You werent’ asking me - but I agree in a big way and that was one of the main reasons I gave this a poor review in 09 when I read it.
Don’t wait… get 'em from the library!
I feel your pain - it was only last September that I finally got to take my books out of boxes and put them on shelves after nearly eighteen months. There’s still a bunch missing somewhere…
You weren’t asking me either 
… but this is one of the things I liked about it so much. It’s much more about the impact that the crime has on the survivors, so it felt right and realistic to me. I think that’s probably something a lot of crime victims have to deal with - how to keep going without knowing.
And I wouldn’t describe it as the central mystery, anyway.
Just started Best Horror of the Year (volume 1), edited by Ellen Datlow, published 2009. (Apparently the Best Fantasy and Horror series is at an end). As with any anthology, I expect some highs and lows, but so far so good.
Reading Too Many Murders by Colleen McCullough (yes, Colleen “Thorn Birds” McCullough). About a dozen murders that take place on a single day in a small city in 1967, and the police detective in charge of solving them all. Are they related (surely?) and, if so, how and why? I’m not loving it yet. It was published just last month for the American market, but still there are some British touches that are distracting that an editor should have fixed: “speciality,” for example, and a child described as having Down’s syndrome; in the U.S. it is called Down syndrome.
The Shipping News by [E.] Annie Proulx. I’m really enjoying it, so I assume at least 50% of you think it’s the worst book ever.
Re Too Many Murders, disregard. I have abandoned it.
I liked The Shipping News.
Audio book just finished: Live for your Listening Pleasure, by David Sedaris.
I’m not familiar with that one. But any Sedaris audiobook is fine by me.
Yeah, it was nice but only a little over an hour long! If I had noticed that, I probably wouldn’t have bothered getting it from the library.
I’m finally reading Catch-22. About a hundred pages in, and so far the book seems to think it’s a lot funnier than I do.
I just finished *Under the Banner of Heaven *but didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would. Krakauer shares a lot of my opinions on the dangers of fundamentalist religions, but he sounds so… smug about everything.
I also read The Book of Lost Things, by John Connolly. It was a light, engaging parable about growing up. It didn’t break any new ground, but it was a fun read especially if you like fairy tales.
Now I’m reading Sin in the Second City, by Karren Abbott. It’s about the Everleigh Club, Chicago’s most famous brothel at the turn on of the 20th century. It’s quite fascinating so far.
I’ve just started The New Alchemists by Robert M. Hazen. It’s a historical account of research into extreme pressure. It’s surprisingly well written and entertaining.
I’ve been stuck for a month in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. People I know have raved about it, but to me, at about a third in, it’s still boring with boringsauce and a side order of tedious. I want to get to the interesting girl, but the terrible translation and exposition heaped upon exposition keep me dragging.
Huh. I loved that book and am waiting for the sequel. Which may already be out and I just haven’t seen it.
I’ve been enjoying the pictures in One Nation: Patriots and Pirates, introd. by Lauren Raye Smith, a wonderful collection of the patriotic illustrations of N.C. and James Wyeth. The elder Wyeth did some great Civil War-themed paintings in the 1920s, including wonderful portraits of Lincoln at his second inauguration and Sherman during his March to the Sea. The younger Wyeth, James, painted a striking likeness of John F. Kennedy that remains one of my favorites. This is not a very sharp rendition of it, but is the best I could find online: http://www.artnet.com/Magazine/news/ntm4/Images/ntm2-1-5.jpg
IMHO it’s better than the official White House portrait: whitehousemuseum.org domain name is for sale. Inquire now.
Oh, I saw that book! I looooove N.C. If I could own a painting by any artist ever, I would pick N.C. Wyeth. You can keep your Rembrandts.
I am reading Cooperstown Confidential: Heroes, Rogues, and the Inside Story of the Baseball Hall of Fame by Zev Chafets. Still early, but very enlightening.
I’ve finished The Left Hand of God by Paul Hoffman. It’s the first in a series, or a trilogy (I’m not sure). It’s a fantasy, but so far without any magic, elves, dragons, etc. The setting is medieval but the characters use modern expressions. Speculation from readers is that it might be an alternate history or post-apocalypse. It’s a bit dark.
The book and I got off to a rocky start and I almost dumped it, not because the story wasn’t intriguing but because of some clumsy writing. Some folks at SFF World who have finished the book convinced me to stop nitpicking and keep going, and I’m really glad I did.
Last night I started the second Aubrey-Maturin book, Post-Captain. 
I’ll warn you, the bear chapter is possibly the most bizarre bit in the whole series.