I've been reading a lot more than posting online since I've been out of my house. Staying somewhere without internet access will do that to you.

Chaim Potok's The Promise continued my Judaism reading trend. Part of the book is about the conflict between the different forms of Judaism. I remember thinking that those sorts of struggle exist within each religion, but fortunately aren't always as bloddy as they have been at their worst.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince wasn't my favorite of the Harry Potter books, but was a quick and compelling read. I bought it Saturday but didn't start it until Monday or so. I accidently stayed up way too late Tuesday night finishing it.

Iain M. Banks' Excession was my train reading for awhile. Like all of the other Iain M. Banks (as opposed to just Iain Banks) books I've read, I enjoyed it, but had to struggle to get into it. Something about his writing style causes me to struggle through the first third of a book and then really enjoy the rest. I can't remember reading another book that many of the main characters were ships.

Larry McMurtry's The Last Picture Show was a peek into 1950's Texas. I'll have to get the movie from netflix one of these days.

Connie Willis' Lincoln's Dreams was must less SF than I'm used to from here. It made me think I should read more about the Civil War.

Tom Holt's Grailblazers is his take on the Quest for the Holy Grail. Fun, light.
posted by kristin at 10:57 AM

Last night I headed to Powells to see Jasper Fforde do a reading. In person he reminded me a bit of Christopher Moore, but isn't quite as out there. Paul and Kristin, not surprisingly, were there. I'll miss seeing them at book readings (and only at book readings) after I move. Perhaps I'll discover folks in Seattle with a similarly familiar taste in books.

I picked up Fforde's latest, The Big Over Easy, along with Audrey Niffenegger's The Time Traveler's Wife, Minister Faust's The Coyote Kings of the Space Age Bachelor Pad and Robert Rankin's The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse. On the way into the store I'd sold three books I'd read recently (due to bookshelf space issues, not disinterest) so only ended up one book ahead.
posted by kristin at 10:52 AM

Mary Doria Russell's first two books are science fiction. I'd highly recommend them. Her third is not. A Thread of Grace is a novel set in Italy at the end of World War II based on the experiences of the Jews who fled there from other parts of Europe. Depressing at time, heartening at time. Well worth reading.
posted by kristin at 10:04 AM

I haven't been reading much lately because I've been too busy packing books into boxes to move them.

James Morrow's The Cat's Pajamas is definitely worth a read. I'm not sure I'd say it's as good overall as his earlier short story collection Bible Stories for Adults but I enjoyed the stories.

Haruki Murakami's Kafka on the Shore was an enjoyable read as well. I wish I hadn't accidently read a review that gave away one of the plot twists befure I got there in the book. I'm definitely not going to mention exactly which one it is here though lest I ruin that little surprise for anyone else. Weird stuff happens a bit earlier in this one than some of his other books.

Cities edited by John McGreevy is a series of photos and essays about famous cities as known by famous inhabitants of those cities. I think I picked it up at a library book sale awhile back and found it interesting, though it's old enough now that I wondered a lot at how much, if any, the cities have changed since the early 80's.
posted by kristin at 10:46 AM