Atlas Shrugged: A Personal Goal Met

I mean it, the damn thing is thousands of pages long. But everyone says Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged is phenomenal, and many people who know me are shocked that I haven't read it. So when I got a Nook, I decided to finally read the book I was scared was going to throw out my back from carrying it. I'll give you this book snob friends, it was as good as promised. Can I just say one thing to anyone who has read it? Am I supposed to finish it and go "But what about Eddie?" Of all the slew of characters, only Eddie's fate concerned me, but then I've always been a sucker for the hardworking best friend character. I mean, the characters in this book are so completely black and white, the heroes, the thinkers, the villains those who would take the thinkers work. But Eddie was just a hardworking guy who kept the railroad together while Dagny went around trying to save the world.

OKAY! I know this book has far reaching influence, and the issues raised in it are relevant today. I even understand the philosophy behind the novel, and Ayn Rands Objectivism. But books are about characters for me mostly, and I loved her main characters. The titans of industry go on strike to show the 'looters' that they can't keep stealing peoples work and giving it to others. Dagny Taggart is one of the few women in the book, and she is really Rand's main character, a dedicated smart hard working woman who is the last of the titans to go on strike. She is surrounded by men who want something for nothing, and who take what they can't make themselves.

You know what? I read a 1200 paged book in less than two weeks, and despite some mighty big words and complicated ideas, I understood and enjoyed it. And now I can read crap for a while.

Kings of the Earth

Finally I have read a book that is actually out! Jon Clinch (author of Finn, did you read Finn? I think I told you to read Finn) just came out with Kings of the Earth. His latest novel, only his second, is wonderful. It follows three men who live on a dairy farm in upstate New York (I think, Clinch lets his characters alternate to tell the story, and since I don't know much about farming or Upstate New York, I might be wrong), their neighbors, parents, brother in law, sister, nephew and the local police. All of these characters take turns telling the story of these strange and backwards men. There is a little bit of a mystery to it, but as with Finn, it's the characters that make it interesting. This time, instead of creating one completely fascinating less than honorable character, he has created a whole cast of characters, some honorable, some not so much, all nuanced with their own voice. If you like really great characters, and talented authors who can create completely individual characters, read this. If you have a Nook, I can lend it to you, once I figure out that feature!

I have no excuse

I have no reason why this is my first post in months. None whatsoever. I haven't been more busy than normal, I've been reading great books...

Oh well, let's catch up. During the past few months I have read a few great books, which I'll post later (I mean it this time). Including Juliet by Anne Fortier, Room by Emma Donohue, and Ape House by Sara Gruen. Can I claim that the reason I haven't posted is that the three books I just mentioned aren't actually out yet? I also read the Hanging Tree by Bryan Gruley, again not out, but check it out when it comes out, my friend Dan is mentioned in the back acknowledgments. Also, its' a great mystery.

In May I went to Book Expo, and had a fabulous time. Oh wait, that was because due to their moving the damn thing to the middle of the week I got to see more of New York than I had in previous trips (The Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, all of Central Park, and what we called musical overload). Despite having a wonderful time, much of BEA was disappointing. Part of it was the two day format, which they are fixing for next year, but still the excruciatingly bad layout, the lack of good authors and the fact not one vendor handed me a cup of coffee during the entire expo was a disappointment after so many years of great shows. Despite that, there were some great moments, like discovering that Kathryn Stockett was signing the Help, and that they were giving out caramel cake for those in line, seeing Jon Stewart, and the fact Random House (despite some really poor line management) brought some seriously great authors this year. And of course, the well deserved lovefest that followed Justin Cronin around.

And this month I bought a Nook (the Barnes and Noble eReader). Two things to note, I love it, and it might just because I like gadgets and the fact my purse is a lot lighter now, and that being able to download books whenever I think of them is very dangerous. Though I wonder... I'm currently reading Atlas Shrugged, because I feel that the Nook is exactly the right format for the over thousand paged book. So I'm sitting on the beach reading today, and I realized, no one knows what I'm reading, they don't know I'm reading something so high brow. I could be reading Nicholas Sparks on the damn thing. Also, because it has a web browser, and online book shopping right at my finger tips, it's making me ADD. Or more ADD...

Look something shinny, time to go!

Fool and King Lear

Book Club this Friday, so I'm rereading Fool by Christopher Moore. A hardship, let me assure you, as I love this book more the second time than I did the first. I'm also rereading King Lear, mostly because it's been years since I've read it, and because I'm scared people are going to ask me tough questions. I managed, in my quest to find a copy of Lear at my school (which we did not have, do you think we should be shut down? Because I think we should be shut down), to recommend Fool to all of the English teachers in the building. Fool is King Lear from the perspective of Pocket, the fool. Except, well, Christopher Moore takes some liberties, so there is a lot more swearing, sex and things I think are hilarious. Can I be a dork and recommend you read Fool and King Lear either together or one after another? It'll make you appreciate Moore's genius all the more. Oh, and I have a copy I can lend out starting Monday, if you want to read it.

