First three books of the year:

Like Shaking Hands with God by Kurt Vonnegut and Lee Stringer. The book is short, simply transcripts of two interviews between Vonnegut and Stringer (and a moderator whose name I've forgotten). I've read all of Vonnegut's books, but haven't read Stringer's. I may need to check it out.

Terry Pratchett's Strata was not standard Pratchett. I say that because it was SF, not fantasy, and not one of the Discworld books (but was obviously part of the inspiration for them). His writing has improved in the intervening years, but I had some fun with this one.

John Kennedy Toole's A Confederacy of Dunces was a rare reread for me. It was January's choice for my book group. It had been years since I read it last, so I was up for a reread. Oddly I found that I didn't like it nearly as much as I had remembered liking it last time. Individual incidents were still quite funny and memorable. The characters were well-drawn, but I didn't find them particularly sympathetic. (Pathetic would be an accurate assessment though).

Jonathan Carroll's blog had a pertinent post this week:

"I know many people have favorite books or movies that they revisit again and again over the years, always drawing new pleasures or perspectives from them. Not me. I've now laid down the law with myself that with very few exceptions, I am not allowed to re-read books I once loved or movies that long ago and far away sent me into a swoon. Too often for me, going back to a once loved book (or film) is like looking up an old girlfriend and going out on a date. The experience is almost invariably a disaster. When the first James Bond film DR.NO came out in the early 60's, I thought it was about the coolest film I'd ever seen. I watched it again for the first time in decades the other night and everything about it is either goofy, ridiculous, or dull. But I knew that was going to happen as soon as I put the dvd into the machine. Why couldn't I have just left my boy's memory of James Bond alone?"
posted by kristin at 9:10 PM