Volume 1, Issue 1
THIS IS BOOK JAM
The inaugural newsletter by John and Max.
Welcome, beautiful friends and family, to Book Jam! First edition hot off the press.
If you’re getting this newsletter it’s because you, like us, enjoy the written word — also because you’re a friend who is willingly joining us from day 1. We value your opinion and would love your feedback as we shape and refine this fledgling young thing.
“Wait, so what exactly are you guys doing?”
We spend a lot of time reading, and one of its beauties is its one-on-one engagement — just you and the book. But at the end of each book, reading that last line… it feels a bit like a death without an obituary.
So here’s what we have in mind: Every few weeks or so, the two of us are going to share honest write-ups on books we’ve read recently. No BS and nothing that’ll eat up more than 5 min of your day.
We’ll try and do 2 books each, plus a book we’ve both read. Sometimes it will be books we loved, sometimes it will books we felt meh about. Either way, we won’t dissuade any book from being read.
“Yeah cause no one else is doing that, hah…”
True. Lots of people recommend books. Our main difference? We’re pretty average people and feel like we can do a good job filtering out the BS.
Right now, we see binary options out there: 1) people who blow smoke up your ass and say every book is the cat’s pajamas, or 2) a pretentious 7 page review that puts you through a vocabulary quiz.
So we’re keeping our mission simple:
1) Keep reading fun
2) Be honest
3) Support a community of book-lovers
4) Always remember that reading should be a thrilling adventure, not purgatory
5) If you’re a non-digital reader- buy local (find your closest bookstore)
Check out www.bookjam.org and use the comments to share what you think about the books. Big credit to you all for joining us from the inaugural newsletter. If you’re enjoying the vibe, please forward on to friends.
Looking forward to seeing this community grow!
- John and Max (JAM)
MAX’S NON-FICTION PICK
The Monk of Mokha
Author: Dave Eggers
352 Pages
The Gist: It’s probably no surprise to hear that 50% of the U.S. population drinks coffee, and within the coffee drinker clan they average 3.1 cups a day. What might be a bit more of a surprise is coffee’s place of origin: Yemen.
Whether you enjoy building your historical knowledge bank, just love coffee, or are a current events junkie this book has you covered. Eggers is a favorite of mine, and he delivers a fresh read about a young Yemeni-American who goes from school drop-out and indebted luxury-apartment-door-greeter to a man determined to spotlight the rich history and taste of Yemeni coffee, flirting with death along the way. Mokhtar (the protagonist) undertakes the ambitious mission of re-building the coffee economy in Yemen. Right in the midst of the current and devastating Yemeni civil war. I’d consider this a pretty swift read, with a compelling enough storyline that you wouldn’t regret picking up (complemented by a cup o’ joe, obviously).
JOHN’S NON-FICTION PICK
What Made Maddy Run: The Secret Struggles and Tragic Death of an All-American Teen
Author: Kate Fagan
310 Pages
The Gist: A worthy and timely read. Kate Fagan’s deep and compassionate study of how and why an All-American track star took her own life, What Made Maddy Run creates a unique portal of understanding to those who are struggling mentally (and privately).
A focused 310 page dive into the converging worlds of athletics, social media, and depression, this book transcends the sphere of college athletics and confronts the universal anxieties created by a digitized world in which people and things are rarely how they seem. Reading through Maddy’s text messages and Instagram posts, it’s tough not to see a bit of yourself in her. At least a bit of your social media self.
The book is also, importantly, a call to action. Instructive and actionable, it asks us to look more closely at how we project ourselves on social media. To evaluate how honestly we communicate with those around us. And to learn how to ask the right questions to help the people we love the most. I recommend it.
MAX’S FICTION PICK
The Labyrinth of the Spirits
Author: Carlos Ruiz Zafon
816 Pages
The Gist: It is insanely hard to explain Zafon and his series of the ‘Cemetery of Forgotten Books’. In one sentence, this series is my Harry Potter, my fictional obsession. About 6 years ago I read his first book, Shadow of the wind, and I devoured it like a famished frog. A few years later I read the next two installments and just in the past month I had the enjoyment of reading his final one, which he recently published. Let me try to articulate what I thought of the last of his magna carta- and then i’ll dedicate a post down the line to the whole series.
