TOP OF THE ROCK by Warren Littlefield. Enjoying all the background on some of NBCs top shows during his time there.

Due to a test of a machine that has gone horribly wrong, Seattle of the 1880s has become a walled city because of a gas that turns people into zombies. The wife of the inventor of the machine fights to get back into the city, because her teen-aged son has broken in to find proof that his father is innocent.

Really had trouble with this book, since I didn't buy into the central conceit of the story, that a mysterious gas called The Blight has been released that turns those who breathe it into zombies, and that it shows no signs of ever abating. Not only am I not interested in the current fad of zombies, but the whole idea is totally unlikely and given no context. I am totally able to suspend disbelief given the right situation, but this didn't work for me. Since that was most of the motivation throughout the story, it was extremely hard to get into the overall adventure as well. Would have worked better if there was some other motivating story device. (Tho, this is one of the most cited of the SteamPunk genre, and is highly recommended by professional writers and such, so what do I know.)

My last two books were one set in Seattle and one about steam-punk; my next is not going to be about zombies.

I gave up on King at much the same point: I was getting tired of his extremely padded books, and Insomnia put me over the edge. I have heard since that he has had a number of drug problems over the years, but not the specifics that must have been heaped on this book.

I had also heard 11/22/63 was a return of "the good King" (much as "Cell" was heralded), but they are both weak in comparison to his earlier books. 11/22/63 seemed a little padded, some of the story/character development is drawn out and ultimately doesn't go anywhere, and the last 50 pages (or so) of the book is wrapped up at break-neck speed: "OMG, I have to finish this in 50 pages to make my deadline!" or whatever: earlier in the book he spends pages on single moments or incidents, but here at the back of the book whole days and weeks fly by in paragraphs so that we can get to the denouement. 

This was what drove me crazy about Insomnia, so I am going to have problems returning to any of the new King.

Insomnia is just the most boring, turgid read out of any of King's books. 

I do agree that most of his output over the last 20 years has been much inferior to his 70s and early 80s work. There have been the occasional bright spots. I thought Desperation was up with the best, his narrative skills were up to par on the Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon. The Langoliers in Four Past Midnight was very good as well. 

I have just started Who I Am the autobiography of The Who`s Pete Townshend which was a Christmas Present,i am finding it very interesting.

The fourth book in the inaccurately named Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy trilogy, Arthur Dent returns to the Earth (demolished at the beginning of the first book), encounters a number of mysteries, and falls in love.

Totally a mixed bag: the best (so far) of the trilogy because Adams wrote this as a book, as opposed to pulling most of the material from his radio/TV/etc work: it has a fairly clear plot and the comedy works because it is in its intended medium. That said, at the very end of the book he veers off to wrap up a couple of things from the previous books that didn't need to be, brings back characters we were doing just fine without, and throws away the plot he was working on up until then. At least Dent was happy for a few chapters there.