A New Year; A New Challenge

I found this challenge via Juliann's book blog and it sounds like just what I need! I have soooooo many books acquired for the various challenges I've undertaken (Pulitzer Project/Book Awards II). So, my goal for the year is to read from the stash.

Check out the blog for Miz B's 2009 Read-Your-Own-Books Challenge and join the fun!


Who hasn't been reading, but watching Christmas movies lately.

The Brass Verdict

The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
Another great book from Michael Connelly featuring Micky Haller, The Lincoln Lawyer. Harry Bosch, the lead man in most of Connelly's other books, is a player, but plays a relatively minor role here.



As always, I just could not put this book down and ripped through it in just a few days. The end had a few twists that seemed a bit out of left field, but all in all, well worth the time.


View all my reviews.

Thanks to my Sistah Kathy for the loan of this great book!

I just finished Jasper Fforde's second Thursday Next book, Lost in a Good Book.


Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
If you like reading, you will love Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next series. Set in an alternative history of England (and the world in general), where 27 levels of Special-Ops monitor everything and the mega-corporation Goliath is waiting to take over the world, it follows Thursday's adventures as a Litra-Tech apprentice of Miss Havisham of Great Expectations fame.



If you like books, spies and England and fantasy, this is a must read. Be sure to read The Eyre Affair first.


View all my reviews.

Since I've finished seven of the ten books for the Book Awards Challenge II, I'm on vacation until 1 January, 2009. Next up: Michael Connelly's newest, The Brass Verdict. Oh, and I'll dip back into my annotated edition of A Christmas Carol in the next few weeks.

The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao

I just finished The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao and while at first I thought I wouldn't like it, I did. The story of a nerdy, overweight teen of Dominican descent, this book is not for those who are offended by colorful language. The story is told by the ex-boyfriend of Oscar's sister, but I didn't really "get" this until 2/3 of the way through the book.

Considering that I wasn't sure I'd even finish it, I managed to rip through it in a few days, so I guess I liked it well enough. Poor Oscar, nothing goes right for him and when it finally does, he goes balls-out for it and dies. Sheesh. What a life!

Knowing latino street slang would be a tremendous asset when reading this book.

The last two winners of the Pulitzer Prize for fiction have been a little bit dark. Perhaps something a bit lighter for 2009? Thanks.

The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher

I finished Kate Summerscale's The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher last night and I have to say that getting to the ending made wading through the middle worthwhile.

This non-fiction book is a recounting of a famous murder in England in 1860 and the detective who came undone trying to solve the case. According to Summerscale, the sensationalism that surrounded this case was brought about the beginning of the detective novel. Michael Connelly fans say thank you if that's the case.

Though the book plodded a bit in the middle, as I said before, the end made it worthwhile. The story of how the fractured family put the pieces back together again was very interesting. And the redemption of Constance, the alleged murderess was hopeful too. If you ever want a reminder of how destructive lying and deception is to small children, you need only to read this book.

The Book Thief

I rushed to finish The Book Thief by Markus Zusak last night not because I wanted to rush, but because the book was due today and had other people waiting for it. I love my library and try to be a good customer and get things back on time.

I can't even begin to express how much I loved this book. Originally released in Australia (the author's home) as an adult book, it was later released in the U.S. and Europe as Young Adult fiction. I'd recommend it for anyone over 12 and will certainly be seeking out a used copy for my library at home.

I've briefly outlined the plot in my previous post, so I won't repeat myself, but I urge anyone interested in this time period to get this book. It is well worth the read.

Last weekend was also our Friends of the Sonoma County Library semi-annual book sale, so I stopped by on Sunday for half-price day. I was able to pick up quite a few Pulitzer winners for my project and a few books for my hubby. At fifty cents each, who can resist?

Sidetracked

I finished Song of Solomon and liked it very much except for the ending which I found a bit, well, I don't know, just weird.

I was supposed to go back to Mayflower, but I have a little something from the library that must be read and returned (that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it). That book would be The Book Thief by Markus Zusak and I am hooked, hooked hooked.

