May Wrap-up
Some things that caught my interest - May 2024
Welcome to Beyond the Bookshelf, a community of readers and writers sharing unique perspectives on life and literature through thought-provoking essays, captivating interviews, and influential books as we explore the challenges of life's transformative journey.
Dear Friends,
May has been an exciting month for me as I finish up my duties with the Navy and turn all my responsibilities over to the phenomenal officer who is relieving me. It is great having someone you trust and admire come in to take over knowing they will continue the legacy you have worked hard to achieve.
I also hit an exciting milestone with this publication as the community grew to 1,000 subscribers in the early part of the month. I continue to be flabbergasted every time I think about this and I am extraordinarily grateful for each and every reader. It is hard to describe the feeling I have due to the privilege of being able to share my passion for life and literature with all of you.
As I have previously mentioned, June and July will be the busiest months of this year as family and friends come in from out of town to celebrate my retirement followed by a family trip to Italy for a couple of weeks. We plan to visit Venice, Florence, Rome, and Sorrento and we are all very excited. Due to this, the next few weeks will have some guests posts, a few pulled from the archives, and a couple of posts I wrote for other publications but am sharing them here for the first time. In August I will be focused on Beyond the Bookshelf full-time and I have some exciting things in store for the second half of the year as we approach the one-year anniversary in October.
Anyway, enough of my jabbering. Here are the things that stuck with me during the month of May.
Here are a couple of my recent articles in case you missed them:
Some things that caught my interest in the past month:
Books:
The Log from the Sea of Cortez by John Steinbeck. My review of this book appeared in the May edition of The Steinbeck Review.
The Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac. This is only the second Kerouac book I have read, the other being On the Road, which I didn’t care for all that much. So I was hesitant about this one but several people recommended it and I am glad I read it. It was a much more enjoyable read. Sex, drugs, and spiritual enlightenment were the order of the day in this story which would go on to heavily influence the counter-culture hippie movement of the 1960s.
The Burning Hills by Louis L’Amour. Another fun, short novel by the great Western bard. I have read 51 of the 124 works I have from his collection.
Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. This classic work on writing and life was recommended by so many people I had to move it to the top of my reading list. It quickly became filled with my sticky tabs and annotations. A must-read for any serious writer.
The Great Santini by Pat Conroy. I am a big fan of Conroy but I had conflicted feelings while reading this book. It is a great story about a military family, their frequent moves, the dynamics of a home with a domineering Marine father, and the complicated realities of life in a small southern town. The main character is easy to hate which made it difficult to read at times but Conroy’s writing is masterful.
Stone Cold by C.J. Box. Book 14 in the Joe Pickett series. This series is my guilty pleasure reading.
Endangered by C.J. Box. Book 15 in the Joe Pickett series.
All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy. First book in the Border Trilogy. I intend to do an article on the trilogy later this year so will save my comments until then. McCarthy is always a great read however.
Articles:
explores our obsession with understanding in her article Why are we so obsessed with “getting it?” Thank you to
for pointing me in the direction of this one.recently started writing his publication and here he shares a story about That Time I Got My Ass Kicked.
shares some great advice on How to Support Writers You Love.
explores our relationship with fat in his article The Usefulness of Fat.
responded to a comment on one of my Notes which led me to check out her publication, Styled by Una. For all my lady friends out there, this is a good place to start - 5 Ways to Freshen Your Look This Summer.
’s writing is heartfelt and authentic as she shares her story with us. Check out a recent article - Mourning a Star Magnolia.
explains her (mostly) hands-off approach to parenting outdoors in this delightful adventure - things that go bump in the night.
helps us understand how unsolicited advice can cause harm in her exceptional essay, No Unsolicited Advice, Please.
shares his thoughts on poor predictions, awful opinions, and rampant over-confidence in his article, Nobody Really Knows Anything.
is a writer I admire. His publication, The Honest Broker, is always filled with insightful writing. I was delighted to see him share a recommended reading list for an in-depth study of Stupidity.
Music:
Toro Collective is the newest album by acclaimed bassist Petros Klampanis.
Tell Me That It’s Over is the most recent album of Wallows, a band my daughter highly recommends when she isn’t listening to Taylor Swift.
Tubular Bells by Mike Oldfield is a beautifully eerie composition that was used in the opening and closing of the 1973 hit film, The Exorcist. Even if you are not a fan of the movie, check out the music.
recently shared some of his love for Big-band Jazz. This recording really exemplifies why I love jazz. There is so much that can be done with it, with all the different instruments and styles. You can listen to jazz for countless hours and not hear the same thing twice.
Black Pumas was the first album by the duo of the same name. Their “electric church” sound defies genre boundaries as it delves into soul, jazz, pop, and psychedelia. A genuinely unique sound you won’t want to miss.
Streaming:
A Gentleman in Moscow, starring Ewan McGregor, is streaming on Prime. This limited series was well done and based on the exceptional novel by Amor Towles. It has been a couple of years since I read the book, but I felt the show was fairly true to the original. In any case, it was a fun watch and one I would recommend.
Projecting L.A. 2024 was shared by
. This is a photographic project put together in L.A. showcasing the city’s diverse human experience. The video is an hour long but well worth your time. You can find it near the bottom of the article.My son is home from college for the summer, so we have started watching Battlestar Galactica together. I watched it when it first came out in the early 2000s, and it is a sci-fi classic that has stood the test of time.
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. We watched the first three movies at home to refresh our memories and then went to see the new movie in the theater. It was good but not as good as the previous installments. Worth a watch however.
Thanks for this great list …books, tv shows, articles I’ve missed! Congrats on four digits and retirement! Enjoy your time abroad!
What a resource you've become for your readers, Matthew! Honored to be included among the recommendations.