Now Reading:

• “Shadowmarch: Shadowmarch: Volume I”
  by Tad Williams

  Big Tad Williams fan. I got into him while I was in the army, when he released the first two books of his fantasy series “Memory, Sorrow & Thorn,” which was the best thing of it’s kind I’d read since “Lord of the Rings.” Years later, I devoured his massive, four-book series “Otherworld” (amazing). So far, this one’s right up there with the rest of his work. I am awestruck by his ability to create so many simultaneous plotlines, each of which suck you in and keep things moving at a pretty good clip.

Recent books:

• “Kids, Parents, and Power Struggles: Winning For a Lifetime”
  by Mary Sheedy Kurcinka

  I’m pretty sure everybody enters into parenthood believing that they’re going to be able to improve upon the manner in which their own parents handled the inevitable power struggles that arise between parent and child, but I’m increasingly realizing that the only tool I learned to carry around in my conflict-resolution toolbox is a hammer. This book — like a couple others by Kurcinka that I’ve read — offers some insightful approaches that require some serious self evaluation. Given the stakes, it seems worth the effort.

• “Losing It: And Gaining My Life Back One Pound at a Time”
  by Valerie Bertinelli

  Wonder Woman read this months ago, and told me I would enjoy it, as it was largely filled with tales about Eddie Van Halen (and we all know by now about me and Van Halen, right?). I flew through it in a couple of nights a while back … but never got around to adding it here. Easy read. She’s very engaging, and the Van Halen stuff would definitely be of interest to any VH fans out there.

  My only in-person encounter with Valerie was on the day I spent at the studio on her and Eddie’s estate. She walked into the room I was in and said, “Where is he?” I had a pretty good idea who she meant, but I wasn’t crazy about being talked to like the hired help, so I said, “Where’s who?” “My husband,” she answered. “I have no idea,” I told her. And that was the sum total of my Valerie Bertinelli encounter. (Of course, based on all the bullshit she put up with from him for all those years, I can’t really blame her for being a bit grumpy.)

• “Farewell, My Lovely”
  by Raymond Chandler

  So I’m a Chandler/Philip Marlowe fan now.

  The library copy of “The Big Sleep” turned out to be a two-fer: “The Big Sleep” and “Farewell My Lovely” housed in the same binding.

  I found myself squirming a bit because of the story’s overtly racist content. Originally published in 1940, the book predates the civil-rights movement and desegregation by a long shot. The casual throwing around of the N-word and other derogatory terms is a bit disconcerting … but it does make for a fascinating study of the period during which it was written.

  Chandler doesn’t write with quite the same conciseness and clarity as Parker, but the similarities are clear. Still, this one felt like a bit more of an effort to read. I’m sure I’ll read the rest of Chandler’s stuff, but I could use a break after lumbering through this one.

• “The Big Sleep”
  by Raymond Chandler

  One of the only books Robert B. Parker has authored that I haven’t read is “Perchance to Dream,” which is billed as a sequel to Raymond Chandler’s “The Big Sleep.”

  From the first page, it’s clear what an influence Chandler had on Parker. Chandler’s Los Angeles-based P.I. (Philip Marlowe) is the 1930s version of Parker’s Boston P.I. (Spenser). The two authors’ writing styles are almost indiscernible.

  Thoroughly enjoyed the book, and that enjoyment was enhanced by the added quirk of reading something from a different era, complete with all the pop-culture references and ultra-dated expressions of the day. Reading it felt like watching a classic black-and-white film. Pretty sure I’ll be reading all of Chandler’s novels now.

View full Library »