Summer 2010- read up to today- entry 6

Tricia Rose, The Hip Hop Wars: What We Talk About When We Talk About Hip Hop--and Why it Matters, 2008- finished
Elijah Wald, How The Beatles Destroyed Rock 'N' Roll: An Alternative History of American Popular Music, up to p. 137

The Hip Hop Wars is incredible, perhaps even indispensable for those interested in hip hop and larger cultural debates surrounding it.
How The Beatles Destroyed Rock 'N' Roll seems more of an alternative piece of historiography than one of history--it points to larger assumptions made by traditional critics and historians about popular music, which makes it quite useful for those with a strong background in American music history. However, it so far doesn't seem as useful to general readers who might want a consumer's guide to "the greats" of American popular music; it takes up a much larger, more daunting task of attempting to reconstruct what people actually listened to at various times, and how they listened to it (like through recordings and other technological developments).

Contemporary Readings column- requesting your input

I am currently deciding on the books for my fall column on Contemporary Readings on History, Politics, and Culture. Feel free to suggest additional readings--I'm particularly interested in a new-ish book (2007-now) about class and economics, and possibly one about gender as well--but as of now, the books are:

The Hip Hop Wars: What We Talk About When We Talk About Hip Hop--And Why it Matters, Tricia Rose
Everything But the Coffee: Learning About America from Starbucks, Bryant Simon
"They Take Our Jobs!" and 20 other Myths About Immigration, Aviva Chomsky
That's Revolting! Queer Strategies for Resisting Assimilation, ed. Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore
Between Barack and a Hard Place: Racism and White Denial in the Age of Obama, Tim Wise
How the Beatles Destroyed Rock 'n' Roll: An Alternative History of American Popular Music, Elijah Wald
Judaism Does Not Equal Israel, Marc Ellis

Summer 2010- read up to today- entry 5

Tim Wise, White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son- revised and updated edition, 2008- finished
Tricia Rose, The Hip Hop Wars: What We Talk About When We Talk About Hip Hop--and Why it Matters, 2008- up to p. 74
Michael Kimmel, Guyland: The Perilous World Where Boys Become Men, 2008- up to p. 23

White Like Me proved quite an inspiring and useful memoir that I highly recommend. So far, The Hip Hop Wars is fantastic as well, an ambitious book that fairly assesses arguments about hip hop music and culture for their strengths and weaknesses. Guyland, at least from its introduction, seems that it will be far less revelatory than other literature I've read from Kimmel--specifically the essential essay, "Masculinity as Homophobia."

Summer 2010- read up to today- entry 4

In the last few days, I have read:

Tim Wise, White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son, up to p. 157- revised and updated edition, 2008
Steve Jones and Kevin Featherly, "Re-viewing Rock Writing: Narratives of Popular Music Criticism"- pp. 19-38 in Pop Music and the Press, ed. Steve Jones, 2002
Tricia Rose, The Hip Hop Wars: What We Talk About When We Talk About Hip Hop--And Why it Matters, up to p. 30

I've decided on a number of books I want to read for a college newspaper column in the fall--something like "Alternative Views: Readings on Contemporary Society." The Hip Hop Wars will be one of the books, I presume, as will books on immigration, gay rights, race, and religion, among others. More to come.