75 Books...More or Less! discussion

BOOKS of 2015



1. Time's Arrow - Martin Amis
2. The Glass Castle - Jeannette Walls
3. Sleepwalk with Me: and Other Painfully True Stories - Mike Birbiglia
4. The Imperfectionists - Tom Rachman
5. Zombie - Joyce Carol Oates
6. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
7. Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption - Laura Hillenbrand
8. L'Assommoir (The Dram Shop) - Émile Zola
9. Rape: A Love Story - Joyce Carol Oates
10. The Queue - Vladimir Sorokin
11. This is Where I Leave You - Jonathan Tropper
12. A Constellation of Vital Phenomena - Anthony Marra
13. The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
14. What Was She Thinking? [Notes on a Scandal] - Zoë Heller
15. The Year of Magical Thinking - Joan Didion
16. Far from the Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
17. The Trial - Franz Kafka
18. Black Water - Joyce Carol Oates
19. The Bonfire of the Vanities - Tom Wolfe
20. Where'd You Go, Bernadette - Maria Semple
21. The Mysterious Island - Jules Verne
22. Three Junes - Julia Glass
23. Ready Player One - Ernest Cline
24. A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail - Bill Bryson
25. Delicious! - Ruth Reichl
26. Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader - Anne Fadiman
27. Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
28. No Angel - Penny Vincenzi
29. Something Dangerous - Penny Vincenzi
30. Into Temptation - Penny Vincenzi
31. Running with Scissors - Augusten Burroughs
32. Everything is Illuminated - Jonathan Safran Foer
33. The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho
34. The Orphan Master's Son - Adam Johnson
35. Stir: My Broken Brain and the Meals That Brought Me Home - Jessica Fechtor
36. Half of a Yellow Sun - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
37. Pale Fire - Vladimir Nabokov
38. Vernon God Little - DBC Pierre
39. All the Light We Cannot See - Anthony Doerr
40. Journey to the Center of the Earth - Jules Verne
41. The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World - A. J. Jacobs
42. Ishmael - Daniel Quinn
43. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd - Agatha Christie
44. Soul Mountain - Gao Xingjian
45. Silas Marner - George Eliot
46. Morality Play - Barry Unsworth
47. The Collected Stories of Richard Yates - Richard Yates
48. The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America - Erik Larson
49. Everything I Never Told You - Celeste Ng
50. The Fever - Megan Abbott
51. The Plague - Albert Camus
52. Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife - Mary Roach
53. The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
54. The Big Sleep - Raymond Chandler
55. The Metamorphosis and Other Stories - Franz Kafka
56. The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary - Simon Winchester
57. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
58. Cat's Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut

Yearly Page Total: 20,501

Currently Reading:

1. Time's Arrow by Martin Amis
Vintage International, 1991
165 p.
Read 1/4/15
4 Stars

Good luck!

Hi, Charity. It's great to see you back for this year's challenge!

2. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
Scribner, 2005
288 p.
Read 1/7/15
5 Stars

3. Sleepwalk with Me: and Other Painfully True Stories by Mike Birbiglia
Simon & Schuster, 2010
187 p.
Read 1/12/15
3 Stars

Charity wrote: "

2. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
Scribner, 2005
288 p.
Read 1/7/15
5 Stars"

I read "The Glass Castle" many years ago - and still think about it often. In fact whenever my wife and I feel the need to leave anyplace quickly - we always "skeedaddle."

4. The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman
Dial Press, 2010
269 p.
Read 1/26/15
4 Stars

5. Zombie by Joyce Carol Oates
Plume, 1995
181 p.
Read 1/27/15
2 Stars

6. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
Translated from the Russian by Constance Garnett
Modern Library, 1869
1,386
Read 1/29/15
3 Stars

I'm going to have to read the Glass Castle, Ive had it in on of my piles fora long time :)

Charity wrote: "

6. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
Translated from the Russian by Constance Garnett
Modern Library, 1869
1,386
1/29/15
3 Stars"

Wow, props to you for getting through War and Peace!

Oh, man! I'm impressed anyone who reads "War and Peace", having tried a couple of times but not gotten past the first 100 pages or so.

7. Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand
Random House, 2010
398 p.
Read 2/6/15
5 Stars

8. L'Assommoir (The Dram Shop) by Émile Zola
Translated from the French by Robin Buss
Penguin Classics, 1876
441 p.
Read 3/20/15
4 Stars

9. Rape: A Love Story by Joyce Carol Oates
Carroll & Graf, 2004
154 p.
Read 3/22/15
3 Stars

10. The Queue by Vladimir Sorokin
Translated from the Russian by Sally Laird
New York Review Books, 1985
250 p.
Read 3/30/15
2 Stars

11. This is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper
Plume, 2009
339 p.
Read 4/11/15
4 Stars

Charity wrote: "

11. This is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper
Plume, 2009
339 p.
Read 4/11/15
4 Stars"

Haven't read the book but I liked the movie. It was very awkward and quirky.

