Adding another book to my favorite reads of 2013

One last entry into the list of books I've most enjoyed in 2013, and that's Stephen King's Doctor Sleep.

This was a pleasant surprise, as I was very skeptical of a sequel to one of my favorite books. But I heard good things about it from my buddies A.J. and Matt, and asked for it for Christmas (and got it - thanks, Mom!).

A full review for Horrorview is forthcoming, but it's an entertaining and creepy read. It's not pure horror like The Shining was, but along with the creepy stuff is a good exploration of how the past defines us and how we can break the chains (a favorite theme of mine).

Reading in 2013 - the year in retrospect

It was a very odd year for me in terms of reading. Regular readers will have noticed that I stopped doing monthly updates of what I was reading a few months ago. The truth is that it's been a busy year, with a lot going on (mostly positive but some negative). Not only have I not been keeping good track of what I read, but a lot of new books I've read this year haven't held my attention, and I've fallen back on re-reads and looking through cookbooks.

But there were some excellent books I read this year, so seeing as it's nearly year-end, here are the books I most enjoyed reading in 2013:

Clockwork Twist (Waking) - Emily Thompson: First in a steampunk series. Very imaginative and enjoyable.

Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn: Watch the train wreck of a sociopathic couple at odds with each other.

I, The Jury - Mickey Spillane: Hard-boiled and politically incorrect, and loads of fun.

NOS4A2 - Joe Hill: Fantastic tale of the supernatural, and surprisingly moving.

The Best of Roald Dahl: Wicked and witty.

Bones of the Moon - Jonathan Carroll: A very interesting twist on the fantasy genre. Will definitely be on the lookout for more by this author.

Cold Light - Jenn Ashworth: Creepy, chilling tale of adolescent friendship gone wrong.

Honorable Mentions for Brain Candy Books: If you need escapism you could do worse than to read What Happens at Christmas by Victoria Alexander (fun romance novel set at Christmas in 19th century) and Frozen Heat by Richard Castle (nice to see the Castle tie-ins turning into real novels).

Books read in 2013: August

Bit of a slow month as the primary book I read, William Styron's Lie Down in Darkness, is not something you can read at a quick clip. So here is the tally for August:

The Serpent and the Pearl - Kate Quinn
Lie Down in Darkness - William Styron
The Silent Wife - A.S.A. Harrison

Currently reading Bones of the Moon by Jonathan Carroll.

Books read in 2013: July

Sort of an odd month for reading. Had some trouble getting into books (I chalk it up to being distracted by Comic-Con), but here's the tally for July:

• Karen White - Sea Change
• Justin Cronin - The Passage
• Richard Castle - Frozen Heat
• John D. MacDonald - The Scarlet Ruse

Frozen Heat was a pleasant surprise - the Castle tie-ins are turning into real books. The Scarlet Ruse was also a bit surprising (refreshing to see a female character who is not swept off her feet by McGee).

Currently reading The Serpent and the Pearl by Kate Quinn (I've enjoyed all her Rome books so I'm looking forward to this). And I just received as a belated birthday present Amy Sedaris' I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence.

Books read in 2013: June

Here are the books I read in June:

Joyland - Stephen King

The Light Between Oceans - M. L. Stedman

Nightmare Alley - William Lindsay Gresham (re-read)

The Other Typist - Suzanne Rindell

Any Duchess Will Do - Tessa Dare

The Autobiography of Henry VIII - Margaret George (re-read)

Not sure what's up next but in July I'll definitely be reading Frozen Heat by Richard Castle (I always take a Castle book with me to Comic-Con).

Books read in 2013: May

I read a bunch of books one day, in the merry merry month of May...

• Watership Down (re-read) - Richard Adams
• NOS4A2 - Joe Hill
• Jeeves and the Tie that Binds - P. G. Wodehouse
• Young Annabelle - Sarah Tork
• A Hell of a Woman - Jim Thompson

Next up is Stephen King's new one for the Hard Case Crime imprint, Joyland. 

Books read in 2013: April

Well, didn't get nearly the reading done on vacation that I wanted, and was pretty swamped after that. But here's the tally for April:

Safe Haven - Nicholas Sparks

The Green Ripper - John D. MacDonald

Clockwork Twist: Waking - Emily Thompson

Lost and Fondue - Avery Ames (unfinished)

Web of the City - Harlan Ellison


Next up, the billionth or so re-read of Richard Adams' Watership Down.

