In anticipation of the release of the final Wheel of Time book, A Memory of Light, I’m re-reading (maybe for the last time…?), the entire series. I’m on Winter’s Heart right now.
Finished** "The Alehouse Murders ** by Maureen Ash and ended up liking it more than I thought I would. It wasn’t terribly deep but the main character was enjoyable.
I’m trying to quickly finish The Kill Artist by Daniel Silva. I started it in July and set it down. It’s good and reads well but I was expecting a mystery for some reason not International Espionage…and the whole Arab-Israeli thing is such a mess. It’s hard to cheer for a team that is, in many ways, as dirty as the enemy.
Once that’s done I have The Inventor and the Tycoon: A Gilded Age Murder and the Birth of Moving Pictures by Edward Ball lined up. I won it through Goodreads and being an amateur photographer I’m interested in things pertaining to Eadward Muybridge.
I read “Lincoln Lawyer”, but didn’t realize there were more.
Searching for something cheap in bed last night and found Bill the Vampire by Rick Gualtieri. A 24-year-old nerd-type encounters a hot chick on the subway and is invited to a party in SoHo. “What time does it start?” “Oh, show up any time after dark.”
It’s way better than I thought it would be. Not quite on par with Bloodsucking Fiends by Christopher Moore, but close. The author skips the whole “Vampires don’t exist, I can’t be a vampire” denial which usually begins this kind of story. It’s refreshing.
We ARE still talking about literature here, aren’t we?
We’re still talking literature. 
(More’s the pity.)
Yes, there are four now, with Bosch even co-appearing in the second and third ones. (Haller discovers their relation in the second one.) You can find them listed here.
And apparently there’s also a Jack McEvoy series, an FBI agent whom I’ve seen pop up very briefly in some of the other books. That one I’ve not read any of though.
Just finished Depths: Concrete Vol. 1 by Paul Chadwick. It is a graphic novel collection of early Concrete comics. Concrete was a man put into a concrete like body by aliens. He doesn’t use his new super body to fight crime however, instead he goes on adventures: climbs mountains, spelunks caves, swim oceans, etc. I have Heights: Concrete Vol. 2, but I’m not going to read that next, but I am looking forward to it.
I’m also almost done with Founding Brothers by Joseph J. Ellis. It is making me really dislike Thomas Jefferson, the subject of another of Ellis’ books, American Sphinx, which I haven’t read.
I’m also starting Larry Gonick’s Cartoon Guide to Chemistry. I’m only on page 60, but I’m already learning new stuff in addition to relearning stuff from high school. I also checked out his Cartoon Guide to Physics. My library has many of his Cartoon Guide series, but his one on statistics is one that is missing, to my dismay.
That was exactly my takeaway from it, too.
Ditto. Jefferson was a brilliant man and a talented wordsmith, but also a sneak, a liar and a hypocrite of the first order.
I think I will stay away then.. sigh Not all of my heroes have to have feet of clay, do they?
Certainly not. The more I read about George Washington, Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, Nelson Mandela and Neil Armstrong, for instance, the more I find to admire.
I will bear that in mind and look for more info.
George Washington is the only person who comes out of Founding Brothers completely unscathed.
And speaking of admirable men, I am reading Grant: The Man Who Won The Civil War by Robin Neillands and its quite good.
I just finished *Undefeated: Inside The Miami Dolphins 1972 Season *by Mike Freeman and I really enjoyed the insight into Don Shula the man and the coach.
I also recently heard that Team Of Rivals is going to be made into a movie. Can’t wait.
Then may I suggest:
Founding Father: Rediscovering George Washington by Richard Brookhiser - An excellent short introduction to the first President.
In the Hands of Providence by Alice Rains Trulock - Very good bio of Chamberlain, a hero of Gettysburg.
Long Walk to Freedom - Mandela’s autobiography. The 1996 documentary Mandela, produced by Jonathan Demme, is also quite good.
First Man by James R. Hansen - Haven’t read this Neil Armstrong bio, but I hear it’s good.
Steven Spielberg bought the rights to Team of Rivals, but his upcoming movie Lincoln, starring Daniel Day-Lewis, has a much narrower focus on the last few months of the President’s life.
Ah, then that’s significantly different then. I will still go see it though.
As will I, eagerly. Here are two trailers:
Lacks vampires. So, unhistorical.