Set in Germany before and during World War II, it is the story--narrated by Death--of Liesel Meminger, an orphan foster child, her foster parents Rosa and Hans and the hiding of a certain young Jewish man in the basement. This time period both fascinates and repels me for reasons that should be obvious, not the least of which is some ancestry that would have been considered "undesirable" had those ancestors not fled some 100 years prior.

Thanks to Juliann for the recommendation, it is a true winner and I'm trying really hard not to rush through it.

Booking Through Thursday

Once again Booking Through Thursday has provided us with a great meme on reading.

What was the last book you bought?

Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick

Name a book you have read MORE than once

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith opened my eyes when I was a young teen to the realities of the lives of the very poor and was probably the beginning of my life as a Democrat.

Has a book ever fundamentally changed the way you see life? If yes, what was it?

The Road Less Traveled by M. Scott Peck. Should be required reading for everyone.

How do you choose a book? eg. by cover design and summary, recommendations or reviews

Book reviews, recommendations of my friends, and books by authors I know and love.

Do you prefer Fiction or Non-Fiction?

Ficton.

What’s more important in a novel - beautiful writing or a gripping plot?

Good writing can overcome a slow plot any day.

Most loved/memorable character (character/book)

Tough question as I often love the characters in books I read. I do love Claire in Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series (those familiar will know that I love Jamie more....).

Which book or books can be found on your nightstand at the moment?

Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison, my banned book for 2008 and Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick, currently interrupted for banned book week.

What was the last book you’ve read, and when was it?

Lat book finished was The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde, finished about 3 weeks ago.

Have you ever given up on a book half way in?

Yes, and Mayflower may be another one.

Banned Books Week

Is happening now--September 27th to October 4th. Read about last year's account here.

Freedom of the press was an important topic in our home as I was growing up. My parents were both college graduates, Mom an English major and Dad a Journalism major who made a career in the newspaper business as reporter, editor and finally publisher of small-town papers now owned by the Gannett group. My parents were voracious readers and never without a book on their nightstands. Trips to the library were a frequent routine for us and even now, the smell of the library makes me happy and secure.

Growing up in the early days of television, I read to entertain myself, I read to escape, and my reading fueled daytime play. Our favorite dress-up games were playing "Laura and Mary" after Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House books. Even our teachers read to us during quiet time at school and the worst teacher I ever had (4th grade), read us some wonderful stories and helped encourage the love of reading. My love of reading continues to entertain me (in a time of a TV wasteland), and exposes me to ideas and cultures and places that enrich my life.

I've interrupted my current read Mayflower to enjoy Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon. Last year I read Morrison's The Bluest Eye and I'm saving Beloved, her other "challenged" book for next year. She seems like a great choice to celebrate this annual event. She's a fabulous writer, her stories break my heart and keep me hooked.

Keep those pages turnin' friends,

Booking Through Thursday

Booking Through Thursday's weekly question:

What was the most unusual (for you) book you ever read? Either because the book itself was completely from out in left field somewhere, or was a genre you never read, or was the only book available on a long flight… whatever? What (not counting school textbooks, though literature read for classes counts) was furthest outside your usual comfort zone/familiar territory?

And, did you like it? Did it stretch your boundaries? Did you shut it with a shudder the instant you were done? Did it make you think? Have nightmares? Kick off a new obsession?

It had to be Tom Robbins' Jitterbug Perfume. I'd read a bit of Robbins before, but this one hit it out of the park for me. Prior to that, I'd not read much in the way of fantasy/alternate reality, but I've certainly read a fair amount of this genre since. I fell in love with the main characters instantly and recommended it to anyone who would sit still and listen.

I re-read it once a few years later and it is probably time to give it another go and see if it still has the magic.

When I'm Not Reading

I'm having a love affair with my iPod. A couple of years ago, my hubby bought me an 80 gig iPod and I promptly loaded all of my music on it from his computer. We ditched all of our CDs and now have our music on another iPod attached to our stereo and all the music is backed up on his hard drive. But that's not the only thing I have on the old iPod, no not quite.

