The 2023 Summer is in the "Books”: And a new project is brewing at Josh off the Press

58) <PT 1> Books I have read this past summer

My Summer 2023 is in the “books” and the school year has just started. Some of the projects I was working on bled into my first week of school, but I got them done. My two(ish) weeks back and the first number of days the kids came back has been successful. So, I’m happy about that. As my newsletter/blog in its newest iteration is now *17 plus months old*  I’m excited to pivot into a certain passion project of mine. That is to create an archive of all the books I ever read. 

The creation of an archived list of books I read is no small task, especially since I have not exactly done a good job of tracking everything I read from the time I started to become an avid reader in 1999 (at the age of 17) let alone all the books I read for school/ book reports I did prior to 1999. (Not to mention all the books my mom read to me as a young child). But, I will do my best, going through my dad’s basement (as well as my long term memory), to gather prior books I read and have fun in creating my own personal archive.

*Some of my earlier stories were from my *Wordpress days which I started in 2017. Although that site didn’t draw nearly as much attention or accolades, there was still some excellent content from there that I was fortunately able to transfer onto here. For example one of my most popular posts from my Wordpress days was The 5 books I gifted the most*.

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One great thing about this project I’m embarking on is how timeless it is.  Books don’t have an expiration date (at least the good ones don’t). I have often found myself on this Substack chasing my tale, as I like to dive into current topics, that I feel like if I don’t write about it within a certain time-frame, it has gone stale. This is especially true for our hyper-accelerated culture and news cycle. This project of mine is a very nice detour from that. 

Another beautiful thing about the world of literature, is how books often are the genesis of inspirations for TV and Movie projects. There have been plenty of times where I have watched a movie and then been inspired to read the book. There have also been times where I refuse to watch a movie until I read the book. There will also be times when a book will make me think of another book and of other resources to better understand the topic. I will do my best to provide those ancillary resources for my archive project, as well.

For this passion project I’m starting at the beginning - SUMMER 2023. Or is it the end?

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The Three Books I read this summer are

1- “Generations” by Jean Twenge: An incredibly informative book that really changed my view of the world, and how the time period you were born in is so influential in our lives, in ways that so few people ever truly try to unpack,

 From the video (above) I conflated GENY with GEN Z here, I will post this mini-video again in my next post to give you more of a breakdown. This is just a sneak peak. 

 

2- “The Nineties - A Book” by Chuck Klosterman : It certainly isn’t a forgotten decade. It makes me nostalgic for that time period. This is both for personal and practical reasons. 

3 - “Blood on the Garden” by Chris Herring : This was a book back down memory lane as well. The 1990s Knicks, when they were actually really good, and always in contention for the NBA Championship. Much like Klosterman’s “Nineties - A Book”, this book made me nostalgic for a bygone era, as well.

With these three books I will be doing a few follow up posts, providing a more thorough book review for each one. I think these three all deserve at least a “semi” deep-dive, as I took away so much from them. Hopefully my reviews will provide value for you, too.

Until next time! 

-JPJ

PS - I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge  my book club members. We are a relatively small tight-knit group of four guys who have been doing book talks on Zoom. My book club members have helped me generate some excellent ideas, and have also exposed me to some excellent literature I would not have come across on my own. The book club will be referenced every now and then when I reference certain books. Thank you, Tim, Henry and Derek :-)