Medley of Books

I've read quite a few books over the past few weeks, but haven't had a chance to make mention of them what with me being with work at the library among other things.

I read The Children of Men for book club. It was a good book, and I thought it would translate well to film. I had heard that it was made into a movie that received some Oscar nominations earlier this year. I'll have to see the movie when I get a chance.

How I Found the Strong has been on my reading list since this past October when I met its author, Margaret McMullan, at the Mississippi Library Association Conference. I didn't know she taught at the University of Evansville, and as we talked, I found out that she knows my uncle, who is a retired professor, and aunt.

I read the book and was struck by a passage where the narrator says that Smith County (the book takes place during the Civil War) was essentially being run by the children, in that nothing could be done without the children. Fascinating.

Another book that recently made it to my reading list was Positively Fifth Street by James McManus. I was more interested in the legal aspects of the book, but found the firsthand coverage of the World Series of Poker to be more intriguing.

The book club talked about The Day of the Locust last night when we weren't talking about the Frank Melton trial. We got to talking about how Los Angeles and Hollywood was seen as the place of dreams by people, but wasn't really-- more of an artifice. I mentioned I was reminded of a certain quote by William Faulkner regarding Los Angeles.

FP has the next book club selection, and she's chosen Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates. It looks like it's a good pick. I look forward to reading it.