Over the last few years, I've become a huge fan of the radio storytelling program on NPR called "This American Life." Hosted by Ira Glass since 1995, the show is also available on iTunes as a FREE podcast if you subscribe. Past episodes appear as reruns from time-to-time, or can be purchased from iTunes 99 cents--a bargain at twice the price, in my opinion. I have about 140 episodes of the 363 produced as of this date, and while most have been free podcast downloads, I have been known to zip over to iTunes and drop $5 on a few new-to-me shows when I'm about to take a trip or if I'm in the mood for something new.

Twice a year, I donate to WBEZ in Chicago to help support the FREE podcast so everyone can enjoy TAL and this year I got a thank-you gift DVD of the first season of the This American Life television show on Showtime. Can't wait to jump into that!

Why am I addicted? Give it a listen for yourself and see. You can listen to most episodes FREE via your computer from the website. I've been known to lie in bed when I should be sleeping stifling guffaws at some of the tales being told like #323: The Super--especially Act. I by Jack Hitt. On the other hand, I've been moved to tears by some like #322: Shouting Across the Divide--Act. I, Serry and her husband, Muslims, move back to the USA because they feel it is a safer place to raise their children--then Sept. 11 happens.

Here is a quote from the TAL web page describing the show:

One of our problems from the start has been that when we try to describe This American Life in a sentence or two, it just sounds awful. For instance: each week we choose a theme and put together different kinds of stories on that theme. That doesn't sound like something we'd want to listen to on the radio, and it's our show. So usually we just say what we're not. We're not a news show or a talk show or a call-in show. We're not really formatted like other radio shows at all. Instead, we do these stories that are like movies for radio. There are people in dramatic situations. Things happen to them. There are funny moments and emotional moments and—hopefully—moments where the people in the story say interesting, surprising things about it all. It has to be surprising. It has to be fun. Each episode has a theme. That's mostly because a theme makes it seem like there's a reason to sit and listen to a story about a contest where everyone stands around a truck for days until only one person is left on their feet...or a grown man trying to convince a skeptical friend that not only has he heard the world's greatest phone message, but that it's about the Little Mermaid...or a man who's obsessed with Niagara Falls, lives minutes from the Falls, writes and thinks about the Falls all the time, but can't bring himself to actually visit the Falls because, as he says, "they've ruined the Falls." If you're not doing stories about the news, or celebrities, or things people have ever heard of elsewhere, you have to give people a reason to keep listening. The themes make it seem like you should. We view the show as an experiment. We try things. There was the show where we taped for 24 hours in an all-night restaurant. And the show where we put a band together from musicians' classified ads. And the show where we followed a group of swing voters for months, recording their reactions to everything that happened in the campaign, right up through their final decision. And the show where one of our contributors went on a fast to find out if doing that sort of thing leads, as promised, to enlightenment. We think of the show as journalism. One of the people who helped shape the program, Paul Tough, says that what we're doing is applying the tools of journalism to everyday lives, personal lives. Which is true. It's also true that the journalism we do tends to use a lot of the techniques of fiction: scenes and characters and narrative threads. Meanwhile, the fiction we have on the show functions like journalism: it's fiction that describes what it's like to be here, now, in America. What we like are stories that are both funny and sad. Personal and sort of epic at the same time. We sometimes think of our program as a documentary show for people who normally hate documentaries. A public radio show for people who don't necessarily care for public radio. Some of the writers whose work has been on the program: David Sedaris, Sarah Vowell, Russell Banks, Dave Eggers, David Rakoff, Tobias Wolff, Jhumpa Lahiri, Anne Lamott, Michael Lewis, Michael Chabon, Nick Hornby, Alex Kotlowitz, Dan Savage, David Foster Wallace, Spalding Gray, Chris Ware, Gay Talese, Haruki Murakami, Aimee Bender, Lydia Davis, Junot Diaz, Sherman Alexie, Bill Buford. This American Life started in 1995 in Chicago. It went national in early 1996 and in the years since, it's won a lot of awards—the Peabody, the duPont-Columbia, the Murrow, and the Overseas Press Club, to name a few. Ira Glass, the host of the show, was named best radio host in the country by Time Magazine. And the American Journalism Review declared that the show is at "the vanguard of a journalistic revolution." The program is on more than 500 public radio stations across the country. They say 1.7 million people listen to us on the radio each week, which sometimes is hard to imagine. It's probably airing this weekend on a station near you. If not, you can listen to the show here on this site. The most recent show is available for free download or podcast. Older shows can be streamed from the archive pages, where you can also buy episodes on CD or via iTunes. And you can get our greatest hits CDs and other merch right here on the site. Have fun. And thanks for listening.

