Library Loot & a Slight Change of Plans

Well, that didn't take long at all.

I mentioned last week in my December reading-plan post the likelihood that plans would change when my library notified me that some of the books I've had on hold are ready for pick-up. And that happened over the weekend, so this morning I picked up three of the books (they never come one-at-a-time) I've been waiting for. 

Luckily, I was able to extend the check-out time on two of the three books to six weeks, but I can hold onto the other one for only two weeks because others are in line waiting for their chance to read it. And, as it turns out from my closer look at the book, The National Road: Dispatches from a Changing America is really something I want to read. In fact, I read the the author's introduction as soon as I got it home. 

Tom Zoellner appears to be a veteran of road trips and hikes that have covered ground all over America. Some of the essays and experiences he writes about here go back thirty years; others are relatively fresh. The intent of the book is to take a look at how America has changed in recent years as the economy changes, politics become disruptive, and the pandemic keeps us largely at home and off the road. Zoellner teaches at Chapman University and Dartmouth College, and he has written for major newspapers and magazines. I doubt I have much politically in common with him, but I'm curious to get his take - all the while hoping he shows a good bit of empathy - on what he finds in middle America, especially in the small towns and rural communities he encounters. We'll see. 

I'm almost afraid to read this one. I am intrigued by the plot summary, and the book got high praise in the New York Times Book Review last week, but I didn't realize until a few minutes ago that it is book number 31 in a series that Archer Mayor began in the late eighties. Just what I need...another long detective series to work my way through. But here's the premise: a 28-year-old man has just died of a brain injury he suffered in childhood. If that's not bad enough, his brother, and only caretaker, has gone missing at the same time. Now it's up to Vermont Bureau of Investigation cold-case investigator Joe Gunther to figure it all out. Was the childhood injury accidental or something more sinister, etc.? I have this one potentially in-hand all the way to January 19, 2021 (doesn't that seem like a long time away?), so I don't have to decide for a while. Are any of you guys familiar with the Joe Gunther series? If so, what do you think of it? Is it even advisable to jump into a series this late without knowing some of the main character's backstory?

And then there's Ken Bruen's A Galway Epiphany. This is one of Bruen's Jack Taylor novels, a series I've been reading in and out of for years but somehow forgot to include in my post about the "12" detective series I'm reading. Well, make that 13. This is the 15th Jack Taylor book in the series, and a quick look at the eleven Ken Bruen books I've read indicates that seven of them are Jack Taylor novels. I know this one is going to get read sometime in December because there's no way I can resist it for long. For those of you familiar with how some of our favorite detectives are borderline burnouts these days, you would have to put Jack Taylor atop any list of burned-out cops. This one takes place in Ireland, and Ken Bruen is so much of a literary stylist that I would recognize his writing even if he left his name off the cover. Simply put, he is a wonderful writer. 

I love days like today. Especially right now, because, as problems go, these are pretty nice ones to have.