS WAR TECH The Drone Age by Michael J Boyle

Where We Go From here by Lucas Rocha GAY BRAZIL YA

TRUE CRIME HISTORY Night Of The Assassins by Howard Blum. Hitlers plan to assassinate3 FDR, Churchill and Stalin. bestselling author and Pultizer nominee as journalist at NYT.



6-9-2020

The Vanishing Sky by L Annette Binder WWII LITFIC

Alaric The Goth outsider on fall of rome by Douglas Boin HISTORY BIO


6-16-2020

***********LITFIC An Ocean Without A Shore by SCOTT SPENCER

THEATER We Came Here To Shine by Susie Orman Schnall at Worlds Fair THEATER FIC


6-23-2020

The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected In Water by Zen Cho FANTASY wuxia inspired


6-30-2020




JULY 2020

7-7-2020

The Vapors by david Hill -- Hot Springs, the firsthome of Vice in USA TRUE CRIME


7-14-2020

Butch Cassidy by Leerhsen BIO HISTORY TRUE CRIME

7-21-2020


7-28-2020



AUGUST 2020


8-4-2020

LITFIC If I had Two Wings by Randall Kenan. First collection in 30 years.

LITFIC New Trans LITFIC CLASSIC Posthumous Memoirs Of Bras Cubas by Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis modernist progenitor


8-11-2020

Olive The Lionheart by Brad Ricca HISTORY MYS TRUE CRIME Olive heads to Africa in 1910 to find lost naturalist. Spies, etc.

8-18-2020


8-25-2020





SEPTEMBER 2020


9-1-2020


9-8-2020


9-15-2020


9-22-2020


9-29-2020




OCTOBER 2020

10-6-2020


10-13-2020


10-20-2020


10-27-2020



NOVEMBER 2020

11-3-2020



11-10-2020



11-17-2020



11-24-2020



DECEMBER 2020


12-1-2020


12-8-2020


12-15-2020


12-22-2020


12-29-2020

JANUARY 2019


RONAN FARROW CATCH AND KILL? JAN 2019 LITTLE BROWN

Book Love by Debbie Tung COMICS UK set author out at 2-7-2019 in UK 1-1-2019



The Winter of the Witch fantasy trilogy 1-7-2019

55, Underemployed and Faking Normal by Elizabeth White 1-8-2019

Fault Lines -- Last 50 years of US history nonfic 1-8-2019

Henry VIII by Tracy Borman best-selling academic 1-8-2019 (out in UK in Nov)

The Second Kind Of Impossible by Paul Steinhardt (NJ) science on finding new matter 1-8-2019

An Indefinite Sentence by Siddharth Dube nonfic memoir, India gay (Out same day in Uk; author in NYC) 1-8-2019

The Belting Inheritance by Julian Symons classic mys reissue 1-8-2019

Hitler's Pawn by Stephen Koch history on teen Jew blamed for Kristilnacht NYC 1-8-2019

The Unteachables by Gordon Korman middle grade 1-8-2019

The Perilous Adventures Of The Cowboy King by Jerome Charyn -- fic/Teddy Roosevelt 1-8-2019

An Orchestra of Minorities by Chigozie Obioma litfic Nigerian 1-8-2019





Confessions of a Rogue Nuclear Regulator by nonfic memoir by Gregory B Jaczko 1-15-2019

Bluff City HISTORY bio of Ernest Withers civil rights photog and FBI informant by Preston Lauterbach 1-15-2019

A Risky Undertaking for Loretta Singletary by Terry Shames mys cozy senior citizen 1-15-2019

Late In The Day by Tessa Hadley LITFIC LONDON 1-15-2019 ROTTER REVIEW

Aristotle's Way by Edith Hall classicist UK, philosophy applied 1-15-2019

The Gilded Wolves by Rokshana Chokshi ya fantasy 1-15-2019 (out UK same date)


Maid nonfic by Stephanie Lande 1-22-2019

Camelot's End: Carter v kennedy at convention by Jon Ward 1-22-2019 GILTZ

The Field Guide To The North American Teenager by Ben Philippe 1-22-2019

The Weight Of A Piano by Chris Cander litfic two women united by piano/decades Houston author 1-22-2019

Restoration Heights by Wil Medearis NYC novel  litfic GBN 1-22-2019




The Falconer -- coming of age, female basketball player 1-29-2019

Underground: A Human History of the World beneath our feet by Will Hunt history tech 1-29-2019

The End of Loneliness by Benedict Wells german best-seller 1-29-2019

The Wolf In The Whale by Jordanna Max Brodsky litfic Inuit tale 1-29-2019

The Plotters by Un-su Kim thriller 1-29-2019


FEBRUARY 2019


The Age of light litfic by Whitney Scharer

On The Come Up by Angie Thomas ya about teen female rapper by author of The Hate U Give 2-5-2019

Merchants of Truth by Jill Abramson nonfic on journalism NYT WaPo Buzz Vice 2-5-2019

This Is Not A Love Song by Brendan Matthews stories litfic author of World of Tomorrow 2-5-2019

