Every two months, I’ll wrangle up ten of my favorite books that I’ve come across to recommend to friends and family (plus random internet strangers). These might range from books I think are the “best” to ones that just surprised me to authors I interviewed. You can read about my recommendations from January and February here.
Here are ten from March and April in the order that they were released.
I made some predictions about the NBA season back on October 24, 2016. I love sports, but I never really did research before a season to try to make bets or what have you. This year, I spent a week (so I’m no expert) listening to podcasts and reading articles on over/unders, player trends, and other factors to help me come up with 10 predictions that were sure to go wrong. Some of them were very serious; others were goofy just to get to a round number.
Let’s see how I did:
Kathryn Bigelow’s trailer for her (sure to be Oscar-nominated) Detroit hit the Internet today and already has me eager for August 4 to get here. The Oscar winner teamed up again with journalist-turned-screenwriter Mark Boal (The Hurt Locker, Zero Dark Thirty).
The period piece is about the unwarranted police raid of an after-hours bar in a motel during the summer of 1967. The event, where black men ended up dead at the hands of police, kicked off the 1967 Detroit Riot. Bigelow and Boal have been working on this for a while now, but barely anything was known about the project. For months we knew John Boyega, Will Poulter, Hannah Murray, and Anthony Mackie would star in the film. Yet their roles remained nearly a mystery. Finally, with the release of the trailer, we learned the name of the film would simply be Detroit and who would play which role.
He is in a quiet room in his home in Indiana talking to me on the phone. I apologize for not being able to meet in person; I couldn’t afford a flight halfway across the country. He gets money woes, though. He gets health woes, too. In fact, Edwards gets most woes that come in life. They’ve all knocked him down. He’s gotten up every single time.
The Indiana-based songwriter was diagnosed with C. Diff – an infection of the intestines – and spent most of 2015 recovering from a near fatal attack that robbed him of 40 pounds, his energy, and a tour. He says the rare disease essentially forced him into retirement. He’s since recovered, but the ailment still lingers.
“My stomach issue is a pretty consistent part of my life, but I do have longer stretches where I feel really good. I’m in one of those right now.”
Spring is in the air, summer is quickly approaching, and Major League Baseball’s Opening Day was a roaring success. The Baltimore Orioles, my favorite team, won in extras; The Arizona Diamondbacks, my favorite National League team (and hometown heroes), came back in the bottom of the ninth to win in dramatic fashion. Unfortunately, the betting man in me has them both missing the playoffs.
My NBA predictions turned out to be pretty accurate (I’ll have a follow-up once the playoffs start). I surprisingly don’t have as high of hopes for America’s Pastime because so much can happen over the entire season.
Here are a few predictions sure to be wrong.
The podcast is back for Episode 14 (while 13 was technically over at Writer’s Bone, which is why you won’t find it in my iTunes feed).
In his debut novel One of the Boys, Daniel Magariel uses his personal history to write from the perspective of a young boy who starts a new life with his brother and father. Everything is perfect in the eyes of the preteen, but events slowly turn heartbreaking when the father’s addictions and violence begin to rise to the surface. The novel carries a lot of emotional weight in a brief space — less than 200 deeply-affecting pages.
[Read my feature “Richard Edwards Reborn” for an in-depth look at the album from musician himself.]
For nearly a decade, Richard Edwards released music as a band called Margot and the Nuclear So and So’s. Don’t be fooled; he was the band. The players came in on different albums to help, but he was always the maestro. His lineups changed year to year, as did his music.
Now, Lemon Cotton Candy Sunset is his first true solo album under his own name. I wrote a feature about it that will appear sometime shortly on All Things Go about why this was time for him to step out from behind the Margot moniker.
April used to not have a lot going on for it, pop culturally speaking. It’s before the summer blockbuster month and it’s right near the tail end of the traditional network television cycle.
Thankfully, cable doesn’t care about the archaic calendar and realized April is the last month to premiere a show and air enough episodes that it would be eligible for September’s Emmys. Here’s a ranking of shows I’m stoked to be back from unbelievable excited to wickedly giddy.
Every two months, I’ll wrangle up ten of my favorite books that I’ve come across to recommend to friends and family (plus random internet strangers). These might range from books I think are the “best” to ones that just surprised me to authors I interviewed. Here are ten from January and February in the order that they were released.
A lot of people have been viewing all of pop culture – including literature – through the political lens of 2017. While it’s important to make these connections, it’s not always necessary. Remember, books are written years in advance. They’re purchased by publishers who pick a date in the future that they feel will be the best for sales. Some of the books on this list are easy targets when making connections to the new President Administration. Others are not. However, they all have something in common even if they don’t seem similar at all.
Some explore the past. The future. Some look at the fringe aspects of society. Some take place in America. Some don’t. All of the books explore the beautiful, as well as haunting, aspects of humanity. They all stand on their own and will still be seminal reading experiences they’re read during a more stable period.
ADAM VITCAVAGE 