Wednesday

Ugh, a cranky, cranky day, mainly because I got about four and half hours sleep last night because snoring (not mine). And I haven't followed through on making the spare bedroom into a real bedroom, so. >:-/

But at least I finally have a book to recommend? I finished Smith Henderson's Fourth of July Creek a couple of days ago and really enjoyed it. It's not going to be for everyone -- it's gritty and dark, set in Nowhere Tenmile, Montana, in 1980, and it's about Pete Snow, who's a social worker/Department of Family Services type guy. He's got his hands full trying to deal with broken families, drugs, alcohol, poverty, you name it, not to mention his OWN problems, which include a seriously estranged wife and daughter and his own alcoholism. The book follows Pete and a cast of assorted characters, and, like I said, the adventures are dark and gritty and, in a few places, horrifying. BUT it's so well-written! Well, aside from that typo in one of the early chapters where somebody gets a parole officer's name wrong. That was the only goof I noticed. Overall the book reminded me of a cross between Richard Ford's great novel Canada, which everyone should read, and just about any one of Richard Russo's novels, with Russo's sharply-drawn characters.

ANYWAY. Two thumbs up, would definitely read more of Henderson's books (this is his first).

So now I'm reading David Grann's The Lost City of Z, and it's excellent. :D