These are the books over one hundred

.

.

108) We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Jay Fowler, finished November 3

I read this book on the recommendation of Wm Morris. He, unlike most of the reviews I've been glancing at lately, does not give away the big reveal just before page 80. And, frankly, NO ONE SHOULD KNOW THIS before reading the book. I think spoiler warnings, overall, are overrated, but this is a book which is doing something genuinely remarkable---something I've never seen before---and can only accomplish that to its full exquisiteness if you don't know much going in. Just experience it.

One reason spoiler avoidance is problematic is that right now you're wondering what the heck this book is even about. And I don't know how to tell you and make it interesting. It's about . . . a family? Now do you want to read it? Probably not.

So I'm asking you to take it on faith. I recommend it. William recommends it. Countless other reviews you should not read recommend it. Read it before it becomes an American classic and it becomes henceforth and forever impossible not to know what it's about.

Which may well be as soon as it's released in paperback and it gets some garish new cover.

Anyway.

Without successfully saying anything, this is one of the best books I've read in a while.

Read it while it's still fresh.

about two weeks



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107) The Dark Wood by Christine Weston, finished October 23

a month or two



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106) Sunshine and Shadow by Lynn Johnston, finished October 18

I'm much older now that when I was last reading For Better or for Worse and I'm coming at it from a totally different direction now. I can empathize with both Michael (the oldest son, who about shares my birth year) and his parents (whom I'm now as close to in age as I am to Michael in this volume). This collection deals with young love and deaths of parents and kids and all sorts of thing I've recently come out of or about to head into or in the middle of right now.

Darn right I laughed and I cried.

Lynn Johnston is right up there with Charles Schultz and Bill Watterson in that rare category of people who made great art one small daily strip at a time. But she did it in her own completely personal way.

afternoon and evening



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105) Scarecrow by Michael Connelly, finished October 18

Potato chips.

My friend Recession Cone has described his manner of reading flimsy-but-fun genre fiction as eating potato chips. They're not good for you but they're delicious and it's hard to stop. I need to take a lesson from him.

I tend to treat all literature with the same amount of space to fill, but some literature can't fill very much space.

I was administering a standardized test and had forgotten my intended reading material as I sat on my stool officiating so I was forced to pick up this book. With its large text and wide margins, I had managed to get about seventy pages in while making copies one or two days a week. Like most bestselling thrillers, I didn't find it very engaging. The writing itself is pretty flat and the book projects pretty clearly which little details will prove Very Important later on. The use of the killer's point of view is a storytelling shortcut and he's horrible in stupid ways that don't match what he ultimately supposed to be.

But! Once I stopped leaving myself time to think about it and just started reading it through? Potato chips. I just kept eating one more page and enjoying every moment. When I stop to think about it after the bag is empty and my fingers are greasy, I'm a bit grossed out but man: potato chips. Delicious.

about a month



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104) Third Helpings by Calvin Trillin, finished October 16

My cousin the spy lent me a copy of Alice, Let's Eat when Lady Steed and I were first married. It was hilarious and certainly propelled us in a more foodie direction. Also: it taught us Alice's Law of Compensatory Economics which has guided many decisions since that time.

And I've been a Trillin fan ever since.

This volume I found on a shelf at our school library. I had been attracted by the books surrounding it, primarily 1960s publications about how to be a working gal and still keep your man happy with meat and clean shirts. I can't believe we have a whole shelf of these things. Or that Calvin Trillin is shelved with them. Clearly we need more books featuring food.

Anyway, I think I must have started this book at some point in the distant pass because the first two or three essays were familiar.