Oh, and we know what you're thinking: radio is so 80 years ago, and TV is so 50 years ago. Well, what about social networking? That's only 2 or 3 years ago, and we're all over it. Find us on MySpace and Facebook and YouTube, too. We've also got a bunch of instant messaging icons, wallpapers, and blog badges for your downloading fun over on our Showtime site. Go nuts.

So, here's my piece of advice for the day--if you've not listened to This American Life, do it. You won't be sorry. I guarantee it.

P.S. You don't have to be American to love this show because people are people the world over, in spite of what some politicians might tell you.

Book Hopping on Vacation

I just got back from a week in Hawaii and took my intended current read, Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick, which I read on the plane and during the first few days I was there. Then my tropical urges got the better of me and I slipped into a local bookshop in Kailua and picked up a paperback copy of James A. Michener's tome Hawaii.

It has been years since I read the book and being there got me in the mood for a re-read, so I dipped in to the first part about the settlement of the islands. Alas, on the way home, I went back to Mayflower (faithless book slut that I am), and will be plodding through that and trying to keep the various Native American tribes separate.

Are you picking up a theme of exploration and manifest destiny?

The Eyre Affair

Is just rocking my world. I love it.
What's not to like?
1. Set in Britian
2. Detectives
3. Literary theme
4. Female heroine
5. Set in Britian
6. Just enough fantasy
7. Hilarious names like: Mr. Braxton Hicks

Gotta go, Thursday Next and crew are waiting for me.

Book Two Finished

I finished Charming Billy by Alice McDermott, winner of the 1998 National Book Award and I'm glad I stuck it out. I decided that in order to finish this book I would have to give up trying to keep the characters straight and just read for dialog. Doing that worked well and I was able to keep going.

I just started The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde, winner of the Alex Award in 2003 and after that a book from daughter Kate, The Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri, a dual winner of the 1999 PEN/ Hemingway award and the Pulitzer Prize in 2000.

Part of this challenge is to read from at least five different awards and it looks like I'm well on my way!

Charming Billy

I'm now reading my second book for the Book Awards II Challenge, Charming Billy by Alice McDermott. Starting at the wake of rip-roaring alcoholic Billy Lynch, this book winds around the lives of Billy's rather large Irish family and collection of friends. I'm about halfway through and wishing I'd started a family tree when I started reading it. I'm having a hard time keeping track of who's who in this bunch--it's almost as convoluted as a Louise Erdrich novel!

I was halfway through the book before it was revealed that the narrator is the daughter of Billy's first cousin! I'm expecting some kind of secret or revelation before the book concludes and if there isn't, I'm going to be disappointed in this book, which could otherwise have been a long short story.

I have a couple of contenders for the next book including The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde and a grocery bag of others hiding in my closet.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle made me happy all over to read--especially during the summer while I was tending my green beans, tomatoes, lettuce and tomatoes and enjoying fresh, local, free-range (really), organic chickens from Triple T Farm at the Farmer's Market.

Arrived by mail today, Manhattan: The Land of Heart's Desire by Robert McCracken, published by the Nye County (Nevada) Press, a gift from my Aunt Madaline. My father and most of his siblings were born in the first quarter of the 20th century in this small mining town in Nevada and I'm really going to enjoy reading the history of this tiny town.

Still Reading

I'm still working on Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, and not rushing myself with it one little bit. This book is a must-read for anyone who eats. First, you should read The Omnivore's Dilemma and then this. It is very serendipitous that I began this book, a birthday gift last year from my dear mother-in-law, in high summer as my green beans are producing their little hearts out and my cherry tomatoes are ripening a handful a day. This book is lush with the joy of a love for good food, simply but well prepared.

As I read, the author and her husband just visited Italy where she fell in love with the food and the people. As a second generation Italian, I can say with authority.....what's not to like?

Behind.....