Books read in 2013: March

Sorry for the delay in getting the monthly reads posted. Things have been a wee bit busy. And though I took a metric ton of books with me on vacation earlier this month, I got very little reading done. Darn beach walks and cool relatives and good restaurants!

Anyway, here's the score for March:

Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn

Sacre Bleu - Christopher Moore

The Madman's Daughter - Megan Sheperd (unfinished)

A Week to be Wicked - Tessa Dare

Boy's Life - Robert McCammon


Currently reading Clockwork Twist: Waking, first in a steampunk series, by my friend Emily Thompson!

Books read in 2013: February

Here's what I read in the month of February:

Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card

Lonesome Dove - Larry McMurtry (re-read)

The Chronicles of Prydain (The Book of Three, The Black Cauldron, The Castle of Llyr, Taran Wanderer, The High King) - Lloyd Alexander

Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves - P. G. Wodehouse

First book for March is Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl.

I might be a book geek

Realized that:

• I have already chosen the books I'll read during an upcoming vacation.
• When choosing a flight for later this year, I chose the one with the longer layover because it would give me more time to read.
• Am not dreading jury duty because I'll be able to spend any downtime reading.

Maybe the reading habit has got a wee bit out of hand? Nah.

Books read in 2011

Once again it's time for my annual salute to my own anal-retentiveness as I provide the list of all the books I read in the last year.

It was an iffy year, with lots of things that didn't click for various reasons. I did notice a trend of the more crazy stuff being memorable this year (read some particularly good narration by batshit-crazy characters).

1. Grendel - John Gardner
2. The Auctioneer - Joan Samson *
3. The Forest for the Trees - Betsy Lerner
4. The Cider House Rules - John Irving
5. Dark Places - Gillian Flynn
6. Lily of the Nile - Stephanie Dray *
7. Magic - William Goldman
8. The Crossing - Cormac McCarthy
9. Boys and Girls Together - William Goldman **
10. The Little Sister - Raymond Chandler
11. Poison - Sarah Poole
12. A Quiet Belief in Angels - R. J. Ellory
13. Candy - Luke Davies
14. The Preservationist - David Maine **
15. Tinsel - William Goldman
16. Blind Submission - Debra Ginsburg
17. Because the Night - James Ellroy *
18. How Right You Are, Jeeves - P. G. Wodehouse
19. Another City, Not My Own - Dominick Dunne
20. Drop City - T. C. Boyle **
21. The Keep - Jennifer Egan
22. The Princess Bride - William Goldman
23. Carrion Comfort - Dan Simmons *
24. Daughters of Rome - Kate Quinn
25. Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
26. The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
27. One Fearful Yellow Eye - John D. MacDonald
28. The Help - Kathryn Stockett
29. A Dance With Dragons - George R. R. Martin
30. Naked Heat - Richard Castle
31. The Love Machine - Jacqueline Susann *
32. The Light Bearer - Donna Gillespie *
33. The Collector - John Fowles
34. Night Walker - Donald Hamilton
35. Cry to Heaven - Anne Rice *
36. Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins
37. Burnt Offerings - Robert Marasco *
38. The Pillars of the Earth - Ken Follett **
39. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy - John LeCarre
40. L.A. Confidential - James Ellroy **
41. The Woman - Jack Ketchum and Lucky McKee
42. Right Ho, Jeeves - P. G. Wodehouse
43. Anything for Billy - Larry McMurtry
44. Tideland - Mitch Cullin
45. The Getaway - Jim Thompson
46. Free Fall in Crimson - John D. MacDonald
47. The Milagro Beanfield War - John Nichols **
48. Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins
49. Sharp Objects - Gillian Flynn
50. The Last King of Scotland - Giles Foden *
51. The Gamble - LaVyrle Spencer
52. The Boleyn Inheritance - Philippa Gregory **
53. The Butcher Boy - Patrick McCabe
54. Pop. 1280 - Jim Thompson
55. The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven - Sherman Alexie
56. 11/22/63 - Stephen King

* = unfinished

** = reread

My favorites of all the non-rereads were (in no particular order)

• Cold Comfort Farm
• The Hunger Games trilogy
• A Dance With Dragons
• Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
• The Getaway
• Sharp Objects
• Dark Places
• 11/22/63
• The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven
• The Crossing

First book for 2012 is Horace McCoy's They Shoot Horses Don't They.

