It's been a month, might as well update...
Last Books Finished:
Smaug: Unleashing the Dragon, by Daniel Falconer (hardcover) - A book about the creation of Smaug in Peter Jackson's Hobbit trilogy. The industry jargon can get a little thick, but otherwise I liked this look at the CGI process. (It also confirmed my suspicions that the Smaug glimpsed in the first movie was the original four-legged model, and was changed before the full-body view of the second movie. It does not explain why Weta prematurely released full-body images of Smaug before they nailed down the design, but I still think I'm the only person who noticed the promo material didn't match the final dragon.)
The Writer's Guide to Everyday Life in the Wild West, by Candy Moulton (hardcover) - A reference book for writers about the real West. Not bad from a factual standpoint, and it has extensive bibliographies for each section, but I'd hoped for a more inspiring read. Instead, it was more like reading a school textbook. It also could've used a section on common myths and misconceptions about the era that will mark you as a know-nothing amateur if they show up in your stories, seeing as how this was aimed at writers.
Currently Reading:
The Prince, by Niccolo Machiavelli (Nook) - A study of how to acquire and maintain power. I'm sure I'm missing a lot, not being familiar with the Italian politics of Machiavelli's time, but I'm finding it somewhat intriguing. The basic psychology of power is the same today as it was then, even if the methods aren't as blatantly brutal.
And I'm still picking at Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson (hardcover). I'm enjoying it when I read it, but I just don't think to pick it up for days at a time. (I went through a similar thing with The Way of Kings; really liked it, but I had to consciously commit to sit down long enough to get invested in the story. Then it flew by.)
I'm between titles on Kindle, having finally nuked a YA story that just wasn't going anywhere. (I finally gave up when the MC was about to drop into a depressive fugue; he'd already gone out of his way to be obnoxious and selfish and actively avoid engaging in a story, despite potentially interesting things happening all around him. No way was I sticking it out through depression...) Poking at a self-help title and an action title with Freemason overtones, but haven't gotten far enough in either to commit to finishing.