Don't bother asking what I've been up to, since it really hasn't been important enough to mention. Chalk it up to my famous procrastination and leave it at that. :-)

Some of you who may remember my mentioning that I would soon be doing book reviews for Joe Bob Briggs' website. I just received the first book this past Saturday and will begin reading it in the next day or two. Naturally the book arrives when I'm in the middle of two books, plus listening to a third on audiotape. I'm going to put the other two books aside for the time being and but I figure I can keep track of the audiobook easily enough.

For anyone interested the two books are HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE, which I've had for a couple of years, but have never gotten around to reading. Figured with the five novel due this summer it might be good to be up to date. The second book is Jack Finney's FROM TIME TO TIME which is a sequel to his fantastic TIME AND AGAIN. If you like stories of time travel, especially when they deal with the ramifications of changing the past to effect the future, you can't do much better than Finney's two novels. Finally, the audiobook is an unabridged reading of Max Allen Collins' MAJIC MAN. Collins is one of my favorite writers, whether it is his Nat Heller mysteries, his numerous movie adapations or his all too few comicbook works.

Just to let you know, the book I'll be reviewing for Joe Bob is author Robert Stone's latest novel, BAY OF SOULS. Not exactly what I had expected from being in the 'thriller' group, but I'm certainly willing to give it a try. I was especially surprised to find a 'press package' included along with the review copy. It has about a dozen reviews, interviews and articles on Stone's previous books, as well as a couple of reviews by the NY Times of BAY OF SOULS. I don't think I've had this much material pertaining to a book I've yet to read, since I was back in college. I'm going to try not to be prejudge the work, from the other reviews. In future, I think I'll hold off on reading those until I've had a chance to read the book itself.

I'll keep you abreast of my opinions of the book, as well as passing along a first draft of my review once it's finished.