Julia Slavin's Carnivore Diet is evocative of a series of dream sequences. The story unfolds through the point of view of two characters - Dylan Dunleavy and his mother Wendy. Things begin as we become acquainted with Dylan, a teenager who has a job voicing a cartoon rat. Trouble is, his voice has gotten too deep and he cannot continue playing the character, a boy. That's not the crux of the story, though. Things get going when Dylan tells the reader about a mythical creature known as the chagwa. Oddly, attacks taking place in his neighborhood bear a strong similarity to those supposed to have been done by the chagwa.

When the perspective switches to Wendy's, we get substantially more detail. She and Dylan have been left alone in their home as their father/husband is in jail for apparent improprieties committed as a senator. Problems get worse when the chagwa becomes real in their neighborhood, and sets its appetite on Dylan. Wendy medicates to cope, and Dylan is left in the lurch as he stresses about his lost job and the fact that he is the prey of choice for a creature that seems impossible to destroy.

The book is compelling and almost impossible to put down until the final act, when things take a turn for the weird. It's probably strange to say that things turn weird in a book that is entirely odd to begin with. And yet, the abrupt change in tone just doesn't seem to fit with the rest of the book.

I still definitely recommend Carnivore Diet for anyone who is interested in fresh female voices in fiction. If the concept of the chagwa intrigues you, the book will definitely be rewarding.

What can I say about Cormac McCarthy's The Road that hasn't already been said far better by the judges at The Morning News Tournament of Books (http://www.themorningnews.org /tob/)?

Yes, McCarthy's novel is indeed a stark, post-apocalyptic tale that can be entirely unsettling to read. More than that, though, it is a gripping and impressive literary experience. McCarthy's prose remains a unique voice from the American writing community - those who are easily frustrated by sentence fragments and spare writing need not bother. But McCarthy never uses these devices frivolously - words are chosen carefully for rhythm and purpose.

The Road goes deeper than simply existing as a study of the end of the world as we know it. At its core, it is a story about a father and his son, and the lengths each will go to to protect the other. It's about people who try to do the right thing even as the world has fallen apart and the fear they experience when they are among few who follow such principles. It has left me haunted and thinking about when I might be able to steal time to read it again.

I was extremely unhappy with this book. An epic novel that comes in at more than 500 pages, every character is contemptible and impossible to relate to. Early on, I thought there was a chance I might be able to find common ground with Alfred, the patriarch, and Denise, the sister/daughter, but alas, it wasn't to be.

The Corrections centers on a Midwestern family that has spread out and lost touch. Father and mother live in their St. Jude home in an unnamed state (Illinois? Indiana? Iowa?) while the kids have relocated to New York City and Philadelphia. We weave through their various existences as we learn more and more about each individual and the reasons they are the way they are.

One of my biggest issues with the book is Franzen's treatment of women, though admittedly the men don't fare better. His contempt for the female persuasion seems to shine through. I wish I had given myself permission to quit on the book after about 150 pages, but I felt as though I ought to see it through.