Don't know if anyone has noticed, but I haven't been doing a lot of social media stuff lately. Why? Not really sure. Contrary to what people think, no, I haven't quit or anything like that. Anyway, one of the things that I have gotten back to is some leisure reading. Well, not actually reading, but listening to audio books. When I first started my job (has it been almost 10 years already?), I had a long commute and popped in a CD to listen to a book.
Over the past weekend, I also went to an interesting meeting (I'll post about that soon), and I listened to another book during the drive. Reading/listening to books really make traveling just go quicker. Don't get me wrong, I am the furthest thing from a book reviewer. But here are a few books I've read over the past couple of weeks.
An Object Of Beauty by Steve Martin: I'm usually not a fiction reader type guy. But I really enjoyed Martin's book called Shopgirl. This present book takes you through the world of art from the early 1990s until present day. Most of the story is centered around the character Lacey as she goes from an entry level position at an art auction house to full fledged art collector and dealer. I wouldn't be surprised if this is made into a film in the next 3-4 years. While reading the book (actually while listening to the audiobook), I was trying to picture the actors who would be in this film. Anyway, for what it's worth, Steve Martin is a good writer and I look forward to his next work.
Decision Points by George W. Bush: The world is so freaking partisan these days that some out there may think I'm making some kind of political statement by reading this book. I'm not. The book is setup with a bunch of topics - around what are thought as controversial decisions. Bush tells his point of view of the story and his rationale behind the decision and lets the reader judge for himself and herself. I'm always fascinated behind the process to make a decision - like getting the background information and updating said information - and then making a choice on the information that you have at the moment. I also learned a lot about the federal government - especially when it comes to interfacing with state and local government. Bureaucracy is frustrating, but hearing from someone in the center of it was interesting.
The War For Late Night: When Leno Went Early And Television Went Crazy by Bill Carter: When the whole Conan/Jay thing went down in January of this year, I was riveted in front of the TV like a lot of other people. This book takes you back to the contracts and the deals of when this drama started and then works it's way forward to take you behind closed doors to those days in January 2010 when everyone was wondering what was happening in the Conan, Jay, and NBC camps. Mr. Carter also wrote the book 20 years ago describing the Carson/Letterman/Leno story which again involved the Tonight Show. Really enjoyed this book. But, hey, I'm kind of a late night comedy junkie.