At the beginning of each year, I start a list of books that I’m reading. As I finish a book, I write a little blurb about it and add it to the list. Then at the end of the year I publish that list. This year, in January, I read a book that was recommended by Austin Kleon, an artist and author who’s weekly newsletter I subscribe to and love.
I never could have guessed just how much this book would prepare me for 2020.
Continue reading The Book That Prepared Me for 2020
**Something Wonderful – Todd S. Purdum
Simply delightful. The best way I could have began my year was reading this book. An intimate, unflinching, and yet sepia-toned look at the two grandfathers of the modern musical. I loved every second of seeing the inner-workings of the R&H machine that dominated the 1940’s and 50’s and created the sound of the Eisenhower era.
The Commercial Theater Institute Guide to Producing Plays and Musicals – Ed. Frederic B Vogel & Ben Hodge
A bit of a homework read, but extremely informative. This was a recommendation from Ken Davenport. Each chapter is a sit-down with a successful commercial theatre producer or marketer. In reading the book, you begin to see the patterns emerge of just how shows come to life on Broadway.
Is it too late for a “Best of” list??
Scratch that – never mind – I hate “Best of” lists. This is merely an inventory for you (mostly for me) of the books I read in 2018.
These actually aren’t ALL of the books I read (nerd brag), just the books I read for personal enjoyment or enrichment. I share them because maybe you, too are looking for enjoyment or enrichment.
Last year when I did this, I told myself to read more fiction. Alas, I didn’t listen to myself. So once again, if you like entrepreneurial type books mixed with a little bit of human psychology – congratulations you’re my soulmate. Oh, and for those of you who simply NEED a “Best of” list, I put a ** next to my favorites.
Continue reading Books I Read in 2018
Sitting down to (finally!) read Stephen Sondheim’s two volume lyrical retrospective “Finishing the Hat” and “Look! I Made a Hat”, I have been warmed by the nostalgia I feel remembering the many times I obsessed over these lyrics and these shows. Sondheim was, for me, the immaculate master. My other childhood inspiration, William Finn, was messy, emotional, illogical — all too human. Sondheim was precise, exacting, and inevitable. (Put together I used to tell people that Finn informed my heart and Sondheim my brain).
Continue reading Entering the World of the Hat
The best year of reading that I ever did was when I lived in NYC. All those trips on the subway were perfect reading opportunities. Living in LA and being stuck driving makes reading – actual reading, not audiobooks – very difficult.
So as part of a 2017 resolution to read more, I decide to track all the books I read and make this list. There’s not a lot of fiction on here, which I resolve to change in 2018, but if you’re into self-development and musical theatre – boy is this a list for you!
I love recommending books to friends, so while this isn’t exactly a BEST OF list, I did put stars next to my favorites from the year. Check them out below. Continue reading Books I Read in 2017