I've been reading like a maniac lately and spending much less time on the computer (as my poor blogging record shows).

I read my first book for the Challenge, Tobias Wolff's This Boy's Life last week and enjoyed it very much. I've not read any reviews of the book, but if it is true as written, I find it surprising that Wolff was able to graduate high school let alone teach at Stanford.

His chaotic childhood with a flaky mother and an abusive stepfather reminded me that no matter how dysfunctional I thought my childhood was, others had it worse. He managed to redirect and reinvent his life, a testament to the strength of the human spirit. I loved this book.

Prior to that, I slipped in a non-challenge book that my friends Kathy and Becky gave me. It was a book-group read from Becky's local book group and she said it had mixed reviews which I will elaborate on later.

Jennie Shortridge's book "eating heaven" is a must-read for any woman who has battled with self-image, weight issues and, well, sisters. I identified so strongly with the principal character, Eleanor, the middle of three sisters "the fat one" trapped between "the smart one" and "the cute one." Eleanor is a professional food writer, primarily for "Cooking For Life," a magazine that sucks the calories and soul out of your old favorite dishes so you can eat them without guild--or pleasure. Eleanor gets caught up in caring for an old family friend with a secret history during his decline due to pancreatic cancer, and has to deal with her distant mother and demanding sisters and falling in love in spite of herself.

There is a scene in the book that struck me like lightening. Eleanor is at dinner with one of her sisters, a successful attorney and her sister makes a disparaging remark about E's weight to the waitress. The waitress, for heaven's sake! She follows that up by asking the waitress to bring the dessert menu as soon as the entree is served so her sister can look at it while she eats. This completely callous disregard of Eleanor's feelings reminds me of some things my sisters have said to me over the years and absolutely blew me away. Like being in a therapy session and having an "OMG" moment when the light bulb goes on. In spite of stirring up some uncomfortable memories, which I know is a good thing because it means dealing with them, I loved this book. Eleanor interviews a chef, a good, decent, big man who falls in love with her just as she is, and maybe that sounds trite, but dammit, she deserved it! I totally identified with that! This book will probably never win an award, but I loved it and would recommend it to anyone.

A note about the book group. Becky reported that the women who dealt with weight issues loved the book, but the thin ones didn't like it at all. Hmmmmmmmmmmm.........

Now reading: Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, and no comment about the segue between these books......

Beach Read

I just finished On Chesil Beach and I couldn't put it down, unlike my experience with Atonement. For a more cerebral review, please visit the New York Times.

This tale of a wedding night gone wrong in pre-sexual revolution England is heartbreaking and maddening. Two people think they are so in love, yet are so incapable of communicating with each other on any meaningful level.

I found a few clues in the book that might explain why Florence behaved as she did, but then again, it might be that I worked too long for a group of Marriage and Family Therapists.....

The Book Challenge II starts on Friday and I'm hunting through my bags, stacks and bookshelves for a worthy first candidate.

Another Finish

I finished Wambaugh's Fire Lover while in Long Beach and passed it on to Kathy B. I was very interested in this book because John Orr's fires included several in the San Joaquin Valley where I used to live and also San Luis Obispo County where my parents used to live. He was a serial arsonist and also a renowned fire investigator who was found guilty of setting fires causing much property damage and the lives of four people.

It was choppy and hard to follow at times and finally, during the penalty phase of the trial I went into skim mode--something I seldom ever do. I'm glad I read it, but it wasn't Wambaugh's
best.

I'm squeezing in On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan before the Book Awards Challenge II starts on August first. I tried to read McEwan's Atonement and bombed out, so was hesitant to try this one, but it seems pretty good so far.

Only a few days left until the Challenge starts and I'm not sure what to read first. I may opt for A Confederacy of Dunces, or perhaps The Reivers. We'll see.

Fire Lover

Gone Quiltin'

I'm out of town for a week and almost finished with Fire Lover by Joseph Wambaugh. In the wings, thanks to Becky are On Chesil Beach by Ian MacEwen and Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult. Will keep you posted.

The Yiddish Policemen's Union

I finished reading The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon last night, listed it on the Paperback Swap this morning and put it in the mail by noon today. See ya!

