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            b   o   o   k  
   
                                                                      p       a       g       e       s  
      
 
 15 most-recently read

1

If on a Winter's Night a Traveler
(Italo Calvino)
Very different from anything! and possibly the only novel ever written in the 2nd person(?) (More...)
 

2

Post Office 
(Charles Bukowski)
Lee loaned me this one... Hilarious, quick, and fun!

3

The Da Vinci Code 
(Dan Brown)
A Christmas present from Cheryl, this was great! (Reminded me very much of Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco.)

4

My Losing Season 
(Pat Conroy)
Another Christmas present which I finally got around to! Huge Pat Conroy fan... A very interesting non-novel from him.

 




5


Baudolino 
(Umberto Eco)
Christmas present; classic Eco. Enjoyed this although I believe Name of the Rose is still Eco's best.

  NOW in progress:



6
Sahara
(Clive Cussler)
This is the kind of book I can read on an airplaneso I did. Great page-turner; analogous to watching James Bond (i.e. you roughly know what's going to happen but you can't wait to see how).
Positively Fifth Street
(James McManus)
Alright, more Vegas!! Non-fiction (and first-hand) look into the World Series of Poker; also covering the Ted Binion murder trial.
 


7
Henderson the Rain King 
(Saul Bellow)
Another great Saul Bellow novel.
I gradually get around to the older ones one by one.

 
  on deck


8
Pontius Pilate 
(Ann Wroe)
More about the great hand-washer than you ever wanted to know! Actually, not much is known, but this book explores man and myth as far as humanly possible.

Straight Man
(Richard Russo)
Another Christmas present from Cheryl. Also on deck is Nobody's Fool, also by Russo.



9
Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates 
(Tom Robbins)
One of his better ones I think. Enjoyed it immensely after the not-so-great Half Asleep (see further down).

Click on most book covers
for larger view


10
American Pastoral 
(Philip Roth)
Didn't enjoy it quite as much as Human Stain (see next). Gripping but darker and more tragic than Stain. Less likely to re-read, though...
 
11 The Human Stain 
(Philip Roth)
A really good read, which inspired me to immediately seek another Roth book (above; I liked Stain better, though).


12
Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas 
(Tom Robbins)
By far one of my least favorites of his. (Which is not to say it's a terrible book; talking a relative scale here.)

Click on most book covers
for larger view


13
Tuesdays with Morrie 
(Mitch Albom)
Non-fiction book by a sportscaster. A Christmas gift from my parents which turned out to be a quick yet very moving read.


   Takes me quite
   awhile to read 15
   books, so the list at
   left probably goes
   back about 30
   months in time...

   Of course I don't
   mean that I literally
   read slow, but that I
   find very little time
   for books. Gets put
   off until late at night
   and then...




14
More Die of Heartbreak 
(Saul Bellow)
The latest Saul Bellow book at the time... I bought it on a whim in Borders and did enjoy it.



15
One Hundred Years of Solitude 
(Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
The perennial classic. Had been on my list for years; finally got around to it. My intro to magical realism.
   ...sometimes I'll read
   one sentence and
   fall asleep!

   Other times an in-
   progress book will
   simply sit untouched
   for weeks at a time.
 





  
*Chronologic order
     (NOT order of
      preference)




 

      The Short Lists


     My favorite books of all time? Most
    re-read books? What did I read at perhaps too
    young an age? For this and more,


           
go to:
          the short lists




 

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