Ye Olde Staging Point

Well, we were hoping to go cross-country skiing here in Muskegon over New Year's, but with the weather hovering around 50 degrees that seems an unlikely prospect. The ski trails in north Muskegon are very nice (for a pathetic skier like myself, that is)--they even light them up at night with old-fashioned lampposts. Ah well, I'm sure we'll get more than enough snow over the next few months so I won't complain about its current mysterious absence.

So hey, I'm thinking about putting together a reading list for the new year. Any suggestions? Since I wouldn't dream of asking for contributions without reciprocating, here are a few excellent books I've read in the last year or so that I heartily recommend:

• Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabakov. I love books where you can't trust the narrator to tell the truth, and this is the classic example of that. A very intriguing novel.

• Shogun by James Clavell. I re-read this earlier this year, and it was just as entertaining as I remembered it from years ago. Lots of samurai, a few ninjas, and people committing seppuku on every other page.

• House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski. One of the most interesting novels I've ever read; it owes a great deal to Nabakov above (in fact, I was introduced to Nabakov through this book). House of Leaves screws around with the concept of narrative like nothing you've ever seen before.

• An Instance of the Fingerpost by Iain Pears. A historical murder mystery set in England in the late 1600s. The novel consists of four sections authored by four different people who witnessed a murder and the events surrounding it. Each of them describes the same crime--and each fingers a different culprit.

They're all well worth the time, if you're looking for something interesting and slightly different to read.