What I’m Reading These Days

I’ve read The Mueller Report cover-to-cover. It’s the first analog book I’ve bought in nearly ten years. (I’ve bought and read hundreds during that time, on my Kindle and on Audible. I added the free Audible edition of The Mueller Report to my library, but this book really wants you to dog-ear its pages and make notes in the margins, and it rewards a tactile relationship. Kindle and Audible books suffice for me in most cases, but this one is different. You want to see it on your desk, as a thing, as an analog work product.)

I am astonished at how well-written The Mueller Report is, and how riveting. And how clearly it is an impeachment referral. The redactions really don’t seem to get in the way of the narrative.

If you do decide to read The Mueller Report, order it from Harvard Bookstore in Cambridge MA. They print every copy of this public domain book right in their store and benefit directly from its sale. I like to support independent bookstores whenever I can.

At the same time, I’ve been engrossed in Astroball on my Kindle as I continue my education on baseball analytics. I recommend this book as an adjunct to Moneyball for anyone interested in broadening their appreciation and understanding of baseball. Advanced analytics are what players are using to improve their performance, and what their agents are using to negotiate contracts for them.  

Astroball doesn't need to be analog purchase. I bought it for my Kindle. 

Good Night Sibby Sisti, Wherever You Are...

When Brendan Boyd and I wrote The Great American Baseball Card Flipping, Trading And Bubblegum Book, we needed some kind of coda at the end - something in line with the smartass tone we'd created, mixed with equal measures of snark and nostalgia. Sibby Sisti replaced Mrs Calabash in the old Jimmy Durante exit line, and just like that, we had our coda and the book rode off into the sunset.

But we never expected that line to stick in so many readers' minds, to the point where it still comes back in comments and reviews of the book, especially since it was re-issued as a facsimile edition Kindle Book in 2015.

The other thing that's come back is the question about whether/when a sequel to the original book will appear. The answer to that question is "soon, I hope". Work is in fact under way on a sequel that will apply the same blend of snark and nostalgia in the original book to cards of the Sixties, Seventies and Eighties, and will include a first-hand take on the ways in which the business of baseball cards has changed - for better and for worse.  

Stay tuned...