Current Reads

The Leftovers - Tom Perrotta - I am just getting into this one and I have noticed something different about this. It is less mean than Little Children or Election. I think this is a good thing. Perrotta becomes more engaging with every page. I know that this book has been reviewed a lot (I have not read them but I can only assume that they are great) and that being nothing related to a literary critic, I suggest you pick this up on your own.

The First Days - Rhiannon Frater - This book is kind of famous for some reason. I picked it up at the Book House because I had read good things about it (even though I cannot find the review online any longer) and I was hoping that it was going to be another fun zombie book. I have to withhold judgment until I actually finish it but...maybe the reviewers and I look for different things when it comes to writing and such. I do not enjoy giggling at scenes that should be evoking a sense of horror or dread, but maybe they enjoy that.

Dog Blood - David Moody - If you loved Hater, you owe it to yourself to read this. Just do it. Stop asking questions.

The Know It All - A.J. Jacobs - What does a guy who has outsourced his life do for fun? Read the Britannica cover to cover. I like Jacobs as a writer, especially some of the things he has done for Esquire but I am not sure that I would like him as a friend or colleague.

Upcoming Posts

I am back in the 518 and have a lot to write out but...not tonight.

So...upcoming posts:

• The Grand Unified Theory of Barbecue - LJ's
• Touring the JFK Museum
• Reading the Year of Living Biblically

It was a tremendous weekend on a number of levels and thanks to HJ77 for being a spectacular hostess!

A Summer Reading Suggestion

If you have been reading me for a while, or know me in real life, you know that I am a huge fan of apocalyptic fiction. Maybe it is because so many of my favorite novels as a child were based on the end of the world, or what came after, or maybe it was watching The Day After at too impressionable an age. Maybe, just maybe, it is some narcissistic belief that when the end of the world comes, I will be spared and I will help in the rebuilding process. Yes, I know...someone like me in charge is much more terrifying than the end of the world...

But, that is an unnecessary digression. Apologies.

Last summer, I picked up an anthology of end of the world short stories called Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse. Now, I mention that I picked this up last year because yesterday, I also picked it up for my Nook. (Buying too many books at the same time and not reading them Fail?)

It is a wonderful collection.

I had read a number of these before, like Cory Doctorow's When SysAdmin Ruled the World (which...come on...feeding into my erroneous belief that I would be of any value at the end of the world...well...maybe I could help with uptime), however, a number of them were foreign to me.

If you like the short story, and want some short stories that are perfect to give you chills as the sun is beating down on you while the beer you are sipping on perspires, I must make this suggestion. Support your local book seller as well. (You know that you can buy your e-books through your local book seller, right?)

Everyone has favorites

And this is (by far) my favorite opening line to a novel.




Bonus points to the first person to identify it.