what I've been reading:

A lot.
I think I've been reading instead of posting. Whether that's good or bad, I don't know, but I have been reading some good books.
Here's a roundup.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Okay, I'm not going to say much because I don't want to give anything away. But I will say that I cried unashamedly a few times during the book, and at one point didn't want to continue because it was just too traumatic.
It's kind of an honor having participated in this cultural experience. Usually, I'm not into mass cultural sheepherding, but this was one trend I quite enjoyed while it lasted. I am convinced these books will endure, so being able to read them as they emerged is kind of special. How often do we get to experience classics? It's like getting to read Dickens in the newspaper when he was writing his books in episodes.

The American Way of Death: No, not planning on dying any time soon, but I'd heard this was a classic muckraking book (I love muckrakers, for some reason) and it's quite good. I want to be buried in our backyard! Wrapped in muslin!
Okay, not quite. But: the whole funeral industry is pretty strange. Being a cheapskate, an elaborate funeral isn't really on my to-do list.
Incidentally, my grandfather was an undertaker (or mortician or funeral director) and I wonder what he'd think of this book. Love it? Hate it? It's not super kind to the 'industry'. Dad? Aunt Barb? I know you're lurking out there. You ever heard of this book? What do you think about "hermetically sealed coffins" and "cremains" and embalming and the like?

Special Topics in Calamity Physics: This book has little or nothing to do with science. It's a cleverly titled novel about a high-school girl with a professor father. She's an obsessive reader (hmmm, wonder why I identified) and she writes the tale of her calamitous last year of high school using a few items often found in college courses (Required Reading=Table of Contents, Glossary of terms, attributions and footnotes, visual aids, and a Final Exam)
The book was unashamedly gothic. There were drownings! Hangings! Drug use! Alcohol! A wee bit of sex! Disappearances! Political intrigue! False identities! Lies! Horror!
It was also entertaining, in a slightly overwritten way. The author's style is brash, and her use of simile spot-on, but after page 200 I started skimming long paragraphs.

Okay, enough of the book roundup. Happy reading!