I'm still trying to read mostly things that are useful for my novel. So it's all about Maine, classical music, particularly prodigies, and wooden boats. And then some novels that take place over the course of many years, and the odd fun read. Family History by Dani Shapiro I love the way Shapiro writes about families.

The Dining Room by A.R. Gurney, Jr. A play. Which was supposed to be useful. And wasn't.

What I loved by Siri Hustvedt I found this book so much more compelling and lovely the second time around. I appreciated her prose much more this time around. She's very good.

Maynard and Jennicaby Rudolph Delson Awfully fun. In the Drivers Seat by Helen Simpson Her stories are so marvelously bleak! Brick Lane by Monica Ali Fabulous. These poor women. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini More terrible treatment of Muslim women! Khaled is the nicest man alive, and I seriously hope some cretinous mullah doesn't issue a fatwa against him. Falling Man by Don DeLillo The first chapter of this book is great. The rest isn't.

Black Dogs by Ian McEwan I read him to remind myself that less is more.

The Ghost Writer by Philip Roth This is my favorite of his novels, I think. Or at least it is this week. Any Human Heart by William Boyd Every bit as good as the first time I read it.

The Soloist by Marc Salzman Very useful.

Behind the Scenes at the Museumby Kate Atkinson Very very good. The Years by Virginia Woolf Ah. AH. What an amazing book.