Away

Off to GA and NC for a week long family vacation. Should be very fun. A few book notes before going:

I am reading Truck - I loved Population 485 so I immediately picked this one up. I think I prefer this one to Population 485, which says a lot as I thought that book was great. They are similar in subject, with lots of personal stories built around a theme, in case, the rebuilding of his rusty truck and finding unexpected love. The writing feels more confident and relaxed this time around. Perry riffs on an amazing number of topics and delivers more off the cuff wisdom in a chapter than many books deliver.

Guillermo del Toro, he of the spooky movies, now has a spooky book in the Strain. It is a Vampire Apocalypse book, or so it seems, with what promises to be an insane body count. The book has its issues, but I finding that I quite like it, staying up far too late to read some more. It's the first of a trilogy, which means there will be cliffhangers aplenty, but based on what I have read so far, it is a winner.

The BN review has a long interview with Richard Russo. I am cautiously optimistic about his new book. I particularly like this response to a question about reviewing books:

Actually, I don't review that much, and for a reason. Even when a book truly sucks, I can't get out of my mind the fact that some poor dumb schmuck labored over it lovingly, just as I do over my own fiction. I realize that it's somebody's job to blow the whistle on bad books, but I resist the notion that it's mine. When I do review, I look for and attempt to articulate the work's strengths before pouncing on its weaknesses. When there's simply no good news, I try not to appear as if I'm enjoying myself in delivering the unpleasant verdict.