Where Reasons End by YiYun Li litfic mother son suicide 2-5-2019


The Hollywood Jim Crow SHOWBIZ GBN by Maryann Erigha 2-5-2019

Jimmy Neurosis by James Oseland memoir, gay,punk TV Top Chef judge 2-5-2019

Europe A Natural History by Tim Flannery science 2-5-2019

No Beast So Fierce by Dane Huckelbridge nonfic on dangerous tiger 2-5-2019

The Coronation by Boris Akunin mys historical 2-5-2019

American Pop by Snowden Wright litfic about soda pop/Coke 2-5-2019

The Lost Girls of Paris by Pam Jenoff comm fic followup to Orphan Train 2-5-2019

If We Can Keep It CURR EVENTS by Michael Tomasky fix-it Daily Beast 2-5-2019

Milk of Paradise history of opium by Lucy Inglis 2-5-2018

Lady First bio of First Lady Sarah Polk by Amy S Greenberg 2-5-2019


American Spy by Lauren Wilkinson liftic mys 2-12-2019

Leading men by Christopher Castellani THEATER fi on Tennessee Williams and lover 2-12-2019

Broadsword Calling Danny Boy watching "Where Eagles Dare" nonfic 2-12-2019

The City In The Middle Of The Night ya fantasy 2-12-2019

Sounds Like Titanic memoir by Jessica Chiccehitto Hindman fake performances to soundtrack of movie THEATER 2-12-2019

Midnight in Chernobyl nonfic by Adam Higginbotham 2-12-2019

Northern Lights by Raymond Strom litfic queer protag, gender fluid debut NYC 2-12-2019

The Psychology of Time Travel  by Kate mascarenhas litfic fantasy fun 2-12-2019

Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli litfic family road trip NYC 2-12-2019

Separate: Plessy v Ferguson by Steve Luxenberg WASHPO HISTORY  2-12-2019



ROTTER The Familiars by Stacey Halls witches period, author of Essex Serpent litfic 2-19-2019 ROTTER

The Next To Die by Sophie Hannah thriller 2-19-2019

Landfall by Thomas Mallon litfic Pres W Bush author DC 2-19-2019



How To Hide An Empire history of US possessions 2-19-2019

Cherokee America by Margaret Verble litfic 2-19-2019

Arturo's Island -- Italian classic new trans 2-19-2019

Earth-Shattering/Cataclysms: Science book on disasters by Bon Berman NPR etc 2-19-2019

Possible Minds edited by John Brockman essays on AI by scientists 2-19-2019

Sleeping With Strangers by David Thomson movie criticism 2-19-2019



The Light Jar by Lisa Thompson middle grade 2-26-2019

Magic is Dead by Ian Frisch 2-26-2019

Outwalkers by Fiona Shaw 2-26-2019

An Affair of Poisons ya 2-26-2019

Binstead's Safari by Rachel Ingalls author of Mrs. Caliban 2-26-2019

We Must Be Brave by Frances Liardet WWII litfic orphan2-26-2019

Rayne & Delilah's Midnite Matinee ya 2-26-2019

There is No Planet B by Mike Berners-Lee ENVIRO 2-28-2019

MARCH 2019


The Wall by John Lanchester out of comfort zone sci-fi dystopia 3-5-2019

Real Queer America curr events travel 3-5-2019

Murder by Matchlight classic mys 3-5-2019

The Wolf and the Watchman by Niklas Natt och Dag Swedish period mys 3-5-2019


THEATER A Puzzle For Fools by Patrick Quentin classic mys

THEATER The Unsuspected by Charlotte Armstrong classic mys

A Taste For Honey by HF Heard Sherlockian classic mys

The Unhappiness of Being A Single Man stories by Kafkia

The Women's war by Jenna Glass fantasy 3-5-2019

This Life by martin Hagglund philosophy prof at Yale 3-5-2019

The River by Peter Heller litfic college students wilderness survival 3-5-2019, Lives in Denver

Aunt Poldi and the Vineyards of Etna by Mario Giordano third in series MYS 3-5-2019

Mama's Hug by Frans de waal SCIENCE animals have emotions lives in ATL 3-5-2019

Famous Men Who Never Lived by K Chess sci-fi debut alternate NYC lesbian author 3-5-2019


3-12-2019

The Catalog of Shipwrecked Books popular history 3-12-2019

***Childhood two novellas by Gerard Reve

Bloodleaf by Crystal Smith fantasy debut buzz, auction 3-12-2019

Shoot For The Moon by James Donovan nonfic space race Apollo 11 3-12-2019

The Bird King by G Willow Wilson fantasy 3-12-2019

The Selected Works Of Abdullah the Cossack by HM Naqvi litfic 3-12-2019

The Dragonfly Sea by Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor Nigerian litfic 3-12-2019

Sea People the Puzzle of Polynesia by Christina Thompson HISTORY 3-12-2019

The Swish of the Curtain by Pamela Brown classic kids book about theater, acting pub 1941 3-12-2019 THEATER

Tiny Americans litfic by Devin Murphy debut praised 3-12-2019


3-19-2019

Genesis By Edward O Wilson on Evolution

THEATER: Funny Man: Mel Brooks by Patrick McGilligan 3-19-2019 THEATER

After The Miracle Mets sports book 3-19-2019

Antiracism by Alex Zamalin

The Parade by Dave Eggers fic 3-19-2019

Horizon by Barry Lopez travel bio 3-19-2019

ROTTER Waiting for Bojangles by Olivier Bourdeaut litfic mental illness French hit 3-19-2019 ROTTER

