The Killing Kind, by John Connolly

P.I novel with supernatural overtones. Lots of fun. The dialogue and charcters are vaguely reminiscent of Parker's Spenser books.

Iron Orchid, by Stuart Woods

I love how Woods' characters wander through each other's books. It's fun to run into Will Lee and Katharine Rule and Stone Barrington in a Holly Barker book. His books are always good reading.

Perfect Nightmare, by John Saul

Perfectly disjointed, and full of characters you won't care about.

Beautiful Boy, by David Sheff

A really well-written, emotionally charged, and truly terrifying book. I read it just after having my first child, and it scared the hell out of me, and made me think about how I will deal with the idea and temptation of drugs when Clara is older.

Sheff not only tells his personal story of being an addict's parent, but he supports it with lots of research, most of it very scary, about meth addiction. I don't think I realized how horrible meth addiction is.

It's heartbreaking to see Sheff looking to himself as a possible source of his son's terrible downward spiral, and the scenes he details of Nic being sweet and wonderful with his half-brother and -sister make it all the more terrible how far down he goes.

I don't know if Nic has stayed clean at this point. I'm almost afraid to try to find out.

Tweak, by Nic Sheff

I'm about to write a longer, more reflective review of Nic's father's book detailing his son's meth addiction. Mostly because it was a longer, more reflective book. This one was mostly self-indulgent, I thought, and a little whiny. Sheff seems to be trying to find someone else to blame for his addiction. The last bit about the most successful rehab is interesting, though. It's almost as if Sheff becomes a different person when he is writing about trying to become a different person.

This book is only interesting as a companion piece, as counterpoint to his father's book. It doesn't stand alone.

The No-Cry Sleep Solution, by Elizabeth Pantley

I read this so long ago I don't remember what it was about, specifically. I don't remember being wowed by it.

The Attachment Parenting Book, by William and Martha Sears

I admit, I had gotten the idea somewhere that Attachment Parenting was a weird, no-boundaries hippie thing, so I didn't read this until recently. I was pleasantly surprised to find it very common sense, and kind of what we're doing already. Who needs parenting style books?

Hit Parade, by Lawrence Block

See other Keller review. Same stuff. Fun, though. Good dialogue.

Hit Man, by Lawrence Block

A Keller book. The nicest hitman you'll ever meet. These books read like short stories with the same characters.

Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, by Dyan Sheldon

Maybe I'm just getting to be old and fuddy-duddy, but the newer pre-teen-ish books are so stupid, compared to the ones I read. Yikes.

The Great Gilly Hopkins, by Katherine Paterson

I'm not sure I ever read this one as a kid, but I really enjoyed it. Some pretty serious issues in there. Made me think about how challenging it will be to talk to Clara about the hard parts of being human.

The Zero Game, by Brad Meltzer

The first 20% of this book was told in one voice, and then Meltzer killed that voice off, and switched to another we'd only heard a little of so far. Disconcerting. Not the most fun I've ever had reading, but not awful.

Gone Bamboo, by Anthony Bourdain

Sort of the continuation of Bone In The Throat, but with slightly different characters in similar situations. Equally fun.

Bone In The Throat, by Anthony Bourdain

More of the same fun mobster/chef action from Bourdain. Very engaging. You can see him imagining himself as the protagonist.

The Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum

This one was as good as I remembered it. I read all of his books as a child. Maybe they're squirreled away in a box in my parents' house somewhere. Really fun to read again.

The Color of Blood, by Declan Hughes

Irish P.I. novel. Pretty much like American P.I. novels, but with dialect. Fun.

Footloose, by Leanne Banks

The worst kind of chick lit, veering into outright romance trash. Not as much fun as it sounds.

The Lovely Bones, by Alice Sebold

I hated her last book, so when I picked this one up to reread, I was afraid I would discover that I was crazy when I read it before, and that it was awful. Not so. Maybe not as good as I remember it being the first time, but then, it's a rare book that is. She is very good at pain.

Tanner On Ice, by Lawrence Block

I really enjoyed this weird little book. It's my first Tanner book, and while the language seemed almost dated, it was right for the character somehow. Fun.

The Lincoln Lawyer, by Michael Connelly

I love re-reading these. Every one I read, I can claim more of the LA references.

What To Eat, by Marion Nestle

This is a really great book, and reminds me, in an odd way, of my religious studies classes studying the bible with Professor Greenwald. We looked at the bible historically, semantically, fictionally, etc., and Nestle examines food in a similar way. She looks not only at the expected calories and fat and carb content, but also the political history of certain foods, and the sometimes frightening strength of the lobbies behind foods. It makes me never want to trust anything on an label again. She outlines strategies for getting the most out of food on your plate and in the grocery store. Very interesting.

Way Behind, I Know

Well. It's been some time, so I'm about to do quick reviews of a bunch of books. They are in no particular order. All is well here. The baby continues to grow, we work and play and enjoy the weather in LA.