American Sphinx, right you are. No, I’m not a Jefferson fan at all, really, so no danger there.
This ended up being really good, I would highly recommend to anyone who likes keeping up with current YA lit.
I’ve just started Mightier Than the Sword: Uncle Tom’s Cabin and the Battle for America. So far, it’s very engaging reading, which I’m not sure I was expecting.
I decided to re-read Laura Ingalls Wilder’s “Little House” series and finished “Little House in the Big Woods.” I’ll probably start the second book today. I’m also still working on “Gone With the Wind.” I have 325 or so pages to go.
I scored an ARC of The Dog Stars by Peter Heller. Nine years post-apocalypse (flu), Hig is a pilot living in a small airport in (I think) Colorado. His companions are Jasper, his dog, and a survivor type (forgot his name) who was probably anti-social when there was still the possibility of being social.
The book reminds me of The Road, not just for theme but for the unique writing style – lots of short, choppy sentences and sentence fragments. It takes some getting used to but it fits. Hig’s life isn’t smooth, so describing that life won’t be smooth either.
Hig is trying to stay human, trying to appreciate what’s left, but it’s hard. His companion glories in killing anyone who wanders close to the airport, and wants to wipe out a nearby enclave of Mennonites because they have a flu-related disease.
Heller is from the Iowa Writer’s Workshop, and I’ve always had good luck with them.
I’m starting 1Q84 by Murakami and The Enchanter by Nabokov, a precursor to Lolita. I loved Lolita, so I hope to love this too. I’ve haven’t read Murakami in awhile, so it’ll be nice to get back into his world.
I don’t know why you’d want to bother with Lolita. According to one reviewer at this website, it’s about an old guy whining about his bratty daughter. 
I’d like to see that review, but don’t see any way to search for it. Using google search didn’t help either.
Finished Den of Thieves: The Ancient Blades Trilogy: Book One a mediocre traditional fantasy. I didn’t hate it, but I don’t recommend it and will likely not read the other two unless I really run out of books.
The reviews on that site are in general hilarious (here’s a review for Twilight), so it’s worth spending some time there giggling, but if you don’t feel like browsing, here’s the Lolita review.
House of Rain, by Craig Childs. Childs is a good writer, making what would normally be a dry subject (the movement of the Anasazi tribes across the Southwest) interesting and informative. The amount of ruins available for public viewing is only a fraction of what was once a populous and powerful culture.
It’s the second review under “Classics Revisited”.
On preview, the Dork beat me to it. 
Thanks, that’s an interesting site, but I have constant problems loading it - the connection is reset and it won’t load.
That sounds awesome and I love regional authors (I’m from Minnesota - hi, neighbor!) so this one is definitely going on my list.
That looks great. I’m going to check it out. Thanks.
Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy. Amazing, Simply amazing.
I’m getting a bunch of reading list ideas from the recent Greatest 20th Century Novels and Complex Experimental Surreal Books threads. Having just finished a re-read of Finnegans Wake a few days ago, I started in on Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell today, as recommended in the latter thread.
Crime and Punishment by Doysteovsky, Penguin Classics edition
Iron Man: My Journey through Heaven and Hell with Black Sabbath by Tony Iommi.
Good stuff. I’ve always loved Iommi’s guitar style, and he’s clearly got a lot more wit than Ozzy ever had. I love Ozzy as Sabbath’s vocalist, but Iommi and Geezer Butler were always the brains behind Sabbath.
Finished *Mind Games (The Disillusionists Trilogy: Book 1). *It was an interesting premise that wasn’t too badly carried out and there was a little twist at the end.
Justine Jones is a hard-core hypochondriac and she meets a man who teaches her to transfer her fear to others - one step in disillusioning them. Disillusionment is a “reboot” of the psyche - and once disillusioned bad guys reboot to become good.
There is quite a bit of discussion on the morals of this vigilantism and at another time I might have found that bit dull, but I didn’t mind.
I did not enjoy it enough to recommend it, but I liked it enough that I may read the others.
A friend has just recommended The Clockwork Vampire Chronicles. Has anyone here read it?
Hi neighbor! Heller isn’t from Iowa – I think he’s from Montana. But he’s an Iowa Writer’s Workshop graduate.
Yeah, put it on your list. The ending was somewhat open but it was satisfying. Heller could write a sequel. There’s more story to tell.
I read a bunch of samples on the Kindle last night. Canada by Richard Ford sorta grabbed me, but I don’t want to pay $13.99 for an e-book.