Books, Books and More Books

I've been reading a lot lately, and I've noticed more than ever how my tastes run pretty much all over the place. I tend to read at least two books at a time, sometimes up to four, and they are rarely all the same type of book. I read biographies, mysteries, paranormal novels, science fiction....you name it, I've probably at least tried to read it.



One of my recent reads was William Shatner's autobiography Up Until Now. When I was a kid, I loved to watch Star Trek reruns. We moved a lot, and it seemed like everywhere we lived, one of the local channels played Star Trek. And then along came T.J. Hooker. Remember that one? I adored that show. Even wrote lyrics for the theme music. (No, I won't sing it for you.)


Now, Shatner has become a bit of a joke over the years. His biggest redeeming quality came along when he finally decided to jump on the bandwagon and start making fun of himself. Then came Boston Legal. He was pretty good in that. In this book...? Well,


This book is very disjointed and hard to trudge through. He bounces around, interrupts himself, and even gets some of his facts wrong (Dale Earhardt, Sr. is the one who died in a crash, not Dale Junior). A good bit of the time, I found my self asking "where the heck was the editor?"



I discovered this book about a month ago. It's the first in a series about a cat who suddenly finds he can not only read and understand English, but he can talk as well. Throw in a murder and you have the makings of an interesting story. It's not the most complicated plot, but it held my attention all the way through, and that's saying something.



I love Denis Leary's comedy. When he gets going, you just sit back and enjoy the ride. This book is just like that. As you ready, you can just about hear him. It's great. It's funny. It's thought-provoking. What more can you ask for?


And the thing about Denis Leary, who has an honorary Doctorate and can use that title now, is no matter who you are, you will find yourself agreeing with at least some of what he says. He makes sense, even when he's saying something that is actually aimed at people like you. I mean, no one is safe, not even himself. One thing I did notice though; he points out more than once how wonderful his wife is and how lucky he is to have her. She sure has him trained right. ;-)


Well, that's the latest ones I've read. Right now I'm reading Serena by Ron Rash...which if you like regional novels should be on your must-read list. It's the first book of his I've read and his main character gives me the heebie jeebies. **shudder**


I'm also reading Deadly Harvest by Heather Graham. It's the second book in one of her series, but one thing I like about her books is the fact that if you pick up the middle book like this, it stands alone enough that you'll be fine reading it. (Kay Hooper's are much the same.) I've just started this one, so I don't know for sure how good it's going to be. I'll just say "so far, so good."


I guess that's it. I'm always on the lookout for something interesting to read. If you have any ideas, pass them along.