Looking Ahead

I just came off a wonderful Christmas weekend. I hope that all of my readers enjoyed one as well. There's something magical about this time of year. Many believe that that's all a bunch of hocum, but it's true. If you want proof, just look at how much effort is spent trying to squash Christmas and yet despite it all Christmas continues to touch our hearts and make us think of our fellowman. Total score: Christmas-2010, Anti-Christmas forces-0.
Anyway, like I said, I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas. I sure did. My kid is sooo spoiled, and it was fun to watch her. My wife went above and beyond, giving me several very awesome gifts. All said I cleaned up on books, which always makes me happy. I've been reading some of Clive Cussler's Dirk Pitt series, and I wanted to get into some of his other works to see what they're like. My wife obliged. She gave me The Chase and The Wrecker, the first two books in the Isaac Bell series, a story about a detective in America around the first part of last century. The first book, The Chase, takes place in 1906, and jumps all over the western United States.
I couldn't help it, so over yesterday I knocked out the first hundred pages or so. First impressions: Good, the story is very entertaining, but I had to laugh at the main character, Isaac Bell. One of the big pet peeves I had with the Dirk Pitt series is Dirk. He's a crappy character with very little actual work put into his character. He's James Bond in a Speedo. He can get any woman to fall for him merely by being around her.
Isaac Bell on the other hand... is exactly the same way. They both even collect cars of sorts( though Isaac has a much smaller collection, perhaps because in 1906 there just aren't all that many cars)
No, don't get me wrong, I like the books. Just don't come for a major investment in the main character(or any of the characters for that matter). Just plan on a good mystery, laced in with a lot of history and wrapped up neatly in a big ol' adventure bow.
Anyhow, New Years is this week, and I'll be doing the traditional round of reformations. Some of them will concern this blog. Please, let me know in your comments what you like, what you don't, and what you'd like to see more of, after all you guys are what makes this blog worthwhile. So post a comment and let me know. Here's some ideas I'm going to be introducing:
Following a series. I want to start following a series, reviewing a book regularly every month. I have some ideas, but I'm open for suggestions. If there's a series you would like me to review, let me know and I'll consider it.
Classics. Every month, I'm going to review a pick from the Barnes and Noble Classics list, complete with synopsis. I'll cover the central themes and pick some quotes from the book that I find particularly memorable. If for no other reason, this will be a great way to find out what the some of those books you always meant to read but never quite get around to are all about.
Short Stories. I'll be putting up a little bit of my own short fiction, from time to time. I typically write in the horror/fantasy/mystery genres.
That's what I've got so far. Thanks for reading!