Current read: All The Broken Places, by John Boyne. Compelling study of guilt and redemption, asking the reader to consider the degree to which children of the most monstrous parents share culpability. Boyne continues as favorite novelist to emerge in this century.

Current read: To The Lighthouse, by Virginia Woolf. I guess Mrs. Dalloway was enough Woolf for me. No matter how poetically she expresses their internal thoughts, these characters are profoundly uninteresting. Some semblance of a plot might have rescued this, but it wasn’t to be.

Current read: The Woman In White, by Wilkie Collins. Victorian treachery, in complex layers. Groundbreaking detective fiction. Identity theft, illegitimacy, stolen inheritance, and a proto-mafia. This must have been an absolute thrill to read in 1860. Beautifully crafted read even today.

Current read: London Falling, by Patrick Radden Keefe. A teen pretends to be the son of a Russian oligarch, mixes in with bad people and winds up dead. Gripping true story, unresolved (inept cops). Thatcher banking deregulation turned London into a pit of Russians & other crooks and thugs.

Current read: Razorblade Tears, by S.A. Cosby. Two fathers, one black & one white, band together in scorched-earth effort to find the killers of their gay sons, and compensate for their failings as fathers. Action-packed fun read. The messaging is a bit heavy-handed, but some people need that.

Current read: The Stranger, by Albert Camus. So much already said about this absurdist classic. I’ll just add that I found Meursault, the neurodivergent narrator, to be refreshing. A man incapable of bullshitting. Especially useful when facing the fatuous priest in the final chapter.

Current read: The Absolutist, by John Boyne. Another excellent story by one of the best of this century. The horror and filth of WWI trench warfare and its tragic impact on two men unable to live honestly. Moving and devastating to the final paragraph.

Current read: A Violent Masterpiece, by Jordan Harper. The unconstrained perversions of the unimaginably wealthy, their enablers, enforcers, hangers-on and victims. Perfect backdrop for murder mystery. Hyperkinetic, 2026 in a nutshell. Exactly how you’d expect these scumbags to behave.

Current read: Deliverance, by James Dickey. The story was familiar from the popular adaptation, but this is much more philosophical. Protagonists facing kill-or-be-killed situation hide evidence of killings rather than risk certain injustice at the hands of the law. A great read.

Current read: The Trees, by Percival Everett. Lynching victims return as zombie avengers? Told with the wit of a standup comic. The ambiguous ending notwithstanding, this is a great read. All stereotypes richly deserved. Even idiot trump makes a cameo.

Current read: The Warmth Of Other Suns, by Isabel Wilkerson. The definitive history of the great migration of black Americans from the Jim Crow south to destinations north and west, between World War I and the 1970s, the most impactful migration in US history. A must read, especially today.

Current read: Joy In The Morning, by P.G. Wodehouse. Satirical look at the pointless lives of the idle rich. Every Jeeves & Wooster story follows the same basic pattern, but that doesn’t matter. The joy is in the language. Like a leisurely brunch with your wittiest friend.

Current read: Terms Of Endearment, by Larry McMurtry. I expected to love this, after reading Lonesome Dove. Not so much. Imbalanced & unconvincing, with too much focus on the obnoxious Aurora and her pathetic “suitors.“ The daughter’s story is more an afterthought tacked to the end.

Current read: Shuggie Bain, by Douglas Stuart. Miserable people leading miserable lives and treating each other miserably in this autobiographical slog. Naturally, it won awards. Not my drink I’m afraid.

Current read: Dolores Claiborne, by Stephen King. His most unusual narrative, an unbroken 300-page monologue by the protagonist, told in an unforgettable voice. Filled with quotable quotes. Much more dark, raw and morally ambiguous than the excellent movie adaptation.

Current read: Of Mice And Men, by John Steinbeck. Continuing the tour through the complete works of Steinbeck, arguably the greatest American writer of the 20th century. This short masterpiece packs a wallop, even if the climax is telegraphed early.

This one, right now - Shoot Out The Lights, Richard and Linda Thompson.

Current read: Butcher’s Crossing, by John Williams. Vivid, well-researched and beautifully written Western coming-of-age story. Cosmic irony, reminiscent of Thomas Hardy and O. Henry. Stoner was no fluke. This is great, so much better than the over-praised Blood Meridian.

Current read: City Of Thieves, by David Benioff. This is why we read. Exceptional storytelling, perfectly mixing breathtaking suspense, horrifying inhumanity and intelligent humor, all against the brutal backdrop of the Siege of Leningrad. Not a wasted word. Magnificent.

Current read: David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens. Solid Dickens with excellent first and fourth quarters. The middle shows signs of being serialized and sold by the chapter. Treatment of Victorian women as delicate flowers who faint easily and die for no apparent reason jumps out.

Current read: The Virgin Suicides, by Jeffrey Eugenides. A chronicle of five deaths foretold, somehow manages to be dull, creepy and largely pointless. The voyeuristic first-person plural narration is distracting. The entire premise is just fucked up. Too bad, as Middlesex was quite good.

Current read: Rules Of Civility, by Amor Towles. Manhattan, 1938. Attractive young working-class woman from the outer boroughs - witty, well-read and improbably worldly - rubs elbows with the upper crust, and learns their secrets. Same as it ever was. Dishy and often poignant. A fun read.

Current read: The Death Of Ivan Ilych, by Leo Tolstoy. Brutally realistic treatment of the reflection upon one’s life while experiencing relentlessly painful impending death. Nothing fun or entertaining here, but essential nonetheless.

Current read: The Perks Of Being A Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky. Bright, mildly neurodivergent teen deals with the entire array of issues in this affecting epistolary novel. Read this, and then go listen to and read all the great songs and books name-dropped within.

Current read: King Sorrow, by Joe Hill. Fantasy with dragons is not my usual grown-up read (fifty years ago for sure). But the human side of this one kept it compelling for 900 pages. He certainly knows how to take a good idea and run all the way with it. He is unmistakably his father’s son.

Current read: And Then There Were None (Ten Little Indians), by Agatha Christie. The prototype for many similar captive group murder mysteries to follow. Clever, but cold, not much reason to care about the victims. The killer-fakes-his-own-death trope evident early on.

Current read: Train Dreams, by Denis Johnson. An odd, melancholy novella about an unremarkable man who suffers an unimaginable loss, then exists unremarkably for many years until he dies. The accolades are mystifying. The screenwriters concocted a great deal of material to make a movie of this.

Current read: Boy’s Life, by Robert McCammon. A 12-year-old’s loss of innocence in 1964 rural Alabama, with a dash of magic. Magnificent plotting and storytelling, emphasizing the humanity of the characters, like the best of Stephen King. Every thread is pulled and there are no loose ends.

Current read: Ask The Dust, by John Fante. A narcissistic young writer and an unstable waitress in a love-hate relationship in skid row L.A., late 1930s. An oddly impactful, often funny and worthwhile short read.

Current read: Boy Swallows Universe, by Trent Dalton. Fantastic. Gritty coming of age story, teen growing up in drug underworld of Brisbane, hoping to become a writer and avenge childhood traumas. With an ending rivaling Silence Of The Lambs. Highly recommended.