April-ish:
Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction (1963) by J. D. Salinger. Aside from Frannie and Zooey, which I read not too long ago (must have been pre-2005), this completes the published novels of Salinger.
Finished reading Trainspotting (1993) by Irvine Welsh. Given that the narrative shifts between chapters/passages, the overall story also drifts, and the final resolution is mostly superficial. There is a sequel.
May/June:
Reread of the Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, which consists of The Wounded Land (1980), The One Tree (1982), and White Gold Wielder (1983). I first read the series as a teenager back in 1995-96. I reread the First Chronicles some time around 1997.
Finally, some new books: The Wizard Lord (2006) and The Ninth Talisman (2007) by Lawrence Watt-Evans. I'm enjoying this trilogy so I will pick up the third volume soon (out June 2008). A funny thing about Watt-Evans, his writing can get a bit talk-y, with a group of characters constantly bickering with one another, so the tone feels like light, almost humorous fantasy, and then suddenly the antagonist will do something awful and evil that completely goes against the tone of the story.
In truth, his writing has always had a dark side to it. The Lords of Dûs, his first published series, was pretty grim, and I remember The Wizard and the War Machine (1987), about an insane space scout who lands on a planet where wizardry is real, as particularly gritty. Obviously I've been reading his novels for a while.
Posted by B Rickman at July 8, 2008 12:22 PM