Reading

I’m reading The Riddle of the Traveling Skull by Harry Stephen Keeler, a native Chicagoan. My boss recommended I read it one day when we were looking at the “notable alumni” of the school that employs me. Keeler has had a very odd life:
When Keeler was a young child, his mother inexplicably (most likely due to an inability to adequately care for him) committed him to an insane asylum, thus fostering both his interest with the insane, insane asylums and the sane who had been committed to such places and a life-long violent antipathy towards the psychiatric profession.

Keeler also influenced much better known scifi writers such as Neil Gaiman. The last time I read a mystery book was probably 6th grade when we were required to read some Agatha Christie. I’m not a big fan of the mystery genre, and I’m having some trouble staying awake for this one. However, it takes place in Chicago and has just enough quirks to keep me going. Also my boss said it was one of the weirdest books he’d ever read, and that says a lot considering his taste. So I trudge on.

I also finished Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close and will definitely put it on my favorite books list, which has not yet been formed. I recommend it to anyone.

I’m still working on Jacob’s Wet. It’s hard for me to prioritize books that don’t have due dates, but I’m getting through it! It’s an easy and fun read.

After this Keeler book and Jacob’s book, I’m done reading so I can move on to novel writing month in November.