I've never been able to take Stephen King seriously since he deeply insulted a writer I like very much, from the bully pulpit of a best-selling thriller writer. Asshole. Okay, now on to the recs.

I have, and have started Then We Came to the End, and I'm not really crazy about it. I think this same territory was covered better by James Hynes in Kings of Infinite Space.


We know by now that I adore The Omnivore's Dilemma and all of Michael Pollan, lol.

I simply can't decide whether or not I'm interested in the Englander novel. I think I'm on wait-and-see for this one.

I have, and have started, The Black Swan. I'm extremely interested in his hypothesis and the subject matter, and his writing isn't difficult, but for some reason I find this damn thing impenetrable. Trying to read this book makes me feel like my eyes aren't working properly or that I need a new prescription for my glasses. I think he's too scattered a writer. I'm going to keep trying, but I'm rapidly losing hope.

That book that Foer recommends sounds really good. I'm making a note of it.

Call Me By Your Name is beautiful and haunting. I loved it so much I gave it to SoWhat to read.

The Lost is so poorly described by Wills. It's way way way more than what he says. It's about these really deep connections that run from our immediate family, through our extended family, through all families, placed against the context of the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) and some ancient and modern Jewish commentators on the same. I was astonished by how much I cared about this book.

That Lincoln book and a few others were discussed by Adam Gopnik in a recent New Yorker. I like and respect Gopnik, and he's got me interested in the subject, which I otherwise didn't think I would find interesting. So this may come onto the reading list itself.

Coetzee is great, and Disgrace isn't a bad place to start, although in many respects it's one of his weaker books.

Edmund White runs hot and cold for me. I want to love him more than I do, and I do love some of his books. This upcoming release sounds interesting and I may pick it up.

People love Angela Carter, but she's a surrealist and a little too wacky for me. It makes some sense to me that Kathryn Harrison would like her work though. *twirls finger around ear*

Oh yeah, thanks to Eugenides for reminding me that I still haven't read The Lay of the Land. Huh, that may be next.