The Boy by Marcus Malte litfic French novel feral lad decades spanning 3-19-2019


3-26-2019

The Size Of The truth by Andrew Smith author of Winger middle grade chef 3-26-2019

Who Killed My Father by Edouard Louis French curr events

The New Silk Roads by Peter Frankopan cur events history 3-26-2019

The Forging Of a Rebel by Arturo Barea memoir history admired by marquez, George Orwell, charts 50 years of Spain in the 20th century 3-26-2019

Voices: The Final Hours of Joan of Arc by David Elliott in verse 3-26-2019


APRIL 2019


4-2-2019

Greystone Secrets #1 middle grade fantasy launch by Margaret Peterson haddix 4-2-2019

Around Harvard Square gay 4-2-2019

THEATER What Blest Genius Shakespeare Jubilee by Andrew McConnell Scogtt 4-2-2019

AARP Greek to me by Mary Norris Comma Queen 4-2-2019

THEATER Macbeth by Harold Bloom 4-2-2019

A Crisis Wasted by Reed Hundt Obama CURR EVENTS 4-2-2019

Ghost Stories anthology edited Leslie Klinger

NASA American Moonshot b Douglas Brinkley history of space race 4-2-2019

Save Me The Plums -- by Ruth Reichel -- FOOD memoir 4-2-2019

Boy Swallows Universe by Trent dalton Aussie hit litfic 4-2-2019

Shakespeare's Library THEATER history 4-2-2019

Crossing by Pajtim Statovci litfic Albanian queer 4-2-2019

K: A History of Baseball in Ten Pitches by Tyler Kepner sports history 4-2-2019

The Damascus Road by Jay parini religious fic St Paul 4-2-2019

Fifty Things That Aren't My Fault by Cathy Guisewite cartoonist of Cathy 4-2-2019

The Editor by Steven Rowley litfic writer and editor 4-2--2019



THEATER Trust Exercise by Susan Choi kids in performing arts school 4-9-2019

The Casket of Time Icelandic fairy tale/enviro tale 4-9-2019

The Players Ball by David Kushner internet history match.com and sex.com battle 4-9-2019

PARADE Notes From A Young Black Chef by Kwame Onwuachi GBN STAR 4-9-2019

My Coney Island Baby by Billy O'Callaghan LITFIC acclaim IRISH 4-9-2019

Working by Robert Caro notes on writing 4-9-2019



Falter by Bill McKibben -- curr events about danger to humanity

Normal People by Sally Rooney litfic great cover longlist Booker coming of age 4-16-2019

Tragedy, The Greeks and Us by Simon Critchley THEATER 4-16-2019

Revolutionaries by Joshua Furst litfic 60s radical son of.... 4-16-2019

The Binding by Bridget Collins -- period fantasy a la sarah Waters 4-16-2019

August Isle by Ali Standish YA big push 4-16-2019

Autumn Light by Pico Iyer nonfic on Japanese culture and grief 4-16-2019

The Meaning of Birds by Jaye Robin Brown (two bird names) YA Queer acclaim for last book 4-16-2019



4-23-2019

Nanaville grandparenting by Anna Quindlen

Odd Partners -- mys anthology of orig short stories edited by Anne Perry

D-Day Girls history of WW II by Sarah Rose 4-23-2019

A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World sci-fi 4-23-2019

Machines Like me by Ian McEwan sci-fi? 4-23-2019



**************Our Castle By The Sea by Lucy Strange middle grade author of Secret Of Nightingale Wood 4-30

Lie With Me gay french novel trans by Molly Ringwald 4-30-2019

Murder Knocks Twice by Susanna Calkins new mys series Chicago speakeasy 4-30-2019

ROTTER REVIEW Cape May litfic by Chip Cheek -- 4-30-2019 ROTTER REVIEW

Mama's Boy by Dustin Lance Black PARADE GAY 4-30-2019



MAY 2019



5-1-2019

Spring by Ali Smith litfic third in quartet



5-7-2019

*********** YA  With The Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo (The Poet X)  5-7-2019

THEATER On Streisand by Ethan Mordden

The Unpassing by Chia-Chia Lin litfic

Aurora Rising ya sci-fi by Kaufman, Kristoff

China Dream by Ma Jian litfic endorsed Atwood banned China, sci-fi-ish

The Endling #2 -- 5-7-2019

Rough Magic memoir horse race 5-7-2019

Ghosts of Gold Mountain by Gordon H Chang HISTORY chinese building railroad US 5-7

Chumps to Champs NYYankees by Bill Pennigton 5-7-2019

AARP HISTORY PARADE War and Peace: FDR 1943-45 by NIgel Hamilton 5-7-2019

AARP Lake of the Ozarks by Bill Geist CBS Sunday morning fixture memoir 5-7-2019

Black Death at the Golden Gate history bubonic plague by David K Randall 5-7-2019

