"Manson" by Jeff Gunn was well researched and well written, not just an account of the famous trial (which Vincent Bugliosi wrote about so well in "Helter Skelter"), but about how Manson was able to attract followers in the first place, and how he persuaded these lost souls to kill for him. Truly a dangerous man.
"The Novel Cure" by Ella Berthoud and Susan Elderkin was great fun. They listed a bunch of maladies, from loneliness to stress, some tongue in cheek (like burning dinner) and suggest some appropriate reading material to help take your mind off your worries. The only problem is now I have a huge list of books they've suggested that I don't have time to read but really want to! Plus, they are actually bibliotherapists: it's an actual profession, where they help people decide what to read. Sounds kind of like a cross between a librarian and a therapist. Sounds neat!
"Game" by Anders de la Motte was an exciting thriller. Henke finds a cell phone on a train, and it asks him if he'd like to play a game. He accepts, and finds himself sucked into a world of increasingly daring missions, until he ends up hurting his sister. Now not only is his life at risk but everyone he cares about as well. It's the first of a trilogy, so I'm excited for the next one.
I wanted to read Tracey Letts' play "August: Osage County" before I go to see the film. It was very good about a dysfunctional family who can't even put their hurts and differences aside in the face of tragedy. It was very dark but funny. I can't wait to see the movie.
And finally, I was surprised by how much I liked Dean Koontz's latest, "Innocence". It was really different. We're introduced to Addison, who was turned out of his house at the age of 8 by his mother, who promptly killed herself. Something about Addison whips people into a murderous rage: we're told the midwife tried to smother him upon delivery. Addison does his best to keep himself hidden from the world, and makes his way to the city, where he finds a man who suffers from the same affliction he does. Together they keep each other safe and happy in their simple underground world, until the day when Father is brutally murdered. Six years later, Addison meets a young girl on the run for her life. Gwyneth suffers from a crippling form of social anxiety and can't bear to be around people, or to be touched, and together they form an unlikely pair based on mutual trust. A man-made plague is coming to end the world, and they survive because what makes them hideous to others is their purity. When mere mortals look upon them, they relive all the awful things they've ever felt and done, and it makes them want to kill them so they don't feel that way anymore, which actually made a lot of sense to me, moreso than a monster or something. Anyway, I enjoyed it.
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