Ah, Friday...

Wow, it's Friday already. How time does fly, bringing the weekend and the time to get to all the crap you didn't get to during the week. Or the time to keep putting it off because you have other fun things to do. However you want to look at it.

Personally, I plan to finish the 4 books I am currently reading. Now, I know you're thinking to yourself, "What kind of weirdo reads 4 books at a time?"

The answer to that is weirdos with Literature degrees that minored in history. Most semesters, reading 4 books at a time was the only way you could finish the course material on time, literature and history being heavily dependent on the written word. Plus, I read fast.

So what are the four books I'm currently reading? Well, actually I've already finished one, The Princess of Mars, by Edgar Rice Burroughs. It's the first story about John Carter of Mars, and an excellent work of very early science fiction.

The Horror Stories of Robert E. Howard is another great collection of short stories. Next to Poe, REH is my favorite writer. He's best known for creating Conan the Barbarian, which pretty much created the swords-and-sorcery genre of fiction. But Howard created several other characters, all of them larger-than-life, and his knack for writing action-driven dialogue is unparalleled. He even garnered high praise from none other than H.P. Lovecraft for his ability to capture a moment in writing. Creepy, supernatural stories that make you want to look out your window before you shut off your light. But like Lovecraft, REH can provide for some pretty strange dreams.

When Christ and His Saints Slept, by Sharon Kay Penman, was a spur-of-the-moment buy that has proved to be quite entertaining. It's a fictionalized (but for the most part historically accurate) account of Empress Maude, the daughter of England's Henry I, her civil war with King Stephen over the English Crown, and her son Henry, who would later become King of England. Very much a period piece, very well written. A good way to learn some history without the often boring and dry accounts of non-fiction history.

The 4th book is called A History of the World in Six Glasses, a short but informative account on one man's idea of how 6 different drinks, beer, wine, spirits, tea, coffee, and Coca-Cola, have shaped man's civilizations. An interesting read.

This weekend, I'll likely start The Twin-Shadowed Knight, the 15th(?) volume of the Vampire Hunter D series. I've read them all so far; very exotic, very different combination of sci-fi and fantasy. The second book in the series, Raiser of Gales, is one of the most entertaining reads I've ever had, and every one has been well worth the time.

I'll also delve into War on the Run, an account of frontier skirmishing during the Revolutionary Way, and how it led to the development of today's American Special Forces.

The second volume of John Carter, Gods of Mars, is also on the slate, as well as one of the H.G. Wells novels that just arrived a nifty leather-bound edition.

I've got a few more in a holding pattern after that, and by the time I get to those I'll have more books stacked up.

Safe to say I like to read.