I Like What I Like

I know we are supposed to broaden horizons and whatnot, but sometimes you just need comfort food. It's time for me to get back to my comfort zone.

I've read 7 books (with number 8 scheduled to fall tomorrow) so far and I'm not thrilled with my selection so far. I had embraced the idea of reading some different and new things to start this year and I have re-shelved a few of those books to be revisited (or not) later.

The Martian Chronicles and Room were probably the two best, but they will probably earn no better than a solid 3.5 out of 5 for me. Belle De Jour may also be a three as one of my annual "train-wreck" specialties, but, again, I'm picking the best of a sorry lot. A Few Seconds of Panic included some fun inside Denver Bronco info, but it was too centered on kickers, so... yeah.

And after that the bottom falls out.

Hiroshima was written not long after the bomb was actually dropped. It started out very interesting, but it then turned into a "sort-of" description of what happened to survivors in the aftermath and treating the mysterious "extra" effects post-bombing as, well, mysteries. It started as a story of people who survived the blast, and then turned into a primitive medical description. It tries to end on a positive that these folks "survived," but we just know too much about the cancer rates of their grandchildren to really fall for that now. It's an old book my dad had I've long meant to read, but it does not age well.

Stranger in a Strange Land just stunk for me. It's like the Sci-Fi version of Catch-22 for me, which will make Dave curse me, but it's also true. I just could not get either and I had to talk myself into finishing both. For some reason, Dave loves these two books and I have a mental block on whatever it is both of these books tried to do.

SO, I'm going into picky mode. I'm going on a run of old stand-by genres and familiar authors until further notice. Sometimes, you just know when it's time to narrow the horizon.