I have a stack of books piled up beside the bed right now that I have not read. I just can't get into anything lately. I read a lot of mysteries (Marcia Muller, James Lee Burke, Gail Bowen) and well a lot of fiction in general. For a while, I've been deeply into adventure books. The last recommendation I got, Alvah Simon's, "North to the Night" was fabulous, but there are so many adventure books.

So, I'm open for suggestions!

-- Christine (chris@gta.igs.net), November 04, 1999

Answers

I've read the first 2 Harry Potter books. Rowling came to the Bay Area over the weekend, and I was bummed that I missed an opportunity to hear her speak. Then I heard it was a ticketed event, and there wouldn't have been any tickets left to get me in anyway, so I was less bummed.

Hey, Christine, we still gonna do an Enterview? What should my first question be?

-- Mike (mleung@mikeleung.com), November 04, 1999.

You know me.

I love my Canadian fiction authors... I've read a few lately, too... Michael Remski's Through the Deadfall by Barry Kennedy, among others...

But one book challenged and defeated me. Diana Hartog's The Photographer's Sweethearts. I am rarely affected strongly by what I read, but this book got under my skin, and started wriggling. It has vivid descriptions of Louie's pedophelia. The twist in the book is that Hartog is setting Louie up as an otherwise amiable character. She sets up in the reader a strong dichotomy between a like of the main character, Louie, and a hatred of what he does.

Come to think of it, I've been reading a couple of challenging books lately. Remski's Dying for Veronica attacks both the Catholic Church, and the conventions of English Literature in a couple hundred pages. Based on an equally controversial topic, the narrator in Dying tells the reader of his life-long love for his sister. There's a lot more to the book, however, so ask me if you want more details. ;)

-- Darren James Harkness (solas@direct.ca), November 05, 1999.

OK... the above *should* have been:

Michael Remski's Dying for Veronica, and Through the Deadfall by Barry Kennedy

-- Darren James Harkness (solas@direct.ca), November 05, 1999.

I don't do a lot of reading but there have been a couple of profound books in my life and a couple of wonderful authors. To begin, The Fountainhead, by Ayn Rand should be read by anybody who asks the question "Why isn't it better?" Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Persig is not the most entertaining reading I've experienced, but it gave me a better understanding of some more people. (In zen-fashion, my copy was washed overboard on Georgian Bay while on loan to a friend, and subsequently devoured by zebra mussels, no doubt...) Charles Dickens. Specifically David Copperfield (I remember working for the county roads department one summer, directing gravel trucks, standing on a hillside, reading and laughing til I cried), Nicholas Nickleby, and Dombey and Son. But anything will be a treat. Timothy Findley is my Canadian pick (he lives a couple of blocks away from me)- Not Wanted on the Voyage, The Piano Man's Daughter and The Wars, for starters. And Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. I know, I know, we've all seen the touring version on stage somewhere, but it pales compared to a tour through the book...

-- Michael (meaford@hotmail.com), November 05, 1999.

I just love that Barry Kennedy book. I grew up in Vancouver and have spent alot of time on Vancouver Island. I just can't stop laughing every page. He is witty, sarcastic and purely west coast humour.

Has anyone read Fingerprints of the Gods by Graham Hancock? Wow! If you like adventure/non-fiction that will keep you turning the pages, as long as history, archaeology, astronomy and physics don't bother you in a book.

-- Diana Gerdenits (DandD@mercuryspeed.com), February 04, 2003.