The Season to be Jolly
Friends and family ask what I want for Christmas and I invariably tell them: books. Which books? Anything new by Joseph Kanon, Martin Cruz Smith, Robert Harris, Olen Steinhauer, Nelson DeMille or Michael Lewis, I tell them. At the moment, Mr. Smith has a new title on bookshelves called The Girl from Venice. I expect to find it under my tree.
People often ask what books I would give as presents? The novel that affected me more deeply than any other was No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy. I would recommend that tome any time. The two novels that inspired me to become a writer were Boys and Girls Together by William Goldman and The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer. If only I could write half as well. Really anything by those gentlemen would make good reading.
If you’re in a mood to learn something new, read any of Michael Lewis’ non-fiction works. They are all enlightening.
Happy Holidays to one and all!