Candice Millard, DESTINY OF THE REPUBLIC: A TALE OF MADNESS, MEDICINE, ANDT HE MURDER OF A PRESIDENT

My pal Alice recommended this one; it's good non-fiction, about the rise and very brief presidency of Garfield--about whom I knew next-to-nothing before I read this. Political biography meets Devil in the White City. Found the first half a very good read, slowed a bit after Garfield is shot, but still good.

Jonathan Tropper, ONE LAST THING BEFORE I GO

I probably wouldn't have picked up this book except that one of my Very Reliable Friends suggested it. The novel begins with two middle-aged men in a convertible, on their way to jack off at a sperm bank because they're participating in a medical trial for $75 a time. Not a lot of anything sweet or sentimental in this book, but it's wry and funny and painful. JT writes these male characters with a kind of raw but tender truth, that I don't see very often. The plot and tone reminded me a bit of Dear American Airlines--the middle-aged man looking back on his mess of a life with all kinds of regrets, and then a crisis hits. A quick read, and definitely worth one.