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January Post - 8 Down, 58 to goRead way more than I am used to this month, which is exactly what I wanted to get out of this goal. :)
1) Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie. Group read, finished 1/13. 3 stars.
First Christie book I've read, I liked it but I still feel kind of cheated with the ending.
2) Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore. Finished 1/13. 5 stars.
Loved this one.
3) After: The Shock by Scott Nicholson. Finished 1/13. 2 Stars.
Got this free on amazon, it was a decent read but didn't make me interested enough to keep going with the series.
4) The Edge of Never by J.A. Redmerski. Finished 1/13. 3 stars.
I gave in to some chick lit whilst sick. It was okay, if not completely unbelievable.
5) Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk. Finished 1/13. 3 stars
I tried to read this last summer but hated it. Decided to give it another go and got through it this time. Not the best CP book though for sure.
6) Les Misérables by Victor Huge. Group Read, Finished 1/13. 4 stars
This one only took me about 100 hours. So worth it though.
7) Horns by Joe Hill. Finished 1/13. 3 stars.
A guy who wakes up with devil horns makes for an interesting read. As layered as it was though, I felt like the author could have gone farther with the story.
8) First Shift - Legacy , Second Shift, Third Shift (WOOL Series, Shift) by Hugh Howey. Finished 1/13. 3 stars. Three books that I'm counting as one because they are installments and it feels cheap to call it three separate books.
I really liked the wool series and although this one started out slower, it's just as intriguing. Looking forward to the final book.
February Post Knocked 13 off this month. Wooop. For a total of 21, son!
9) Practical Demonkeeping by Christopher Moore. Finished 2/13. 5 stars.
I like Moore's books so much that I pretend he's playing footsie with me while I read them. I had been saving his stuff for the last six months after just discovering him last year. Now I've finally started the list, starting from his first published book Practical Demonkeeping. I will soon be glum when I finish everything he's done and have to resort to waiting for new books to arrive.
10) Coyote Blue by Christopher Moore. Finished 2/13. 4 stars.
So good! The ending was so awesome that it inspired a little pow wow dance out of this reader.
11) Roseanne: My Life As A Woman by Roseanne Barr. Finished 2/13, History Challenge. 2 stars.
Not a book I'd normally pick up. I learned a few things (mostly about Roseanne) but overall the book felt stiff and hurried.
12) The Color Purple by Alice Walker. Finished 2/13, Book of the Month. 4 stars.
Was a bit shocked by the language and the lesbianism but only because I wasn't expecting it. Glad I finally got around to reading this one!
13) Still Life With Brass Pole by Craig Machen. Finished 2/13. 3 stars.
This was a free kindle read, I had no idea it was a true story until I was finished with it. For a book that mostly takes place in a strip joint, it was pretty decent writing.
14) Bloodsucking Fiends by Christopher Moore. Finished 2/13, TBR Twin Read. 4 stars.
Funny vampire book with an awesome twin to read it with. The Emperor slayed me.
15) Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda by Romeo Dallaire. Finished 2/13, History Challenge. 4 stars.
I had to use the glossary constantly to keep track of all the military/UN abbreviations but it was worth it. Other reviews said the hardest parts to read were the gory details of the genocide, and while those were haunting, I found myself more sick in the face of all the actions that could have been taken to prevent the genocide and weren't.
16) Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. Finished 2/13. 4 stars
Felt like chasing the white rabbit one day. Not sure why I didn't read this as a kid but I think "Through the Looking Glass" might have scared me away. The Jabberwocky and all.
17) Strangeville by Kenneth Tingle. Finished 2/13. 1 star.
Free kindle read about a secret town that is stuck in the 1950's. It started out okay and then took a huge nosedive into a pile of dung.
18) Fat Vampire by Johnny B Truant. Finished 2/13. 3 stars.
Gave this one a try and ended up really liking it. Super funny take on vampires and society.
19) All You Can Eat by Johnny B Truant. Finished 2/13. 3 stars.
Just as good as the first in series.
20) Tastes Like Chicken by Johnny B Truant. Finished 2/13. 2 stars.
This one dropped a star because the ending was junk, but there will be another book so Mr.Truant could redeem himself. To be seen.
21) What Remains: A Memoir of Fate, Friendship, and Love by Carole Radziwill. Finshed 2/13, History Challenge. 4 stars.
My neon yellow highlighter got a good workout with this book as I found the writing to be beautiful. I found out after reading it that Carole was on the Real Housewives of NY TV show which I hadn't known - if I had I might not have picked it up due to bias, but I had been searching plane crash books and this one covers the JFK Jr crash as she was very close/related to John and Carolyn. The book felt respectful and honest at the same time and her true story was quite moving. I maybe cried a small puddle during the last two chapters.
I also finished up: The Silver Spoon , which is THE giant Italian Cookbook (4 stars), Man's Search for Meaning (4 stars) and which was echoing in my head as I read Shake Hands with the Devil, and If You Survive: From Normandy to the Battle of the Bulge to the End of World War II, One American Officer's Riveting True Story (3 stars). I'm not counting cookbooks in my goal number and the other two books were stragglers from last year. Felt good to get them off my 'currently reading' list.
