What have you been reading?

John and Chad both have updates about their books, and even though I’m tempted to join the club I figure there’s been enough meta on here lately (I wrote two different posts about the current status of my writing but scrapped them both). Instead I thought I would ask what you have been reading lately. It is the summer, after all, and I hope that those inclined to do so have had some time to take in some good books.

This past weekend I polished off Rex Appeal and Tyrannosaurus SueTyrannosaurus Sue, a bit of a digression from what I should have been reading but it was difficult to resist. Reading Tyrannosaurus Sue after Rex Appeal definitely generated more food for thought than if I had read each separately. I also took Huxley with me to the beach yesterday but it was difficult getting comfortable with such a hefty tome. Next time I should probably just bring a paperback…

Most of what I read ends up feeding the blog monster in one form or another, and any day now I should also be receiving a copy of Jane P. Davidson’s A History of Paleontology Illustration to review. As much as I liked The Earth on Show and Scenes From Deep Time I’ve been hoping someone would move beyond the Victorian era and it seems like Davidson has done just that. This week I really want to commit myself to Huxley and a few other things but you can expect a review of the new book shortly after it arrives in my mailbox.

As a side note, I’ll also have a few more paleontology interviews coming up soon. Things have been a little slow in that respect because for many people it is the field season but a few friends have been gracious enough to grant me their time. I would love to do a video interview or two at the annual SVP meeting coming up this October but I still have no idea of whether or not I’m even going to be able to make it, so for now I’ll do the best I can with what I’ve got.