As I mentioned before, I'm not much of a book report writer, but here goes my paltry effort. The book is set in an imaginary Sitka, Alaska, a land given to the displaced Jews after the new state of Israel failed after two years. They are facing relocation yet again as the land is set to be returned to the Alaskans. Down and out cop Meyer Landsman is called to check out a suicide that takes place in the fleabag hotel he lives in following a divorce.

Michael Chabon is a master at developing his characters and I really love complex characters like Detective Landsman. I also love the smartass way Chabon writes dialog between his characters. The narrative is sprinkled with Yiddish and made-up Yiddish words "Sitka slang." Toward the end of the book the story takes a twist that might be more comprehensible to those who are either Jewish or Christians familiar with Revelations and the prophecy of "end times." As a pretty dedicated Agnostic, I found it confusing and convoluted.

In any case, I recommend it and will definitely seek out Chabon's other works.

I'm having a 3 week break until the Book Awards Reading Challenge II starts in August, so I'm indulging in a "beach read," Joseph Wambaugh's Fire Lover. I like Wambaugh and will rip this out while I'm on my vacation next week. I was going to make a snarky comment about Wambaugh not being an award winner, but while searching out this graphic I found out that this is an Edgar Award winner. Maybe I'll cheat and use this as my first book. Don't tell.

Journaling, Old and New

Years ago I decided to start journaling the books I'd read, not in the book-report style, but more as a record of what I'd read as a reminder for my less than stellar memory. During the first Clinton administration I read somewhere that Hillary Clinton had a list of every book she'd ever read and I was so jealous. That tidbit of information strengthened my resolve and I committed myself to logging my finished reads. I think my first journal was an old-time compostion book and pretty ratty, so when someone gave me a hardbound journal with one of those little Raphael angels on the front, I transferred all the data to the new book.

Enter the computer age and the wonders of Excel. To my husband's horror, I began to keep my book journal on the computer as well as handwritten. I update the handwritten journal as soon as I complete the book and then periodically update the Excel workbook as I have time.

As scatterbrained and disorganized as I can be, my worksheet lists the name of the book, author, month and year completed, who recommended the book to me and where I got it. Possibly too much information, but it is fun to go back and see who introduced me to what. For example, my buddy Kathy B. introduced me to Michael Connelly and his detective Harry Bosch. Harry and I have spent many good times together and solved more than a few homicides. I will be forever grateful to KB for sharing her man. Ditto Louise Erdrich and "The Master Butchers' Singing Club." Using the sort feature also allows me to see if I've read the latest book out by serialized type authors like Stephen White and others like Nelson DeMille.

My workbook also has a second page for my "To Be Read" books, discovered via book reviews here and there. As you can imagine, that list is quite long and getting longer.

My husband calls me a Book Slut because he says I'll read anything, anywhere, anytime. I'm not so sure that is being slutty, but if it is, I'm guilty as charged.

A New Blog--The New Classics

I decided to move all of my book related posts off my quilting blog, so have started this blog as an online journal of my reading exploits.

I found this list via Jenclair at A Garden Carried in the Pocket and decided that it would be a good way to start out my new endeavor.

I'm not ordinarily a huge fan of Entertainment Weekly magazine, but earlier this month, they published a list of the 100 "New Classics" published between 1983 and 2008. I'm not sure that they are spot-on with the list, but I decided to play along.

The books I've read appear in blue:


