Imagine me rubbing my hands together in gleeful anticipation and you'd have it about right. Let's see what's on the pile. Does this thing record time of post? It's seven minutes to 3 a.m. on a Tuesday morning, and I just finished that honkin' huge King novel.)

I have a hardcover copy of Spook Country by William Gibson on my bedside table. I started it over Christmas but then got distracted by Diana Gabaldon's book, An Echo In The Bone. She's my favourite author and she puts out thousand pagers, one every three years or so. I intend to pick up Spook Country again tomorrow. It seems to be about geohackers who opperate with GPS? I haven't quite grasped the science yet, but I will!

It's not the only Gibson on my pile this summer. I picked up a paperback edition of one of his older novels, Pattern Recognition. I may also try to hunt down the book he collaborated with Bruce Sterling on, The Difference Engine, which is a steampunk novel. I've got some building curiosity for the genre, so I'm on the hunt for literary examples.

I also have Day Watch by Russian author Sergey Lukyanenko. It's the second book in what is a four book series so far about magic users set in Moscow. It's an English translation, of course, and I found it really interesting! The translation is good but there were a couple of passages in the preceding book, Night Watch, that had me go "huh, that's odd." For instance, did you know you can buy vodka from vendors outside of train stations there? I had no idea. The cultural differences and the contemporary setting of a fantasy story keep me coming back.

For a little something different, I have non-fiction book by Ian Kelly called Beau Brummell, The Ultimate Dandy. He was a very well known man in Regency London, launching himself into fame for his unique style. He is credited with creating the man's suit. I thought it was interesting because when we think of the word "dandy" now, it brings to mind old French coutiers in their satins and velvet frock coats, ribbons and beauty marks and rice powder. Not the case with Beau! He loved dove grey and charcoal. Well tailored, simple garments. He made them popular. As Virginia Woolf said about the man:"Wit, taste, insolence, independence: Brummell's philosophy of life. He stands for a symbol; his ghost walks among us still."

And to switch gears yet again, I have World War Z: An Oral History Of The Zombie War by Max Brooks. Followed by Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk. I also picked up Nadine's book, Quicksilver, which I intend to read this summer as well.

Last on the pile (but perhaps not last to be read if I find myself up to the task) us Only Revolutions by one of my other favourite authors, Mark Z. Danielewski. If you haven't read his first novel, House of Leaves, I highly recommend it. Be prepared for some oddness though. His books are considered experimental novels. The text does flow in regular patters. Sometimes it's printed in little boxes in the middle of a page, sometimes it cascades on diagonals. At least once I had to hold the book up to a mirror to read test printed backwards AND there is code embedded in a fairly easy cipher in the letters at the back of the book. Hehe. No <I>easy</I> reads for me. Only Revolutions seems to be two novels in one book. Half of the pages going one way, the other half going the other. So you have to turn, or revolve the book in your hands to follow the stories. I'm looking forward to it, but I'll have to be of fairly serene and clear mind to enjoy it.

Brad Pitt's too old now. By the time Brummell was Pitt's age, he was already starting to mentally deteriorate (he died of dementia at a fairly young age, or something like dementia. Syphillis maybe?) and his fortunes were disappearing. If I had to choose an actor to play Beau now, I'd say Dominic Cooper (He played Charles Grey in The Duchess) would be the top of my list. I'd also pay to see that movie! I love love love period films, and fashion, and Brummell covers both!

Oh, you never find quality in the grocery check out line. Trust me, I spend a large part of my week in one of those places.

I opted for the zombie book by Max Brooks! I'm chewing through it. It's much different than what I expected. It's written as a collection of interviews with survivors of the zombie war. Really neat!

I make my decisions by the lamest science possible. New books come out of the bag and are stacked on my bedside table in the order they come out in. That is typically the order I read them in! One down, I just grab the next one.

I'm just wrapping up Chuck Palahniuk's Haunted. It's funny because Brian Hughes, (who just graduated our program, yay Brian!) caught me cracking it open for the first time in the lunch room at work. He gave me a funny look and told me that Haunted is the only book he's ever put down because it's too disgusting. Naturally, because I was litterally on the first page, I was intrigued and determined to beat him. So yes, I've almost finished it! It IS pretty gross in some places. A lot of things made me uncomfortable but that's sort of the point of a satirist, right?

You know, I was not really sure what he was satirizing for the longest time with this story. Though as I sat to try to explain that I'm a dunce who doesn't often get satire, it came to me. I'd say that "Haunted" is about the lengths that people will victimize themselves in order to have a story to tell. In Chuckie's fine style, the people in his story took it to horrible lengths. I'm guessing that's the way the funhouse mirrors work in that guy's mind. He's officially one of those "three people you'd want to have lunch with" from that question game. Not surprisingly, all three of my lunch dates are writiers! Stephen King (cause he's weird) and Poppy Z. Brite (so I can spill my drink on her. Hopefully twice) and now Chuck Palahniuk because he'd be weird too!

Hey Josh, I had heard that! I'm not really sure how that will work. Maybe he'll be the unnamed interviewer? Or maybe he's only doing a cameo in one of the chapters. Or maybe they'll do something horrible and make the movie a prequel to the book, which is only a collection of post zombie war interviews. That would make me unhappy.

I still love Brad Pitt, though! I may even go to the theatre to see that one.

Since we learned a little bit about adaptations in Moira's class last fall, I guess we'll have to wait and see how this one unfolds! I'm looking forward to it though. You can never go wrong with zombies.