Bookstorm

Christopher Hitchens: dead at sixty-two.

Here's a round-up of links I almost forgot to share ...

• Had you enrolled in David Foster Wallace's literary analysis class, you would've needed Stephen King's Carrie, Thomas Harris's The Silence of the Lambs, and Jackie Collins's Rock Star, among others.
• The history of the future of the book.
• And since we're on the subject, here are ten books that can teach you how to survive the future.
• Alan Moore on the Wall Street occupation: "These people look like they're having a good time."
• "Why are male writers so bad at sex scenes?" (I don't think this debate will ever be settled, but you know what they say about practice ...)

I finished my world literature class with an A (thereby screwing the curve for everyone else, which I don't regret doing), and I'm just beginning to unwind and enjoy the winter break. I've been dipping into a science fiction anthology called Solaris Rising, but I'm mostly sick of books and reading.

However, a few weeks back, I managed to read Michael Connelly's The Drop. It wasn't Connelly's finest hour. Maybe my expectations were set too high. I thought Harry Bosch got a little too lucky solving the two cases. If the plotting is any indication, Connelly didn't seem very interested in the book. It wasn't bad, but it didn't have a punch, either. There's really nothing setting it apart. I don't expect Connelly to top The Last Coyote, but when he phones it in, you get The Drop. It's not as unmemorable as The Scarecrow, but it's close.

I may try reading Vladimir Nabokov's Ada. I just don't know if I can deal with reading an entire (annotated) book on my computer. I suppose we'll find out.