Picked up a new one yesterday for reading to our two-year-old. [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Leaves-David-Ezra-Stein/dp/0399254978/ref=tmm_other_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1281955075&sr=8-1"]Amazon.com: Leaves (9780399254970): David Ezra Stein: Books[/ame]
I think it would've been better if he'd spent less time telling you what other biographers have done wrong in writing about Mozart, and more time just doing it right. But it was pretty clear when he was doing meta-biography, so I would just skim those parts. Made me wish I was reading Mozart's letters rather than this book at times, though. On to another one, a book I really didn't expect to find in a used bookstore in Cherry Valley, NY:
Tried once, abandoned it. Ended up listening to the audiobook on two 13 hr drives, and wished I hadn't. Utterly pointless.
Couldn't disagree more. I loved Underworld. Kind of a rhapsody on America's 20th century, evoking the dark underbelly of it all. It's a book that's not very plot-driven, so that might turn some people off. I think DeLillo has some amazing metaphors in there-- like the boat full of toxic waste that sails from port to port trying to find a place that will allow it to be dumped. White Noise is also excellent. I didn't like Cosmopolis and Falling Man, however.
Ian - A Dawn Like Thunder was pretty good; it dealt with a number of the personalities and how their actions affected the men, and provided enough detail about the battles to keep you interested. It summed up the post-war lives of a number of the men as well. Just finished:
I've always thought about picking this series up, any opinions on it? Any time I'm in a slump I like to pick up short stories so I know I won't get stuck in the middle and never finish. In this case I just hadn't read new short stories in a while so I finally picked this up.
Basically a novelization of the life of Jesus, that paints him in a much more human tone. btw I'm an atheist, but I'm enjoying it.
Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay Big Soccer's favorite Science Fiction and Fantasy writer has another winner.
The two vacation books that I haven't finished yet, but only because of all the other vacation stuff. Brain Thief by Alexander Jablokov Pretty Monsters by Kelly Link
Bah. American Tabloid or LA Confidential are books about the dark underbelly of the 20th century. Underworld's a bunch of little glimpses into lives not worth caring about held together by a flimsy plot device. If I'd never read Robert Ludlum, I'd begin to think this was the single worst book I'd ever finished.