Digest of the books I read in the Summer of 2023 (PT V - BONUS!)

62^) How all the books I read from Summer 2023 are interrelated. Plus, my favorite takes from my loyal readers.

I am giving you my readers a final bonus piece on my Summer Reading List 2023. Yes I know it’s already October, and pumpkin season!

While each book had a different theme, after I read Twenge’s ‘Generations’ with the my book-club group, I strongly suggested Klosterman 'Nineties’ as a follow-up. I thought they would compliment each other well.

While Klosterman’s book did a great job of capturing the essence of Generation X, the only overlap it had with Twenge’s book is the fact that she had a whole section on GEN X. Otherwise, they were completely different.  

As for Herring’s, ‘Blood in the Garden’, the relationship it has with Twenge’s book is virtually non-existent. As for its similarity to Klosterman’s book, there is one notable cultural flashpoint that is referenced by both authors.

The mere fact that both Klosterman’s book and Herring’s book took place exclusively in the 1990s, means that without even reading either of them, you could probably infer that there is at least a passing mention of *OJ Simpson in both.

*FYI: OJ does play a supporting role in both books. I won’t spoil it for you by citing them. Just so long as you read either book (and don’t skip any pages), he will be hard to miss.

^Another very cool thing about this post is, if you go back to my wordpress days and tally all the articles I ever published on wordpress and on here, I am now at 100!

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For the ease of finding one or all of “summer book reviews”, I posted all *three here as a quick/easy way to access them.

(*Four actually, if you count the introductory post, which lists all three books)

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Here is feedback/thoughts I got from people on my “book reviews”. You might be able to find some of it in the comments section on my Substack. Others were from private conversations/texts or emails. 

From the comments section in PART II, compliments of the wonderfully talented, Dr. Kathleen Waller, author of the amazing “The Matterhorn: truth in fiction”, found right on Substack!

Dr. Kathleen Waller: “This is a fascinating look at generations. I want to start thinking about this in regards to both literature produced by these generations as well as the way each generation reads texts” 

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“Twenge explained, those born between the years 1979 and 1983, are a bit of a tweener between “Gen X” and “Millennials”. This actually shed light and understanding on how I relate to the world that I’m in”  Dr. Jean M. Twenge raises the alarm bells in her latest, authoritative book - Josh off the Press

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I actually would say based on all the feedback I got, that all three books, and my reviews on them are more interrelated than I am giving it credit for.

All three books cover many years in the past and are asking us to interpret that past with a new set of eyes based in the future.

The “Generations” book clearly looks much further back. Meanwhile, it’s the one book (of the three) that is pleading with us to be more mindful of how the present is already dictating our future.

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Here is another take from a good friend!

TG: “I see you as being connected to Gen X in some ways and Millennials in other ways. Your Peace Corps experience and commitment to political work seems Millennial to me. But, your sports analysis, reading choices, and podcast choices are Gen X. LOL”