"Where I Was From" by Joan Didion

"Where I Was From" is a book by Joan Didion that walks the reader through a history of the white settlement of California. She starts by giving a background of various family members travels from the East, accross the nation into the unsettled California. Her family has a much longer, richer history than most. The book also dissects different regions and municipalities including Sacremento, the Central Valley and Lakewood. She manages to show the connections between race riots and real estate crashes to the pulling of federal funding in the aerospace industry in a revelatory way. It was a fascinating dive into the way indiviual dreams drove the of agriculture, real estate, local and federal fiscal policy, and the true nature of the California dream, from the gold rush, oil mining, water allocation, and industrial ebbs and flows. Didion showed me in depth research, well thought out thematic mapping and educational background on a topic few people truly grasp.

"Empire of the Summer Moon" S C Gwynne

A marvelous dive into a very specific, but also, very broad part of the native American genocide: it's prelude, intent, improvisation and satisfaction. This biography aims to, primarily, tell the story of Quanah Parker, the half white Comanche chief towards the end of the Native American landhold of the Midwest. The book spent the first half giving the back story of Quanah's origin of upbringing and environmental circumstance. This is a well researched book by a person who has deep knowledge of the region and it's enough to inspire one to take a tour of the region and see a number of nearly unidentifiable places because this history book was written by the victors. A fantastic, compelling read that educatates one on an oft skipped section of American history.

"Sex and Rage" by Eve Babitz

This novel gives the reader a unique look into the heyday of 60's and 70's hollywood through the perspective of famed Eve Babitz. It is sexy, insightful, and very much a view behind the curtain of Hollywood ins and outs.

"Fairy Tale" by Stephen King

A different style for King. It made for an enjoyable read, though distinctive from what I've come to expect from him. The narrator is a high school student who finds, through a few serendipitous occurrences, himself in a different, "fairy tale-esque" world. He plays the hero!

"The Outsider" By Stephen King

Though this was as well written as any King novel, I found it less enjoyable without having read three apparent prequels. I am aware that various works have slipped past me unnoticed but I was quite shocked that there was an entire series that I missed. If it's much like "The Outsiders", I'm fine with having missed out. Too much unexplainable. I prefer when the horror feels more tangible.

"Ask the Dust" by John Fante

Recommended to me by my love, "Ask the Dust" is set in the mid world war years of Los Angeles. Seemingly autobiographical, the story follows the budding author Arturo Bandini as he scrapes odds and ends together in an attempt to kickstart his writing career. I loved how this book described the Los Angeles of it's time with such specificity. It made me wish I could travel in time to visit the streets and sights of the era. Some of the references still exist and others have changed greatly but, nearly 90 years later, it was thrilling to imagine a day in the life of a migrant living hand to mouth in LA. Bandini has a complex relationship with his romantic counterpart Camilla. They only seem to enjoy one another when they behave terribly. He has his first sexual encounter with a woman who is then almost immediatly killed in a earthquake. Page by page, seeing how Bandini's relationships ebb and flow from intense need to overpowering hate, the reader develops a very real understanding of the life and times. Fante writes with strong prose and unparrelled transparency.

"The Guermantes Way" by Marcel Proust

I recently finished the third installment of Marcel Proust's epic novel "In Search of Lost Time". "The Guermantes Way", as the name indicates, delves deeply into the Guermantes family, inasmuch as it existed while Proust was a youth. He becomes fascinated by Madame Guermantes, becomes introduced to their social circle, paints a thorough picture of their complexities and begins, what seems to be, a storied relationship with Messeiur Charlus. "The Guermantes Way" is truly like the 19th century version of a reality housewives show. All the characters are outlandishly self involved, obsessed with maintaining the status quo and, constantly trying to one up each other. I read almost the entire edition in english two years ago and started over to read it simultaneously with the french version to best aid in my french comprehension. This is a thick read, overflowing with references to works of the era and historical pieces, some obscure and others well known. My sweetheart and I have begun our plunge into the next edition "Sodom and Gommorah". Here comes the hedonism!