Books of March; Twelve books it be, for a total of thirty three.22) The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove by Christopher Moore. Finished 3/13, 4 stars
A giant lizard in the ocean that makes everyone horny? Count me in!
23) Hamlet by William Shakespeare. Finished 3/13, 3 stars
The more Shakespeare I read, the more I get the inside jokes and references in other books. Worth the effort.
24) Without a Doubt by Marcia Clark. Finished 3/13, History Read, 3 stars
This books left me with two distinct impressions: 1) Marcia Clark is a badass and 2) OJ was guilty.
25) You Suck by Christopher Moore. Finished 3/13, 4 stars
Who knew bloodsuckers could be so darn funny?
26) Bite Me by Christopher Moore. Finished 3/13, 4 stars
Turns out vampire kitties are even funnier than just plain ol' vampires. This finished out Moore's "A Love Story" trilogy and had a perfectly satisfying ending.
27) Fluke: Or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings by Christopher Moore. Finished 3/13, 4 stars.
One of the most imaginative books I've read and funny to boot. The more I read Moore the more I loves him.
28) Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace. Finished 3/13, 5 stars.
Finished this lexical beast in three weeks and was glued to it nightly. It kertwanged my mind in the best of ways and left me in a cloud of thoughts and ideas that I'm still sorting out.
29) The Princess Bride by William Goldman. Finished 3/13, Book of the Month, 2 stars.
This is one of those books that I wouldn't normally pick up on my own. Everyone seems to really like it and I really wanted to like it.... but in the end the humor of it just wasn't really up my alley. Glad I read it though.
30) The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde. Finished 3/13, 4 stars
My first time with Wilde, was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. I loved the wit and humor, first thing I've read in a while that I wanted to re-read immediately.
31) The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux. Finished 3/13, 4 stars
This means I've finally gotten around to knowing what the story of the Phantom of the Opera is all about! I really enjoyed it as well.
32) Genome: the Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters by Matt Ridley. Finished 3/13, History Read, 4 stars
Lots of interesting things learned in this one, even though it's a bit dated by now.
33) The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. Finished 3/13, 4 stars
Way more entertaining than I had assumed. Highly anticipating more Wilde on my reading list this year.
April Post: Another 15 makes for a great 48. I've upped my goal to 121 as I seem to have underestimated my ability to read a crapton of books. Got lucky and racked up a good amount of 4 and 5 star reads this month. 34)In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. Finished 4/13, 4 stars
Although chilling this book was actually the opposite of cold. Truman was a brilliant writer.
35) Requiem for a Dream by Hubert Selby Jr. Finished 4/13, 5 stars
Holy shit was this a good read. I'm looking forward to more Selby in my future reading.
36) The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Finished 4/13, Buddy Read, Decade Challenge, 3 stars
Yawn. Materialistic people being materialistic and thinking they are above everyone else. Yawn. Good writing, boring lackluster story with a decent ending.
37) The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. Finished 4/13, Book of the Month, 4 stars
Wasn't expecting this YA book to be as good as it was. Read it in a day and loved every word.
38) In Harms Way The Sinking of the USS Indianapolis by Doug Stanton. Finished 4/13, History Challenge, 5 stars
The Indianapolis had just delivered parts of the A-bomb when it was struck/sunk by an overzealous underwater enemy. What follows is the horrific account of the survivors and those who perished, along with the history of how the US navy handled the disaster (I'll give you a hint, they royally f'd it up). This book was written beautifully and filled with interesting facts, one of the best WWII accounts I've read yet.
39) I Am Legend by Richard Matheson. Finished 4/13, 4 stars.
A jarring vampire apocalypse plot written with a bluntness that I adore, this book was way better than I had expected.
40) 1984 by George Orwell. Finished 4/13, Twin Read, History Challenge. 5 stars.
I really should have read this ten years ago.
41) Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote. Finished 4/13, 5 stars.
Great writing, great characters, great story, great quotes. A rarity in that I wanted to re-read it right off the bat.
42) The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. Finished 4/13, Decades Challenge. 4 stars.
Not just about meat! Also served was socialism soup for the final course! I really liked the exploration of idealism in this story and the blunt honesty in the words that built it.
43) Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton. Finished 4/13, Decades Challenge. 3 stars.
Life is a bitch and this book sets out to prove it. Interesting story with an interesting ending.
44) A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore. Finished 4/13. 4 stars.
Just another tasty treat from Abby Normal, vamp tramp Jody, the Emperor of San Fransisco and the gang that reside in the inventive mind of Moore. This dish brings into the mix: Mr. Minty Fresh, evil gutter hussies, Charlie Asher and his offspring of doom and death along with plenty of laughs.
45) They Shoot Horses, Don't They? by Horace McCoy. Finished 4/13, Decades Challenge. 3 stars.
The nihilist dancers on the floor go round and round. Round and round. And round and round. All hundreds days long.
46) The Cider House Rules by John Irving. Finished 4/13, 3 stars.
