To Hell on a Fast Horse; The Man Who Loved Books Too Much; Horns

"To Hell on a Fast Horse" by Mark L. Gardner examined the strangely intertwined lives of Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid. It was interesting to find out what happened to Garrett after he supposedly murdered the Kid (I still don't want to believe it, although I must admit it does seem to be more and more likely). No real new information on Billy the Kid, but I think I've probably read everything there is out there about him.
"The Man Who Loved Books too Much" by Allison Hoover Bartlett was a great, quick read. I enjoyed this nonfiction title more than I've enjoyed any others I can think of in recent memories. She looked at the life of notorious rare book thief, John Gilkey, as well as the world of rare books. Very interesting, and I can certainly relate to the whole "loving books too much" bit.
"Horns" by Joe Hill honestly blew me away. I read his first book, "Heart Shaped Box", and wasn't terribly impressed by it. It was good, but not great, and I didn't get why all the critics were falling all over themselves, praising it (other than the fact that he's Stephen King's son). This one, though, this one was wow. Great story about the worst human tendencies that makes us question whether or not we can ever really trust what we know about another human being. I literally could not put it down yesterday, and when I finished it last night, even though I had another new book I was eager to dive into, I just couldn't bring myself to read any more. It spoiled me for another book (at least for the evening).

Watchmen

Alan Moore's graphic novel that is often hailed as the one that started it all. It was quite good and really changed my mind about what exactly a graphic novel could be. I'm used to bloody gory violent quick little stories that while admittedly are very fun to read don't have any sort of real message to them. "Watchmen" was different. There was a lot of plot to keep track of and a lot of really well written and interesting characters.

Jack the Ripper's Secret Confession

I've read a lot of books--about true crime, and about Jack the Ripper. This book is hands down the worst piece of trash I have ever read. I don't know why I bothered to finish it, except that I think I was hoping it would improve, that the authors, David Monaghan and Nigel Cawthorne, would eventually provide some sort of substantial proof that the man who penned the anonymous "My Secret Life" was also Jack the Ripper. There is no such proof, because the author, Walter, wasn't Jack the Ripper. He was a sick, twisted man who raped and mistreated women, but he never bragged about being violent and murdering anyone, and in an autobiography as lengthy as this one (eleven volumes, I think) why wouldn't he? He certainly has no shame about telling us about the other horrible things he's done. I really am stunned the authors even got a publisher to accept this garbage. For instance, one of their "proofs" that Walter was Jack was that he mentions grapes in his autobiography, and one of the Ripper's victims was last seen with a man who was eating grapes. Oh my god, this is called a *coincidence*, not evidence. Good grief. Flimsy would be an exaggeration.

Awakenings; Confidential: Shocking True Story; Three to Get Deadly; Four to Score

I was very eager to read Oliver Sack's "Awakenings", about a mysterious sleeping sickness that became an epidemic after the first world war. He supposedly had great success with a drug called L-Dopa that, I thought, cured these people. Sadly, this was not the case. Not only does he have no idea what causes this illness, but in many of his patient's cases, the L-Dopa was even worse than being in a perpetual vegetative state (at least in my opinion). It was horribly depressing without even the hope of a cure or at least an understanding of how to prevent it in the future.
"Confidential: Shocking True Story" by Henry E. Scott was mindless fluff of the worst kind, and I enjoyed it. He looked at the pre-runner to magazines such as "Star" and "People" and TV shows like "TMZ", "Confidential" magazine, which in the 1950s, ended the big studios hold over the media, at least for a few years. Confidential printed all the scandals that Hollywood tried to cover up, until they were eventually successfully sued and had to change format and lost readership.
I reread two Janet Evanovich books over the weekend because I needed the laughs. Normally around this time of year she puts out a between the numbers Stephanie Plum book, but this year she didn't. Oh, well, I'd rather reread my old favorites.

Your Flying Car Awaits

As a kid, Paul Milo was fascinated with predictions experts made regarding the future. He collected them in this book and the result is rather amusing. I honestly think I enjoyed reading more about the people in the past who actually got their predictions right. It's always interesting to see how differently things turned out then everyone thought they would. In some ways we're better off and in others we're not, and experts still keep making wild and crazy guesses at what the future holds.

The Queen's Governess

Karen Harper has written a couple of books on the Tudors. I read "The Last Boleyn" and it was pretty good. "The Queen's Governess" looked at Kat Ashley, who was in charge of Queen Elizabeth from the time she was a small child, like a second mother to her, really. I liked Harper's portrayal of Kat as something other than a besotted ninny. After all, she practically single handedly raised one of the most intelligent women in the world and was a close companion to her as well as a guardian. She survived and stayed in favor with King Henry VIII through five wives (not something too many others can claim), so she must have had some wicked sharp diplomacy skills. All in all it was a good read.

Her Fearful Symmetry

I really liked the "Time Traveler's Wife" by Audrey Niffenegger, and I was looking forward to her follow up. I didn't really care that much for it, though. There was a lot of build up in the book itself that didn't really pan out, in regards to a big secret that was actually kind of predictable and not that big a deal (at least in my mind). The plot was definitely unique and the writing was lovely, but I didn't really like the characters and after I was done I just kind of went meh. It was okay, nothing more.

Solace of the Road

Siobhan Dowd's YA novel about a girl abandoned by her mother, Holly is taken in by some nice foster parents. Holly has a lot of deep seated issues, however, and she is convinced her mother is waiting for her in Ireland. She steals her foster mother's blonde wig and hits the highway, becoming "Solace". It was a sad book, but had a good ending and I enjoyed it.