Currently Reading. Resurrected Post.

I’ve mentioned before that I’m usually reading multiple books at any given time. (Not simultaneously of course. Let’s not be ridiculous.) I have a workout book, a lunch book, a book on the toilet tank, a book in my library, and one book on CD in each vehicle. Here is a rundown of the current books in progress.

My workout book is Dangerous Visions, the seminal 1960s anthology of science fiction. I’ve found some of these rather forgettable, some quite the opposite and I’m not quite half way through.

I just finished James Wells’ first novel The Great Symmetry, and have moved on to a re-read of The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. The stack of paperbacks in my office remains tall, courtesy of the annual library sale near my office.

At home I’m plodding through Little Big when nature calls and Stand on Zanzibar when in my library. Hitting the minor classics I suppose.

I’ve never read any Dean Koontz. So I picked up Relentless and am on the final disc. And in the other car I have the first book of Dennis L. McKiernan’s, umm — homage — to The Lord of the Rings, The Iron Tower trilogy. I’ve been curious about how close he paralleled Tolkien.

You’ll note I’m not offering up opinions. I do hold opinions (on the above and much more — some positive, some less so), but I’d rather not turn this into a review web log. And I have a general aversion to criticizing the work of successful, well-known authors. To me it often reads like sour grapes, or a yapping dog nipping at the heels of an elephant. Unseemly. But I’m happy to talk books in person. If you run into me at a convention, say hello and let’s talk literature. I’ll gladly praise — or yap and nip — over a beer.