New Ivan Doig

I read the first 100 or so pages of The Eleventh Man last night, and am, as usual, in awe of Doig's ability to create using the English language. More folks from back east should read this man.

Romance novel, my ass

Davidson's debut, The Gargoyle, is frequently referred to as a romance novel or a love story. I'll buy the latter, but the wonder of such an engaging story is the infusion of Dante's Inferno, both as a plot point and as a structural device. This is a great book, with a new favorite quote about the existence of God: "I can no more believe in God than I can believe an invisible monkey lives in my ass; however, I would believe in both if they could be scientifically proven." I'm working that baby into every conversation I can!

More Cain

Sweetheart, Chelsea Cain's followup to Heartsick came out last Tuesday. It's always fun to read novels that take place in areas you know well, and I know just enough about Portland to follow the action in Gretchen Lowell's world. This sequel is solid, if a little too linear for my tastes. Though the characters are well established, I kinda felt like there should have been more insight into why Archie continues to blindly follow his psychopathic crush... That said, I still stayed up late turning the pages.