July 2026
Books Bought:
- Kitchen Confidential – Anthony Bourdain
- The Hunger: Film Writing 2012-2024 – Melissa Anderson
- On the Edge: The Art of Risking Everything – Nate Silver
- A Sending of Dragons (The Pit Dragons Chronicles Book 3) – Jane Yolen
- Dragon’s Heart (The Pit Dragons Chronicles Book 4) – Jane Yolen
Books Read:
- Grave Peril – Jim Butcher
- Summer Knight – Jim Butcher
- Death Masks – Jim Butcher
- Blood Rites – Jim Butcher
- The Nasty Bits – Anthony Bourdain
- On Writing and Publishing – Mark Twain (unfinished)
It’s been a while since I’ve written consistently enough to think about the books I’ve been reading. And, I’ve been fairly busy, so even making time to read had it’s own challenges.
Yet here we are. Writing some of this, after a couple of trips. While on a flight back home, I had been hoping for a meal service, but it didn’t come. Preflight bourbon did, though, and several more in flight. That left me feeling pretty loose. I was still hungry after the two bags of chips as well.
I was reading Nasty Bits, which probably explained my overt preoccupation with food and beverage service. Not being one to delve too deeply into food culture, I was consequently only aware of Bourdain in the periphery. It was likely during the pandemic shutdown that I started watching his travelogues in earnest, and discovered that his style of reporting resonated with me.
There are several things when thinking about Bourdain. There’s his cooking – which, I wouldn’t be qualified to really write about, even if I had tried it. There’s his writing. I enjoyed Nasty Bits, and bought a copy of Kitchen Confidential as well. Hoping to read that next month.
Then, in a little fit of nostalgia, I read books 3-6 of The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher. I’d read them before, back in 2020, but I missed one or two releases in the series, and figured that, before I’d picked those up, I’d refresh myself on the books.
They are pretty easy reads, so I could get through them each in a day or two. I’ve visited Chicago a few times since then, which is where the books take place. I don’t think I’ve ever come across a wizard, though.
And, very briefly, I read a few chapters of Twain’s On Writing and Publishing. I was looking for something I never found and honestly can’t even name anymore
The purchases all had specific rationale, so we’ll see when I get around to reading them. Circling back to Bourdain, I picked up Kitchen Confidential, obviously still in the midst of a Bourdain rabbit hole. Sometimes, when I’m doing computer work and can manage the tv being on in the background, I’ll play reruns of No Reservations or Parts Unknown. The hardest part there is, being a vegetarian, there is some animal prep that I’m not crazy about.
The Hunger came recommended as some of the best film criticism being written right now, the kind of writing that actually has teeth to it, not just plot summary dressed up as analysis. On the Edge came recommended as a roadmap for taking chances, which tracks, since that’s more or less Nate Silver’s whole professional life.
The final two were two of four books in the Pit Dragon Chronicles. I found a good deal on those, but I still need to pick up the first two. Jane Yolen, the author, passed away in June. I knew these books because of the CBS Storybreak episode that adapted the first one, Dragon’s Blood. Looking it up, I was surprised to find the episode aired in 1985, so I’m not sure how I ended up seeing it. But I remember it clearly.
Michael's Musings 