I'm at the halfway point of the year, and while I haven't read quite as much as usual, I've read a fair amount. Here's my general thoughts on this batch.
A Feast of Crows – George R.R. Martin
Started the year with the fourth book in the Game of Thrones series and is really the first part of two books, if the afterword by Martin is to be believed. Actually, the afterword cleared up some thoughts that were running through my head. The first being is how could he completely leave Tyrion Lannister out of this book after the cliffhanger that ended the third book. Instead of returning to the driving story, Martin switched to a series of side characters. Having to start new with some, and sort of focus on a couple of the less intriguing characters, made it harder to stay interested through the 700 pages. Once I read the next book, hopefully it will tie the two parts together.
The Wind Through the Keyhole – Stephen King
As it turns out, King had one more key on his belt concerning the Dark Tower series. Instead of picking up the story after the conclusion of the series, we get a side story that fits into the middle of the series. It's sort of like a hidden track on a CD. As the gang rides out a storm, the Gunslinger actually tells a story inside another story. I like the story is fine, but I didn't feel like the writing was quite as inspired or ambitious as King's attempts in the other Dark Tower book. The twice told story sheds a bit of light on the Gunslinger's past. It was nice to return to the path, for a brief moment. I'll be interested to see what it reads like when placed within the order of the series.
Hearts in Atlantis – Stephen King
This is four separate stories with various characters appearing in each. My initial interest in the book came from the fact that a character from the first story actually appears toward the end of the Dark Tower series. I wanted to see what was going on here to enrich my experience with the other series. The underlying theme of this book is the loss of innocence, chiefly being the loss America's innocence via the 1960s and the Vietnam conflict. At times, it becomes preachy, but I can't deny it made me think about the sad reality that we can never go back.
Into the Wild - John Krakauer
This is an investigative piece on Chris McCandless, an eccentric who in the early 1990s disappeared into the American West. Nearly a year later, his body was found in Alaska. The reporter delves into McCandless' journey, the reasons behind it and the overall question of how and why he lived and died. This became a movie a few years back, but I haven't had a chance to watch it yet. It's no secret that McCandless starved to death, although the cause of that starvation is speculated to be poisoning from seeds that he ate. I read this very quickly, as the journey and its motivation was intriguing. There's a romantic quality to his nomadic journey. The idea of trying to leave civilization and its trappings is appealing, to some degree. I admire the risk, and has left me thinking about how taking risks is part of living.
• Well that is it so far this year. Like I said, not as productive of a reader this year as I have been in the past. Right now, I am onto a book called High Cotton, which is about growing cotton in the Mississippi Delta.
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