Our Man by george Packer bio of Richard Holbrooke politico 5-7-2019

The Guest Book by Sarah Blake litfic american saga GAN 5-7-2019

Ten Innings at Wrigley sports history by Kevin Cook 1979 slugfest 5-7-2019

On Democracy by EB White 5-7-2019 reissue

Furious Hour true crime Harper Lee nonfic by casey Cep 5-7-2019

The farmer's son by John Connell BIO Irish #1 bestseller 5-7-2019

The Missing Of Clairdelune by Christelle Dabos fantasy



5-14-2019

A Brightness Long Ago by Guy Gavriel Kay

We Hunt The Flame YA fantasy inspired by Arabia

Listen Up! Recording Music w Dylan Neil Young REM et al by Mark Howard

Spying on The South by Tony Horwitz (Confederates in the Attic) 5-14-2019

Out East by John Glynn queer memoir debut 5-14-2019

Freedom Fire Dactyl Hill Squad #2 5-14-2019

The Cult of the Constitution law book 5-14-2019

Maddy Alone by pamela Brown Blue Door #2 THEATER ya classic 5-14-2019


5-21-2019

Mistress of the Ritz pop fic by Melanie Benjamin(Aviators Wife)

The Impeachers history of Andrew Johnson impeachment by Brenda Wineapple

A Summer With Montaigne essays by Antoine Compagnon

Riots I Have Known by Ryan Chapman litfic

AARP Theadore Roosevelt for the Defense nonfic bio about big trial

Why Superman Doesnt Take Over The World -- using comics to explain economic ideas

Superior: The Return Of Race Science by Angela Saini science cur events 5-21-2019

The Light From The Dark Side Of The Moon lit romance old man remembers WWII romance 5-21-2019

LAT The Dreamt Land -- history current events about California and water and soil by Mark Arax 5-21-2019 ROTTER ROTTER


5-28-2019

*********The Book Case  by Dave Shelton 5-28-2019

The Sentence Is Death by Anthony Horowitz mys second in series

Aloha Rodeo by David Wolman nonfic about Hawaiian cowboys in 1908 who competed in the biggest rodeo in the world

The Helicopter Heist by Jonas Bonnier




JUNE 2019


6-4-2019

*******The Favorite Daughter by Patti Callahan Henry

THE FATE OF FOOD nonfiction

Fall or Dodge in Hell by Neal Stephenson Sci-fi

magic For Liars fantasy myst by Sarah Gailey

HISTORY 1941: The Year Germany Lost The War by Andrew Nagorski

LA/PARADE  This Storm by James Ellroy LA in WW II ROTTER ROTTER

Indecent Advances by James Polchin history of queer sex crimes before Stonewall

The Crowded Hour by Clay Risen HISTORY rough riders etc

AARP The Plaza by Julie Satow

*******Like A Love Story queer YA Iran

In West Mills by De-shawn Charles Winslow litfic black community 1940s-80s

PARADE My Life As A Rat by Joyce Carol Oates litfic

Stonewall by Martin Duberman history reissue




6-11-2019

Norco 80 -- true story of botched bank robbery in Cali in 70s that was most violent in history by Peter Houlahan

Call Your Daughter Home by Deb Spera (TV writer Southern fiction)

Stalingrad by Vasily Grossman nonfic NYRB

NASA One Giant Leap by Charles Fishman Apollo 11
NASA American Moonshot b Douglas Brinkley history of space race 4-2-2019

NASA Shoot For The Moon by James Donovan nonfic space race Apollo 11 3-12-2019

Places and Names by Elliott Ackerman human cost of war from Veteran CURR EVENTS

Elderhood essays on aging  AARP

The Ice At The End Of The World -- science curr events melting ice by Jon Gertner

The Old Man in The Corner: The teahouse Detective vol 1 mys by baroness Orczy reissue


6-18-2019

********The Porpoise by Mark Haddon (Curious Incident...) litfic based on myth

Lifelines by Heidi Diehl litfic Brooklyn

FKA USA crazy talking goat sci-fi dystopian road novel by Reed King cult

The Body Lies by Jo Baker; litfic thriller author of Longbourne

LGBTQI Outrages by Naomi Wolff  -- social queer history of British law/ramifications


6-25-2019

**********You Can't Fall Off The Floor SHOWBIZ TV memoir of life in TV industry insider Harris Katleman

Big Sky thriller by Kate Atkinson

Golden Pavements by pamela Brown Blue Door #3 THEATER ya classic

Rilke in Paris trans in English



JULY 2019


7-2-2019

***********Last Witnesses kid oral history by Svetlana Alexievich

The Best Science Fiction of the Year Volume 4 (2018/19) edited Neil Clarke

How to reform Capitalism series editor Alain de Botton current affairs

Buzz Sting Bite by Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson  popular science


7-9-2019

The Saturday Night Ghost Club -- by Craig davidson litfic acclaimed author coming of age set in Niagara Falls, ref Stand By Me, looks appealing queer author

The Vagabonds by Jeff Guinn nonfic Henry Ford and Thomas Edison road trips

The Substitution Order by martin Clark -- comic legal thriller about down on luck lawyer





