"The Slap" by Christos Tsiolkas

I bought this book because in a picture, I saw Simon Baker's wife reading it. It's a best book winner of the Commonwealth Writers Prize. It was a good, very readable book that gave me a bit of insight into Australian society, and Greek families.

"A Game of Thrones" by George R. R. Martin

Even though Ray is not thrilled with this author, and even the books are kind of lengthy, I decided to read this book and the others in the series after watching the tv show on HBO. For many of the tv episodes, I was even kind of bored, but the last episode hooked me, and suddenly, I'm a bit of a George R.R. Martin fan. It's not that he's an extraordinary writer, but he does have a very unique vision. The series was kind of confusing because of the number of characters and the complexity of the mythology, so one of my purposes in reading the book was to clarify some questions.

I did enjoy the book, but it was kind of slow for me because the tv series followed it so closely. This is the book I was reading when I left for Europe, and despite all my time at airports, buses, and hotel rooms, I only finished it today.

"Dead in the Family" by Charlaine Harris

Enjoyable quick read. Though I find that each of the True Blood books does get boring after awhile. It would probably help if I didn't read spoilers on the web, and know most of the salient plot points before I even start the book. Same goes for the tv series. I'm addicted to spoilers, sigh.

"More Die of Heartbreak" by Saul Bellow

Simultaneously amusing and highly intellectual. Last year, I read "Henderson and the Rain King" by him, so I've become used to Bellow's style. When I read him, I don't worry about all the intellectual stuff that is foreign to me; I just enjoy his satire and his insights into the human condition. I love that he brings out the weirdness in human thought processes, and yet sustains the feeling of normalcy.

I became interested in Saul Bellow during my Mordecai Richler jag, because like Richler, he was a Jew from the Montreal area. However, Bellow moved to Chicago when he was 8, and this is another city that interests me.

"Stone Kiss" by Faye Kellerman

This is the first book I read by Faye Kellerman. I've enjoyed numerous books by her husband Jonathan Kellerman, and have been wondering what  I would think of her writing for awhile now. Verdict? The book was actually quite riveting, but I'm not really drawn in by the characters, so I don't think I'll ready anything else by her unless it happens to by lying around. Too much description, too much religion, too much earthiness in a conservative religious sort of way, and too much violence.

My memory of Jonathan is that his books are more cerebral and more sparsely (i.e. better) written. Just to show you how shallow I am, I stopped reading Jonathan's books when the protagonist broke up with a girlfriend I liked. I see that they're back together again, so I guess I'll start reading him again.

"Poland" by James A. Michener

While I was reading this book, things that I did that I remember are:
- Ray and I visited my mother in her new apt, where Henry and Cocia Marylka also came
- Had a really nice visit from Morgan and Lucas, and the highlight, believe it or not, was our visit to IKEA.
- Morgan had a miscarriage. Baby stopped growing at 7 1/2 weeks
- Started my new volunteer job, sorting books at the Tallwood facility. Tiring and a bit boring, but also interesting. It's a long bus ride, and I read on the bus.

The book is interesting, but Michener tends to go into too much detail, and has a rather straightforward writing style. There were occurrences of male chauvinism and I didn't always know if that was a reflection on the author or the period he was writing about. A large part of Poland's history is kind of embarrassing, and the magnates in particular were rather disgusting in their self interest. Now that I know that I have an Austrian ancestor, the Austrian bits were of more interest to me than the first time I read this book.  I didn't remember a thing from my 1st reading.

"We were the Mulvaneys" by Joyce Carol Oates

I'm writing this entry in Oct, 2014, and have a feeling I forgot to create one when I actually read the book. Unless, of course, I somehow managed to delete it along the way. I wanted to make sure this book is recorded, because after reading "Haunted" I have finally become a fan of Joyce Carol Oates. All I remember about it is an impression. It was well written, but somehow disappointing to me, and caused me to wonder at myself, since Oates is apparently a great writer.