[stylist] what have you been reading?

[Chris Kuell]

"If you don't have the time to read, you don't have the time or the tools to write." 
Stephen King, On Writing, p. 147


Here's what I've read since the last time I posted about books:


The Testament by John Grisham  (1999)

Grisham usually spins a pretty good tale, and this one was no exception. An eccentric billionaire proves he's sane, then commits suicide, leaving all his money to an illegitimate daughter and his asshole children fighting for the crumbs. 

 

Catching Fire: Hunger Games book 2 by Suzanne Collins (2009)

A very solid sequel to the original Hunger Games.

 

Mockingjay: Hunger Games 3 by Suzanne Collins  (2010)

I know a lot of people were probably disappointed with this end to the trilogy, but I disagree. I think Collins did a great job of being unpredictable, yet realistic when it comes to a country at war with itself. Two thumbs up from me.

 

Open Season by Archer Mayor  (1988)

The first Joe Gunther' novel, it's a reasonably good mystery about how members of a jury who convicted a black man of murder are being killed or set-up, and Gunther has to figure out who the real killer was.

 

Thirteen Moons by Charles Frasier  (2006)

An enjoyable novel by the author of 'Cold Mountain', it's about a white boy who is sold into servitude in the early 1800s, is adopted by Cherokee Indians, then becomes a lawyer to fight for them, buy land for them, and fail in attempting to stop the Trail of Tears.

 

Change Your Thoughts, Change Your life: Living the Tao Te ching by Wayne Dyer

About 2600 years ago, around the time of Confucius, a Chinese sage named Lao Tzu wrote 81 verses to explain life and how to live it in accordance with the Tao, which can't be defined, but is sort of God and Nature and the way life on our planet is designed. Dyer reads and reflects on each of the 81 verses, talking about how we can incorporate these ideas into our 21st century lives.

 

These Things Hidden by Heather Gudenkauff  (2011)

A completely forgettable novel about a young woman, who at 16, is convicted of murdering her baby. The town's 'golden girl', she goes away for 6 years, gets released, and ends up working for the couple who adopted the twin of the baby she didn't really kill, because her crazy sister did it! Sorry for the spoiler, but I just saved you a lot of time.

 

Fall of Giants by Ken Follett  (2010)

If you never really understood how the murder of an Austrian Prince lead to World War I, you will by the end of this massive, thousand page novel-the first of a trilogy. The writing is solid, the characters interesting, but in my opinion, it's simply too damn long. 



- chris