What I've Read Lately

I've been doing quite a bit of reading lately, not that anyone would know since I haven't written anything in what seems to be a bazillion years. But I have been reading, some I've enjoyed more than others. Here is a random sampling:

Two Parties, One Tux, And a Very Short Film About the Grapes of Wrath by Steven Goldman

In a word: hilarious. This book had me hooked from the very first page. Dry humor, honest dilemmas minus the overwrought angst, and fully developed characters. And did I mention funny? Sooo funny.

"And we need to use more obcenities," David continues. He has obviously been thinking this through. "We don't cuss enough. How's the fucking beer?"

It's warm and tastes like thin mucus. "Fucking great," I say.

"Louder," commands David. "We should be loud. HOW'S THE FUCKING BEER?"

"FUCKING GREAT," I shout. It isn't much of a shout.

David drains about a third of the bottle. "And we should complain about our parents more."

"Yeah, parents suck."

The Ghost's Child by Sonia Hartnett
Much more on the literary side of things, The Ghost's Child is all about the remembrance of a life fully lived even if it didn't all turn out like the narrator hoped. All the reviews I found called it a fable, but I prefer to think of it as magical realism. I want all the fantastical things that happened to have actually happened. It will be a special reader that gets into this one.

No More Us for You by David Hernandez
Loved the title, loved how the title was taken from an art piece from the museum where Carlos works (a neon light that reads "no more coitus for you" but then the letters coi burn out). Unfortunately I never got terribly invested in the characters and so the book fell a bit flat.