A Dirty Job, by Christopher Moore

• Title:  A Dirty Job
• Author:  Christopher Moore
• Borrowed from DC Public Library
• Started:  6/18/2009
• Finished: 6/25/2009

 
We were in San Francisco for several days (you'll note I read a book on the flight out), and when we got back I started reading a book I have picked up the week before.  The second Christopher Moore book I've read now, A Dirty Job, and it was fun and enjoyable, same as the book Lamb I read last year. 
 
Moore lives in San Francisco, and A Dirty Job takes place there, so it was fun (and coincidental) that I had just come back from San Fran (I understand the locals hate when you call it that, so I say "San Fran" as often as possible when there) when I read this book.  I'm in no hurry to read more books by Moore, but I have enjoyed the two I've read.

Nothing Lasts Forever, by Roderick Thorp

• Title:  Nothing Lasts Forever
• Author:  Roderick Thorp
• Purchases from Amazon Marketplace
• Started:  6/11/2009
• Finished:  6/11/2009

 
You'd almost think I had done this on purpose.  Flying from DC to CA one Thursday morning, I spent 5 of the 6 hours on the the plane reading Thorp's follow up to The Detective, titled Nothing Lasts Forever ("NLF").  Even when flying JetBlue with their DirectTV offerings, I just can't sit and watch that boring TV for very long.
 
For those of you who don't know, Nothing Lasts Forever is the book on which the greatest Christmas movie ever is based.  That movie, of course, is Die Hard.  The plot of NLF is remarkably similar to Die Hard, remarkable perhaps in that the movie followed the book so closely.  I expected to find that Die Hard was loosely based on the book, but really it was pretty damn close.  I found NLF to be very enjoyable, a fun read for such a long, boring flight.
 
NLF was a much more bloody & action packed book than The Detective, but I liked them both very much.  I'm not sure I'll pick up any other Thorp books as these are the only two books to follow detective Joe Leland. 

Love in the Ruins, by Walker Percy

• Title:  Love in the Ruins
• Author:  Walker Percy
• Borrowed from MLK Library
• Started: 5/30/09
• Finished:  6/8/09

 
I wish I could say I loved this book, but the fact of the matter is I struggled to make myself read it.  I couldn't remember why I had it in my book list, but when I started I saw that it was a kind of apocalyptic novel.  Only it wasn't, and despite rave literary reviews I didn't think it was very good.  Some reviewers compared this book to those by Flanner O'Connor... I strongly disagree with that sentiment. 
 
But I persevered and finished the book.  On to more light reading.