5. Pudd'nhead Wilson by Mark Twain
The last of the Twain compilation, and probably the weakest in terms of story. The best parts are the little snippets from Wilson's calendar that lead off each chapter. Some classic witticisms in there ("When angry, count four. When very angry, swear.")
6. The Woman Who Died a Lot by Jasper Fforde
This is the seventh in the Thursday Next series. Comes with all the strengths and flaws of a typical Fforde book--great world-building, clever (sometimes too clever) dialogue and jokes, and a story that probably could have used a bit more attention. I'm sure I'll get the next book, but if that's the last one I don't think I'll be too sad.
7. Fer-de-Lance by Rex Stout
My sister and her husband like to give me books; this is one of them. I was a big fan of the Nero Wolfe Mysteries television show, and have read a few of the novels. They're not the greatest detective novels, but they definitely have an interesting style. Fer-de-Lance is the first one...and while not the best, it's still pretty good.
On the downside, the POV character (Nero's primary legman, Archie Goodwin) would occasionally refer to one of the suspects as "a spiggoty," which I'm pretty sure is bad. I don't like to think of Archie as a racist.
8. Eat, Brains, Love by Jeff Hart
A zombie comedy love story, written by a guy I know from my internet writing days. Jeff was one of the most talented from our group, and I'm glad to see him getting published. The book itself is a light read, and very funny.
9. Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov
I'd never read Asimov until I picked this one up (another of my sister's gifts.) He definitely lives up to the hype--I was impressed by a statement on the first page--in the foreward, no less. "Even as a youngster, though, I could not bring myself to believe that if knowledge presented danger, the solution was ignorance. To me, it always seemed that the solution had to be wisdom."
So, yeah. I'm already on board.
Caves of Steel is equal parts science fiction, mystery and social commentary. One of the most interesting things is when they talk about Earth's overall population, which is roughly at its maximum before people start getting malnourished...eight billion.
10. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Almost a direct opposite in tone from the Asimov story; this is definitely in "forbidden knowledge" territory. (By comparison, Caves of Steel is less "Man was not meant to know" and more "Man was not meant to be such a dumbass about it.")
It's an interesting book, though vastly different from the later films. No details on the creation of the monster, no assistants or angry villagers...they don't even sing "Puttin' on the Ritz!" Boo, Mary Shelley. Boo.
