I finished Freedom. It was good, though not as good as I thought it would be. Most of the characters seemed rather shallow, which might have been the point, I guess. I’m not sure. The actual narration was solid, though, so I’d like to read more. I’ve heard from multiple people that his last novel, The Corrections, is much better. I’ll add it to my list.
In addition to that, I read Infected: Bloodlines by Andrea Speed. I read her first book back last year and loved it so much, I picked up the sequel. The third one’s just come out as well, so that’s on my list.
Speaking of friends who wrote books, my buddy Blake M. Petit wrote a book called Other People’s Heroes a few years back. He just re-released it on the E-Book market with a couple extra short stories. It’s an excellent super hero comedy, if you’re into that sort of thing. Plus, at $2.99, it’s really hard to say no.
Reality is Broken: Why Games Make us Better and How They Can Change the World by Jane McGonigal. I don’t read a ton of non-fiction books, but I enjoyed this one immensely. It’s not just about video games, though they do play a major part in her theories. Mostly, it’s about how the challenge of games–whether they’re sports games, board games, backyard games, or video games–affects our minds, and the section of our brains that produce happiness.
I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream by Harlan Ellison. Ellison and I have had an interesting relationship over the past 29 years. Honestly, I think he writes better endings than beginnings. Each time I start a new short story I feel like it bogs down with needless description and flowery prose. However, by about the halfway point his ideas have fully formed within the text and I start to see the story for what it is, and then, by the end, I’m in love with it. I’m in love with every word of it.
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens. I decided to take in a classic, which I’ve been trying to do over the past six months. I love Dickens, but this book seems to be taking me an abnormally long time. I think it’s because I keep finding other things I want to read instead. Plus, there’s not nearly enough Billy Joel for my liking. It’s a classic though, and definitely fun enough to keep reading.
The Wise Man’s Fear by Patrick Rothfuss. I read the first one and loved it. I thought it was some of the best fantasy I’d read in a long time. I was kind of cooled down by the second entry. Oh, it’s still an excellent book, and I still loved most of it. But if extra words were a problem for you in the first book, it will kill you in the second book. His editor definitely should have taken a little more time with this one trimming and cutting.
I’m sure there are others, but I can’t think of them right now. I guess that means they weren’t so hot?
Thanks for the shout-out, buddy!