What have y'all been reading? Even though it's not fall weather yet where I live, something about the start of the school year has inclined me to hit the books...
There was a Victorian cluster, including a book of short stories by Bret Harte (interesting perspective on gold-rush California, probably that's as much Bret Harte as I need this lifetime), the book version of the documentary "Fannie's Last Supper" about cooking a super-fancy Victorian dinner (really enjoyed it, but watch the documentary first. The book was weirdly skimpy on some details that were really fascinating in the film), and a steampunk novel set in an alternate late-19th century sort-of Seattle, "Karen Memory." I really enjoyed the narrator's voice.
Now it's on to "memoirs of British women." Just finished "A Tuscan Childhood" about a British woman whose childhood home was a castle just outside Florence--it was fascinating because she and her brothers were basically the children, chronology-wise, of the characters from "A Room with a View." It was more about what Tuscany was like between the two world wars than it was about her personal experiences or feelings, but I enjoyed it. Currently reading "Howard's End is On the Landing" which I think Mustachians would like because it's a book about a woman (novelist/editor, so deep in the literary establishment) who decided to spend a year reading only from her bookshelves. It's an interesting companion to the other, because both women knew a lot of the major British figures in art/literature from their time periods.
Also read "Range," on the value of being a generalist, which came out a little while ago. The title is a little misleading, because it sounds like the book is claiming that being a generalist is better than being a specialist...really what is saying is that both habits of mind can be valuable in different circumstances, and sticking up for the value of indirect paths in a world that often encourages specializing. I enjoyed reading it...the author is a journalist, so he's a good writer who gets out of the way of his subject, and the book went quickly. Although he doesn't say so specifically, it's clear that the book is partially directed at parents who are trying to figure out how to encourage their kids, and he never really addresses one of the big reasons for specializing early...specifically that college is so expensive it's hard to justify or accomplish the kind of experimenting he advocates. FYI, unlike, say, Digital Minimalism, the book is pretty short on actionable items...so if you finish it feeling that you want to change things up, you'll have to figure that part out on your own.