What I'm reading ...

I have started Travelling: On the Path of Joni Mitchell by Ann Powers. I have enjoyed Joni Mitchell’s music for most of my life, so I thought that it would be interesting to learn more about her as a person. Here’s the blurb:

What you are about to read is not a standard account of the life and work of Joni Mitchell. Instead, it’s a tale of long journeying through a life that changed popular music: of a homesick wanderer forging ahead on routes of her invention, and of me on her trail, heading toward the ringing of her voice.

One of the most celebrated artists of her generation, Joni Mitchell has inspired countless musicians and writers, while never stopping still herself.

In Travelling, celebrated music critic Ann Powers seeks to understand the paradox of Mitchell – at once both elusive and inviting – through her myriad journeys. Drawing on extensive inter­views with Mitchell’s peers and deep archival research, Powers takes readers to rural Canada, charts the course of Mitchell’s musical evolution, follows the winding road of Mitchell’s collaborations with other greats and explores the loves that fed her songwriting.

Kaleidoscopic in scope and intimate in detail, Travelling is a fresh and fascinating addition to the Joni Mitchell corpus – and one that questions whether an artist can ever truly be known to their fans.

The Storyteller - by Jodi Picoult

As expected, this was a great read that kept me turning the pages. This author never disappoints. As usual, I feel I have learnt stuff; in this case I now know more about the process of Nazi hunting in the US and about the awful circumstances at Auschwitz etc.

I came across a curious use of a word, which I can only assume is a subtle difference between American and British English. The word “caretaker”, to me, refers to someone who looks after maintenance etc. in a building; I guess in the US they’s say “janitor”. In this book it refers to a person who is providing personal care/assistance to an elderly person. I think that we would say “carer” or “care giver”.

What I'm reading ...

Time for fiction again and I have turned to a favourite author and started The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult. Here’s the blurb:

A heart wrenching and unforgettable tale about the line between justice and mercy from the internationally bestselling author Jodi Picoult.

Could you bring yourself to forgive the unforgivable?

After a tragic accident which left her deeply scarred, Sage Singer retreated into herself, allowing her guilt to govern her life. When she befriends kindly retired teacher Josef, it seems that life has finally offered her a chance of healing.

But the gentle man Sage thinks she knows is in fact hiding a terrible secret. Josef was an SS officer during the Holocaust and now he wishes to die - and he wants Sage to help him.

As Josef begins to reveal his past to her, Sage is horrified.

Does this past give her the right to kill him?

Fifty Things that Made the Modern Economy - by Tim Harford

As expected, this was an excellent book. Each chapter is a more-or-less standalone essay about an invention or idea which are as diverse as concrete and paper money or insurance and the lightbulb. My accumulation of mostly useless knowledge has been increased.