The Land of Dreams   Vidar Sunstøl
Very enjoyable, noir mystery about a policeman’s struggle with what he thinks he knows about a murder he discovered and the past that haunts him and his family. Very much the first volume of a trilogy: we’re just left hanging with all the dilemmas unresolved.

Falling in Love through a Description   Keith Waldrop
April is national poetry month, so I finally got to Waldrop’s trilogy that won the National Book Award. The poems in this volume are not nearly so obscure as the previous volume, but I couldn’t get inside many of these either. All craft, I guess.

Shipwreck in Haven   Keith Waldrop
April is national poetry month, so I finally got to Waldrop’s trilogy that won the National Book Award. The poems in this volume are so obscure and the punctuation so idiosyncratic, that I’m not sure I understood any of them. Too bad.

Sartre   David Drake
Nicely written introduction to the French author/philosopher. Follows his life chronologically. Emphasizes his literary and political writing and work, and almost completely ignores his philosophy. For that reason, disappointing.

Archetype   M. D. Waters
Recommendations I read about this book failed to mention that it’s really a romance novel clothed in science fiction. Writing is better than most romance novels, but that didn’t save it. Couldn’t take it. Quit after 30 pages.

Wildwood Boys   James Carlos Blake
Beautifully written historical novel about the savage guerrilla war along the Missouri-Kansas border during the civil war, told from the point of view of the infamous Bloody Bill Anderson. Very, very good. Excellent novel and excellent history. Didn’t want it to end.