books #83-103 (2008)

I thought trying to read 200 books this year would take some effort, but I'm ahead of the required pace so far and I haven't even noticed reading more than usual.

83. The Next Thing on My List by Jill Smolinski **. I finally made it to the library, but with only 5 minutes before it closed and I lost my ability to pick anything interesting off the shelves under pressure. This was fairly bland chick lit, although it actually took almost half the book before I could tell which guy she was going to end up with. The list in the title is a list of things to do before turning 25, written by a woman who died in a car accident while the protagonist was driving. I've been thinking a bit about what I would put on a list of things I'd like to do before some milestone. If I actually come up with a list, I'll post it.

84. The Lost Dog by Michelle de Kretser ***. Luckily, this book was on hold for me, so I at least got one decent book to read. It was a little hard to follow, given that the chapters were named after days of the week and yet time jumped around all over the place.

85. McSweeney's 27

86. Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman

87. Created in Darkness by Troubled Americans: The Best of McSweeney's Humor Category ***

88. Such a Pretty Fat by Jen Lancaster *. I got this book (and the previous one) from a box on the footpath because I still haven't been to the library. It was kind of annoying from the first few pages and yet I kept reading. I'm not sure why, other than it was fairly quick to read and I didn't want to have wasted time reading half a book and not be able to count it. The footnotes that I think were supposed to be an amusing affectation were the most irritating part.

89. Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote **. I didn't like the movie all that much, but I thought I'd see how it was changed (and this book was on our communal bookshelf). It was okay. I liked the last story best, but I didn't like the middle two much at all.

90. Goodbye, Chunky Rice by Craig Thompson ****. Very sweet, but kind of sad, too.

91. The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists by Gideon Defoe ***1/2
92. The Pirates! In an Adventure with Ahab by Gideon Defoe ***1/2. These were both fun. I was worried that they would be lame, despite all the positive reviews, especially since I'd given them as a gift, but they were good.

93. The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka *. I could barely stay awake reading this. The title story was by far the best of them, but I really didn't care very much about anyone in any of the stories.

94. Play it As it Lays by Joan Didion ***. I read this whole book in a single trip to the gym, plus as long as it took to eat breakfast. I was hoping it would last until I got to lab, at least.

95. Girl Meets Boy by Ali Smith ***1/2.

96. Bound by Sally Gunning ***.

97. Love and Other Near Death Experiences by Mil Millington **1/2. The author's website, Things I've Argued With My Girlfriend About, which is the reason he got his first book contract, can be quite amusing and there were similarly amusing bits in this book, too. Unfortunately, as a whole, the book isn't that great.

98. The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri ****.

99. Keeping the House by Ellen Baker ***.

100. If I Told You Once by Judy Budnitz ****1/2. I wasn't expecting that much of this book, but I really liked it.

101. How the Hula Girl Sings by Joe Meno ****. This was much more like The Boy Detective Fails than Hairstyles of the Damned, luckily. It was fairly depressing, but still kind of hopeful.

102. What We Lost by Dale Peck ****. I couldn't remember if I'd heard good or bad things about Dale Peck, but I'm glad I read this. The first part of the book was great. I didn't like the second part so much, because it took way too long to figure out how it related to the first, and there seemed to be a lot missing. It was still definitely worth reading, though.

103. Stranger on a Train by Jenny Diski ****. I'm loving this so far. It's part-memoir, part-travel story about travelling around the US by train. The author is kind of socially awkward, but okay with it, so it's interesting to read about her interactions with people on the train.