The book's classic Trillin, sure, but there's nothing like your first time.

under a month





Book 101 - 103

103) Dorian by Nephi Anderson, finished October 14
102) Famous Modern Ghost Stories edited by Dorothy Scarborough finished October 13
101) Adventures in Cartooning by James Sturm, Andrew Arnold, Alexis Frederick-Frost finished on October 11

Books 99 - 100

100) Y: The Last Man by Brian K. Vaughan et al, finished ~October 1
099) Dead Girl by Peter Milligan, Nick Dragotta, Mike Allred, finished September 29

Book 97

097) ZF-360 by Luisa Perkins, finished ~September 19

Books 94 - 96, 98

098) FF - Volume 1: Fantastic Faux by Matt Fraction and Mike Allred and Joe Quinones, finished September 24
096) Blink by Malcolm Gladwell, finished September 17
095) The Story of Chester Lawrence by Nephi Anderson, finished September 8
094) Calamity Jack by A Bevy of Hales, finished September 7

Books 90 - 93

093) The Hypo by Noah Van Sciver, finished August 28
092) Martyrs' Crossing by Melissa Leilani Larson, finished August 24
091) Mile 21 by Sarah Dunster, finished August 22
090) Piney Ridge Cottage by Nephi Anderson, finished August 20

Books 83 - 89

089) The Book of Job: When Bad Things Happened to a Good Person by Harold S. Kushner, finished August 19
088) From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg, finished August 18
087) Canyons of Grace by Levi S. Peterson, finished August 17
086) Good Dog by Graham Chaffe, finished August 16
085) Stone Rabbit #4: Superhero Stampede by Erik Craddock, finished August 6
084) Food Rules by Michael Pollan, finished August 4
083) Martha Speaks: Canine Comics: Six Daring Doggie Adventures by Jamie White, finished August 1

Books 78 - 82

082) Gone Fishing: A novel in verse by Tamera Will Wissinger, finished July 31
081) Making Money by Terry Pratchett, finished July 30
080) F-Stop by Antony Johnston and Matthew Loux , finished July 29
079) Almina by Nephi Anderson, finished July 29
078) Creature Feature 2 by TW Brown, finished July 28

Books 73 - 77

077) Salt Water Taffy: A Climb Up Mt. Barnabas by Matthew Loux, finished July 25
076) Doing Time by Kazuichi Hanawa, finished July 24
075) Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut, finished July 23
074) Treasure Fever! by Andy Griffiths, finished July 22
073) Salt Water Taffy: The Legend of Old Salty by Matthew Loux, finished July 19

Book 72

072) Diary of a Single Mormon Female by Aleesa Sutton, finished July 17

Books 67 - 71

071) Gone Fishing: A novel in verse by Tamera Will Wissinger, finished July 12
070) Salt Water Taffy: A Climb Up Mt. Barnabas by Matthew Loux, finished July 12
069) The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket, finished June 29
068) Can't Wait to Get to Heaven by Fannie Flagg, finished June 28
067) And Now We Shall Do Manly Things by Craig J. Heimbuch, finished June 27

Books 62 - 66

066) Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling, finished June 20
065) World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks, finished June 20
064) The Little Friend by Donna Tartt, finished June 20
063) Encyclopedia Brown Finds the Clues by Donald Sobol, finished June 19
062) Runaway Ralph by Beverly Cleary, finished June 19

Book 61

061) The Backslider by Levi Peterson, finished June 14

Books 54 - 60

060) The City: A Vision in Woodcuts by Frans Masereel, finished June 13
059) Gods' Man by Lynn Ward, finished June 12
058) Mad Man's Drum by Lynn Ward, finished June 11?
057) Destiny: A Novel in Pictures by Otto Nückel, finished July 8
056) Passionate Journey by Frans Masereel, finished June 7
055) The Sugar Bean Sisters by Nathan Sanders, finished June 3
054) The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, finished May 28

Books 47 - 53

053) Farm 54 by Galit Seliktar and Gilad Seliktar, finished May 20
052) Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, volume seven by Hayao Miyazaki, finished May 18
051) Dark Day in the Deep Sea by Mary Pope Osborne, finished May 15
050) The Big Skinny: How I Changed My Fattitude by Carol Lay, finished May 14
049) Moonlight on the Magic Flute by Mary Pope Osborne, finished May 12
048) This Is How You Lose Her by Junot Díaz, finished May 6
047) Blizzard of the Blue Moon by Mary Pope Osborne, finished approximately May 4

