In the Writing Mood Again

I've thought many times about just abandoning this blog completely, shutting it down and walking away from it, simply because more and more time was passing between spells where I would feel like I had anything to say. However, I'm in a mood to post again.

I've been spending my free time over the last several months getting caught up on my reading, among other things that I'd fallen behind doing around the house while I was taking classes. Sometime last year, I counted all of the books I had purchased but had yet to read. At the time, the number was around 35, I think. However, even though I've been reading quite a few lately, I've bought even more, so now I am behind 60-some books, at last count.

I have read 19 since the first of the year, which is pretty good for me, because I usually average about six a year, and I am within 30 pages of finishing No. 20. Here are a few reviews of what I've been reading:

Life Expectancy by Dean Koontz.
Grade: C.
This was the first book I had read by Koontz, and it wasn't bad, but like many of the reviews I read at Amazon.com, I think the hero and heroine's one-liners during times when Beezo the Clown was terrorizing them were really out of place. Plus, I thought that some of the scenes of peril were really, really drawn out, and then the end came suddenly, and too much was written off as coincidence. I like the flow of Koontz's work and would be tempted to read another of his novels, but this is definitely going into my "To Be Sold" pile, because I know I'm not going to read this one again.

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield.
Grade: A
The story begins with an ailing, eccentric, reclusive yet famous author, Vida Winter, summoning a lonely, introverted biographer, Margaret Lea, to write her life story. Margaret is reluctant to accept the job, fearful that Vida will be less than truthful with her because Vida has related her life story differently to different reporters. But Margaret nonetheless accepts the job, and is soon captivated by Vida's haunting tale of twins, ghosts, wealth and family secrets. I first heard of this book through a "Barnes & Noble recommends" newsletter, and I thought it was great. I wasn't able to guess the ending, yet didn't feel cheated, like I have on so many other books in which the writer builds up to one conclusion, then suddenly shifts gears to create a surprise ending. This was a very satisfying read, IMHO.

Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell.
Grade: B+
A collection essays recounting Vowell's trek through historic sites linked to the deaths of Presidents Lincoln, Garfield and McKinley, Assassination Vacation is rich with information and wit. I stress the information part, because there is a lot of history I never learned in grade school (or even high school or college, for that matter) in this work. I enjoyed the book, but it left me yearning -- I wish that I, too, were able to pack up and travel around, seeing all of these sites, learning the history first-hand and then make some money writing about it. Sounds like a lot of fun to me.

A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving.
Grade: B
Ever read a story so vivid that you often stayed up too late reading it, passing the point of being able to easily drift off, and if you did somehow manage to fall asleep, the characters came with you, walking and talking throughout your dreams? That's what this book was like for me, at least for the first half anyway. It's the story of Johnny Wheelwright and how his childhood friendship with Owen Meany, a diminutive boy with a voice stuck in a "permanent scream" and who believes he is an instrument of God, haunts him into adulthood. Once Owen and Johnny are about 16, the book loses some of its magic for me; it's too easy to see the heartbreaking course Owen is on, but I still would recommend it to my friends.

Well, that's all for now. Within the next few posts, I will likely critique some more of my reads from this year.