I like good alternate history, too, so I’ll check it out. (Literally. Of the library. 
)
I just finished Night of the Living Trekkies. It was exactly as advertised, and a lot of fun. 
I’m currently reading The War For Late Night. It’s a very interesting look behind the scenes of the deal-making that goes on in tv.
Still enjoying Theodore Sorensen’s Kennedy. Sorensen was JFK’s chief wordsmith and wrote this book not long after the President’s death, and although generally admiring (they worked together for 11 years), it’s not a hagiography - shows Kennedy as ignorant on some matters, not always responsible, sometimes making bad decisions. There are a surprising number of jokes told by or about JFK. My favorite so far: Kennedy relied heavily upon his longtime secretary, a prim little lady named Evelyn Lincoln, whom he always called “Mrs. Lincoln.” She was absolutely devoted to him. Once he joked to Sorensen, “If I cut off Jackie’s head and called Mrs. Lincoln and asked her to bring me a box for it, she’d say, ‘How wonderful, Mr. President, I’ll be right up. By the way, did you take your nap?’”
I’m an absolute fiend for Hollywood biographies, so I’m reading “Untied”, memoirs of Meredith Baxter, and enjoying it immensely. Another successful on the outside, miserable on the inside celebrity, Ms. Baxter doesn’t seem all that bright, having spent 17 years married to an insufferable man, David Birney - I keep wanting to give her a good shake - wake up, dummy! She seems to have spent her youth on drugs, living in a chicken shack with her first husband, and then started sliding into the wine bottle. Five kids brought into this, too. She seems to have had a respectable, B-list career that she seemed to enjoy, though I’m sure her wholesome blond, blue-eyed, big rack looks were key to her getting parts in all those movies of the week. Much as she tried to mix it up some. And of course “Family Ties”, which she also enjoyed doing, but was dismayed to find her part getting smaller and smaller. Haven’t got to the bursting out of the closet part yet.
I’m reading Letters from a Homesteader and laughed when one of the characters said “Barkis was willing”. As many times as I’ve seen your Username, I never thought to look it up. :eek:
Finished Doc, Mary Doria Russell’s novel about Doc Holliday. Loved, loved, loved it.
Started Left Early, Took the Dog by Kate Atkinson and am enjoying it. Similar to Case Histories in that she plunks us down with characters who seem to have no connection with each other. And these characters are great – a retired policewoman who buys an abused child, an aging actress who’s losing her wits, and an adventurer type who rescues an abused dog. There was a kidnapping many years ago that will tie in somehow.
Ha…well, the original Barkis is from David Copperfield. Good to see him getting some recognition.
Back in Bangkok, and I finished Michael Connelly’s The Lincoln Lawyer while upcountry. A very good read. Would like to read more by him. The book was published in 2005, but this is a new edition to coincide with the film version of it that just came out, so it has a photo of Matthew McConaughey on the cover. Also includes the first two chapters of his next book that comes out this month, featuring the same character.
Next up: Credos and Curios, a collection of essays and short stories by James Thurber.
I finally got a readable translation of Crime and Punishment so I’m taking that on. I’m also reading Welcome To The Monkey House which is a collection of short stories by Kurt Vonnegut. So far both are great.
Try the Harry Bosch novels by Connelly. If you have a Kindle, you can now download a three-fer, and get three of this series for about $17. Otherwise, the following will get you started:
The Last Coyote
Trunk Music
Angels Flight
The Black Ice
The Black Echo
The Concrete Blonde
A Darkness More Than Night (which I’m reading now)
I’m not sure in what order these were written, but they pretty much stand alone as novels.
Mailman: A Novel by J. Robert Lennon, I’m halfway through and I’m pretty sure this is the best book I’ll read all year.
Thanks. No, I don’t have a Kindle. Those are still pretty new over here, and I’m told the selection’s not that great yet in this market. But I’ve not decided about getting one in the fututre; I’m sort of Old School and enjoy the look and feel of actual books.
I read Angels Flight a few years back and it left me cold. Never tried Connelly again.
You might try The Lincoln Lawyer. I picked it up having never heard of the guy before last month. You might be interested, as the protagonist in this one is a criminal defense attorney and quite a lot happens in the courtroom. Seems at least one real-life LA judge makes an appearance in the book, I guess as payback for letting him pick her brains for the book.
Too many other good books on the shelf already calling my name, but thanks. Maybe someday.
Finished Delirium over the weekend. It was a page-turner and the ending wrung some emotion out of me even though I saw it coming a mile away.
I’m now on to The Forgotten Garden, by Kate Morton, a story about a woman who was abandoned on an Australian wharf as a child, and her efforts to find out who she is. Very good, though I almost want to take notes to keep things straight, as the narrative is told by several different characters and also jumps around in time.
Finished Storm Born.
Eugenie Markham earns her living banishing spirits and the fey. A stranger hires her to find his sister who has been abducted by the fey. Too much more detail will give away major plot points, so I’ll simply say that it was an an acceptable urban fantasy. Not great, but not bad as mind candy goes. I find I must be becoming a prude in my old age, because while I found the action brisk enough, I objected to the sex scenes. I guess that is disingenuous - I’m not a prude in as much I enjoy sex and do not object to porn - it is just that, I want my fantasy to be fantasy and my porn to be porn.
In any case, it was good enough that I will read the next installment.
I find the sex scenes in most urban fantasy ooky. That’s the technical term.
Gah! I don’t have enough time to read in the spring! Too much yard work and band concerts and end-of-school activities and Easter and family birthdays and other stuff.
But I did manage to finish Mike Brown’s *How I Killed Pluto and Why it Had it Coming *in time to go and hear him speak in Huntsville last night. I enjoyed the book, and he was an entertaining speaker.
I’m halfway through Charlie Huston’s fifth Joe Pitt book, My Dead Body. His writing is still excellent, but I got tired of the plot about two books ago so I’m glad this is the last one.
Next I’m planning to read Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal, by Christopher Moore. I’ve been saving it for Easter.
I’ve been making time to read by getting to work a little early. Then I sit out in the car and read until my phone alarm goes off. It really helps me get dressed faster too!
Finished The Girl Who Played With Fire. Quite enjoyed it. I think it has been reviewed enough here without me trying to say much. I was a little disappointed because I thought this one was not as self-contained as the first, and the next one needs to be read - but I would have read it anyway.