Got a couple of books for Christmas and read them both already.

Got a couple of books for Christmas and read them both already. (One was a comic book.) Portland in the 1960s: Stories from the Counterculture , a (mostly oral) history of this town in the 1960s. The 1970 riots in the South Park Blocks just downstairs from my building were pretty hair-raising, but the most mortifying picture in the book showed the parking lot where Pioneer Courthouse Square is today. The comic book was The Life and Death of the X-Ray Cafe , the story of the "hole-in-the-wall all-ages [music] venue" that flourished in the early 90s in Old Town when Old Town was pretty sketchy. I also got the catalog from the "Body Beautiful" Classical art exhibit at the Portland Art Museum that we went to a few weeks ago and have spent some time perusing that. I love reading about the history and culture of this town; recommendations are always welcome.