Local Interest

Just a few sentences on Picturing the Past: South Dakota's Historic Places. This book has some really gorgeous black and white photography from around the state, including a couple of shots from my home area. Especially memorable to me are some shots of courthouses. You can certainly tell that the people that paid for these impressive buildings had some civic pride, and didn't mind spending a little public money to build a quality structure. I shudder to think what these sorts of buildings would look like if they were all being built now. The text that accompanies the photos is readable and generally informative. If you're a sucker for these sorts of books, like I am, this is not a bad one to add to the collection.

Good Music

Song of Susannah is the sixth of seven books in the Dark Tower series--which it feels as if I have been reading for years. This one is considerably shorter than the last few volumes, and less structured as well. It is set up in "stanzas" rather than chapters, and each ends with a campfire song sort of call and response routine. Though reviews on Amazon are decidedly mixed, I actually enjoyed this departure more than some of the previous adventures. A lot of the content is very dream-like, as the plot begins to see time, and some of the fabric of reality start to unravel. I was able to run with this, though I agree that there is a plot twist toward the end that felt self-indulgent to me on King's part. In the interst of avoiding spoilers, I will not go into further detail on that point.

I am interested in finding out the end of this story and will look forward to picking up the final segment fairly soon. Sometimes people say that the characters in books can come to feel like friends that you don't want to see leave. I don't exactly feel like that in this case--I doubt I'll pine for Roland when he's gone--but I am curious to see if King can pull off an ending that doesn't seem inadeqate given the tremendous scale of his undertaking.

The Color of Confusion

The Color of Credit is no doubt useful to some audience. However, understanding the statisical regressions and minutia of underwriting standards is well beyond my pay grade. I struggled with this book for months (reading it mainly, it seems, on airplanes--where I had no other options to distract me) and have finally finished it, but cannot say that I am much better off for it. Even as someone that deals with the banking industry on a daily basis, I am not nearly expert enough to comprehend this--though I am sure there are people that find this material quite useful. Using my limited knowledge, I tried just to grasp the outlines of what the authors were saying, without getting too deep into the weeds. I certainly find it easy to believe that there is significant racism in mortgage lending, and perhaps the solutions offered by Ross and Yinger can lead to improvement. I'd be willing to consider it, after getting briefed in layman's terms, that is.

Two Underwhelming Novels

Getting the new year off in a distinctly underwhelming note are these two novels. No need for extensive commentary on the Koontz book; it's the same as other early Koontz novels. Written under a psydonym, full of stupid characters, and an unusually irritating plot/ending. Rummies by Peter Benchley was a book that I had higher hopes for, after having enjoyed Q Clearance, his previous novel. Unfortunately, the characters are largely stereotypes and the book lacks both the humor that it is supposed to generate and any kind of dramatic punch. It's a serious step backward for him. In other reading related news, I have agreed to participate in a book club through my work, so that should add some much needed novelty into my reading choices over the next few months.

Year in Review

2007 was the first year I have successfully kept a reading log for the entire year, and I'm sure my public would be anxious to know the totals. Well, this isn't the Oscars, so I'll skip straight to the final catergory: 21,944 pages read. I feel like that's not bad, though, of course, I have no previous numbers to compare it to. It is at least close to the most I've read in a year, though I can't be sure. A further breakdown:

54 total books read, plus Ruth through Galatians in the Protestant Bible
14 books by Stephen King
9 Left Behind novels
12 Dean Koontz books
4 Peter Benchley novels
6 Aldous Huxley books
2 Fyodor Dostoevsky books (one short novel and one collection)
1 Jack Kerouac novel
and a smattering of other stuff

I am starting 2008 by continuing with these authors, with the exception of Left Behind, which I have thankfully left behind. I hope to at least double the amount of authors I am reading, as well as possibly finish up Benchley this year. And, of course, I hope to have a bigger total in 2008 than 2007.