12. A Constellation of Vital Phenomena - Anthony Marra
Hogarth, 2013
379 p.
Read 4/18/15
3 Stars

13. The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
Vintage International, 1989
245 p.
Read 4/20/15
5 Stars

14. What Was She Thinking? [Notes on a Scandal] by Zoë Heller
Picador, 2003
258 p.
Read 4/25/15
3 Stars

15. The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
Alfred A. Knopf, 2005
227 p.
Read 4/26/15
4 Stars

16. Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
Signet, 1874
374 p.
Read 4/29/15
5 Stars

I read the book and saw the movie for This is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper. I was trying to think back to the book while watching the movie. I think it was very different and only loosly based on the book. Does anyone who read the book and see the movie agree?

Andrea wrote: "I read the book and saw the movie for This is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper. I was trying to think back to the book while watching the movie. I think it was very different and only loosly based on the book. Does anyone who read the book and see the movie agree?"

I watched the movie immediately after reading the book and aside from changing a few names and omitting a scene or two involving Judd's boss, I thought the adaptation was exactly like the book. In fact, I noticed that a lot of the dialogue in the movie was directly as written in the book. Both movie and book were fantastic!

17. The Trial by Franz Kafka
Translated from the German by Willa and Edwin Muir
Schocken Books, 1925
229 p.
Read 5/12/15
3 Stars

18. Black Water by Joyce Carol Oates
Dutton, 1992
154 p.
Read 5/13/15
3 Stars

Charity, you have me wondering if I am comparing the right book and movie...hahahaha

Andrea wrote: "Charity, you have me wondering if I am comparing the right book and movie...hahahaha"

It happens. Haha.

19. The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe
Bantam Books, 1987
690 p.
Read 6/3/15
3 Stars

20. Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple
Back Bay Books, 2012
326 p.
Read 6/5/15
5 Stars

Charity wrote: "

20. Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple
Back Bay Books, 2012
326 p.
Read 6/5/15
5 Stars"

Excellent! I own this one and should read it again.

21. The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne
Translated from the French by Jordan Stump
Modern Library, 1874
723 p.
Read 6/9/15
5 Stars

22. Three Junes by Julia Glass
Anchor Books, 2002
353 p.
Read 6/14/15
2 Stars

23. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Broadway Books, 2011
372 p.
Read 6/16/15
5 Stars

24. A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail by Bill Bryson
Broadway Books, 1998
274 p.
Read 6/18/15
4 Stars

25. Delicious! by Ruth Reichl
Random House, 2014
374 p.
Read 6/20/15
3 Stars

26. Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader by Anne Fadiman
Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1998
162 p.
Read 6/21/15
3 Stars

27. Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
Translated from the French by Eleanor Marx Aveling
Barnes & Noble Classics, 1857
324 p.
Read 6/23/15
2 Stars

Charity wrote: "

23. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Broadway Books, 2011
372 p.
Read 6/16/15
5 Stars"

Charity, I've seen a couple of "75 Books" members give this book high ratings. Your rating just convinced me to add it to my TBR list!

Karol wrote: "Charity, I've seen a couple of "75 Books" members give this book high ratings. Your rating just convinced me to add it to my TBR list!"

Fantastic book! Loved it!

28. No Angel by Penny Vincenzi
(The Spoils of Time Trilogy: Book One)
Headline Review, 2000
724 p.
Read 7/1/15
5 Stars

29. Something Dangerous by Penny Vincenzi
(The Spoils of Time Trilogy: Book Two)
Headline Review, 2001
723 p.
Read 7/7/15
5 Stars

30. Into Temptation by Penny Vincenzi
(The Spoils of Time Trilogy: Book Three)
Headline Review, 2002
723 p.
Read 7/12/15
5 Stars

Charity wrote: "

28. No Angel by Penny Vincenzi
(The Spoils of Time Trilogy: Book One)
Headline Review, 2000
724 p.
Read 7/1/15
5 Stars"

This series sounds right up my alley!

Elyse wrote: "This series sounds right up my alley!"

I loved this trilogy! If you enjoy historical fiction, family sagas, or shows like Downton Abbey, I'd say you would enjoy these books!

31. Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs
Picador, 2002
319 p.
Read 7/18/15
2 Stars

32. Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer
Houghton Mifflin, 2002
276 p.
Read 7/19/15
3 Stars

33. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Translated from the Portuguese by Alan R. Clarke
HarperCollins, 1988
167 p.
Read 7/20/15
2 Stars