I've been reading less than usual lately. Last week I finished up Iain Banks' Against a Dark Background. It took me a little while to get into but I ended up quite liking it. (No annoying dialect like Feersum Endjinn.)

Over the weekend I spent a bunch of time finishing up China Mieville's The Scar. Far better than King Rat and possibly better than Perdido Street Station. I would recommend reading PSS first since it's set in the same world. Some of the things that came up in PSS were mentioned in the Scar but not really explained. They're peripheral to the main story, but definitely made more sense having read PSS. Given that I love the book, it might sound strange to say that I am somewhat surprised I didn't have nightmares after finishing it. (I'd HATE to see what Hollywood would do to this one). It's definitely not horror, but there are indeed horrific elements.

Last night I finished up Scott Turow's Ultimate Punishment, a non-fiction look at his time spent on a commission looking into the future of the death penalty in Illinois.
posted by Kristin Buxton at 10:07 AM