11/22/63 (Stephen King) - November 27/11

This massive book is as uneven as one has come to expect from Stephen King, but on the whole, it's certainly one of the novelist's better efforts as of late. This is despite a midsection that admittedly did infuriate me at one point, as Uncle Stevie spent pages and pages on the minutia of Lee Harvey Oswald's day-to-day exploits. But the book also contains an unexpectedly engrossing love story, the resolution of which actually left me in tears as the book drew to a close. Oh, and the frenetic lead-up to Kennedy's assassination is some of the most exciting writing I've read in ages. ***1/2 out of ****

HARRY POTTER AND THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE (J.K. Rowling) - November 20/11

I have to admit that I was a little disappointed by this after all the hype around this series. It's perfectly fine - it's well written and the characters are interesting - but the book's episodic narrative ensures that it's rarely engrossing. Worse than that, it feels as though it's been written almost exclusively for kids. (Harry lived in a cupboard, for crying out loud!) I've read that the series gets better as it goes along, so I won't give up on it just yet, but yeah, I was expecting more. **1/2 out of ****

THE BEST OF ME (Nicholas Sparks) - November 15/11

I'm not sure, but this just might be the most entertaining book from Sparks. It certainly features all of the expected touchstones and does move at a deliberate pace in its early stages. But I enjoyed the rekindled romance between Dawson and Amanda, and I really liked the way Sparks kept cutting to different, seemingly pointless subplots. And though the conclusion becomes more and more obvious, the book does transform into a surprisingly compelling page-turner in its final 100 pages. *** out of ****

WHEN THE WIND BLOWS (James Patterson) - November 10/11

This fairly typical thriller from James Patterson is entertaining enough, but it's hard to deny that the book often feels a lot longer than necessary. As a result, there aren't really any stretches here that are as exciting as Patterson has probably intended, although the characters are all pretty well defined and portrayed. It's just completely average from start to finish. **1/2 out of ****

DRAMA: AN ACTOR'S EDUCATION (John Lithgow) - November 3/11

I'm a little conflicted about this one. On the one hand, Drama has been written in this irresistibly conversational style that makes the reader feel as though they're listening to stories directly from Lithgow. On the other hand, the author spends a lot - a lot - of time dwelling on the various theatrical productions he's been involved in over the years. Some of it's interesting, sure, but there's just too much to sustain the interest of everyday readers (theater freaks will go nuts for the various anecdotes, undoubtedly). I only wish Lithgow had included more stuff on his cinematic career, in the vein of the juicy tale of his time on the DePalma flick Obsession. It's also weird that he devoted a whole chapter to his sleazeball antics during the '70s, as he cheated on his wife a number of times - most notably with Liv Ullman. Still, it's a breezy, entertaining read. *** out of ****