He polishes people off as swiftly Scorcese, King, George R.R. Martin — whatever you fancy — and does it with such elegance and emotional sensitivity that you can’t help but feel you may have just witnessed one of the murders in an abandoned house of Barcelona. Zafon describes his characters and the setting vivaciously and you will be strangled by the reality of Franco-era Spain. It’s a tour de force — a whopping 800 pages — but read it and read it quickly, because that’s the twisted gift a reader receives in return for hours of immersion and excitement: the end of something magical. Lucky for you- you can read his books in any order and you’ve got a couple thousand pages before you curse Zafon for leaving you with just a beggar’s chance at another series in the future.
JOHN’S FICTION PICK
Fahrenheit 451
Author: Ray Bradbury
151 Pages
The Gist: Chances are you read this book in middle school — but have you read it since?
Fahrenheit 451 might be my favorite book of all time. I’ve read it once a year for the past decade, usually right around Christmas (not sure why), and each time I read it I’m still amazed by Ray Bradbury’s powers of imagination and foresight. His eerily accurate prediction of what the future (21st Century) would look like when he wrote this book all the way back in 1953, is nothing short of clairvoyant.
I think it’s also the bite-sized length of the book that makes it so appealing. At 153 pages, you could read this in a single sitting — disappear into it after lunch and return to real life by dinner. In fact, I think that’s how it’s meant to be read. Straight through.
So do it up. Get a fire going. Make yourself a pot of coffee. Cozy up on the couch. And immerse yourself in a dystopian story about firemen who burn books, schools that prohibit reading, mechanical hounds engineered to hunt and kill book-lovers, and fireman Guy Montag’s quest for truth and spiritual awakening.
PS — Have you guys seen HBO’s 2018 Fahrenheit 451? I would not recommend it.
BOOK JAM
(Where we go toe-to-toe on a single book)
The Body
Author: Stephen King
191 Pages
John’s Gist
Stephen King is famous for his horror novels. He’s famous for fanged clowns and haunted hotels. For bloody axes and that insidious voice inside your head telling you to kill them all. One of the reasons I love The Body is that it drives home what a seriously gifted writer King is. Stripped of the gore and spin-chilling horror King is best known for, this book tells the story of four young kids who go searching for a dead body in the summer of 1959. There’s nothing supernatural. Nothing (overly) bloody. Just a beautifully crafted story, told from the bottom of King’s troubled but loving great big heart. Definitely give this one a read, and if you haven’t seen Stand By Me (the movie based on The Body), it’s well worth the watch.
I read The Body as part of King’s Different Seasons, which is made up of four short novels, including Rita Heyworth and Shawshank Redemption. Good stuff!
Max’s Gist
Coming to you with a shortie but goodie. Nothing like some good short reads to get momentum over the holidays. This one was sent to me by John, who has been trying to convince me to read Stephen King for several years. Knowing that King’s work normally isn’t my literary wheelhouse, he strategically eased me into the ‘Stephen King hypnosis’ with The Body. I hate to oversimplify it, but when a writer comes at you strong with an opener, it’s hard not to just give it a go. The Body has probably one of the top 5 opening paragraphs of any book I’ve ever read. The book isn’t top 5 for me, but he doesn’t once lose tempo throughout, and although you likely never went searching for a dead body as a kid, you may still relate to once having a Teddy (who uses honor rather than logic) and a Chris (whip-smart but marred by circumstance) in your life. Strong bait, John — it won’t be my last King novel.
Thanks for reading everyone! Would love to hear your feedback as we improve and update this thing. We’ve also launched a website and fledgling Instagram account, so would love to hear your thoughts on those as well.
Join the community and subsribe to the future newsletters here
Happy reading,
Max and John
