Our burgeoning blogosphere

After a few years of feeling somewhat lonely out here in The Leader-Herald's little corner of cyberspace, I'm thrilled to see that we have a couple of new additions to our lineup. Just this week, L-H staffers Toni Johnson and Marj Kline have begun blogging Under the Influence of Art, and some of our local student writers' work is now appearing on the Teen Vox Blog.

There's still plenty of good reading to be had on perennial favorites such as the Publisher's Point and Fresh Ideas: The Farmers Market Update.

A peek at my bookshelf

Speaking of good reads, it occurs to me that it has been a few months since I last gave folks an update on my own recreational reading habits. Here are a few of the books I’ve enjoyed recently:

- "The Dead Beat: Lost Souls, Lucky Stiffs, and the Perverse Pleasures of Obituaries," by Marilyn Johnson. This is the best book I’ve ever read on the subject of obituaries, perhaps because it is the only book I’ve ever read on the subject of obituaries. It makes me nostalgic for the days when obituaries were still written by journalists rather than funeral directors.

- “Matterhorn,” by Karl Marlantes (which I mentioned briefly in my previous post). A great novel about war and military politics.

- “Virgil and Beatrice” by Yann Martel. The New York Times, in this review, lambasted the book as “every bit as misconceived and offensive as his earlier book was fetching.” I agree that “Virgil and Beatrice” is not as strong as “The Life of Pi,” but didn’t find it offensive so much as strangely dark and an obvious attempt by the author to distance himself from the reputation of his first book. Poor Mr. Martel, he’s like the Tiger Woods of literature. Nine years ago, everybody was mooning over his first book, but the Times really took a five-iron to his new one. Anyway, I would recommend “The Life of Pi” to anyone interested in animals, fables, and clashes of cultures and beliefs. I would recommend “Virgil and Beatrice” to anyone who likes the same things but also enjoys a little Nazi-style fascism thrown into the mix. (It’s not an easy read for pure enjoyment, to say the least.)

- "Her Fearful Symmetry," a novel by Audrey Niffenegger, who also is responsible for the best-selling "The Time Traveler's Wife" and one of the greatest short stories of the past decade (in my opinion), "The Night Bookmobile." If you're a book geek, you'll enjoy this story. If you also happen to enjoy graphic novels, you've got to see what the British newspaper The Guardian has done with the story, here: The Night Bookmobile (graphic novel in serial form).

I still haven’t gotten around to reading “The Corrections” by Jonathan Franzen, so perhaps I’ll crack that one open next. Any other suggestions? Comment here or drop me a line at backerbauer@leaderherald.com. (I’m also on Facebook, like everyone else who doesn’t live in North Korea).