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Books of August 2025

 Books of August 2025

• 8/6/2025 - The Path to Power by Robert Caro,  (Audible, Narrated by Grover Gardner): This is the first volume in his biography of Lyndon B. Johnson, tracing Johnson’s rise from a poor Texas Hill Country childhood to his early political career and first run for the U.S. Senate. Caro portrays Johnson as both a master of political ambition and a man whose relentless drive often overshadowed ethical considerations.

• 8/9/2025 - In Cold Blood by Truman Capote: This recounts the 1959 murders of the Clutter family in rural Kansas and the subsequent investigation that led to the capture, trial, and execution of the killers, Perry Smith and Richard “Dick” Hickock. Blending journalism and novelistic detail, Capote explores the crime’s impact on the community while probing the complex psychology of the murderers and the moral weight of justice.

• 8/14/2025 - Burn Book by Kara Swisher: (Audible, Narrated by Kara Swisher) Kara Swisher’s memoir chronicles her three-decade journey through Silicon Valley as an incisive and unapologetic tech journalist—from wide-eyed fascination to fierce disillusionment with the industry's billionaire power brokers. It blends sharply personal anecdotes and scathing character portraits of figures like Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk with a plea for accountability and thoughtful innovation amid the looming perils of unchecked tech growth. 

• 8/14/2025 - The Art of War by Sun Tzu:(Audible, Narrated by Aidan Gillen)  This ancient Chinese military treatise teaches strategy, deception, and adaptability as keys to victory in both war and life. Emphasizing knowledge of oneself and the enemy, it advocates careful planning, efficient use of resources, and the pursuit of triumph with minimal conflict.

To Be Read #4: The Lyrics by Paul McCartney

 

Paul McCartney has always been there. I was born in the mid-1960s, so I missed his initial rise to stardom as part of The Beatles. Even though The Beatles broke up, being a toddler at the time, I had no clue; they were still talked about, but they were momentarily fading from view. The first recollection Paul McCartney was hearing "Live and Let Die," which came to find out was part of a James Bond movie(another childhood discovery) of the same name. What was this group "Wings"? I'm sure I had heard other songs by him on the radio, but this was the first song I latched onto. I still have my 45 single. I even remember a TV special show, Paul and Wings singing it complete with an exploding piano. I was hooked. When I finally got to see him play this song at Fenway Park in Boston in 2022, I felt like I had completed a journey. 

The Lyrics by Paul McCartney takes a personal, in-depth look at over 160 songs written by with the help of Paul Muldoon as editor, a Pulitzer Prize-winning Poet. The songs are from 1956 to the current day and cover his career from The Beatles, Wings, and his solo work. I've also heard the 83-year-old Paul McCartney may be coming out with a new album; who knows, maybe this book will need another update. 

To Be Read #3: The Stand by Stephen King

 When I first read The Stand by Stephen King as a teen around 1980, it was already a hefty book at just over 800 pages long. At the time, it was easily the longest book I had read. What surpassed it? The uncut and revised version was published about 10 years later, which added 400+ pages. I, of course, ate that one up too. I would also devour the 47+ hour audiobook(Audible) version. 

Strange as it may seem, I felt something was missing from the later versions despite their added length. What changed in later versions was that King updated the story's setting timeline. The first hardcover version of the story's setting was 1980. In 1980, the first paperback issue was set in 1985. Then the uncut version was later updated to 1990. This is fine, but because I read the first one, I always felt I was missing or looking for connections to my first read. I honestly hadn't looked into the timeline differences between different editions. As I was writing this I just learned the settings changed between the original hardcover, set in 1980, and this 1st edition paperback was 1985. So now the hardcover is on my wishlist. 

This is like George Lucas revising and updating the later versions of the Star Wars trilogy and then hiding away or burying the earlier versions. The early version of The Stand, I believe, can only be found second-hand online or in a used bookstore 

I recently watched the newer mini-series of The Stand that was pretty interesting, and I thought it was well done. So this added to my desire to revisit my original book, which I found on Ebay. 

On the Shelf To Be Read #2: The Outermost House by Henry Beston

 

A recent video about the book The Outermost House by Henry Beston has inspired me to take the book off my shelf and put it on my TBR short list. It also shortly after my wife and I took a road trip on Cape Cod  to Provincetown(the very tip of Cape Cod) to visit a friend. 

The Outermost House by Henry Beston was first published in 1928. Even though it refers to a "year on the Great Beach of Cape Cod" the book is based on Henry's visits there over the course of two years. When Henry proposed to Elizabeth Coatsworth knew of his notes and no book manuscript she quipped, "No book, no married.". That apparently was enough to get him going. He finished the book and they were married. They did honeymoon there but rarely visited afterward. 

The Outermost House was located about 2 miles south of Nauset Coast Guard in Eastham, Massachusetts on the outer arm of Cape Cod facing the North Atlantic. It was a two room cottage designed by Beston and built by a carpenter named Harvey Moore (and crew). It was named "The Fo'Castle" for the four large windows faced the ocean. Because of storms and eroding dunes the cottage was moved in 1933 and 1944. The North Atlantic finally claimed it in February 1978 during the fierce Blizzard of 78. I lived on the south shore of Massachusetts on the inner side of Cape Cod Bay and remember the storm quite well.