Books 41 - 46

046) The Red Diary / The Re[a]d Diary by Teddy Kristiansen / Steven T. Seagle, finished April 28
045) The Five Books of Jesus by James Goldberg, finished April 22
044) The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare, finished April 20
043) Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, Volume 6 by Hayao Miyazaki, finished April 18
042) Baseball as a Road to God: Seeing Beyond the Game by John Sexton with Thomas Oliphant and Peter J. Schwartz, finished April 15
041) The Hand of Glory by Stephen Carter, finished April 13

Books 35 - 40

040) Leprechaun in Late Winter by Mary Pope Osborne, finished April 8
039) You Know When the Men Are Gone by Siobhan Fallon, finished April 7
038) Illiterature: Story Minutes, Vol. I by Carol Lay, finished April 2
037) "Who Could That Be at This Hour?" by Lemony Snicket, finished March 29
036) Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Vol. 5 by Hayao Miyazaki, finished March 29
035) Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Vol. 4 by Hayao Miyazaki, finished March 28

Books 26 - 34

034) The New Yorker Book of Cat Cartoons, finished March 24
033) What Shat That? by Matt Pagett, finished March 24
032) Zombies Hate Stuff by Greg Stones, finished March 22
031) Jews and Words by Amos Oz and Fania Oz-Salzberger, finished March 22
030) Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, vol 3 by Hayao Miyazaki, finished March 13
029) The Princess Bride: Shooting Draft by William Goldman, finished March 11
028) The History of Joseph Smith by His Mother by Lucy Mack Smith, finished March 5
027) Scott Pilgrim vs the World by Edgar Wright & Michael Bacall, finished March 5
026) Screenplay by Syd Field, finished March 3

Books 22 - 25

025) Mortal Syntax by June Casagrande, finished March 2
024) The Roots of the Olive Tree by Courtney Miller Santo, finished March 1
023) Moby Dick by Herman Melville, finished February 28
022) Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth by Apostolos Doxiadis & Christos H. Papadimitriou & Alecos Papadatos & Annie Di Donna, finished February 22

Books 20 - 21

021) The Complete Peanuts 1985-1986 by Charles M. Schulz, finished February 22
020) The Princess Bride by William Goldman, finished February 20

Books 14 - 19

019) Magic Tree House #10: Ghost Town at Sundown by Mary Pope Osborne, finished February 17
018) The Report Card by Andrew Clements, finished February 17
017) Justice (volume one) by AUTHOR, finished February 16
016) The Green Mile by Stephen King, finished February 15
015) Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator by Roald Dahl, finished February 12
014) The Silver Cord: Book One ~ Nephilim by Kevin Kelly et al., finished February 7

Books 8 - 13

013) Teen Titans: The Prime of Life by JT Krul and Nicola Scott, finished February 2
012) Batman: Vampire by Doug Moench and Kelley Jones and John Beatty and Malcolm Jone III, finished February second
011) Isaac Asimov's Treasury of Humor by Isaac Asimov, finished January 26
010) Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind, Perfect Collection 1 by Hayao Miyazaki, finished January 22
009) The Complete Peanuts 1983-1984 by Charles M. Schulz, finished January 21
008) My Letter to the World by Emily Dickinson, finished January 21

Books 1 - 7

007) Spacecave One by Jake Parker, finished January 19
006) The Antler Boy and Other Stories by Jake Parker, finished January 19
005) The Fall of Hyperion by Dan Simmons, finished January 14
004) The Crab with the Golden Claws by Hergé, finished January 14
003) The Adventures of Tintin: Red Rackham's Treasure by Hergé, finished January 11
002) Using the Common Core State Standards... edited by some Ed.D., finished January 10
001) Jellaby by Kean Soo, finished January 8