New Book: The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible by A.J. Jacobs

On Friday, I finished reading Black Sabbath: Symptom of the Universe by Mick Wall, and it was everything I'd hoped it would be.  Wall is one of the most respected music journalists of the last 40+ years, and he also used to work with Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne, and Ronnie James Dio in various capacities, so he was able to draw on his own experiences, past interviews, and his relationships with band members, crew members, management, and friends and family to research and write the book.  Black Sabbath invented heavy metal, and they were just four working-class lads from Birmingham who wanted to make music.  When they decided to turn their musical focus from more blues-based and psychedelic music to darker themes, everything clicked, and they changed the course of music forever.  It's really quite amazing that any of them are still living, given the amount of cocaine and booze they all regularly ingested for most of the '70s and '80s -- not to mention the various winged animals Ozzy Osbourne has put in his mouth.  As with many bands, the addictions and fame led to tumult, and Ozzy Osbourne left the band in 1979, to be replaced by Ronnie James Dio.  Drummer Bill Ward left after the first album with Dio, to be replaced by Vinnie Appice.  Then it was kind of a revolving door of lead singers, bassists, and drummers throughout the '80s and '90s, as the band struggled to keep up with all of the hard rock and metals bands that they influenced.  In the early 2010s, the original lineup reunited, but then drummer Bill Ward didn't think he was getting a fair financial shake, so he sat out the "reunion tour," their 2013 album, 13, and the subsequent farewell tour (of which I saw the second show, which was here in Chicago).  I was also happy to see their 2012 appearance at Lollapalooza mentioned, as I think that might be the only time I can think of that a concert I attended was mentioned in a rock biography. Anywho, I definitely recommend this book, especially if you are a Sabbath, Ozzy, or metal fan.

This morning, I started reading The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible by A.J. Jacobs.  This one was recommended to me a few years ago, and I'm finally getting around to it.  As the title implies, the author -- who is admittedly agnostic (at least in the book's introduction) -- decided to follow the Bible as literally as possible, kind of inspired by the seemingly increasing role of religion in what had been secular aspects of American society and the religious fundamentalist types who always claim that the Bible supports their actions.  It's not intended to be mean-spirited or to poke fun at Christians, but I'm sure the resulting absurdity of trying to follow every rule in the Bible will undoubtedly expose the hypocrisy of those religious folks (and politicians) who pick and choose the parts of the Bible that support their views and ignore the parts that don't.

Books Read in 2020:
-Everything's Eventual:  14 Dark Tales by Stephen King
-Black Sabbath: Symptom of the Universe by Mick Wall