I appreciate why this book was written and thought it was written well but it just kept going on and on and was a bit formulaic. Maybe if it would have gone easier on all the "scraping" descriptions it might have felt a little more streamlined.
47) Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. Finished 4/13, 5 stars
Probably the best writing I've read so far, I am stunned at how much story is packed into the amount of words that were used. Detestable characters in a beautiful book.
48) A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole. Finished 4/13, Decades Challenge. 5 stars.
Although I still have 'valve' questions, I thought this book was a riot of humor, good taste and American culture. I won't be forgetting Ignatius Reilly anytime soon.
May Post: add another 13 for a run of 61. 49) American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis. Finished 5/13, Decades Challenge. 3 stars
Armani, kill, slaughter, Gucci, murder, stab, Calvin Klein, Need to return my movies and listen to some Huey Lewis, ARMANI..... I liked this book overall and really admired the repetitiveness and the pinpoint precision of psycho that Patrick Bateman brought to the pages but the rat scene took it tooooo far.
50) Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. Finished 5/13, Book Of The Month. 4 stars
The More Stitches The Less Riches! This was another book I should have read a decade ago.
51) The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison. Finished 5/13, Decades Challenge. 5 stars
I thought this book was written beautifully and the 3rd party narrative of Pecola and her family was removed enough to not completely crush my soul as I read it.
52) Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut. Finished 5/13, Decades Challenge. 5 stars
Another one I should have read a long time ago, although I'm glad I had a good base of Vonnegut before I read it. The books I love the most are the ones that work humor seamlessly into a story that makes you think, and Vonnegut is a master of such things.
53) Columbine by Dave Cullen. Finished 5/13, History Challenge. 4 stars
Excellent account of not only what happened at Columbine HS on 4/20/99 but also what happened afterwards in both the media and the community. This book was written smartly, had a ton of research behind it and was highly organized in content, making for very easy and informative non-fiction reading.
54) Free Air by Sinclair Lewis. Finished 5/13, 4 stars.
Such a funny and good book about the great American roadtrip and the people you might find.. with the wind in your hair and free air in your tires, America is your class-defined oyster. I'm really looking forward to more Lewis in the future.
55) Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice. Finished 5/13, Group Read. 3 stars
Not my usual kind of vampire book but it wasn't bad. Heavy on the vague sensuality and light on the laughs though.
56) Middlesex by Jeffery Eugenides. Finished 5/13. 4 stars.
Chapter 11. Calliope. Silkworms.... I won't be forgetting this intricate story for a while to come. I really liked how Eugenides worked some history into the story and how honest the book felt.
57) Churchill Versus Hitler: War of Words by Peter John. Finished 5/13. 3 stars.
Pretty much everything Churchhill said about Hilter and vice versa. Good overview of the 1920's through the 1960's, there is a lot of stuff to sort through and the author did it well.
58) Neuromancer by William Gibson. Finished 5/13, Twin Read. 2 stars.
Tried to liked this one and I enjoyed some of the writing but overall it was a pretty weak storyline.
59) In the Plex: How Google Thinks, Works, and Shapes Our Lives by Steven Levy. Finished 5/13, History Challenge. 3 stars
This book didn't get interesting until the last 25% but was overall a decent pretty-much-unbiased view of Google's short history. If you pay attention to tech news I doubt this read would offer anything new though.
60) Suspect by Robert Crais. Finished 5/13, 3 stars.
Maggie happy. Pack happy. Reader happy. I missed Elvis and Joe but this was a good read either way.
61) Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Finished 5/13. 4 stars
First time breaking into Dostoyevsky, gave me a lot to look forward to.
You are almost done! Are you planning to up your goal?
Adriana wrote: "You are almost done! Are you planning to up your goal?"Yup. Had to raise the bar to 121 so now I'm back to being in the middle of my goal again. Good luck on yours!
June jive, UP to 7562)The Stranger by Albert Camus. Finished 6/13. 5 stars
It was the sun! The sun I tell you. And what difference does it make when a man dies anyways? Not much really.
63) For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway. Decades Challenge. Finished 6/13. 4 stars.
In this one Hemingway just goes around and obscenities in everyone's mother's milk. And it's highly entertaining. There was also some war, bridge blowing, unlikely love and then more obscenities.
64) Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power by Rachael Maddow. History Challenge. Finished 6/13. 5 stars
Funny, smart and highly informative, this book explains how American has drifted into a country that doesn't really feel the effects of the wars we wage and how we got to be like this.
65) Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond. Finished 6/13. 3 stars.
Even though I learned a ton from this prize winning book the writing was really lacking and most everything was presented as a debatable idea instead of real information. It should have been called Plants, Animals and Germs because it was seriously lacking on the flashier parts of the actual title (not much guns and steel going on) and half the book was about food production.
66) Guests of the Ayatollah: The First Battle in America's War With Militant Islam by Mark Bowden. Finished 6/13. 4 stars.
Great book that was really detailed about the Iran hostage crises in 1979 at the American Embassy. It followed the trail of quite a few of both the people who were held hostage and the people who took them hostage. It was pretty informative about how the crises affected the Carter presidency as well.
