LOVECRAFT COUNTRY (Matt Ruff) - December 20/20

 Definitely felt like I was reading this one for a while, since it has some admittedly high highs but more low lows. Certain chapters are surprisingly engrossing, like the one about the character who travels to a distant galaxy, but others are just overwritten and not involving. Also I never really got a handle on the almost dozen different characters. **1/2 out of ****

SAINT JACK (Paul Theroux) - December 13/20

 Man, it took me a while to finish this one. I think Theroux is a very good writer but his style often gets in the way of his ability to tell an interesting story. I liked chunks of this book - the locale is very vivid and so is the main character - but Theroux's descriptive, trying-too-hard prose turned me off at far too many times to count. ** out of ****