Archive for the 'Books' Category

lessons of the month

Tuesday, July 28th, 2009

This month has flown right by, but not without some learning experiences.  Here are some things I learned:

  • Never give Schrödie flea medicine while wearing a decent shirt; she still has back claws.
  • There is a limit as to how much milk one can ingest in the span of three minutes.
  • High school kids that play in pit bands are really cool.
  • The Comfort Inn is not that comfortable.
  • It can take 50 minutes to drive 5 miles when there is night construction on I-95.
  • Always make a backup of a database table before you do anything to it.
  • Agatha Christie is still a good read.
  • Some vampire cable shows should never have been made.

Top 100 Novels of the Century by The Modern Library’s Readers’ Poll

Friday, February 16th, 2007

I’ve read the ones in bold.

  1. ATLAS SHRUGGED by Ayn Rand
  2. THE FOUNTAINHEAD by Ayn Rand
  3. BATTLEFIELD EARTH by L. Ron Hubbard
  4. THE LORD OF THE RINGS by J.R.R. Tolkien
  5. TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD by Harper Lee
  6. 1984 by George Orwell
  7. ANTHEM by Ayn Rand
  8. WE THE LIVING by Ayn Rand
  9. MISSION EARTH by L. Ron Hubbard
  10. FEAR by L. Ron Hubbard
  11. ULYSSES by James Joyce
  12. CATCH-22 by Joseph Heller
  13. THE GREAT GATSBY by F. Scott Fitzgerald
  14. DUNE by Frank Herbert
  15. THE MOON IS A HARSH MISTRESS by Robert Heinlein
  16. STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND by Robert Heinlein
  17. A TOWN LIKE ALICE by Nevil Shute
  18. BRAVE NEW WORLD by Aldous Huxley
  19. ANIMAL FARM by George Orwell
  20. THE CATCHER IN THE RYE by J.D. Salinger *
  21. GRAVITY’S RAINBOW by Thomas Pynchon
  22. THE GRAPES OF WRATH by John Steinbeck
  23. SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE by Kurt Vonnegut
  24. GONE WITH THE WIND by Margaret Mitchell
  25. LORD OF THE FLIES by William Golding
  26. SHANE by Jack Schaefer
  27. TRUSTEE FROM THE TOOLROOM by Nevil Shute
  28. A PRAYER FOR OWEN MEANY by John Irving
  29. THE STAND by Stephen King
  30. THE FRENCH LIEUTENANT’S WOMAN by John Fowles
  31. BELOVED by Toni Morrison
  32. THE WORM OUROBOROS by E.R. Eddison
  33. THE SOUND AND THE FURY by William Faulkner
  34. LOLITA by Vladimir Nabokov
  35. THE CATCHER IN THE RYE by J.D. Salinger *
  36. MOONHEART by Charles de Lint
  37. ABSALOM, ABSALOM! by William Faulkner
  38. OF HUMAN BONDAGE by W. Somerset Maugham
  39. WISE BLOOD by Flannery O’Connor
  40. UNDER THE VOLCANO by Malcolm Lowry
  41. FIFTH BUSINESS by Robertson Davies
  42. SOMEPLACE TO BE FLYING by Charles de Lint
  43. ON THE ROAD by Jack Kerouac
  44. HEART OF DARKNESS by Joseph Conrad
  45. YARROW by Charles de Lint
  46. AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS by H.P. Lovecraft
  47. ONE LONELY NIGHT by Mickey Spillane
  48. MEMORY AND DREAM by Charles de Lint
  49. TO THE LIGHTHOUSE by Virginia Woolf
  50. THE MOVIEGOER by Walker Percy
  51. TRADER by Charles de Lint
  52. THE HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY by Douglas Adams
  53. THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER by Carson McCullers
  54. THE HANDMAID’S TALE by Margaret Atwood
  55. BLOOD MERIDIAN by Cormac McCarthy
  56. A CLOCKWORK ORANGE by Anthony Burgess
  57. ON THE BEACH by Nevil Shute
  58. A PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG MAN by James Joyce
  59. GREENMANTLE by Charles de Lint
  60. ENDER’S GAME by Orson Scott Card
  61. THE LITTLE COUNTRY by Charles de Lint
  62. THE RECOGNITIONS by William Gaddis
  63. STARSHIP TROOPERS by Robert Heinlein
  64. THE SUN ALSO RISES by Ernest Hemingway
  65. THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP by John Irving
  66. SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES by Ray Bradbury
  67. THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE by Shirley Jackson
  68. AS I LAY DYING by William Faulkner
  69. TROPIC OF CANCER by Henry Miller
  70. INVISIBLE MAN by Ralph Ellison
  71. THE WOOD WIFE by Terri Windling
  72. THE MAGUS by John Fowles
  73. THE DOOR INTO SUMMER by Robert Heinlein
  74. ZEN AND THE ART OF MOTORCYCLE MAINTENANCE by Robert Pirsig
  75. I, CLAUDIUS by Robert Graves
  76. THE CALL OF THE WILD by Jack London
  77. AT SWIM-TWO-BIRDS by Flann O’Brien
  78. FARENHEIT 451 by Ray Bradbury
  79. ARROWSMITH by Sinclair Lewis
  80. WATERSHIP DOWN by Richard Adams
  81. NAKED LUNCH by William S. Burroughs
  82. THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER by Tom Clancy
  83. GUILTY PLEASURES by Laurell K. Hamilton
  84. THE PUPPET MASTERS by Robert Heinlein
  85. IT by Stephen King
  86. V. by Thomas Pynchon
  87. DOUBLE STAR by Robert Heinlein
  88. CITIZEN OF THE GALAXY by Robert Heinlein
  89. BRIDESHEAD REVISITED by Evelyn Waugh
  90. LIGHT IN AUGUST by William Faulkner
  91. ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST by Ken Kesey
  92. A FAREWELL TO ARMS by Ernest Hemingway
  93. THE SHELTERING SKY by Paul Bowles
  94. SOMETIMES A GREAT NOTION by Ken Kesey
  95. MY ANTONIA by Willa Cather
  96. MULENGRO by Charles de Lint
  97. SUTTREE by Cormac McCarthy
  98. MYTHAGO WOOD by Robert Holdstock
  99. ILLUSIONS by Richard Bach
  100. THE CUNNING MAN by Robertson Davies