Watch this now: Trailer for The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games trilogy was one of the most enjoyable reading experiences I've had this year, and to my relief, the trailer for the movie adaptation looks pretty good. Watch it now.

Dancing about Dance With Dragons

Will have A Dance With Dragons finished by the end of the weekend, and I'm quite happy with it. I can't wait to jump into the next installment of the series!

Oh... wait.

I will have a review/analysis coming soon - possibly not til after Comic-Con this coming week, but keep your eyes peeled for my thoughts on the book and its take on power, responsibility, and ice zombies.

The ghosts of best-sellers past

I have a reading project I've been working on over the years - catching up on books that were much talked about in their day. Best-sellers of yore. Many of them were popular when I was a kid - I'd see them listed in book club ads (which always intrigued me - all those books for just a dollar!). I found them fascinating in the same way I did the independent movie theater listings - what were these things?

What I've come to find is that most of these books, or at least the ones I've read, aren't all that great from a literary standpoint. But it's been an interesting reading experience, because for the most part I can tell why these books were talked about in their day, and as cultural artifacts some of them are interesting.

In no particular order:

Forever Amber by Kathleen Winsor

Oh, how I wanted to like this book. I love a big, fat book, especially if there's plenty of the four food groups of fiction* to go around. But scandal alone can't make a book readable, not when the protagonist is a shallow, unlikable sociopath. The title character sleeps and marries her way up through society, all the while carrying a torch for a man who doesn't give a damn about her. Amber comes off as a pathetic stalker, and I could only make it through half of the book's 800-some pages before tossing it into the giveaway basket.

Leave Her to Heaven by Ben Ames Williams

A real missed opportunity. The story of a novelist who marries a woman who turns out to be unhealthily obsessed with him (he resembles her dead father, never a good sign) and pathologically jealous of anything or anyone that takes attention away from her (including their unborn child!) could have made for a compelling melodrama. Unfortunately Williams makes the crucial error of making the woman one of the story's narrators, which takes much of the mystery out of things, and makes the novelist hero look oblivious at best as he misses signs of the woman's sociopathy. Watch the movie instead.

The Godfather by Mario Puzo

Speaking of watching the movie instead! Puzo's book is a strange beast, with some excellent drama marred by inconsistent characterization (I'd ditch that cipher Michael and have a book with nothing but Vito Corleone and Tom Hagen) and weird subplots that add nothing (the girl with the gynecological problems). Would make an excellent reading double bill with Peter Benchley's Jaws, another instance of a literary sow's ear turned into a cinematic silk purse.

Looking for Mr. Goodbar by Judith Rossner

Probably one of the best of the past best-sellers I've read. At times it felt almost like science fiction, with its detailed portrayal of a culture that's fairly recent but seems so alien to me, and a protagonist who's both pathetic and sympathetic as she looks for physical connection while shunning emotional ties. It's not a pleasant read, and might have worked better without its preface that reveals the protagonist's fate at the outset, but it's worth reading if you've an interested in the seedier side of the 1970s. Would make a good double bill with Joan Didion's Play It As It Lays for a "Who Knew the 70s Were So Depressing" read.

Peyton Place by Grace Metalious

Wow. Just... wow. And that's not a good wow. Even now, Peyton Place packs a wallop, mostly because it combines some truly terrible writing and overheated melodrama with a creepy sexuality. I don't recall there being a single healthy relationship in the book. Every encounter in the book is suffused with a perverse atmosphere, from a man dreamily reminiscing about the first time he molested his step-daughter to the tryst between the protagonist's mother and the high school principal that gets uncomfortably into date-rape territory. It makes for a thoroughly unpleasant read, and yet I keep it on the shelf. Because it's Peyton Place.

Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann

I feel about Valley of the Dolls (as well as Susann's Once Is Not Enough) the same way I do about Keanu Reeves' acting. It's not, strictly speaking, good. But like Keanu, Susann tries so hard I can't help but like her. Plus, sincerity counts for a lot and Susann obviously had a story she deeply believed in and wanted to tell. The surprisingly dark story of three women who find that fame and fortune isn't all it's cracked up to be, especially when addiction to "dolls" (pills) takes its toll, is a soap opera but an involving one. It's easy to see why people couldn't put it down, back in the day.

