Long time no see

*shamefaced look*

I'd like to say that I have a great excuse for being away for so long, and while I did have a few dramatic issues that kept me from this blog for a while there, it lasted much longer than it should have in the end because once everything got back on an even keel I basically got lazy. That's so not cool. I'm such a nerd.

Let's see, what should I do with my time on here this afternoon? I have read quite a few good books lately, so I think I'll share some recs:

• I'm not exactly sure why it took me so long to get around to reading Christopher Moore. People have recommended him to me many a time over the years, but for some reason I just didn't feel that much of an urge to seek his stuff out. Well, a couple of months ago while shelving some hardcover fic at work I ran across a copy of "Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal," and I was instantly hooked. So far I've worked my way through that, "Practical Demonkeeping," "The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror," "Island of the Sequined Love Nun," and "Bloodsucking Fiends," and there hasn't been a bad one in the lot. "Coyote Blue," I think, is next on the list.
• If you've got a taste for the samurai/shogun/feudal era of Japanese history, put down your copy of "Shogun" and go pick up a copy of Takashi Matsuoka's "Cloud of Sparrows" instead. It can be difficult to find novels about Japan by people who actually know Japan (at least here in Tulsa, Oklahoma), but no such problems here. It is a first novel, and Matsuoka does fall victim to a number of the usual first novel errors, but the grittily realistic tale is such a page-turner that those flaws are easily overlooked. It's no "Musashi," but very few books are, and I suspect that Matsuoka's going to keep getting better. If you live here in T-town and have a copy of his next book, "Autumn Bridge," feel free to bring it in to the bookstore and sell it.
• Marilynne Robinson's "Gilead: A Novel." Wow. Simply profound - and I mean that both in the sense of "in a word, profoud" and "profound in its simplicity." It's not my usual fare by any means, but I picked it up on a whim and just couldn't put it down. If you've ever been a parent or a child, you truly owe it to yourself to check this book out.

Next up: "Chindi" and "Omega" by Jack McDevitt. Rawk.