Just finished John Milton Cooper Jr.'s big new bio, Woodrow Wilson, which was a pretty good, a warts-and-all portrait of the WWI president. You learn about Wilson’s idealism and internationalist utopianism, his loves and losses, work ethic, homelife and policies, as well as his ill-concealed racism, stubbornness and pride. More an admirable man than not, I’d have to say, but it’s a very close call.
Stephen King’s Dark Tower books.
I finished Gorgeous East by Robert Girardi, which I read because I know the author. It’s basically a silly but entertaining novel about the modern French Foreign Legion.
Now I’m reading Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash, which is a bit dated, but very entertaining and funny.
That’s probably how I’d like to be remembered. Being a saint can be boring. 
I suspect you’re a better man than Wilson, even if your resume might not be quite as impressive.
Excellent series all around. King often referred to the series as his crowning achievement.
Reading Player Piano by Vonnegut.
A few more books and I’ll have read his entire body of work. Clearly, this makes me cool beyond belief.
As an interesting aside, Vonnegut himself did a letter rating on the quality of his works. Player Piano and Slaughterhouse Five received A’s. This is interested because Player Piano was his first work. Generally speaking, authors get better with time.
He may have rated another of his works with an A or an A-. Memory fails me on this one though.
Earth, by David Brin
Finished Slaughterhouse-Five. Excellent! It’s rated #18 on the Random House Modern Library’s top 100 books of the 20th century.
Next up is #66 on the list: Of Human Bondage, by W. Somerset Maugham.
Just finished Agyar, by Steven Brust, a nicely understated vampire story.
I took Monday off work, because I was “sick”, and read about 900 pages of Stephen King’s latest, Under the Dome. I think it’s a decent one, though nowhere near the quality of The Stand (which I have heard it compared to for some reason). Hopefully I can get one more hour of free time soon so I can finish it!
A current thread that may be of interest: Novels that are largely padding - Cafe Society - Straight Dope Message Board
Yeah, I enjoyed that - I like a lot of Brust’s stuff - though not all of it.
I finished It Can’t Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis last night. It took me a while, but as usual it was well worth the effort. It’s the seventh Lewis book I’ve read, and they’ve all been great, with Dodsworth being my least-favorite. I’m pretty sure I’ve said this a million time about Lewis, but his writing feels so modern. Once again I felt that the story could have been written today. Either he had some special insight into the world or things just haven’t changed all that much since 1935.
I’m now reading Mrs. Lincoln: A Life by Catherine Clinton.
I just started Malcolm Gladwell’s new book (compilation of his NYT articles really): What the Dog Saw. Only 40 pages in and I’m loving it so far, as was expected. I just learned Ron Popeil’s life story, and now I want to buy a Showtime Rotisserie.
Meh. I actually was disappointed by it. The material was interesting, bit by bit, but the overall structure never cohered – the bits all felt like completely separate bits, and I couldn’t tell why this chapter followed that, or, sometimes why two different points were included in the same chapter.
Started skimming about 75 pages from the end, then realized I didn’t even care that much and didn’t finish it.
Too bad, because it’s an interesting premise, and he covered a lot of good stuff – but not all essayists can write books, and he’s definitely one who can’t.
Recently finished Tokyo Vice by Jake Adelstein. Autobiographical about an American covering vice for a Japanese paper in Japan that packs quite a wallop by the time he’s done.
Last month The Magicians was one from hearing about it here. Meh.
The Housekeeper and the Prefessor a bittersweet story about a brain damaged math professor and his housekeeper and friendship told from the POV of the housekeeper.
A Population of One by Constance Beresford Howe. Wilhelmina (Willy) is 30 years old. She’s spent the last five years caring for an ailing mother. She has a Ph.D. in 19th Century Literature and when mom dies, Willy sells the house and gets a teaching job in Montreal. That was the first part of her “project” – the second part is to find a man, or at least to lose her virginity.
It’s set in the late 60’s and there are some fun contemporaneous culture references. The book feels a bit like a memoir. The writing is sharp and funny, and she has a good eye for details that help build characters.
I just read William Marshal, The Flower of Chivalry, which was good, although not really a satisfying biography of Marshal. It’s an examination of chivalry and the hierarchy of feudal society - Marshal seems to have been adept at managing the multiple and often conflicting bonds of loyalty among the nobility. He had an obligation of homage to both Richard the Lionheart and his brother John, for example, which must have been a hell of a thing to manage.
Now I’m reading Mike Carey’s Vicious Circle, the second book in his Felix Castor urban fantasy series. It’s kindof like Harry Dresden in London.
I liked Agyar, too. Which of Brust’s other work would you recommend?
Oh good, I’ll be starting that one soon.
Currently I’m in the middle of Sunshine, by Robin McKinley. I’m riveted, I’m liking it, but two things bug me. One, I’m in the middle of the dern book and it seems like “oh yeah, and one more thing about the Others that I haven’t mentioned yet is <>”. Two, I want some friggin’ baked goods.
I love Sunshine, but the middle section does drag a bit. The ending is pretty great, though.