Swish and Flick!

Well Harry Potter 6 is finally out and I read it over the weekend. Mandy hasn't started it yet, so I haven't been able to discuss it with anybody. I made some predictions about the future of Harry Potter in April and I think I am doing pretty well so far. I missed a few things, and I'll have to wait to see how the next book shakes out, but I can't elaborate until Mandy reads this one. Again I aknowledge that grownups should read more interesting and challenging (not to mention mature and sophisticateed) books, but I read 1 to 2 books a week and it only took about a day to read this book, so it is not like I wasted a lot of valuable reading time. I reccomend them to anybody that reads fast and wants a quick escape.

I have been having a lot of trouble finding fictional books to read lately. I don't generally like biographies, and I like to spread out my science and political books with fiction. I know this is oh so white male of me, but it seems like every serious work of fiction on the best seller lists (not counting the mega sellers like the Clancy's and Crichton's) is about a gay midget in the 1920's or some other unique multi-cultural voice and their unique perspective of living in more repressive historical setting. Some of these books are good, but a lot of them read like an after school special. Has anybody else noticed that these books seem to dominate the medium right now?

I think this is why so many adults read Harry Potter, and why for such a dull book, Mr.Norrel and Jonathon Strange did so well. I am looking for something smarter than a cat mystery, something a bit more sophisticated than that recent book about the autistic kid, and something a little fresher than the recent Tom Robbins books, but quirky and interesting and challenging (like Slaughter House 5 or the first half of 100 Years of Solitude, or the Great Gatsby[but not so over-rated]). Guess I am just picky! What else are people reading for fun?