And I'll be off to the bookstore soon (got a trip coming up and need to pack some books) - who knows, maybe another Best-seller from Days of Yore will find its way into my carry-on luggage!

*The four food groups of fiction are: crime, sex, death, and insanity.

It's funny because it's true

Truth in advertising.

And the funny thing is, if this really was the title, that probably wouldn't dissuade me from reading it.

Books read in 2010

Yes, it's that time of year, folks. The time when I tally up the year in reading.

Quite a high number this year (it's amazing how much reading you can get done when you're not writing and are recovering from major surgery).

Here's the list, including re-reads and unfinisheds.

1. End of Story – Peter Abrahams
2. Looking for Mr. Goodbar – Judith Rossner
3. The Lady in the Lake – Raymond Chandler
4. Now and Forever – Ray Bradbury
5. The Pale Blue Eye – Louis Bayard
6. The Long Last Call – John Skipp
7. Heat Wave – Richard Castle
8. Wolf Hall – Hilary Mantel
9. The Grifters – Jim Thompson
10. The Knitting Circle – Ann Hood **
11. The Preservationist – David Maine *
12. Dawn of the Dreadfuls – Steve Hockensmith
13. Dragon Keeper – Robin Hobb
14. American Psycho – Bret Easton Ellis
15. Horns – Joe Hill
16. The Cold Six Thousand – James Ellroy
17. Goodnight Nobody – Jennifer Weiner
18. Somewhere in Time – Richard Matheson
19. The Boleyn Inheritance – Philippa Gregory *
20. The Choirboys – Joseph Wambaugh
21. Make Room! Make Room! – Harry Harrison **
22. The Price of Salt – Patricia Highsmith
23. The Brave – Gregory McDonald
24. The Sheik – E. M. Hull **
25. Anno Dracula – Kim Newman
26. Miss Lonelyhearts – Nathanael West
27. Day of the Locust – Nathanael West
28. Fool – Christopher Moore **
29. Strip Tease – Carl Hiaasen
30. The Killer Inside Me – Jim Thompson
31. Annie Freeman’s Fabulous Traveling Funeral – Kris Radish **
32. The Last Boleyn – Karen Harper **
33. Push – Sapphire
34. Black Water – Joyce Carol Oates
35. The Fire Gospel – Michel Faber
36. Drood – Dan Simmons
37. Mistress of Rome – Kate Quinn
38. The Removers – Donald Hamilton
39. The Good Earth – Pearl S. Buck
40. The Ruins – Scott Smith
41. A Purple Place for Dying – John D. MacDonald
42. The Heretic’s Daughter – Kathleen Kent
43. World War Z – Max Brooks *
44. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo – Stieg Larsson **
45. Disturbing the Peace – Richard Yates
46. Afraid – Jack Kilborn
47. The Continental Op – Dashiell Hammett
48. The Exorcist – William Peter Blatty *
49. Play it As it Lays – Joan Didion
50. The Sun Also Rises – Ernest Hemingway
51. Blood Memory – Greg Iles
52. A Rose for the Crown – Anne Easter Smith **
53. Soul Music – Terry Pratchett
54. The Courtesan – Susan Carroll **
55. A Game of Thrones – George R. R. Martin *
56. A Clash of Kings – George R. R. Martin *
57. A Storm of Swords – George R. R. Martin *
58. Boys and Girls Together – William Goldman
59. Star Island – Carl Hiaasen
60. Blood’s a Rover – James Ellroy
61. Pompeii – Robert Harris
62. Rosemary’s Baby – Ira Levin
63. Through a Glass Darkly – Karleen Koen *
64. Under the Skin – Michel Faber *
65. Slammerkin – Emma Donoghue *
66. The Shipping News – Annie Proulx *
67. Full Dark, No Stars – Stephen King
68. The Silencers – Donald Hamilton
69. Death’s Daughter – Amber Benson **
70. Let the Right One In – John Ajvide Lindqvist **
71. Vows – LaVyrle Spencer
72. Dress Her in Indigo – John D. MacDonald
73. Confessions of a Shopaholic – Sophie Kinsella
74. True Grit – Charles Portis

* re-read

** unfinished

The best books of the year were:

The Pale Blue Eye

Wolf Hall

Anno Dracula

Boys and Girls Together

Play it as it Lays

The Brave

Drood

Blood's a Rover

Miss Lonelyhearts/Day of the Locust

True Grit

The Sun Also Rises

The reading for 2011 has kicked off with John Gardner's Grendel.

