The Memphis Flyer has published a list of Memphis-themed quarantine reading, and I decided to see how many of the books are on Scribd, the all-you-can read service I’ve been trying the past couple of weeks.
- The Gone Dead: A Novel by Chanelle Benz (audiobook)
- The Book of Isaias: A Child of Hispanic Immigrants Seeks His Own America by Daniel Connolly
- Dead Girls: Essays on Surviving an American Obsession by Alice Bolin
- The Vanishing Island by Barry Wolverton
- Memphis Noir by various authors
- The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty
- The Secret History by Donna Tartt
- Dirty Work by Larry Brown
- The Last Taxi Driver by Lee Durkee (audiobook)
Scribd is free for 30 days and $9.99 after that. You could sign up for the free trial and knock out several of these, then unsubscribe before the renewal date ends – or let it renew and charge your card if we’re still in house arrest after 30 days. Scribd has made the time away from life as I know it nor just bearable, but downright entertaining, and therefore I would recommend it to anyone who is a reader.
By the way, don’t take the star reviews on Scribd real seriously. Most people who read there don’t leave reviews. If reviews are important to you, look up the book’s star rating on Amazon.
Current book (not Memphis related) I’m reading on Scribd: Face the Music: A Life Exposed by Paul Stanley of KISS. I’ve read bios of major rock bands before but never this one.
Wiseacre recently Instagrammed a pic of Wiseacre 2, its second brewery soon to open at B.B. King and Butler. It’s almost ready!
Holly has info on how to get locally-brewed beer for curbside pickup and delivery on the I Love Memphis Blog.
Beale Street to-go info:
— Beale Street (@BealeStreetMphs) April 7, 2020
The 1960s Turkey version of Get Lifted:
A drunken man placed in a basket and carried away, Istanbul, 1960s. basket men were hired and their sole purpose was to take patrons home when they were too drunk to stand up. pic.twitter.com/k9SSwXplCv
— History In Pictures (@HistoryInPics) April 7, 2020
Singer/songwriter John Prine succumbed to the coronavirus yesterday. The DM’s Chris Herrington has a look at Prine’s first album, recorded in Memphis.
If you have to go out tonight, be careful. Storms are expected to hit after 9 PM.
Severe storms could hit parts of the Midwest and South later today and tonight. The latest: https://t.co/05rAh44p8D pic.twitter.com/0dNekkpm6g
— The Weather Channel (@weatherchannel) April 8, 2020
With the county clerk’s offices closed due to the coronavirus, Memphis police will stop issuing tickets for expired license plate tags for the time being. Note that this policy will not change your renewal date, however.
There’s an app, voluntary to download and use, that will allow you to self-report having COVID-19 if you come down with it. The app will use location services to inform users if they have been in contact with someone who has the coronavirus. This is one of the ways South Korea flattened the curve (except over there it was mandatory).
Cheers to Downtown Fortune 500 company AutoZone for doing the right thing: They voted to give workers emergency time off as needed for any matter related to the coronavirus, and they now offer curbside pickup of parts at their stores.
That’s the news for this morning. Back later today or tomorrow with more.