67) The Wapshot Chronicle by John Cheever. Decades Challenge. Finished 6/13. 3 stars.
The crazy chronicles of a New England family that included some paragraphs about sex with horses (which was too reminiscent of The Cider House Rules, what's up with New England and horse sex?). This book had some really good writing in it but there were other parts that kind of lacked so overall got 3 stars.
68) Animal Farm by George Orwell. Finished 6/13. 5 stars.
I read (skimmed for tests) this one in HS and didn't care for it but this time around I fucking loved it. Even more than 1984. It was so simple and so true and I almost wanted there to be more but the fact that there wasn't contributed to how perfect it was in the first place. I'm looking forward to reading everything Orwell ever did.
69) The Odyssey by Homer. Finished 6/13. 4 stars.
Another book I vaguely remember from HS. I read this in prep for Ulysses and although poetry isn't usually my thing I enjoyed the storyline in general and many of the passages.
70) The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. Twin Read. Finished 6/13. 3 stars.
This is one I probably should have read in HS because I probably would have liked it better then. By now my sense of humor requires a little more darkness to it than what Adams offers here. But it was a decent read overall and I laughed a few times (mainly at Marvin).
71) Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal by Eric Schlosser. Finished 6/13. 4 stars.
Using the fast food industry as a prime example of greedy American capitalism, Schlosser examines how fast food became popular and what it has done to America since. Filled with a ton of interesting facts (like more fast food workers are murdered on the job than police officers!) and a shit ton of hard evidence at what the US Beef Trust has done to maintain control over the industry. You probably don't want to know what's in the beef, but Schlosser tells you anyway.
72) A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce. Finished 6/13. 3 stars.
Young Stephan gets smacked around at school by an asshole teacher, after a while fits in with friends, begins a decent into sin with a hooker and immature cranks, repents and asks for forgiveness, fears hell but not as much as he fears giving up everything that is beautiful in the world to live a life as a beacon of religion. Decides to leave his country and family so he can be an artist. Pretty much the same YA theme that we use today: being a teenager sucks ass. Parts of this book were amazing and part of it made me feel like I was at church.. and wanted OUT.
73) Isn't It Pretty To Think So? by Nick Miller. Finished 6/13. 2 stars.
As if the Y gen isn't annoying enough with their facebooks and dubstepping, I don't really want to read about it on my downtime from writers of that gen. This was a good attempt at a coming of age novel but by the time the guy meets a girl who he wants to save all I could think about was all the nasty STDS that both of them had probably picked up by that point. It had potential but lost it in the details.
74) Squall Lines by Tim Dorsey. Finished 6/13. 5 stars.
Dorsey has satire down pat and is my favorite modern author, this book gave me a glimpse into some of his earlier writing and was really a pleasure to read.
75) The Katrina Diary by Amy Rohde. History Challenge. Finished 6/13. 2 stars.
This was easy to read but needed editing and felt more like it should have been a blog entry than a book. I liked Rohde's observations, honesty and gratitude but the book lacked a lot of details that I was hoping to find about the disaster of Katrina.
July Post - Put another 12 on the fire, at 87 and getting higher. 76) The Road by Cormac McCarthy. Finished 7/13. 2 stars
I get the that the writing is good and I am pretty sure I "got" this book but I couldn't get past no storyline, no character development, no punctuation (which seemed to have nothing to do with the story nor added anything to it) and THE MOST HORRIBLE ENDING EVER. Seriously, it was terrible. The most cliche piece of crap that could have evolved in a few hundred pages. I was drawn into McCarthy's environment but really disappointed in the lack of substance that I found there.
77)War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. Finished 7/13. History Challenge, Must-Read-Classics Challenge. 5 stars
I expected this book to be boring but it was really anything but. It took me a few weeks to get through it but was completely worth it. Tolstoy is the most badass Christian Anarchist that I know of.
78) The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. Finished 7/13. Must-Read-Classics Challenge. 5 stars.
I got a real bang out of Holden and was stunned by the amount of story that Salinger could fit into this little book. Absolutely loved it.
79) The Metamorphosis, in the Penal Colony and Other Stories: The Great Short Works of Franz Kafka by Franz Kafka. Finished 7/13. Must-Read-Classics Challenge. 3 stars.
The Metamorphosis was a really good read and a few others too, but overall most of the short stories made me feel like I had no idea what was going on. Which can be a good thing.
80) Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. Finished 7/13. Twin Read, Must-Read-Classics Challenge. 4 stars.
It was a total pleasure to burn through this book! I was surprised by how fine of a writer Bradbury is as this was my first time reading him.
81) A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess. Finished 7/13. Must-Read-Challenges. 5 stars.
Holy shit. I really should have read this years ago when given a copy by my best friend. I really should have. But I didn't and I have now. And it was fucking amazing. One of my favorites.
82) Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. Finished 7/13. Must-Read-Classics Challenge. 4 stars.
Another re-read that I barely remember from HS. This time around I read it through in a night and it was a pretty cozy experience. I loved Steinbeck's use of language and am looking forward to more of his stuff.
