Author: Scott Duvall
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The Story of Book Club
I’ve always enjoyed reading, but sometime in 2022 I noticed I was getting into a rut. Every book I picked up was a 20th century historical Non-fiction title, usually about some engineering feat. And I was getting bored. At the very end of 2022, I asked a number of my friends for books that they…
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Summer 2026 Reading Update
Early in the year, I started off reading To Sleep with the Angels, which was a fantastic investigation into the December 1958 fire at the Our Lady of the Angels school in northwest Chicago. It’s a historic event if you were born and raised here in Chicago, and it was nice to read a lot…
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It wasn’t just a metaphor
The lyric is from “Smoke on the Water” by Deep Purple, from the 1973 album Machine Head. Inspired by the fire at the Montreux Casino, the song became one of Deep Purple’s most recognized classics (and the bane of every guitar teacher). This particular lyric was chosen in July 2026, as Chicago and the entire…
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Don’t Blink.
“Blink” was the 10th episode of the 3rd series of the re-launched Doctor Who. First aired in 2007, it quickly became one of the highest-rated episodes of the show’s entire history. Written in the mold of classic sci-fi that makes you think and scares you at the exact same time, this single self-contained episode is…
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Football is Life?
If you work for a giant corporation, there is always some version of required ethics training on the company Code of Conduct. The 2026 FIFA World Cup was hosted by the US, Canada, and Mexico, crowing Spain as champion. These two things may or may not be related. The World Cup is never without controversy,…
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Ray, When someone asks you if you’re a god, You Say Yes!
From Ghostbusters (1984). Apparently this has become a meme somewhere in the last 20 years, of which I approve.
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Glitter on the Highway
If you’ve been to a wedding, you’ve danced to “Love Shack.” Or listened to the radio. Or been to a party. You get up, you dance. You knock a little louder. There’s an exclamation in the middle of the break (Bang, bang, bang, on the door baby). We all know what it sounds like. But…
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Blonde Ambitions
“Express Yourself” from Madonna’s 1989 album “Like a Prayer.” Most remembered for the live performance from the 1989 MTV Video Music Awards, setting the stage for the transition into the larger-than-life version of Madonna we got in the 1990’s.
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Book Club 2025
Thank you to everyone who contributed to this list, and for the gifts of great books and classic stories. As always, each entry is linked to an Amazon page, but I urge you to support your local bookshops whenever possible. This year we had 2 contributors add suggestions from authors they know personally, these are…
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2025 Reading Recap
20 titles, totaling 7,236 pages. Shown below in order from smallest to largest. Scroll down for the reviews. Rules of Civility and Table for Two are both worth reading, in that order. The first follows a year in the life of a young Katey Kontent as she navigates New York City in 1938, and the…