7-16-2019

The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead GBN litfic

The Philosopher's War by Tom Miller fantasy/historical sequel

The Rage of Dragons by Evan Winter FANTASY DEBUT

This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar FANTASY


7-23-2019

Reasons To Be Cheerful by Nina Stibbe light fiction UK

Beijing Payback by Daniel Nieh MYS THRILLER

The Liberation of Paris HISTORY AARP by Jean Edward Smith WW II

THEATER Blue Door Venture by Pamela Brown #4

The Liberation of Paris by Jean Edward Smith History WW II

Elvis in Vegas by Richard Zoglin nonfic pop culture

The Lager Queen of Minnesota by J Ryan Stradal litfic



7-30-2019

The Churchgoer by Patrick Coleman Raymond Chandler-esque crime novel

Chances Are by Richard Russo litfic modest thriller


AUGUST 2019


8-6-2019

***************Travel Light, Move Fast by Alexandra Fuller memoir of father

The Ghosts of Eden park by Karen Abbott HISTORY TRUE CRIME jazz age bootlegger

Gods of the Upper air by Charles King SCIENCE HISTORY Frank Boas margaret Mead

House of Salt and Sorrows ya fantasy by Erin A Craig

Hollow Kingdom by Nutty fantasy about crow saving world by Kira Jane Buxton



A Particular Kind of Black Man litfic endorsed by Marlon James, immigrant story

Beaten Down Worked Up by Steven Greenhouse NYT writer on workers today

The Mosquito by Timothy Winegard popular science

******Prince Albert By AN Wilson HISTORY BIO author of Victoria

Mayflower Lives nonfiction by Martyn Whittock

The Borgias by Paul Strathern history

Summerlings by Lisa Howorth litfic Cold War coming of age

The Dragon Republic by RF Kuang sequel to fantasy The Poppy War

First Cosmic Velocity by Zach Powers LITFIC On Soviet space program

The catholic school by Eduardo Albinati nonfic memoir fic true crime 1200 pages+


8-13-2019

**********PARADE AARP A Keeper by Graham  Norton litfic

*******An American Sunrise by Joy Harjo new poems by first Native American to be named poet laureate

******The Doll Factory by Elizabeth macNeal -- uk bestseller; thriller litfic period setting

Drive Your Plow Over The Bones of The dead Polish mystical mystery by Olga Tokarczuk

The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa

Everybodys Doin It: Rise of Popular Music NYC jazz and ragtime in dance halls and brothels by Dale Cockrell

The Case of Miss Elliot Teahouse Detective #2 by Baroness Orczy CLASSIC MYS REISSUE



8-20-2019

**********The Last Widow by karin Slaughter

*********THEATER Maddy Again by Pamela Brown

Tidelands by Philippa Gregory historical novel

Going Dutch -- gay guy, girl best friend and lawyer dating them both in NYC light fic

 litfic

The Outlaw Ocean by Ian Urbina nonfic

The World Doesn't Require You short stories by Rion Amilcar Scott



8-27-2019

The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri litfic

Superheavy by Kit Chapman SCIENCE Periodic Table

Gender and Our Brains by Gina Rippon SCIENCE

Silver sword and Stone -- a lens on Latin Ameirca by historian marie Arana

The Ventriloquists by ER Ramzipoor WW II novel on true story

See Jane Win by Caitlin Moscatello nonfic on women running for office adult curr events

Shadow School #1 ya/middle grade



SEPTEMBER 2019


9-3-2019

*******THEATER BIO AARP Summertime: George Gershwin bio by Richard Crawford

****THEATER All The Better Part of Me queer actor in London realizes he's bi by Molly Ringle

*****The Long Call by Ann Cleeves new mys series by author of Vera series

***** Lalani of the Distant Sea by Erin Entrada Kelly YA fantasy big push

Cold Storage by David Koepp MOVIES SCREENWRITER

Elements Of Fiction by Walter Mosley HOW TO

Murder By An Aristocrat by Mignon G Eberhart MYS REISSUE Amer Mys Classics w nurse heroine

Wild Fire by Rodman Philbrick YA kids trapped in forest fire

The Secrets We Kept by Lara Prescott litfic Cold War thriller romance

My Jasper June by Laurel Snyder YA friendship

Scan Artist by Marcia Biederman HISTORY OF EVELYN WOOD SPEED READING

Maoism by Julia Lovell HISTORY

All That Glitters Anna Wintour V Tina Brown by Thomas Maier NONFIC POP CULTURE MEDIA

This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger litfic 1930s orphans on an odyssey in US

When Hell Struck Twelve by James R Benn Billy Boyle WWII mys

Three Flames by Alan Lightman litfic

CURR EVENTS The Ungrateful Refugee by Dina Nayeri

LGBTQI YA We Are Lost and Found by Helene Dunbar

A Beginners Guide To Japan by Pico Iyer TRAVEL CURR EVENTS



9-10-2019

Something Deeply Hidden by Sean Carroll SCIENCE multiverse

The Only Plane In The Sky 9/11 Oral History by Garrett M Graff HISTORY CURR EVENTS

Out of Darkness, Shining Light by Petina Gappah LITFIC the flipsidwe of Stanley and Livingston

The Best American Poetry 2019 LITFIC

Animalia by Jean-Baptiste Del-Amo life of French farm, on eating meat LITFIC CURR EVENTS MATTHEW

Country Music by Dayton Duncan Ken Burns POP CUL TV TIE IN

rebooting AI by Gary marcus Ernest Davis SCIENCE CURR EVENTS

The Long-Legged Fly by James Sallis mys classic reissue introing Lew Griffin #1-6
9/10, 10/15, two on 11/12, two on 12/3

