The Reads of 2017

Big changes and whatnot.  No internet, yet, at the new Casa de Big Stupid Tommy.  Comcast, that beautiful multi-billion dollar media conglomerate, can't find it in its capacity to move a transmission line up two telephone poles.  So, we're in the process of finding an alternative.  We've gotten a digital TV antenna, so we've got Jeopardy (important) and all the Andy Griffith and Mama's Family re-runs on MeTV (even more important) that you could ask for.

There's been lots of reading.  Up to mid-May, when the move was commenced, I was averaging three or four books a month.  A bit low, for me, early in the year, but it's been a tough year.  "Real life" and all that.

Still, here's  a quick listing of what I read or listened to during the first half of 2017:

January

Shardik          Richard Adams
Post Office           Charles Bukowski
TV: the Book        Alan Sepinwall & Matt Zoller Seitz

February

TheYard            Alex Grecian
The Lost Sun          Tessa Gratton
The Immortal Irishman       Timothy Egan
Norse Mythology            Neil Gaiman
Gather Her Round          Alex Bledsoe

March

The Yiddish Policemen's Union            Michael Chabon
Fever Dream              Samanta Schweblin
The Dragon Factory           Jonathan Maberry
Carrie                   Stephen King
Masters of Atlantis             Charles Portis

April

Rusty Puppy              Joe R. Lansdale
The Cubs Way             Tom Verducci
The BFG                      Roald Dahl
Moby Dick                 Herman Melville

May

The Dreams of Cardinal Vittorini             Reggie Oliver
Station Eleven                 Emily St. John Mandel
Stay Crazy                    Erika Satifka
Anansi Boys                Neil Gaiman

June

Bird Box            Josh Malerman
Ghost Road Blues                Jonathan Maberry
Brimstone                Cherie Priest
All Quiet on the Western Front              Erich Maria Remarque
Hillbilly Elegy                  J.D. Vance
Gwendy's Button Box            Stephen King & Richard Chizmar
Double Wonderful             John Swartzwelder
Bunker Hill                Nathaniel Philbrick

Currently, I'm in the process of finishing Robert Conquest's The Great Terror, which I've muddled through.  It's actually the first book in a while I've had to set aside because it was affecting my state of mind. Nightmares, to be sure.  I can't leave it be, though.  Fascinating stuff, that look at the horrors of Stalin.  It gave me nightmares.  I should finish it in the next week.

I'm also listening to Salem's Lot, as my work commute.  After re-reading Carrie, I got it in my head to work back through King's work.  It's a minor project that should last me the next decade.