What's the buzz, tell me what's a-happenin'

My apologies for the dearth of posts in May and June. To be honest, those months have not been great for me. At the risk of TMI (this isn't one of those blogs where you get to hear every little detail of my life) let's just say that I've had some health issues. The good news is that the issues are all fixable, and I'm feeling much better than I was. The bad news is that I haven't had the energy for writing or revising, not even movie reviewing.

The good news is that I've had lots of time for reading (and will have more - the upside of having surgery in September is that recovery will give me lots of reading time - I'm already planning a re-read of George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series). In fact, at the mid-point of the year I've read over 40 books! I haven't finished them all, but I still think this is pretty good, considering it doesn't even take into account the Harry Potter books I've been reading to Young Master (we've just started book 5, Harry Potter and The Anger Management Issues).

So here's the scorecard for Books Read in 2010:

1. End of Story - Peter Abrahams
2. Looking for Mr. Goodbar - Judith Rossner
3. The Lady in the Lake - Raymond Chandler
4. Now and Forever - Ray Bradbury
5. The Pale Blue Eye - Louis Bayard
6. The Long Last Call - John Skipp
7. Heat Wave - Richard Castle
8. Wolf Hall - Hilary Mantel
9. The Grifters - Jim Thompson
10. The Knitting Circle - Ann Hood **
11. The Preservationist - David Maine *
12. Dawn of the Dreadfuls - Steve Hockensmith
13. Dragon Keeper - Robin Hobb
14. American Psycho - Bret Easton Ellis
15. Horns - Joe Hill
16. The Cold Six Thousand - James Ellroy
17. Goodnight Nobody - Jennifer Weiner
18. Somewhere in Time - Richard Matheson
19. The Boleyn Inheritance - Philippa Gregory *
20. The Choirboys - Joseph Wambaugh
21. Make Room! Make Room! - Harry Harrison **
22. The Price of Salt - Patricia Highsmith
23. The Brave - Gregory McDonald
24. The Sheik - E. M. Hull **
25. Anno Dracula - Kim Newman
26. Miss Lonelyhearts - Nathanael West
27. The Day of the Locust - Nathanael West
28. Fool - Christopher Moore **
29. Strip Tease - Carl Hiaasen
30. The Killer Inside Me - Jim Thompson
31. Annie Freeman's Fabulous Traveling Funeral - Kris Radish **
32. The Last Boleyn - Karen Harper **
33. Push - Sapphire
34. Black Water - Joyce Carol Oates
35. The Fire Gospel - Michel Faber
36. Drood - Dan Simmons
37. Mistress of Rome - Kate Quinn
38. The Removers - Donald Hamilton
39. Molokai - Alan Brennert **
40. The Good Earth - Pearl S. Buck
41. The Ruins - Scott Smith

* = re-read

** = unfinished

And next up is another of John D. MacDonald's Travis McGee stories: A Purple Place for Dying.

2009 in review - what I read

Now playing on the iPod - "Bad" (Wide Awake in America version) - U2

It's New Year's Eve, and as usual I've nothing to do. So it's time for the Year in Review for What I Read!

Many tales of dysfunctionality in this year's list, for some reason. But some fun reads and some great discoveries as well.