1. The Road , Cormac McCarthy (2006)
2. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, J.K. Rowling (2000)
3. Beloved, Toni Morrison (1987)
4. The Liars' Club, Mary Karr (1995)
5. American Pastoral, Philip Roth (1997)
6. Mystic River, Dennis Lehane (2001)
7. Maus, Art Spiegelman (1986/1991)
8. Selected Stories, Alice Munro (1996)
9. Cold Mountain, Charles Frazier (1997)
10. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Haruki Murakami (1997)
11. Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer (1997)
12. Blindness, José Saramago (1998)
13. Watchmen, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons (1986-87)
14. Black Water, Joyce Carol Oates (1992)
15. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, Dave Eggers (2000)
16. The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood (1986)
17. Love in the Time of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez (1988)
18. Rabbit at Rest, John Updike (1990)
19. On Beauty, Zadie Smith (2005)
20. Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding (1998)
21. On Writing, Stephen King (2000)
22. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Díaz (2007)
23. The Ghost Road, Pat Barker (1996)
24. Lonesome Dove, Larry McMurtry (1985)
25. The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan (1989)
26. Neuromancer, William Gibson (1984)
27. Possession, A.S. Byatt (1990)
28. Naked, David Sedaris (1997)
29. Bel Canto, Anne Patchett (2001)
30. Case Histories, Kate Atkinson (2004)
31. The Things They Carried, Tim O'Brien (1990)
32. Parting the Waters, Taylor Branch (1988)
33. The Year of Magical Thinking, Joan Didion (2005)
34. The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold (2002)
35. The Line of Beauty, Alan Hollinghurst (2004)
36. Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt (1996)
37. Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi (2003)
38. Birds of America, Lorrie Moore (1998)
39. Interpreter of Maladies, Jhumpa Lahiri (2000)
40. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman (1995-2000)
41. The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros (1984)
42. LaBrava, Elmore Leonard (1983)
43. Borrowed Time, Paul Monette (1988)
44. Praying for Sheetrock, Melissa Fay Greene (1991)
45. Eva Luna, Isabel Allende (1988)
46. Sandman, Neil Gaiman (1988-1996)
47. World's Fair, E.L. Doctorow (1985)
48. The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver (1998)
49. Clockers, Richard Price (1992)
50. The Corrections, Jonathan Franzen (2001)
51. The Journalist and the Murderer, Janet Malcom (1990)
52. Waiting to Exhale, Terry McMillan (1992)
53. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, Michael Chabon (2000)
54. Jimmy Corrigan, Chris Ware (2000)
55. The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls (2006)
56. The Night Manager, John le Carré (1993)
57. The Bonfire of the Vanities, Tom Wolfe (1987)
58. Drop City, TC Boyle (2003)
59. Krik? Krak! Edwidge Danticat (1995)
60. Nickel & Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich (2001)
61. Money, Martin Amis (1985)
62. Last Train To Memphis, Peter Guralnick (1994)
63. Pastoralia, George Saunders (2000)
64. Underworld, Don DeLillo (1997)
65. The Giver, Lois Lowry (1993)
66. A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again, David Foster Wallace (1997)
67. The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini (2003)
68. Fun Home, Alison Bechdel (2006)
69. Secret History, Donna Tartt (1992)
70. Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell (2004)
71. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, Ann Fadiman (1997)
72. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mark Haddon (2003)
73. A Prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving (1989)
74. Friday Night Lights, H.G. Bissinger (1990)
75. Cathedral, Raymond Carver (1983)
76. A Sight for Sore Eyes, Ruth Rendell (1998)
77. The Remains of the Day, Kazuo Ishiguro (1989)
78. Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert (2006)
79. The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell (2000)
80. Bright Lights, Big City, Jay McInerney (1984)
81. Backlash, Susan Faludi (1991)
82. Atonement, Ian McEwan (2002)
83. The Stone Diaries, Carol Shields (1994)
84. Holes, Louis Sachar (1998)
85. Gilead, Marilynne Robinson (2004)
86. And the Band Played On, Randy Shilts (1987)
87. The Ruins, Scott Smith (2006)
88. High Fidelity, Nick Hornby (1995)
89. Close Range, Annie Proulx (1999)
90. Comfort Me With Apples, Ruth Reichl (2001)
91. Random Family, Adrian Nicole LeBlanc (2003)
92. Presumed Innocent, Scott Turow (1987)
93. A Thousand Acres, Jane Smiley (1991)
94. Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser (2001)
95. Kaaterskill Falls, Allegra Goodman (1998)
96. The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown (2003)
97. Jesus’ Son, Denis Johnson (1992)
98. The Predators' Ball, Connie Bruck (1988)
99. Practical Magic, Alice Hoffman (1995)
100. America (the Book), Jon Stewart/Daily Show (2004)

Looks like I'm 32 or 100 or just about one third. Not too bad.