Doug Goodman

The days have been mostly wet and grey and dreary for the past couple of days, the kind of weather for book-reading.  My recent reads have had that same kind of dreary grey feel to them.

Princess of Mars -- Probably the brightest of the bunch, but like Edgar Rice Burroughs' other famous book, Tarzan of the Apes, it has a depressing end.  (I assume that like most of the Tarzan movies, teh ending will be changed in the upcoming John Carter movie.)  Thankfully, Burroughs wrote more books.

Stargazing Dog -- (Spoiler alert!) This graphic novel by Takashi Murakami, is kind of like a Charlie Brown special, if after everything Charlie Brown went through, at the end of the special, he and Snoopy died.  It is a beautiful story, but also kind of a downer.

Black Hills -- One of Dan Simmons' more recent books, and one of my favorites.  Unfortunately, the main character feels responsible for the death of most of the people around him and feels responsible for the death of his people, so also a bit of a downer.  The dialogues between Papa Saha and the ghost of Custer are some of the most memorable scenes of the book, and I wish there was more with the two of them in it.   For a horse of a different flavor, I recommend Custer's Brother's Horse, by Edwin Shrake.

So, my question to you:  do you know of any uplifting, feel-good books?  These are all very good books, and I am glad to have read them, but I am ready for something a little brighter right now.  Do you know of one?  Or maybe just a funny, clever book?  My Kindle is waiting.  (In the meantime, I am reading the Burroughs follow-up, Gods of Mars.)