The Gathering – Anne Enright †
Brown’s Requiem – James Ellroy
Finn – Jon Clinch
Abide With Me – Elizabeth Strout †
Till We Have Faces – C. S. Lewis *
Just After Sunset – Stephen King
How Not to Write a Novel – Howard Mittelmark and Sandra Newman
Stardust – Neil Gaiman
Catch-22 – Joseph Heller
Reflections in a Golden Eye – Carson McCullers
Lords and Ladies – Terry Pratchett
The Terror – Dan Simmons *
A Feast for Crows – George R. R. Martin *
Child of God – Cormac McCarthy
A Thousand Splendid Suns – Khaled Hosseini
The Code of the Woosters – P. G. Wodehouse
The Uncommon Reader – Alan Bennett
The Dramatist – Ken Bruen †
Leave Her to Heaven – Ben Ames Williams †
Gladiatrix – Russell Whitfield
The Postman Always Rings Twice – James M. Cain
Mistress of the Sun – Sandra Gulland
Blood Meridian, or The Evening Redness in the West – Cormac McCarthy *
Welcome to the Monkey House – Kurt Vonnegut
The Haunting of Hill House – Shirley Jackson
Mistress of the Art of Death – Ariana Franklin
The Pirates! In an Adventure with Napoleon – Gideon Defoe
Garlic and Sapphires – Ruth Reichl
After Dark, My Sweet – Jim Thompson
My Sister, My Love – Joyce Carol Oates
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society – Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
Amy and Isabelle – Elizabeth Strout *
World War Z – Max Brooks
The Accidental Tourist – Anne Tyler *
Something Borrowed – Emily Giffin †
Jake’s Wake – John Skipp and Cody Goodfellow
My Sweet Audrina – V. C. Andrews
Katherine – Anya Seton
The Quick Red Fox – John D. MacDonald
Spider Kiss – Harlan Ellison
Bridget Jones’ Diary – Helen Fielding *
The Girls’ Guide to Hunting and Fishing – Melissa Banks †
The Summer of Cotton Candy – Debbie Vigue
Vanilla Bright Like Eminem – Michel Faber
Real World – Natsuo Kirino
The Big Red One – Sam Fuller
Crippen – John Boyne †
The Werewolf’s Guide to Life
A Stolen Tongue – Sheri Holman †
The Autobiography of Henry VIII – Margaret George *
The Great Stink – Clare Clark *
Cavedweller – Dorothy Allison *
Beat the Reaper – Josh Bazell
Under the Dome – Stephen King
American Tabloid – James Ellroy
Heir to the Glimmering World – Cynthia Ozick †
Last Night at the Lobster – Stewart O’Nan
The Dark Queen – Susan Carroll

† = unfinished

* = re-reads

That's 58 books total. I'm hoping to have bigger numbers next year, as I'm taking a six-month hiatus off any new fiction projects (not sure if that'll really help the reading seeing as how I have one manuscript to get agent-ready and one to revise and do a Lulu.com publication, not to mention my usual reviewing duties).

Anyway, of those 58 here are the top ten best (re-reads don't count) in alphabetical order:

American Tabloid - Political noir as only James Ellroy can tell it.

The Big Red One - Will never will prizes for its prose but is a harsh, funny, and captivating portrayal of war by someone who lived through it.

Catch-22 - Dances the fine line between comedy and tragedy.

Child of God - Not on a par with The Road or Blood Meridian, but a haunting portrait of a person who's an outsider in so many ways.

Finn - A fascinating and often frightening take on Huckleberry Finn's father.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - I was put off by the twee-sounding title, but it was one of the most enjoyable books this year, and I'm still thinking about many of the characters.

My Sister, My Love - Joyce Carol Oates' haunting and satiric spin on the JonBenet Ramsey case.

Spider Kiss - Harlan Ellison's only published novel puts his knack for description and his savage wit to work on the world of rock music.

Under the Dome - The King is back. 'Nuff said.

World War Z - Max Brooks' take on the aftermath of a zombie plague was unputdownable.

Honorable mention: The Pirates! In an Adventure With Napoleon - So good to see the Pirate Captain and his crew again.

Looking forward to another year of reading!

What I've just read: American Tabloid

It's too soon to tabulate the year's best reads (hey, still a few weeks left!), but James Ellroy's American Tabloid will be on that list.

Thanks to my good buddy and fellow writer A. J. for sending me a copy (so I didn't have to read the one Mr. Ellroy signed at this year's Festival of Books and risk getting it damaged somehow).

Darn you, Stephen King!

Now playing on the iPod - "Spread Your Wings" - Queen

Here I am with an evening to myself, supposed to be kicking ass and taking names on my work in progress (only one chapter and an epilogue to go!) and I keep getting distracted from my True Purpose because your book, Under the Dome, is a damn fine read. Very old school. Reminiscent of 'Salem's Lot and Needful Things but more tightly focused. So now I'm going to read a chapter while I have a popcorn break, then get back to my own writing.