83) The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins. Finished 7/13. 3 stars
This book was sort of a preaching to the choir type of business with me but it always bothers me when people treat atheism like a religion and attempt to convert or convince others, and this book states in the first chapter that the author's goal is that his audience will end the book as an atheist. Other than that, I thought the book was decently informative, made a ton of sense and was funny to boot.
84) Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. Finished 7/13. 3 stars.
This was a fun read. It felt like a YA book, both the themes and the writing, and while I was reading it I realized the only reason it probably wasn't marketed as a YA book is because not many Young Adults would get all the 80's reference.
85) Fat Vampire 4: Harder Better Fatter Stronger by Johnny B Truant. Finished 7/13. 2 stars.
I needed a break from serious reading and decided to go ahead in this series. Not a great decision. No more Fat Vampire for me.
86) The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Finished 7/13. Must-Read-Classics Challenge. 2 stars.
Beautiful writing but oh so boring. It took me 3 weeks to get through this short read.
87) Catch-22 by Joseph Heller. Finished 7/13. Must-Read-Classics-Challenge. 5 stars
This is probably the best book I've ever read. Which is a pretty strong way to feel after only reading it once. But it was really perfect in every way. I'm glad there is a lot more of Joseph Heller's work for me to find my way through.
You've really been reading some great books and are doing crazy well with your challenge (even with the increased goal). Nice job!
Kara wrote: "You've really been reading some great books and are doing crazy well with your challenge (even with the increased goal). Nice job!"Thanks Kara, good luck on your goal too! Now if I could only make it through Ulysses this month.....haha
Because you changed your goal to 121, I've moved you to the 100+ folder. :)
August Post: 15 out of the queue, making a total of 102. 88) RE-read The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M Cain. Finished 8/13. 5 stars
One of my favorite books, I re-read it every summer. This year I did it in an afternoon in the hot hot sun and it was better than ever. I love Cain and what he can do with words.
89) RE-read Beggars in Spain by Nancy Kress. Finished 8/13. 4 stars.
Another one of my favorite books that I have re-read many times. I recently found out there was sequels to it so I wanted to brush up on the first one again before I tackled them.
90) The Deep Blue Good-By by John D MacDonald. Finished 8/13. 4 stars
Some good gritty noir fiction right here. My first introduction to Travis McGee, looking forward to more.
91) Understanding Marijuana: A New Look at the Scientific Evidence by Mitch Earlywine. Finished 8/13. 3 stars.
A comprehensive unprejudiced look at the medical research done on Marijuana, which can be hard to find because it's a touchy subject in the states. We don't mind selling nicotine, alcohol and caffeine but because the hemp industry would taken $ away from the big newspaper/timber industry of the past we still don't allow any sensible laws about marijuana, nor do we allow much research to be funded for it. The book covered a lot of ground, included chapter summaries and was a good overview of the subject.
92) On the Road by Jack Kerouac. Finished 8/13. 3 stars.
I wanted to like this book because it's so iconic but I found it to be kind of boring actually. Kerouac had some good spurts of writing here and there but that was about the only redeeming point. The storyline was sorta blah, the characters in it were just slackers trying to justify being slackers and there was some pretty strong misogyny lurking in most chapters. Turns out the beat generation was not so cool after all but if that was his point then he told it pretty well (I don't think it was his point). Glad I finally read it though.
93) Liar's Poker by Michael Lewis. Finished 8/13. 3 stars.
Wall Street in the 80's. Not the place to be.
94) Beggars and Choosers by Nancy Kress. Finished 8/13. 3 stars
I'm not sure how I went 15 years not knowing that one of my favorite books had sequels to it but now I know and have read the 2nd. Not as satisfying as the first but still a damn good read. Left me with lots of thoughts pondering capitalism and democracy and what makes a citizen a citizen.
95) The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson. Finished 8/13. BotM read. 3 stars.
I loved all the history of the 1893 Chicago World's fair but I didn't really care for the way the author baited the reader throughout the book. Great non-fiction story but the writing could have been tidier.
96) Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk. Finished 8/13. 4 stars.
Flew through this one. Loved the words. Loved the characters. A bit pessimistic but overall quite smart. Took me right back to the 90's.
97) Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami. Finished 8/13. 2 stars.
After hearing good things about Murakami I wasn't expecting Norwegian Wood to be such a dud. It was readable, in fact I flew through it but only because I kept thinking it would get better. By the end of the book my laundry list of complaints was quite the heavy load.
98) Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. Finished 8/13. Twin Read, History Challenge. 3 stars.
This was a fun book to read. The meant-to-be cliche characters were worth a giggle and the storyline twisted and turned with the best of 'em.
99) The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway. Finished 8/13. 4 stars.
I don't think I really agree with what Hemingway was trying to say with this book but I still really liked it. I thought the writing was top notch. There is a special trick to having offensive morals/ideas/characters but still being able to pull off an amazing story none-the-less.
100) The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien. Finished 8/13. 5 stars.
This fucking book. Blew my mind. I couldn't stop reading it, I couldn't stop thinking about it, I couldn't stop highlighting passages and was blown away pretty much every page by O'Brien's insane talent with words and emotion. I need more O'Brien. MORE. I don't care if every book is about Vietnam, I want to read them all.
