Midnight on Mourn Street (2008) - Christopher Conlon
Earthling Publications specializes in horror, dark fantasy and suspense, so when I pre-ordered this one, I guess I was expecting something of a speculative nature. There are some somewhat strange goings-on, but nothing you could really call speculative. The story concerns Reed, a forty-something and the runaway girl Mauri that camps out outside his Washington D.C. apartment one rainy night. Both characters have something to hide and both have a confrontation coming. Conlon's first novel has a lot of good things going on. Mourn Street's characters do some pretty awful things to each other then try to put the pieces of what's left of their lives together. The ending wasn't what I expected and left me with a creepy, disturbing feeling (perhaps Conlon's intention), but all in all this is a good first novel.
Consolation of Philosophy - Boethius
If I've ever read any real philosophy of any length before this, I've blocked it out of my head, so I suppose you could say that this is my "first contact" with philosophy, thanks to some of my buddies who've studied this stuff for many years. I think this is a good introduction for the uninitiated like me: fairly straight-forward language and digestible, yet fascinating and extremely thought-provoking. (Read more about it on Amazon.)
Eye of the Crow (J-Fic 2007) - Shane Peacock
Eye of the Crow is an entertaining tale of the first case of a thirteen-year-old Sherlock Holmes. Told in the present tense (which drove me crazy), Peacock does a fine job of introducing young readers to 1860's London as well as the world's most famous detective. He also knows how to keep the pages turning without abandoning the quality of the story. Recommended for young readers who may not be quite ready for the Arthur Conan Doyle stories/novels. (Also check out the sequel, Death in the Air.)
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