Jess and I just got back from a week in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. I like tropical beach vacations because I get to relax and catch up on my reading. Here are some half ass reviews of the books that I read this time (yes, I spent much of the vacation sitting in a beach chair). I know that a few of you people have been looking for something new for your bedside table.

Low Life

by Luc Sante

Low Life is a dense, fiercely researched history of 1840-1920 Manhattan. Sante should be proud of the facts and mythology that he has collected in this volume.

I've became interested in city life during the 1800s after I read The Alienist (a long time ago) and I finally got around to picking this up. I didn't enjoy all sections equally, but I'm glad that I read it.

Recommended to anyone with an interest in history or New York City. Don't miss the author's afterword.

Fragile Things

by Neil Gaiman

I'm always excited when some new Neil Gaiman shit comes out. This collection of short stories didn't disappoint.

Favorite bits: the American Gods novella, Other People, Bitter Grounds, a Study in Emerald...

Recommended to all!

PS - read the author's notes about each story as you complete them. You'll be glad you did.

The Areas of my Expertise

by John Hodgman

(you know, the Daily Show commentator and "PC guy" in the Apple commercials)

Very silly. Fun at times, but I don't think that I'd recommend it. Although the hobo names did mix well with all the colorfully named characters in Low Life :)

Lunar Park

by Bret Easton Ellis

I hadn't read any Ellis before and I probably should have read "American Psycho" first. (It's not a sequel, it's a novel starring the author. Yeah.) For some reason, I feel guilty admitting that I liked this :)

Shitty cover.

Recommended. Try it if you like vodka.

Kingdom of Fear

by Hunter S. Thompson

Where would we be without tenacious bastards like the late Dr. Thompson? Somebody needs to keep a weird and semi-deranged eye on the cops and the president.

Watch "Where the Buffalo Roam" or "Fear and Loathing" first so that your mind's voice will have the proper stumble/mumble gait.

Try it if you like Hunter!

Altered Carbon

by Richard Morgan

Fun, action-packed cyber sci-fi. Terrible fucking cover. Terrible title too. Like an action movie - fast paced, story over writing, mild cliches. I'd read the next in the series.

A Werewolf Problem in Central Russia

by Victor Pelevin

I loved some of the stories and barely made it through others. It probably doesn't help that I'm ignorant of all things Russian. Much like Buddha's Little Finger, I think that thoughts and parts of stories will stick with me (a good thing).

Try Buddha's Little Finger first. It's good.

Shuck Unmasked

by Rick Smith, Tania Menesse

Funny, cute, clever but not my cup o tea.

Sandman (book 1)

by Neil Gaiman

Really - I hadn't read it yet. No joke.

I liked it, of course, but I have a feeling that the best issues are still out there in one of the other million volumes.

I just noticed Amazon's new aStore thingy. aStore lets you create your own mini bookstore of things which sell through Amazon and earn you a commission.

This seems like a *really* cool thing for creators. Kelly Sue and Fraction have one set up and stocked with their books and comics. I'd like to see more artists, writers, and musicians with mini-stores on their websites. If you know that you are interested in a particular creator then a little well organized store is much easier to browse than Amazon's Big Tangle. And of course, it's good to send that little cut of of the proceeds back to its Mom or Dad.

If your book pile is down to a couple Victorian classics that you've really been meaning to read, have no fear. Neil Gaiman and Jonathan Carroll both have new novels coming out soon (September 20th and October 1st).

Also... The Postsecret book is due in December and January brings Stumbling And Raging...

Wow. I don't know why I didn't find this earlier: The Agony has a bunch of author interviews in MP3 format. Rick's archive includes some of my favorite authors including Jonathan Carroll and China Mieville. They have 3 separate interviews with Palaniuk for you Chuck-leheads out there.

The Agony Column RSS feed is here.

I haven't picked up many new books lately. Although I love buying books, it's nice to take a break and gain a little time to catch up on my unread shelf. I just finished (with the exception of 1 story) Eileen Gunn's collection. I enjoyed it - definitely give it a shot if you are into SF/Fantasy. It's been a while since I last read a really great short story collection by a single author. Which reminds me - check out Kelly Link's book. You should definitely try her out (if you haven't already) before her second book comes out this May.

Today, I started on Razor Wire Pubic Hair. It's a short book and I'm about halfway through so far. It's deranged. Carlton Mellick III is seriously warped. This is the second book of his that I have read (the first being "Satan Burger") and I think that I'm going to stop now before I do any more damage. So far, I think that "Satan Burger" is the definitely the better of the two. If you are intrigued, you can check out the first chapter of Satan Burger online. Don't say I didn't warn you. Actually, don't read it. Forget I said anything. Really.

I think that I'll probably open up "Another Night in Suck City" next. I've also got to get myself down to the Outer Limits comic shop in Waltham. I'm sure that my cubby is overflowing and Steve would probably like me to pay for my stack of comics sometime this year. Whatever is waiting for me there will probably keep me busy for weeks....

My current reading list / wish list...

So Jess and I spent most of the day Christmas shopping in Harvard Square. I visited 8 or 9 shops and did not buy a single thing. This happens every year - I've never come home from my first day of official Christmas shopping with a gift.

There doesn't seem to be much on the tables at bookstores this year. Many of the hardcovers that were on display last year were put out again this holiday season. On the usually zero-calorie "gift book" tables I came across a cool hardcover called Graffiti World as well as Fruits (which has been around for a while). Seeing my favorite authors and illustrators being pimped out at Christmastime always hurts a little. Sweet baby Jesus! Please don't put my people on a table next to Bill Clinton and Jimmy Buffett. Jess and I do approve of Marjane Satrapi's "Persepolis" which is *everywhere* this year. I also noticed that our fair city has a "nude notables" calendar which seemed to be popular with the bookstore browsers. The "Cambridge Uncovered" calendar includes Robert Reich and a group photo of folks from the 1369 Coffee House.

For those readers on your list, allow me to recommend a few authors that I love. I'm sure that Amazon has good reviews and other helpful advice for shoppers, so I'll just point them out to you... Matt Ruff's "Set This House in Order" would probably appeal to the widest range of readers (ie. people who dislike fantasy).

• Jonathan Carroll
  • The Land of Laughs
  • Bones of the Moon
• China Mieville
  • The Scar
  • Perdido Street Station
• Graham Joyce
  • Requiem
  • Dark Sister
• Matt Ruff
  • Set This House in Order
  • Fool on the Hill

Also, Orwell's 1984 and Huxley's Brave New World are particularly appropriate this year.

Oh - and if you are looking for a Moleskine alternative this holiday season, you may want to check out products by Miquelrius. (ugh - I *hate* Flash websites)

You might have noticed that I just buried my "Recently Wished" sidebar under a new batch of books. The 3 new items ("You Don't Have to Fuck People Over to Survive", "Bomb the Suburbs", "The Amazing Snox Box") are all from Soft Skull Press.

I found out about Soft Skull by reading Jim Mahfood's "40oz Collected". Hey Jim! - Thanks for the awesome comics and the great music and book recommendations.

This is my favorite bit from one of my favorite poems. Enjoy it and good night.

days when children say funny and brilliant things
like savages trying to send you a message through
their bodies while their bodies are still
alive enough to transmit and feel and run up
and down without locks and paychecks and
ideals and possessions and beetle-like
opinions.

Read the rest of Something For The Touts, The Nuns, The Grocery Clerks, And You...
at http://plagiarist.com/poetry/4506/