101) American Gods by Neil Gaiman. Finished 8/13. 3 stars.
My first attempt at Gaiman, another one of those authors I've heard good things about. And it was good. I liked the storyline but the writing wasn't anything impressive and I would have preferred some humor sprinkled in.
102) The Riptide Ultra-Glide by Tim Dorsey. Finished 8/13. 5 stars.
I had been saving this book all year long to read on vacation and it did not disappoint. I freakin love me some Serge! This time Dorsey tackled pill mills and reality TV. Hysterics ensue.
Interesting on your thoughts about Gaiman. It's probably since I saw the movie versions first but Stardust and Coraline by him weren't as good as I hoped either. I thought American Gods would be different. It's usually pretty highly praised.
September Post: Another 16, which makes for a keen 118. 103)Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein. Finished 9/13. 2 stars
I grokked this book but I thought the storyline was weak, the humor wasn't funny and the writing left a lot to be desired. I'm not having much luck breaking into sci-fi this year.
104) Last Exit To Brooklyn by Hubert Selby Jr. Finished 9/13. 4 stars.
Selby's books are perfectly gritty and undeniably American. You can't help but grimace while reading. Or even just thinking of the name Tralala....
105) A Brief History of Time by Stephan Hawking. Finished 9/13. History Challenge. 4 stars.
This was probably a three star book but Hawking's 'jokes' sprinkled throughout the book really made it for me.
106) Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keys. Finished 9/13. 3 stars
I blew through this one in a night as it was very easy to read and had a solid plot line. It wasn't as heavy hitting as I thought it was going to be though, based on reviews.
107) The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 by Lawrence Wright. Finished 9/13. 4 stars.
A very well organized and researched book detailing the rise of Al-Qaeda and its main players. I learned quite a bit from this one and would recommend it to anyone who is interested in the 9/11 attacks or terrorism in general.
108) Self-Reliance and Other Essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson. Finished 9/13. 3 stars
This would have been a better read if all the religious notions had not been present. Still his message of not following the crowd is a keeper.
109) Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis. Finished 9/13. 3 stars.
Ellis, for me, is one of the easiest authors to read. This was his first book, and it shows, but it still held its ground and didn't fail to shock me a bit with the ending.
110) One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Finished 9/13. Twin read. 5 stars.
I loved this book! It was hilarious and sad all at the same time. Plus it was a challenge that was worth every word, as it is one of the densest books I've come across.... There's always money in the banana stand until it rains for 4 years and they take out all the union workers.... I can't wait to re-read this one again and again...
111) Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk
by Ben Fountain. Finished 9/13. 4 stars.
Billy's a war hero. Billy's been stoplossed and is being sent back to Iraq. Billy can't figure out why Americans are okay with all this. But Billy is 19, a solider who is not allowed to question it. So he deals with the futility of it while the rest of us watch football and ignore his fate.... This was a book that really needed to be written and I'm glad it was done so well.
112) Forrest Gump by Winston Groom. Finished 9/13. 4 stars.
Having seen the movie I thought the book would hold no surprises but the two were actually quite different. I loved Forrest's take on Vietnam: "It was a bunch of shit". The writing was smart, the plot line was original and the whole thing came together really well. Overall it was a great book.
113) Songs for the Open Road: Poems of Travel and Adventure by the American Poetry Society - various authors. Finished 9/13. History Challenge. 3 stars
Poetry isn't my thing. Some of it is okay, and some of this was okay, but some of it just tries way to hard and misses the mark. This was a good collection of travel poems though.
114) Cannery Row by John Steinbeck. Finished 9/13. 5 stars.
I loved this cozy little story and all the characters in it. It makes me want to read more Steinbeck.
115) Light and Shade: Conversations with Jimmy Page by Brad Tolinski. Finished 9/13. History Challenge. 3 stars.
Gotta love Jimmy Page (Jack White says he doesn't trust people who don't like Jimmy Page, and I say I don't trust people who don't like Jack white). This book had a good overview of his history with the Yardbirds, Led Zep and the Firm. Plus interviews with others who were with Page along the way. It even went into how he affected fashion, with an interview with Vartos. However it was all basic info and most of it was regurgitated from magazine articles so it only ended up with 3 stars.
116) Night by Elie Wiesel. Finished 9/13. 4 stars.
I was afraid this book was going to break my heart so I stayed away from it for a while. In the end, I didn't even shed a tear, although the story itself was heartbreaking. It wasn't as personal as some of the other accounts of Nazi concentration camps that I've come across which I think is why I wasn't a spout while reading it. It was a good book though, just not as devastating as I had assumed.
117) Black Hawk Down by Mark Bowden. Finished 9/13. 5 stars.
Can't ask for a better nonfiction war account than this superbly written and researched book about the Oct 1993 Somalia disaster. I learned a ton and was glued to the pages along the way. Bowden has a fantastic talent for writing non-fiction that reads like the best of fiction.
118) The Butterfly by James M Cain. Finished 9/13. 3 stars.
