Just Finished, Just Started

I've finished Break No Bones by Kathy Reichs and will review it later.

Right now, two books are in process, but I'm not sure if Charles J. Shields' Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee is going to make the cut. The introduction is terrific, but the first chapter gives me pause. This is an unauthorized biography, and Harper Lee refused to communicate with Shields. While I found the intro extremely promising, the first chapter is setting my teeth on edge, counteracting those positive feelings. Well, I've not really given it a chance, and will set it aside for a while to see if my attitude changes. This was going to be my monthly biography, but we shall see.

I've also begun Finn by Jon Clinch, a novel about Huck Finn's Pap. Whoa! Clinch's writing is almost like reading a nightmare, beautiful and frightening. A study in wickedness. Evil under a microscope. Whitewashing. On page 11, Clinch introduces a morbid echo of the whitewashed fence in Tom Sawyer. The "whited sepulchre" -- a new approach to The Heart of Darkness. This novel is going to be intense and will probably require many short sessions with lots of time to think in between. Lisa at Bluestalking Reader reviewed the novel with great enthusiasm a while back, and when I saw it on the New Book Shelf at the library, I whipped into my book bag without a second thought. Having read fewer than 20 pages, second and third thoughts (and more) are already whirling in a maelstrom.

My thanks to Sam at Book Chase for listing me in The Thinking Blogger Award meme. I particularly appreciate Sam's nomination as I enjoy his blog. As for participating (the rules are listed in the above link) and nominating 5 more blogs, well, check the side bar. Many of these blogs have already been nominated. I just can't choose. :) I've always had difficulty naming 5 or 10 (or whatever) of my favorite books, movies, etc. I'm too wish-washy! The internal debate goes on and on and my frustration with my inability to make up mind, to leave one out, to prioritize-- just grows and grows. I try to link any blog that has grabbed my attention, entertained me, intrigued me, made me curious, but I don't always remember to do so. I will try to be more conscientious about showing appreciation for blog posts in the future, but there are so many entertaining and informative blogs and blog posts...