What It Means To be Moral by Phil Zuckerman philosophy

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E Harrowe fantasy



9-17-2019

**********The Second Founding by Eric Foner on Reconstruction and Constitutional amendments HISTORY

******On Fire by Naomi Klein CURR EVENTS CLIMATE CRISIS

******** That Will Never Work: story of Netflix by cofounder Marc randolph SHOWBIZ


********A Hero Born: Legend Of The Condor Heroes 1 by Jin Yong classic Chinese fantasy

******Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson LITFIC ADULT

******I've Seen The Future and I'm Not Going by Peter McGough memoir queer NYC arts scene AIDS

******* Night Boat To Tangier by kevin Barry litfic


Opioid, Indiana by Brian Allan Carr LITFIC CURR EVENTS

The Complete and Original Norwegian Folktales of Asbjornsen and Moe

Chilling Effect by Valerie Valdes goofy humorous sci-fi

POP CULTURE AARP For The Love Of Music by John Mauceri guide to classical music listening

A Simple Thread by Tracy Chevalier litfic

A Cosmology of Monsters by Shaun Hamill litfic family running haunted mansion attraction



9-24-2019

THEATER AARP PARADE Queen Meryl bio by Erin Carlson

Beverly Right Here by Kate DiCamillo threequel YA

AARP The World That We Knew by Alice Hoffman litfic WWII (golem)

The Fool and Other moral Tales by Anne Serre LITFIC

The Shadow King by Maaza mengiste LITFIC ETHIOPIA


THEATER MEMOIR POP MUSIC Year Of The Monkey by Patti Smith travel w Sam Shepard

The Reading Life by CS Lewis

Inclusive Populism by Angus Ritchie CURR EENTS

The Infinite Noise by Lauren Shippen gay high school football YA






OCTOBER 2019


10-1-2019

*****Sarah Jane by James Sallis MYS by noir

Carved in Bone by Michael Nava -- gay crime novel latest in series

Reinhardt's Garden by mark Haber bookseller turned novelist 168pages comic

THEATER Cross/Fire by Staceyanne Chin Poetry slam Broadway star

The 99% Economy on Democratic Socialism by Paul S Adler

*******Blowout by Rachel Maddow corruption in oil industry CURR EVENTS

****The Topeka School by Ben Lerner -- lefties in red state LITFIC

THEATER Jerome Robbins by Himself excerpts letters diaries etc

Imaginary Friend by Stephen Chbosky author of Perks Wallflower FANTASY

******

MYS CLASSIC
A Tall History of Sugar by Curdella Forbes litfic



10-8-2019

Grand Union by Zadie Smith stories collection LITFIC

******On The Plain of Snakes by Paul Theroux TRAVEL AARP

Escape from Paris by Stephen harding WWII HISTORY downed pilots rescued by resistance, hidden in Paris

***********Older Brother by Mahir Guvan French-Syrian tale LITFIC Europa won best first novel in France 256pages

Information Wars by Richard Stengel CURR EVENTS POLITICS

The Boundless Sea A Human History of the ocean by David Abulafia

***********The Giver Of Stars by Jojo Moyes historical fiction librarians

The Furies by Katie lowe thriller teen girl protagonists


10-15-2019

CURR EVENTS The Triumph of Injustice by Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman taxes

THEATER Elton John Me bio (no galley)

Open Season by ben Crump head of national bar association on injustice of criminal justice system CURR EVENTS


**********The Long-Legged Fly by James Sallis mys classic reissue introing Lew Griffin #1-6
9/10, 10/15, two on 11/12, two on 12/3

LITFIC sequel to Olive Kitteridge

The Body by Bill bryson SCIENCE

Life Undercover by Amaryllis Fox CIA agent mentee daniel pearl MEMOIR

Celestial Bodies by Jokha Alharthi LITFIC BOOKER INTL first novel from Oman in English

Ivory Apples by Lisa Goldstein Fantasy



10-22-2019

Agent Running In The Field by John Le Carre MYS

THEATER Famous in Cedarville by Erica Wright mys tinseltown

THEATER The Life and Afterlife of Harry Houdini by Joe Posnanski

Edison by BIO Edmund Morris (late)

Dreams of El Dorado by HW Brands HISTORY western expansion

The Queens of Animation by Nathalia Holt DISNEY women AARP MOVIES

One Day by Gene Weingarten HISTORY AARP of one day Dec 28, 1986

The Deserter by Nelson and Alex DeMille new series THRILLER

The Hidden World of the Fox by Adele Brand SCIENCE

Boss of the Grips GBN by Eric K Washington history of Grand central Red Caps and man who led them

I Hope You Get This message by Farah Naz Rishi YA end of the world


10-29-2019


LITFIC The Factory by Hiroko


THEATER -- Keep it Moving by Twyla Tharp


The Cheffe by marie Ndiaye LIFIC on Female French Chef COOKING

NOVEMBER 2019


11-5-2019

THEATER -- The Movie Musical by Jeanine Basinger nonfic

The Bishop's Bedroom by Piero Chiara MYS

FANTASY YA Novice Dragoneer by EE Knight new fantasy series

The Revisioners  by LITFIC Margaret Wilkerson Sexton century spanning tale of black farmer etc

The Mutual Admiration Society by mo Moulton GROUP BIO HISTORY MYS Dorothy L Sayers et al

Galileo's Error by Philip Goff SCIENCE PANPSYCHISM

American Resistance by Dana R Fisher CURR EVENTS

The Little Blue Kite by Mark Z Danielewski LITFIC

The History Of Philosophy by AC Grayling HISTORY

The Mysterious Affair at Olivetti nonfic on computer history by Meryle Secrest Cold war conspiracy to stop first desktop computer