Cain is one of my favorite authors but this short book fell a bit short of his other works I think. It was still a good story though, with the signature Cain twist in the middle and lots of temptation sprinkled throughout.
October Postings. Adding 17 to the roll, hitting 135 and making goal. 119) World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks. Finished 10/13. History Challenge, Halloween Challenge. 1 star.
I rarely hand out one star ratings, and this book overall would have gotten two because it was alright to read and overall interesting enough to not dislike, but this one had a fatal-for-me error. If you are going to paint the story in the pre-face as a rejected commission report and state that it will include technical information from that report as well as personal stories, then don't fill the WHOLE damn book with just personal stories and zero technical issues.
120) The Man Who Was Thursday by G.K. Chesterton. Finished 10/13. 3 stars.
This shit was pretty funny, took me a few chapters to get into and the ending was sorta lame but overall this was a quite enjoyable read about a few select ridiculous anarchists.
121) Dust by Hugh Howey. Finished 10/13. 3 stars.
I think Howey hit his high-note with the first installment of Wool, it's still my favorite but this ending was pretty decent and enjoyable to read. Makes me wonder if the series will continue in a different environment.
122) The Old Man and the Sea by Hemingway. Finished 10/13. Halloween Challenge. 4 stars
This one made me laugh sooooo much. Hemingway has yet to make it to five stars for me yet but the few I've read are all consistent 4 star quality and he's quickly becoming one of my favorites. EAT IT FISH!
123) The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur by Mike Michalowicz. Finished 10/13. History Challenge. 3 stars
Worth reading but nothing that hasn't been said before about how to build a business better.
124) The Pact by Jodi Picoult. Finished 10/13. Twin Read. 2 stars
Everything in this book was really predictable and the characters didn't have much depth. Been wanting to try this author for a while, glad I finally got around to it.
125) The Amityville Horror by Jay Anson. Finished 10/13. Halloween Challenge. 3 stars.
So bad it was good. My copy had that real old-and-musty paperback feeling to it that I dig and keeps me glued to pages. The funniest part of this book is that all the people in it are such sell-outs, and when you combine that with stereotypical lame writing, it makes for such good pulpy satire.
126) Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. Finished 10/13. 3 stars
I expected this book to be more than it was I think. The prose was not up my alley and I didn't find the satire funny but I can recognize that the book affected me enough to make me feel sick to my stomach. Glad I read it but I doubt I'll ever pick it up again because it was so hard to get through the first time. I'm fine with unlikeable characters and warped themes but there needs to be something to redeem those qualities as well and here the writing just wasn't doing that for me.
127) Going After Cacciato by Tim O'Brien. Finished 10/13. 4 stars.
This was a damn fine book. O'Brien does not disappoint.
128) The Walking Dead, Vol. 1: Days Gone Bye by Robert Kirkman. Finished 10/13. Halloween Challenge. 2 stars.
Well I've read my first graphic novel (aka adult comic). Now I know for sure that it's not really my thing. Although I did like seeing differences in the comic compared to the show.
129) Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. Finished 10/13. Halloween Challenge. 4 stars.
This book was deeper than I thought it going to be. It left the character of Victor Frankenstein to be examined by the reader in more ways than one and shed some light on mans downfalls. Glad I finally got around to reading it.
130) The 9/11 Commission Report: Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States Finished 10/13. 3 stars.
Surprisingly easy to read and well organized. I don't think it includes all the information that it should have included but overall it was decently informative.
131) Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer. Finished 10/13. Twin Read. 4 stars.
I liked how Foer didn't feel the need to explain the obvious and found the formatting of the book to be on the creative side. The last few chapters of this book were like emotional gut punches and I liked it.
132) Nightmare in Pink by John D McDonald. Finished 10/13. 5 stars
Oh Travis McGee, you are quite the irresistible badass.
133) Franny and Zooey by JD Salinger. Finished 10/13. 3 stars
I had high expectations after Catcher in the Rye and this one didn't make the grade but overall it was funny and interesting.
134) Silken Prey by John Sanford. Finished 10/13. 3 stars.
Lucas isn't nearly as fun now that he's married but Sanford can still crank out an enjoyable storyline anyways.
135) All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque. Finished 10/13. 5 stars
The one blew me away. It has the words "best war novel ever" right on the cover and the words inside delivered. I wish I would have read this a long time ago.
November Post. Adding 14 for a total of 149 136) The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature by Matt Ridley. Finished 11/13. 4 stars.
Interesting book on human evolution and theories of how sex drives it. Ridley speculates that, like the Red Queen from Through the Looking Glass, evolution seems to be running in place at all times and gives a good amount of information to back up those ideas.
137) Choke by Chuck Palahniuk. Finished 11/13. 5 stars.
This was my fourth CP book and the first one I've given five stars to. It was refined, funny, harsh and emotional, while sticking true to the style that he's known for.
138) The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami. Finished 11/13. 1 star
I knew that I probably wasn't going to like it based on Norwegian Wood but I had already bought it so then I had to read the damn thing. I really don't understand how his juvenile writing gets so much praise, Murakami has made his way onto my "never again" list.
