Alexei Maxim Russell -- Night Table Recommendations

Most reviews are given from a literary perspective--that is, from the perspective of an individual who has some knowledge of what qualifies as "good" and what is relegated to the dreaded nether-regions of "bad" writing. Whilst I acknowledge the superior knowledge and education of some people--concerning literature--I have never myself been able to take on this role with any degree of comfort. A lot of my creative energy springs from a general state of open-mindedness, concerning what I see and what I read. If you are of such a temperament, all judgement of good and bad appear extremely subjective--to the point that speculations of quality can seem academic, to say the least.

As a result of this inherent self-doubt, concerning my place in the world of literary criticism, I prefer to write my recommendations purely from the perspective of an author. I may not have found an adequate yard-stick to measure literary quality, as yet, but I have my own private yard-stick to estimate how much fun an author may have had, writing a given work. I can usually guess how much fun an author had by how original and fresh the writing or the concept is. When an author is having fun, it shows in their writing. Not only are other writers intrigued--innately detecting the sense of fun which spurs the author on--but any serious reader will likely be able to catch on to the fun and be carried away on that tide, along with the writer. I recommend these books based entirely on that sense of fun.

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I am Half-Sick of Shadows, by Alan Bradley

Ron Romanowski -- Night Table Recommendations

stretching a tripping line from ginsberg to muldoon

when the withering hand raises its statues chiseling Moloch-granites
at
their
edge
at
the
margins
poetry
grain
by
grain
digs
its
gates
seam
by
seam
pulls
the
threads
unnoticed
unraveling

The Israeli writer Amos Oz remarked on Charlie Rose's PBS interview show recently that he walks in the desert among the ancient stones near his home every morning to "put things in perspective". To me Allen Ginsberg's poem "Howl" is one of those lasting touchstones. With it I judge the quality of my own work and that of other writers. Editor Jason Shinder's twenty-six essay collection The Poem That Changed America: "Howl" Fifty Years Later (Farrar, Straus and Giroux) is a book that I have kept on my night-table for a long time because it is fascinating to read how others value Ginsberg's 1956 poem, or not (the book is not all panegyric).

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Book of the Day: Markets Never Forget (But People Do) by Ken Fisher

 

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$38.00

Sir John Templeton, legendary investor, was famous for saying, "The four most dangerous words in investing are, 'This time it's different.'" Though history doesn't repeat, not exactly, he knew that history is an excellent guide for investors. In Markets Never Forget (But People Do), long-time Forbes columnist and CEO of Fisher Investments, Ken Fisher, takes aim at some major market memory mishaps -- like the idea that stocks have become inherently more volatile or that wildly above- or below-average returns are abnormal. He shows how, early in every recovery, investors don't believe in it, often at a huge cost. In investing, ideology is deadly.

For another great book on a similar subject, check out This Time is Different by Carmen M Reinhart and Kenneth S Rogoff.