EAT THE DOCUMENT (2006) by Dana Spiotta

This terrific book centers on a pair of 1970's Weather Underground radicals (Merry Whittaker and Bobby DeSotto) who have been on the lamb for 20 years after commiting a terrorist bombing. You of course get a feel for what it would be like to have to assume false identities and fear the law catching up to you at any moment. But what I really liked about this book was meeting the young 1990's Gen-Xers that the two main charactors lives now revolve around. Marys teenage son, Jason, is obessed with the music of his mothers youth, especially the Beach Boys (He has every album and obscure limited edition single and seems to think about them every waking hour). While DeSotto now runs a San Franciso bookstore populated with teenage "radicals" who do little except talk about the harmless pranks they want to pull on big box store chains. I could really indentify with these kids, being of the same age and having had the same fasination with 1960's culture. (In my case, collecting as many Grateful Dead tapes I could get my hands on). For me, these '90s teenagers are what makes this book worth tracking down.

DROP CITY (2003) by T.C. Boyle

Taking its name from a real 1960's artist community called Drop City, T.C. Boyles 2003 work reminds me of The Electric Cool-Aid Acid Tests by Tom Wolfe, one of my favorite books. Unlike the Merry Pranksters of the "Acid Tests," the denizens of Drop City seem mainly interested in Free Love and drug use but without any over riding ethos (other then to get really high). Conflict brews in this environment and eventually the commune picks up and moves to the Alaskan wilderness. Here the the laid back vide gives way to a struggle to survive the harsh Alaskan environment. I enjoyed this book as it gives a more complex look of counterculture life when reality began to chip away at the utopian dream.

SEX ON THE MOON (2011) By Ben Mezrich

This is not a "Dusty Read." In fact it is a brand new book. But I thought it was worth a mention. A very quick read, it is clearly written with a future movie in mind. (It was hard not to picture movie sets and visual scenes while reading this book.) All that said, I really enjoyed the story. The main charactor is very compelling, even though he is a crook. Maybe wait for the paperback though.

THROUGH BLACK SPRUCE (2008) By Joseph Boyden

I really liked this one. Story is built around members of the Cree Indian group in Moosonee, Ontario, at the Southern tip of James Bay. Will Bird is a Bush Pilot closely connected to his land and culture. Annie Bird his niece is a trapper and hunter but has just returned from Manhattan in search of a lost sister. Suspenseful yet beautifully written, I didn't want this one to end. Winner of the Scotiabank Giller Prize.

NEVER LET ME GO (2005) by Kazuo Ishigurao

Just Plain Creepy is the best way to desribe Ishiguro's 2005 novel about a strange prep school where the students are being prepared for an unkown future that they are told (and believe) is key to societys survival. But questions and doubt begin to enter into the students thoughts. The reader is left guessing what will happen to these kids until the shocking end. Excellent!

A FRIEND OF THE FAMILY (2009) by Lauren Grodstein

Like this one a lot. Centers on a father/son relationship but slowly expands into a multi-family suburban tragedy. Dr. Pete Dizinoff finds himself living in a room over his family garage after his wife kicks him out of their house. The book takes you through the sorted details that got him their. The last hundred pages are riveting!

The CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG AT NIGHT-TIME (2003) by Mark Haddon

I'm sure you have already read this book. What...you haven't?!? Well pick up a copy (at your local indie bookstore, of course). This has been called "The Catcher in the Rye" for the Autistic Set. Young John Boone finds his neighbors dog, Wllington, stabbed to death and uses his unusal abilities to solve the case. Along the way, you learn a little bit about how the Autistic mind works. Touching, hilarious, captivating. I actually cried at the end. (Don't tell anyone.) Read it!

LOOK AT ME (2001) by Jennifer Egan

Jennifer Egans lastest book A Visit From The Goon Squad has gotten a lot of buzz this year (and happens to be very good). But I recently read her 2001 book Look At Me which is really excellent! It centers on former model Charlotte Swenson who is recovering from a car accident that has altered her appearence. Self-image also guides her other characters story lines, including a would be terrorist bent on destruction. The fact that this book was published in 2001 is just one of the reasons this book is remarkably prescient. It also imagines a world where social media plays a major role in peoples lives, like Facebook and Twiter would do a decade later. An extremely engrossing and thoughtful read!

Book of Illusions by Paul Auster

I really liked this one. Story revolves around a vanished silent film star. You see his movies through the eyes of a Vermont professor named David Zimmer who then writes a book about this long forgotten actor. Then a package arrives at Zimmer's home. The story takes off from there. The middle part of the book is a bit slow but the begining and ending are worth it.

Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke

I don't read classics as much as I should but I found this at the Westsider Bookshop and it blew me away. Every alien first contact movie you have ever seen had its origins with this book. But it doesn't feel dated (even though it was written in 1953!) I'm now reading a book of his short stories from the same era called Expedition to Earth.

Mr. Peanut

I really like this book. Reminded me a bit of Stephen King (who called Mr. Peanut "..Riveting!"). Combines true crime with a Hitchcock film. (Hard to explain, really) Just trust me. Great Halloween read.

Downtown Owl by Chuck Klosterman

Hilarious trip to small town America in the1980's. Klosterman is best known for his nonfiction works like Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs. But in his 2008 debut novel, Downtown Owl we meet local North Dakota characters who are making their way through a strange, but somehow familier community, with its myths, alcoholism, and pregnant teenage girls. Pick it up!