An Experiment In Reading

I am a Reader.

Baller Book Club

The image of LeBron James reading a book (an actual book not an ereader) was a happy sight for this book loving NBA fan.

This past weekend Ray Allen announced that he has decided to join LeBron on the Miami Heat.  My first thought (well after the sad thought of losing such a valued member of my Boston Celtics) was that LeBron and Ray should start a Book Club.  Ray is known to be an avid reader and with the emergence of LeBron as a reader, it just seems natural that this comes to be.

While I am not really a book club person myself, unless you count years spent as an English Major which is its own form of a book club I suppose, I found myself picturing Ray and LeBron talking books in the locker room, debating characters, narrative voice, impacts of narrative decisions, novel structure, what the argument/point of the book was, and many more book talking points.

To get this Book Club started I have some reading suggestions for Ray and LeBron:

  • Raymond Chandler is a must.  Start with “The Big Sleep” and read the rest of the Philip Marlowe novels appreciating his swagger.
  • George Pelecanos’ Derek Strange Series starting with “Right As Rain.”  Once they’ve finished with Derek Strange they could then pick up one of Pelecano’s latest novels “The Cut.”
  • “The Art of Fielding” by Chad Harbach.  A thoughtful and complex novel set on the baseball diamond.
  • “Angelmaker” by Nick Harkaway is my must read of the year and should not go unread by either Ray or Lebron.  Harkaway packs everything in the pages of this novel that grabs a hold of the reader on page one and never lets go.
  • “The Last Werewolf” by Glen Duncan biting humor and another amazing character with the surname of Marlowe graces the thrilling, complex, and lively read by Duncan.  This is the first in the series; the follow up “Talulla Rising” is also a standout.
  • “Drive” by James Sallis.  First suggestion is watch the film first before reading this novella.  Then buckle your seat belt and let Sallis’ prose do the rest.
  • “The Sister Brothers” by Patrick deWitt is a fantastic take on the western genre.  Read it last year and I still find myself thinking about the book.

(the sneaker is one Ray Allen left around the city of Boston four summers ago during a series of Twitter Scavenger Hunts, I was lucky enough to team up with someone to find a pair)

Just a few suggestions to get their Book Club going.  Let’s make this happen!

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