Four guys on my mind right now: Warren Ellis, Philip K Dick, Bruce Sterling, and Charles Bukowski.

Ellis has been occupying brainspace for months. Been devouring all kinds of works, but most notably Black Summer, Gravel, Doktor Sleepless, and re-reading Crooked Little Vein. I just can't get enough of this guy. Went crazy getting his autograph on everything at Wizard World Chicago.

I haven't read much PKD recently, but I certainly bought a lot. I received a birthday gift cert from my parents-in-law and my sister-in-law and used that to buy three PKD novels (plus some Michael Moorcock and Harlan Ellison). There's a pile of PKD on my nightstand, but I keep getting distracted by other reading.

I'm almost done with Bruce Sterling's Mirrorshades anthology from 1985. It was the first compilation of cyberpunk stories, pulled together thanks to the success of William Gibson's Neuromancer released in 1984, I believe. There are a few gems in the collection, but also some, I don't know, bad ones. One by Greg Bear doesn't resemble cyberpunk at all, and I'm not knowledgeable to figure out why it's there.

I bought a little notebook in a Vancouver specialty paper store because it had a Charles Bukowski quote on the cover. Got me thinking that I hadn't read Bukowski in awhile, and there were definitely some novels a book of short stories outstanding on my reading. I get impetuous when it comes to book-buying so I'll probably head out today and buy Women, Hollywood, Pulp, and Tales of Ordinary Madness.