Duma Key and the Monday Morning Playing With The Kid iTunes Shuffle

I'll admit to being a HUGE Stephen King fan - have been ever since I read Cujo in 4th grade (yep, you read that right...). But even with the admittedly familiar elements of this book (traumatic accident creates vast alienation for protagonist, who fills the void with creepy pursuits that he doesn't immediately realize are supernatural; see Bag of Bones and Lisey's Story for past attempts at this story), Duma Key is the scariest novel I've read in quite a while. As I was finishing it Friday and Saturday night, the story creeped me out enough that the noises our cats made after I went to bed made me get up and check to make sure it was only the cats making all the noise. That, folks, is the sign of a good, scary, fascinating read. As usual, the strong characters that King weaves out of thin air make you wish you knew them in real life, especially Edgar, the main character, Wireman, his new best friend, and Jack, Edgar's assistant. And a series of interludes on the nature of creativity, as one book critic noted, is a great window into King's own creative process. All in all, it was a great break from Bleak House for me - and now, back to Dickens and Jarndyce and Jarndyce.

So, then, here's the iTunes shuffle:

1. "Happy Go Lucky Local" - Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, Live in Swing City - Swingin' with Duke
2. "The Ladies In Town All Know My Name" - Strong Bad, Strong Bad Sings and Other Type Hits
3. "Minas Morgul" - Howard Shore, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
4. "Standin' Round Crying" - Eric Clapton, From the Cradle
5. "New Love" - Chris Cunningham, House Concert
6. "Pull" - Justin Roth, Shine
7. "Tennessee Stud" - The Chieftains, Down the Old Plank Road: The Nashville Sessions
8. "Bigger Than My Body" - John Mayer, Heavier Things
9. "Uranus, the Magician" - Gustav Holst, performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, James Levine, Cond., Holst: The Planets (stop that snickering...)
10. "Another Time" - Storyhill, This Side of Lost
11. "Tight Rope" - Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble, Greatest Hits
12. "There's Always One More Time" - Harry Connick, Jr., 30
13. "Cottontail" - Wynton Marsalis & the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, Live in Swing City - Swingin' with Duke
14. "Interlude" - Igor Stravinsky, The Composer (Robert Craft; the orchestra of St. Luke's)
15. "Finale" - The Chieftains, Live from Dublin - A Tribute to Derek Bell
16. "Rondeau" - Canadian Brass, Fireworks! (Baroque Brass Favorites)
17. "Undercurrent Blues" - Benny Goodman, Ken Burns Jazz: Benny Goodman
18. "Out Of My Mind" - John Mayer Trio, Try! [Live]
19. "Bona & Paul" - Wynton Marsalis, Standard Time, Volume 3: The Resolution of Romance
20. "Looking Back" - Nat King Cole, The Very Best of Nat King Cole