Horns

Because I was reading so many romance novels (one of which I just reviewed, the other I'm holding off until I have to reread it for bookclub next month), I grabbed a free copy of Horns by Joe Hill at work. Joe Hill is a writer of his own worth, but despite that, the only way I've ever heard him recommended is "He's Stephen King's son." Now, while this short sentence is accurate and allows us booksellers to sell you curious public on another great horror novelist, it's not really fair. He's not Jonathan Kellerman (wait, is that the son, which one is the son of the two Kellermans?), he's not Carol something Clark. He's going to be just Joe Hill in a decade or so, if he writes books like Horns, or Heart Shaped Box, his first full novel, but for right now, he's Joe Hill, Stephen Kings son. Horns opens with Ig Perrish awakening to find that he has grown horns in the night (as well as a little devil beard, you get the idea). He can't remember what he did, but he does know that these horns make people tell him their deepest darkest secrets. He uses this new power to cause a shenanigans with his family and friends, and to discover the real killer of his high school sweetheart. If you like his father, and wish he would use more Rock and Roll references, this is the book for you. Jesse Kellerman is the son of Jonathan and Faye and is now writing mysteries, for those of you who were wondering, I had to go look it up.

The Girl Who Chased The Moon

Sarah Addison Allen is one of those authors, at least for me, that make me happy without a real definitive reason why. She's Southern, writes romances and has unexplained magical elements to her books, and yet I love them. The Girl who chased the moon is her third book, and the greatest compliment I can pay a book I give to Ms. Allen. I was able to completely drown out everything going on around me while I was reading this. I didn't hear my coworkers complaining about things, I didn't hear the copier in the other room making screeching noises, and I was completely absorbed into her world. The story revolves around Emily, a teenager who moves in with her grandfather after her mother dies. Her grandfather, a giant, doesn't really know how to deal with a teenage girl, so their neighbor Julia helps acclimate the girl, despite a tumultuous past with Emily's mother. Emily meets a strange boy, who let me assure you before you start getting mad at me, is not a werewolf or a vampire. Ms. Allen simply would not put me through that with all the Twilight crap around here. Thought I was honestly a little afraid he would end up being one or the other. Emily tries to figure out his secret, while bonding with Julia. Julia has moved back into town after several years away after her father dies to take over his restaurant, and to do some really awesome sounding baking. She tries to ignore Sawyer, her high school crush with whom she shares more than just a past, and counts down the days until she can leave the town again. It's a romance novel all dressed up in cute, and delightful to the end. It's not the best book of 2010 (see my last post), but it's the first one I was so wrapped up in I was able to ignore all of my coworkers for 30 minutes 3 days straight, and that's a book worth recommending.

The Passage: The Best Book of 2010

I'm not kidding, it's the best book of 2010. And it's not even out yet! Start getting excited people, I mean it. June 2nd I think is the official lay down. You are going to be hearing a lot about this book, and all of the good press is deserved. Justin Cronin has created a fascinating well written epic novel. Imagine... Stephen King's The Stand, but with vampires. But not Charlene Harris or Twilight vampires, I assure you there is nary a fwoppy haired pouter to be found. Two FBI agents start the amazing novel off by convincing a confused death row inmate to participate in a government experiment. This government experiment is creating vampires, and there is one girl, Amy, who is exposed but does not show symptoms of the disease. Now, of course the vampires escape and start taking over the country, and of course the government and army create special areas for the uninfected. The second part of the book shows us one such area decades later. This small group of survivors believe themselves to be the only survivors of the plague that has killed everyone in the world. They have walls and lights to keep the vampires out, as well as an entire culture built on survival, which is grippingly interesting and populated by amazingly vivid characters.

This books is so well written, horrific (in the best possible way), and just plain creepy I couldn't put it down, and it's pretty long. Cronin, genius and destroyer of several nights sleep running, ends pretty much every chapter with a cliffhanger, which seems unfair somehow, because for every character at every moment it's life and death. And you care deeply about this characters. Amy especially is the core character of the story, you want her to be okay, and you understand why everyone around her goes to such lengths to protect her, not just because she might be able to save humanity. I can't talk about this book too much, I'll give something away, I didn't even like telling you about the second part, but I loved it so much ! I know it's late March, and I can't declare a winner in the best book of 2010 yet, but I'm doing it anyway. I may well have to take it back, but the best book of 2009 I had read by this point last year (Fool by Christopher Moore). And Moore's new book didn't put a funny twist on Shakespeare, we aren't getting a new Thursday Next book this year (Thanks Fforde), and I'm hearing nothing in the works for any of my other best bets, so let's call it done, and I'll keep you up to date on the fluff I read the rest of the year. Coming up: Sarah Addison Allen and her strangely gripping romantic novels, Eternal on the Water, my tear jerker of the month, Hotel on the corner of Bitter and Sweet, and an entire posting as to why I went from the Passage with it's Kinglike plot to three girly fluffy romantic books in a row... No worries, I'm reading Joe Hills latest now, I managed to kick my girly sappiness pretty quickly.