One-Man Book Club Archives

What kind of fool?

June 5, 2013 by Hank Stuever 1 Comment

The One-Man Book Club has been meeting in secret for quite some time over at Goodreads, if you ever feel like following along. I’ve been slowly going back through my shelves and adding thoughts and reviews of books I read years ago. For some reason, all this time I’ve managed to never notice a neato widget where I can add my Goodreads reviews to this blog. Here are some recent reads, and there are plenty more where these came from …

Blood, Bones, and Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef by Gabrielle Hamilton
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Get your shine on with a FREE copy of Anne-Marie O’Connor’s ‘The Lady in Gold’! (Yours to kleempt!)

February 21, 2012 by Hank Stuever 2 Comments

Let me make up for my dereliction of duty as a blogger with this chance to win one of THREE free copies of my friend Anne-Marie O’Connor’s new book The Lady in Gold: The Extraordinary Tale of Gustav Klimt’s Masterpiece, ‘Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer.‘

Yes, it’s another TONSIL book giveaway!

Anne-Marie has been working on this intriguing book for, well — forever it feels like! I remember sitting one afternoon at her house in Los Angeles when we were both suffering through our rough drafts of our books, back in early 2008 or so. I’m so pleased that Anne-Marie saw hers through to its handsome finish. I can see her hard reporting work on every page, as well as her elegant prose. Here’s what it’s about, straight from the flap:

One-Man Book Club’s summer reading credits

September 1, 2011 by Hank Stuever 8 Comments

Oh, ranger! Summer is over!

And so the One-Man Book Club reconvenes one last time* (more on that down below) for its summer vacation extra-reading credit. Books came along on a lot journeys since early spring: Out to Kansas and back, out to Albuquerque and back, on a train to Staunton, Va., and back, and — for 11 days in late June/early July — a 2,100-mile road trip through New England with the One-Man Book Club’s favorite traveling companion, the One-Man Photo Archive. Then the One-Man Book Club took a 16-day business trip out to Los Angeles to ingest the upcoming fall TV season, with books offering the only salve from long days of press conferences and network spin about bad pilot episodes. Then a quick trip to Jersey for a wedding in the family.

Lolling

August 3, 2011 by Hank Stuever 3 Comments

I was trying to figure out why I haven’t blogged in so long (erm, THREE MONTHS) other than the usual excuses, most of them having to do with my undying admiration for what Nancy Nall manages to pull off nearly every weekday morning of the year — while also working her fingers to the bone on other paying gigs. My stuff here definitely remains in the slowest possibble slow-blogging category. And yes, that’s a thing, or once was.

On the upside, I guess, it’s just you and me now. No one comes here anymore.

One-Man Book Club: My pals are writing books faster than I can GIVE YOU A FREE COPY!

April 22, 2011 by Hank Stuever 4 Comments

Book luvvers, the One-Man Book Club has some friends and they have been — I believe the term busy as shit applies here, writing some very good books. I’ve got my own copies and if you’re lucky I’m going to give you yours. But really what I want you to do is go out an’ buy one. Hardcover is nice; e-book works too.

I’ve not read all of these yet, but you can bet I intend to. If I wait until I do, then I’ll miss the wave of woot-woot that has accompanied each of these. Let’s get to it. Here are the rules:

One-Man Book Club: Now where were we?

March 29, 2011 by Hank Stuever 5 Comments

(“Arlo & Janis“: Not only is it America’s most marital-relations-positive — and cat-positive, and power-walk positive — comic strip, it also honors old, analog media every now and again. I never miss a day of “A&J” — it’s the only comic strip I read.)

All right, Tonsilites, at last, another session of the One-Man Book Club. It’s been so long since the club met to discuss recent reads that EVERY MEMBER has completely forgotten the smartest thing he had to say about each book. (On the plus side, that also means every member has also forgotten his most biting criticism of each of the books. )

The work

March 20, 2011 by Hank Stuever Leave a Comment

If my book-related blog “to-do” list had anything to do with a public library, I would owe some serious overdue fines by now.

The One-Man Book Club languishes; since the last post, none of the members are speaking to one another and we have about a half-dozen books that have gone un-discussed. The neglect has meant that the club has been slapped with an injuction: NO MORE NEW BOOKS can be cracked open until the situation is remedied. And that’s a problem, because, very soon, there are two books coming out any day — both written by friends — that I want to dive into the minute I get my dirty paws on a copy.

He has a pulse (and a booty)

January 30, 2011 by Hank Stuever 3 Comments

Actual proof that I still exist: National Journal‘s Hotline came knocking the other day, with lighthearted questions for their Friday Feature Q&A. The what? The hunh? National Journal is a D.C. publication that is so essential to the Beltway power/media structure that it costs, like, hundreds (thousands?) of dollars to subscribe. Otherwise I would link you to the feature. But now that it’s been out a f ew days, I’m just going to “borrow” it, with a friendly shout-out to the writer, Amanda Munoz-Temple, who I guess bangs these things out every week! Enjoy…

One-Man Book Club takes the EZPass lane

October 3, 2010 by Hank Stuever Leave a Comment

Not-So-EZ-Pass1

At this rate, the One-Man Book Club will soon be meeting at St. Elizabeths. (And no, Mr. Hinckley, we’re not going to read any books about Jodie Foster.) I actually had a fantasy during all the deadlines for fall TV reviews: If I could get just sick enough — something that required convalescence but not, you know, pain — I could read more. Books have been my only mental refuge from television lately (as opposed to what, exercise??), but you’ll notice the One-Man Book Club choices have been rather lite. Television eats your brain.

Over-served again at the One-Man Book Club

August 26, 2010 by Hank Stuever 3 Comments

About a week ago, after manic amounts of book-reading this summer, the One-Man Book Club unanimously approved a moratorium (1 in favor; none opposed) that prohibits even the cracking-open and general perusing of any book on the “to read” stack until the club confronts and discusses the entire backlog of already-read and partially-read books.

This is sort of a relief. Many of the One-Man Book Club’s members are employed as full-time television critics and are getting ready for a heap of nonsense known as FALL TELEVISION. Brains must rest, or try to.