Scooter Chronicles

Theodore Roosevelt
I am currently reading “The Alienist” by Caleb Carr and was very happy to see in the beginning that Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th President of the United States, was a character. The events in the book take place in New York, circa 1896, when Roosevelt was the president of the board of New iYork City Police Commissioners. This is the second book that I have read where Teddy is a character. The other being “How Few Remain” by Harry Turtledove, which was the start of a long series of books that were based on an alternate history, where the South won the Civil War. For the record, all the main characters of that book were historical figures, including Abraham Lincoln, George Custer, Samuel Clemens (aka Mark Twain), Frederick Douglass, James G. Blaine, and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson.

I have become very interested in knowing more about Roosevelt. I have even obtained through BookMooch.Com three primary biographies about different parts of his life. Those being “The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt” by Edmund Morris, “Theodore Rex” by Edmund Morris, and “The River of Doubt” by Candice Millard.

I hope to read them soon, but fiction is something that I have keyed on for so long, it’s hard to break out of it’s lure. After watching a segment about him in the History Channel’s special about the Presidents of the US, as well as other things I have read or heard, Roosevelt seems to be someone that made a great impact on our country, and that his views were not always popular, but for the best of everyone. I want to find out how true that is.

Reading Schedule
I am now reaching a time that I actually have some kind of schedule that I will be following with my reading. I have never really done this before, just grabbed a book that looked interesting at the time. The only schedule I followed was if there was a sequel, or part of a series, and that I wanted to keep reading it.

For the most part, this schedule has to do with things I participating in. After the New Year, or so we have planned, my brother-in-law David, my sister-in-law Catherine, and I will be reading “Little, Big” by John Crowley at the same time, and then discussing it. A very small and not very organized book club in a way. We are still not sure we will be doing this, mainly do to schedules. Plus, I am not sure if David and Catherine will be sharing the same copy of the book, or will both have their own copy.

Then, for a February 8th deadline, I want to participate in the 8th Edition of the Bookworms Carnival, hosted by Renay at The Book Ninja. I have my choice of book to read and review narrowed down to two. Either “The King of Elfland’s Daughter” by Lord Dunsany (aka Edward Plunkett) or, “Lud-in-the-Mist” by Hope Mirrlees. I am not leaning towards either one, and I am not sure how to choose. I do know that Dunsany’s prose is much thicker and could be a real challenge to read.

Then a bit later, for a May 9th deadline, I will be reading something for the Bookworms Carnival that I am hosting, the 11th Edition. I have a large selection of books that I could read and as of right now have no clue which one I will choose. Still have some time to figure that one out though.

I also have a few shorter books to fill in some blanks, just in case I finish a book but still have some time between starting another of the “scheduled” variety. One of the books is the next book that I plan to read, being “The Cleft” by Doris Lessing, who recently won the Nobel Prize for literature. It is her latest book, and rather short. It is probably a good one to take during my holiday travels, since I may not have a lot of time to read and don’t want to start a much longer book and mess up the schedule. Two other books that I can fit in, both being rather short are “Crooked Little Vein” by Warren Ellis and “The Bookshop” by Penelope Fitzgerald. I would even say that “The Bookshop” is a novella.

Re-Reads
I have never been one to re-read a book. Sure, I would like to. But I have so many books that I haven’t read yet waiting for me, and it’s not like I have oodles of time. However, the last couple of weeks I have had the urge to re-read two books.

The first is “Dune” by Frank Herbert. A couple of years ago, while re-arranging my shelves, I opened up my paperback copy of it and started to read the first chapter. I remember the prose being quite challenging for me when I read it (I was 20 years old). But that afternoon I found myself getting lost again in the story, and before I knew it I was 25 pages into it. I have had the desire to find a nice reprinted hardback copy, and have seen some stores have copies, but I just never gave in. Last week while at the King of Prussia Mall, I found a hardback copy in the bargain bin for $4. I couldn’t pass it up. And if it wasn’t for my schedule (seen above), I probably would be slating that one next.

The second book I just received through BookMooch. That being “Fahrenheit 451″ by Ray Bradbury. I read this back in high school in my Science Fiction class (yes, I had a class devoted to Science Fiction in my junior year). The reason it has been on my mind in the last week is because of reading “Shelf Monkey” by Corey Redekop. He makes quite a few references to this book, and it has me very interested in reading it again.

I think I may break both of these out to re-read soon and fit them into my schedule.