Fifth Sun: A New History Of The Aztecs by Camilla Townsend



11-12-2019

CLIMATE All Hell Breaking Loose: Pentagon Perspective by Michael T Clare

Agent jack by Robert Hutton WW II MI5s Nazi hunter; undercover w british sympathizers

The Queering of Corporate America by Carlos A Ball HISTORY CURR EVENTS

************The Long-Legged Fly by James Sallis mys classic reissue introing Lew Griffin #1-6
9/10, 10/15, two on 11/12, two on 12/3

11-19-2019

AARP HISTORY The Season Social History of Debutante by Kristen Richardson

The Captain and the Glory by Dave Eggers (plus UK Kafka roach) SATIRE CURR EVENTS

CURR EVENTS Great Society by Amity Shlaes conservative take

AARP The Second Sleep by Robert harris medieval mystery tale by thriller author

Mary Toft or The rabbit Queen by Dexter Palmer LITFIC Historical Fiction

HISTORY The Ship of Dreams Titanic by Gareth Russell


11-26-2019

Revolutionary Brothers by Tom Chaffin BAD GALLEY CHECK PDF


AARP PARADE Janis: Her Life and Music by Holly George-Warren

THERE'S ALWAYS SOMETHING QUEER BDSM

BACKLIST: 

The Age of Eisenhower bio 
Agent Running In The Field by John Le Carre 
Amatka sci-fi female 
American Moonshot b Douglas Brinkley history of space race 
And Then We Danced -- memoir history dance by New Yorker writer Henry Alford 
Angel Mage by Garth Nix fantasy 
Anniversaries by Uwe Johnson German fiction epic 1600+ pages 
The Annotated Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler 
Arrowood -- Holmes competitor
Augustown -- Jamaican novel 
Autumn Light by Pico Iyer nonfic on Japanese culture and grief 
The Battle For Beverly Hills -- history
Bearskin by James McLaughlin lit thriller
The Beauties Chekhov short stories new trans
Before The Fall -- thriller by creator of TV Fargo
Behemoth: A History of the Factory 
The Best Science Fiction of the Year Volume 4 (2018/19) edited Neil Clarke
Big Sky thriller by Kate Atkinson 
Binstead's Safari by Rachel Ingalls author of Mrs. Caliban 2-26-2019
Black Edge -- business nonfic hedge fund shenanigans
Black Flags Blue Waters -- history pirates US
Blood Moon Cherokee nation history two rivals
The Book Of Disquiet new edition
Born A Crime Trevor Noah
Bowlaway by Elizabeth McCracken litfic 2-5-2019
Bryant and May Hall of Mirrors
Bullshit Jobs by David Graeber

The Butchering Art medicine history
Career of Evil (Robert Galbraith mys)
Central Station
Chicago by David Mamet
The Chilbury Ladies' Choir (book club fiction)
The Chinese Orange Mystery by Ellery Queen mys reissue
A Christmas Carol and other Christmas stories by Charles Dickens

City On Fire
Classic American Crime Fiction of the 1920s edited by Leslie S Klinger 
The Complete and Original Norwegian Folktales of Asbjornsen and Moe 
Conclave by Robert Harris Vatican thriller 
The Country of the Pointed Firs by Sarah Orne Jewett 
A Country Road, A Tree follow-up to Longbourne 
A Crisis Wasted by Reed Hundt Obama CURR EVENTS 4-2-2019 
The Crooked Hinge by JOhn Dickson Carr reissue Amer Mys Classics
Culdesac
Darwin's Backyard science history PW PICK 9-5
Daughter Of The Pirate King (ya fantasy)
Days Without End -- gay historical fic Sebastian Barry 
D-Day Girls history of WW II by Sarah Rose 
Death Going Down (mystery) 
Death on the Aisle a Mr and Mrs North mystery 3-5-2019 THEATER
Dodge City (popular history)
Drive -- nonfiction about early years of auto industry
Drive Your Plow Over The Bones of The dead Polish mystical mystery by Olga Tokarczuk
The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
Elena Ferrante

Empire of Cotton
Everyone Brave Is Forgiven by Chris Cleave 
Fall or Dodge in Hell by Neal Stephenson 

Farthest Field 
Fifth Sun: A New History Of The Aztecs 

The Fine Art of Murder
Friday Black by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah short stories
Future Home of the Living God dystopia by Louise Erdrich 
Galileo's Error by Philip Goff 
A Gentleman In Moscow -- lit fic

The Gilded Razor
The Girl at the Baggage Claim (social commentary East-West) 
Gods of the Upper air by Charles King SCIENCE HISTORY Frank Boas margaret Mead 
The Good Daughter Karin Slaughter 
The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
Green by Sam Graham-Felsen
Hallelujah Anyway Anne Lamott -- 4-4

The Heart Goes Last Margaret Atwood
Here Comes The Sun -- fic debut
Heroes Of The Frontier by Dave Eggers 

H is for Hawk
History Of Violence by Eduard louis

Holding by Graham Norton
Home By Nightfall Mys London period
Home sweet Homicide by Craig Rice mys reissue 
House Of Names by Colm Toibin
How To Survive A Plague 
How To Survive A Summer (gay conversion camp)
Huck out West -- by Robert Coover
I'll Have What She's Having -- Nora Ephron rom-com 
The Impeachers history of Andrew Johnson impeachment by Brenda Wineapple 
Indecent Advances by James Polchin history of queer sex crimes before Stonewall 
Infomocracy (not on Kindle) 
In West Mills by De-shawn Charles Winslow litfic black community 1940s-80s 

