01.01.08
Posted in Books at 12:51 pm by Josh
Time for the head count. 2007’s reading list ends as follows:
- Loop by Koji Suzuki
- Only Revolutions by Mark Z. Danielewski
- Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference? by Philip Yancey
- Humility by Andrew Murray
- Wild At Heart by John Eldredge
- The Problem of Pain by C.S. Lewis
- Here Is Your War by Ernie Pyle
- The Stranger by Albert Camus
- Look At Me by Jennifer Egan
- Dark Island by Joshua Cacopardo
- The Keep by Jennifer Egan
- The Little Friend by Donna Tartt
- Reading Judas by Elaine Pagels
- On Writing by Stephen King
- Carrie by Stephen King
- The Town That Forgot How To Breathe by Kenneth Harvey
- ‘Salem’s Lot by Stephen King
- The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice
- Christ Our Lord: Out Of Egypt by Anne Rice
- Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut
- Wise Blood by Flannery O’Connor
- Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
- About The Author by John Colapinto
- Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins
- After Dark by Haruki Murakami
- The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
- Dress Your Family In Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris
- All The Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy
- 1 Peter by Wayne Grudem
- What The Dead Know by Laura Lippman
- The Sell-Your-Novel Toolkit by Elizabeth Lyon
- The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis
- The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
- The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis
- Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis
- The Voyage of the ‘Dawn Treador’ by C.S. Lewis
- The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis
- The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
- In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
- We Were Soldiers Once…And Young by Lt. General Harold G. Moore (Ret) and Joseph L. Galloway
- Things That I Used To Do That I Don’t Do Anymore by Molly Pohlig
- The Dante Club by Matthew Pearl
- The Alienist by Caleb Carr
- Inferno by Dante Alghieri
- Purgatorio by Dante Alghieri
- Paradiso by Dante Alghieri
- Tell No One by Harlan Coban
- Among Other Things I’ve Taken Up Smoking by Aoibheann Sweeney
- The Godfather by Mario Puzo
- Field of Darkness by Cornelia Read
- The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux
- Dracula by Bram Stoker
- Beowulf
- Zen in the Art of Archery by Eugen Herrigel
- Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
- The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
- I Am Legend by Richard Matheson
- In The Hand of Dante by Nick Tosches
- The Four Loves by C.S. Lewis
That’s all, folks. I could only swing sixty-six. I reckon I’ve been outdone by Alissa, but I feel like I put up a darn good fight until the end. I’ll still be reading, and I’ll still be posting results. You just won’t find as many books on this list next year.
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Posted in Books at 12:27 pm by Josh
At last, the adventure is over. I must say: it was a fine wrap-up.
The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield - Another impressive debut, Setterfield’s story revolves around Margaret Lea, a small-town biographer who prefers research and libraries to personal interviews. However, when she’s propositioned by England’s most famous and mysterious author, Vida Winter, to write the dying woman’s biography, she finds a story too surreal to pass up. The rub? Vida Winter has never told the truth to anyone. Is the darkly bizarre story that follows an accurate reflection, or just another dazzling concoction of Vida’s imagination? There were times it slowed almost to a drag, but otherwise I’ve very little to complain about. 4/5
I Am Legend by Richard Matheson - For the record, I did not read this because of the movie. I actually didn’t know there was a movie until I’d already started the book. Now I’ve heard wonderful things about the screen adaptation, but let me just say that the book left a lot to be desired. There was very little to be afraid of, as the vampires just kinda chill outside Neville’s house most of the time, grumbling and eating each other. The scene with the woman were decent until Matheson adds in that little twist which, to me, kinda spoils the whole thing. And the end? Yeah, not sure what that was all about. I think relocating the story to New York and using Will Smith instead of the prescribed blonde-haired man was probably a smart move. 2/5
In The Hand Of Dante by Nick Tosches - I’ve read some FUBAR books in my time and this one ranks right up there with the best. We follow a couple of characters in a couple of time periods: First, Louie, a perverted Mafioso from New York’s underground who has a thing for wearing dresses and practicing S&M on unwilling victims whom he intends to kill. Louie’s story soon entangles with the true protagonist — Nick Tosches. Nick is an author who’s making the real money on smuggling deals and illegally trading expensive, rare manuscripts. As if that wasn’t weird enough, there is a third protagonist, though the time period for his story is in the late Thirteenth and early Fourteenth century. Any guesses? Yeah, his name is Dante Alghieri. And he’s trying to write a poem. An epic poem. He gets help from an old Jew and alienates his family in the process. Thousands of years later, Tosches gets his hands on Dante’s original manuscript of the commedia which is thought to have been destroyed. He proceeds to…well, just read the book. It’s beautifully written, though a little disturbing at times. Still, well worth it if you’ve got the stomach for a few gross details and an excessive use of the F-word. 4/5
The Four Loves by C.S. Lewis - Proper to end with a little theology from our favorite non-theologian. Lewis breaks human love into four main categories: Affection, Friendship, Eros, and Charity. He goes on to talk about how they are intertwined, how we fall short of most of them, and how God falls short on none. Another excellent novel by Lewis. 5/5
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