139) We Are All Weird: The Myth of Mass and the End of Compliance by Seth Godin. 2 stars.
Good message, awkward way of delivering it. I rented it free on Amazon but I would felt gypped paying a few dollars for this short manifesto.
140) One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey. Finished 11/13. 5 stars.
Mr.Kesey had me at the word "poozle" and then he just kept getting better. Excellent read. Looking forward to reading more from this author.
141) The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin. Finished 11/13. 3 stars.
This was a fun read but it was pretty simple-minded. The ending was awesome and seeing the movie a few years ago didn't ruin the book experience. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go do some housework, you know how it is....
142) On the Decay of the Art of Lying by Mark Twain. Finished 11/13. 4 stars
Short essay that was both funny and poignant.
143) Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo. Finished 11/13. 5 stars.
This was a very very good book. Right up there with All Quiet on the Western Front and The Things They Carried.
144) Villette by Charlotte Bronte. Finished 11/13. Twin Read. 2 stars.
Between the boring predictable plot, the over-abundant use of adjectives and the very unlikable Lucy Snow I just couldn't take much away from this book.
145) An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde. Finished 11/13. 4 stars.
Wilde makes me laugh and this tangled up story of past regrets did not disappoint.
146) The Man Who Sold the World: Ronald Reagan and the Betrayal of Main Street America by William Kleinknecht. Finished 11/13. History Challenge. 4 stars.
A blatant attempt to knock down the "Reagan Myth", the author did a good job at presenting evidence for his case.
147) Generation Kill by Evan Wright. Finished 11/13. 4 stars.
A blunt and upfront book from a birds-eye-reporter's-view about the first few weeks of the Iraq War. Wright went in with a group of Marine Recon's and tells their story with the honesty it deserves. There wasn't enough background info in the book for it to merit 5 stars but it was very much worth reading.
148) The Giver by Lois Lowry. Finished 11/13. 3 stars.
Pretty gripping storyline for a young adult book but the ending was lame enough for the book to not make it out of 3 star territory.
149) The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. Finished 11/13. 3 stars.
This was an interesting book, as it was a book within a book and it throws a mean 'gotcha' punch midway through. The writing flowed smoothly and the mysteries were resolved but it all felt a bit mediocre to me in the end. I never got attached to the characters enough over 500 pages to invest much in them.
December post: Adding another 11 for a grand total of 160. And that's all folks. 150) Ender's Game by Orson Scot Card. Finished 12/13. 3 stars.
This was enjoyable to read but the plot was pretty weak. Not bad for a book aimed at YA readers though.
151) Beloved by Toni Morrison. Finished 12/13. 3 stars
I love Morrison's writing but this book just didn't hold a candle to the previous one I had read. I think maybe it was the predictable ghost story that made it seem a bit contrived. Looking forward to reading more of her work though.
152) Rabbit, Run by John Updike. Finished 12/13. 3 stars.
Good writing but boring story. I'm interested in what happens to Rabbit though and will probably keep going in the series.
153) Cold War: An Illustrated History, 1945-1989 by Jeremy Issacs. Finished 12/13. 4 stars.
Great coffee table book with lots of good photos and plenty of history. Such a good find.
154) The Wanting Seed by Anthony Burgess. Finished 12/13. 3 stars.
Interesting story, good writing but not enough to keep me all that interested.
155) Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe. Finished 12/13. 4 stars
I liked this one way better than I thought I would. Good writing and imagery even though some of it was hard to read.
156) A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Finished 12/13. 4 stars.
Some free kindle x-mas reading right here. Funny short story that I had never actually read before.
157) Ulysses by James Joyce. Finished 12/13 (started 6/13). 3 stars.
This one was too genius for me. I enjoyed reading parts of it but I have no fucking clue what was going on for most of it. Even with the study guide. Maybe in another 10 years it will make more sense but probably not.
158) Ulysses Annotated by Don Gifford. Finished 12/13 (started 6/13). 4 stars.
Fascinating footnotes for Ulysses, definitely worth picking up.
159) Revolutionary Suicide by Huey P Newton. Finished 12/13. 3 stars.
Learned a bit from this one and I liked Newton's honesty but there was plenty of flaws as well. Worth reading.
160) A Purple Place for Dying by John D MacDonald. Finished 12/13. 4 stars
Love me some Travis McGee. Perfect way to end the end!
2026 Reading Challenge
Books mentioned in this topic
Rabbit, Run (other topics)Cold War: An Illustrated History, 1945-1991 (other topics)
Beloved (other topics)
A Purple Place for Dying (other topics)
The Wanting Seed (other topics)
More...
This seems like a good way to motivate myself to read more than I normally would, which I would like to do. This year I would like to read more classics, more non-fiction, some thick cookbooks and a good amount of the same crap I always read.
I'm going to try to do a BookOfTheMonth club this year and we shall see how it goes, I'm hoping this will get me to pick up some books I wouldn't normally choose. I've also got 20+ titles in my "want to read pile" right now so, so far so good!
Good luck to everyone with their goal.