I was reminded by Eric's recent entry that I haven't updated the log of what I've been reading of late.

I still read a lot, my pace is picking up at least a little, but I spend a lot of time writing. I continue to enroll for successive eight week workshops here. I've found an instructor I really like, who provides direct and helpful criticism without making me feel like an idiot. So each time a new session of classes opens up, I sign on for another eight weeks.

I'm a little startled to realize (1) how hard it is; (2) how much time it takes; and (3) how much I like it. But it will take quite a bit to put me off reading completely, so here's the latest update.

FLOWERING JUDAS by Jane Haddam

Haddam's protagonist, retired FBI agent Gregor Demarkian is called to a small town where a body has been discovered hanging from a billboard. What makes the find especially gruesome is that the billboard is a plea for the return of a young man missing for a dozen years or more; and the body strung up on the billboard is the missing man. He is only recently dead, so the obvious question is: Where has he been all this time?

DECEIVING THE DECEIVERS by S J Hamrick

I had this one from the library three or four times prior to my trip to England this summer, and could not settle in to read it. After two weeks studying the spies Philby, Burgess, and McLean, I got the book again and was able to follow and stay engaged. The author claims that several governmental agencies were more interested in protecting their own reputations than in providing the truth. Hamrick painstakingly matched dates and events to make a compelling case for a sensible sequence of events. Based on my own experience trying to stick with the story, perhaps only readers who are already intrigued by the tales of the Cambridge Five will be interested.

PORTRAIT OF A SPY by Daniel Silva

Silva is one of my favorite authors and I always put my name in at the library when he has a new title. Israeli agent Gabriel Allon works with the daughter of a deceased Saudi agent to infiltrate and bring down a jihadist cell.

TOWNIE by Andre Dubus III

This was assigned reading for my personal narrative writing workshop. Dubus, who had a huge success a few years ago with HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG, wrote this memoir of his coming of age in a small New England town; his fascination when young with violence, boxing, and body building; and his eventual turning away from violence as an answer to difficult human interaction. Our instructor assigned several weekly exercises based on the writing style in some of the chapters in the book. Intriguing way to learn.

LIT by Mary Karr

Another assignment by the staff at the Lighthouse. Karr is widely credited with beginning the recent surge in interest in memoir, and the mini-boom in publishing books in that genre. She was in Denver to speak at several fund raising events, and a four week class preceded her appearance. I went to one of the events, and really enjoyed listening to her. LIT is her third book of memoir, and focuses on her recovery from alcholism; her conversion to Catholicism; and the beginning of her career as a memorist.

THE ART OF RACING IN THE RAIN by Garth Stein

A current favorite pick of book discussion groups, and that's why I ended up with it. It's told from the point of view of a dog, relating events in the life of the family which owns him. I found it more than a little predictable.

TURBULENT SOULS by Stephen Dubner

Another memoir, this one I picked up on my own, with no prompting from the Lighthouse. Dubner is often interviewed on various NPR shows, and is the regular host of Freakonomics, a regular broadcast on WNYC from New York. Dubner's parents each converted from Judaism to Catholicism in the late 1940's, before he was born. As an adult, Dubner became intrigued with his family's history; and converted back to Judaism. He researches his father's life; interviews his mother at length; reconnects with both his parents' families. I really enjoyed the book.

HELL IS EMPTY by Craig Johnson

Johnson lives in rural Wyoming, and sets his continuing series in a small town and focuses on the adventures of a county sheriff. Walt Longmire meets Federal agents escorting several criminals to long term imprisonment. One of them has confessed to murdering a young man and burying his body near the intersection of several county lines. When the burial site is identified as within Longmire's jurisdiction, he becomes part of the team escorting the offenders. One of the men escapes, a winter storm sets in, and Longmire endures a nightmarish ordeal tracking the escapee through the mountainous wilds. Johnson's books always have an element that is hard to describe. Not all of what Longmire perceives and understands can be explained in fully rational terms. As he struggles to find the escaped man and survive the harsh storm, he is guided and helped by an Indian man who lives in the area. It later develops that that man has died. Was he dead before he helped Walt? Does it matter? Johnson is on my "don't miss" list of authors.

CRYING BLOOD by Donis Casey

Casey's series is set in early 20th century Oklahoma in a farming community. Shaw Tucker is on a hunting trip with his sons and some cousins. The dogs sniff out a dessicated body, and as the sheriff attempts to identify the remains, a young Indian man shows up at the Tucker's ranch. Within a few hours, the young man is dead with a spear through his chest. The answer to his murder involves a long simmering land dispute; property rights of Indian women; and an undiagnosed descent into madness. As with all her books, Casey provides a delightful visit into a long vanished way of life.

TO END ALL WARS by Adam Hochschild

Historian Hochschild writes about the first World War. In addition to analyzing the military missteps and lack of understanding, he also studies the social fabric of the England of the time. Many British opposed the war; spent time in prison as a result of their beliefs; and helped to establish the current Labor party. I heard the author interviewed on NPR, and the interview intrigued me. The book is more than worth the time.

MODEL HOME by Eric Puchner

Another recommendation from NPR. Puchner's novel follows a family drawn to the real estate boom of the mid 1980's in Southern California. Not much works out they way they hoped. But even without a happy ending, the closing pages left me in a hopeful mood for the future of the characters.

CALL ME PRINCESS by Sara Blaedel

A popular Danish author, Blaedel has not had an English translation available, prior to this book. Her protagonist Louise Rick, is an investigator with the Copenhagen police. The squad is working on tracking down a particularly vicious serial rapist. The plot is classic police procedural, with a few vividly graphic descriptions of the assaults on the victims added in.

That's it for this update. Thanks to Eric for the reminded to publish the update!