The Japanese Lover by Isabelle Allende
Joe Gould's Teeth 
K: A History of Baseball in Ten Pitches by Tyler Kepner  
Katharine Of Aragon -- Alison Weir fiction
Last Stories by William Trevor 
Last Witnesses kid oral history by Svetlana Alexievich 
Leading men by Christopher Castellani THEATER fi on Tennessee Williams and lover 
The Lessons of Ubuntu nonfic on race 
Lie With Me gay french novel trans by Molly Ringwald 

A Little Life
**********The Long-Legged Fly by James Sallis mys classic reissue introing Lew Griffin #1-6
9/10, 10/15, two on 11/12, two on 12/3
Lost and Gone Forever Alex Grecian mystery
The Lost Art of Scripture by karen Armstrong FAITH
The Lost Boys by 4-2-2019 famous psychological experiment in 1950s
Louisiana's Way Home by Kate DiCamillo
Loving, Caught, Back all by Henry Green reissue NYRB

Manhattan Beach by jennifer egan
The Man Who Spoke Snakish

Mapp Lucia reissues Worshipful and Queen and Lucia
The Maze at Windermere by Gregory Blake Smith
Melmoth by Sarah perry author of Essex Serpent
The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa
Middle England by Jonathan Coe
The Mirror Thief
Mister Monkey -- fiction/theater 

Mrs. Engels
My German Brother by Chico Barques, Brazilian pop star
My Sister The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
The Mystery of Three Quarters by Sophie Hannah new Poirot
Ninefox Gambit (not on Kindle)

Nine Lives new Mys series Wendy Corsi Staub
The Nix
Noir by Christopher Moore
The Novel of Ferrara by Giorgio Bassani (six volume epic)
Number one Chinese Restaurant lit fic
The Odyssey by Emily Wilson trans 

The Old Drift by Namwali Serpal 

The Old Man in The Corner: The teahouse Detective vol 1 mys by baroness Orczy reissue 
Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout 
On Democracy by EB White 5-7-2019 reissue 
On Streisand by Ethan Mordden 
Our Man by george Packer bio of Richard Holbrooke politico 5-7-2019 
The Paper Menagerie
Passing by Nella Larsen
Patriot Number One -- bio/curr events Chinese activist
The Personality Brokers by Merve Emre history of Myers-Briggs
Pirate Utopia sci-fi fantasy by Bruce Sterling
The Puzzle of the Happy Hooligan by Stuart Palmer mys reissue
The Red Lamp by mary Rinehart mys reissue
Renoir's Dancer history
Requiem for the American Dream -- Noam Chomsky
Richard Nixon bio John Farrell
Rilke in Paris trans in English
Room To Dream David Lynch
The Sacred Hunt Duology
The Season Social History of Debutante by Kristen Richardson
Secondhand Time
Shark Drunk -- two guys true story catch shark, makes em drunk!
The Shepherd's Hut by Tim Winton
The Ship of Dreams Titanic by Gareth Russell
Shoot For The Moon by James Donovan nonfic space race Apollo 11
Sing Unburied Sing litfic 9-5

The 6:41 To Paris
Sleeping Giants (not on Kindle)

The Soul Of An Octopus
Speak No Evil litfic by Iweala
The Spirit Photographer his fic 
Spring by Ali Smith litfic third in quartet 
Squeezed current events economics  
Stalingrad by Vasily Grossman nonfic NYRB

The Stone Reader NYT philosophy column
The Stranger In The Woods -- RS reporter on hermit
Strangers In Their Own Land -- nonfic look at American right on ground level
Substitute -- Nicholson Baker memoir sub teacher 
A Summer With Montaigne essays by Antoine Compagnon 
Swing Time Zadie Smith

The Sympathizer
Tell Them Of Battles, Kings and Elephants by Mathias Enard
That Thin Wild Mercury Sound by Daryl Sanders making of Blonde on Blonde
There There -- litfic urban Native Americans

Thirteen Ways Of Looking 
This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar FANTASY 
This Storm by James Ellroy 
Thrice The Brinded cat Hath Mewed new flavia de luce
The Tide -- popular science on tides
To Fight Against This Age --fascism essays
Tomorrow's Kin  sci-fi alien first contact
Too Like The Lightning

Twelve Kings (fantasy)  
Twenty Years After by Dumas new trans of Three Musketeers by Lawrence Ellsworth  
Valley Of Genius Silicon Valley by Adam Fisher history tech
Varieties of Religious Experience by William James
Victorian Fairy Tales edited by Michael Newton

Vision Quest (ya)
We'll Always Have Casablanca (pop culture)
We Were Rich and We Didn't Know It Irish memoir 3-5-2019
When Einstein Walked With Godel science essays by Jim Holt
Where The Crawdads Sing litfic
Why Superman Doesnt Take Over The World -- using comics to explain economic ideas 

The White Ghost by James R Benn WW II Mys
Winter -- Ali Smith
With The Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo (The Poet X)
Young Radicals -- nonfic about six radicals prior to WW I
The Young Visiters by Daisy Ashford

Yvgeny Onegin -- new trans of Pushkin