Books and more

Last night I finished a novel that I really enjoyed despite it being...well...the sort of book that wouldn't be out of place on Oprah's book club. Anyway, it's called The Dive From Clausen's Pier by Ann Packer. I had given it to Gretchen's mom as a Christmas gift without knowing much about it, and she absolutely loved it, so I figured I would read it in part as a tribute to her. I have to say that despite occasional wordiness, long descriptions of sewing, and sex scenes written from a woman's perspective (not that there's anything wrong with that...), it was really well-written and thought-provoking. One of the best I've read in a while, actually. It probably helped that it was set in two of my favorite cities, Madison and New York.

If that makes me less of a man, I can compensate by watching The Sopranos on DVD. After watching the first seven episodes of the first season, I'm thoroughly and utterly hooked. Why did we never have HBO?