* This was listed twice on the original list also.

Radcliffe’s 100 Best Novels

Friday, February 16th, 2007

I’ve read the ones in bold.

  1. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
  2. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
  3. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
  4. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
  5. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
  6. Ulysses by James Joyce
  7. Beloved by Toni Morrison
  8. The Lord of the Flies by William Golding
  9. 1984 by George Orwell
  10. The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
  11. Lolita by Vladmir Nabokov
  12. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
  13. Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White
  14. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
  15. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
  16. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
  17. Animal Farm by George Orwell
  18. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
  19. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
  20. A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
  21. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
  22. Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne
  23. Their Eyes are Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
  24. Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
  25. Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
  26. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
  27. Native Son by Richard Wright
  28. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey
  29. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
  30. For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway
  31. On the Road by Jack Kerouac
  32. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
  33. The Call of the Wild by Jack London
  34. To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
  35. Portrait of a Lady by Henry James
  36. Go Tell it on the Mountain by James Baldwin
  37. The World According to Garp by John Irving
  38. All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren
  39. A Room with a View by E.M. Forster
  40. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
  41. Schindler’s List by Thomas Keneally
  42. The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
  43. The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
  44. Finnegans Wake by James Joyce
  45. The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
  46. Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
  47. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
  48. Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D.H. Lawrence
  49. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
  50. The Awakening by Kate Chopin
  51. My Antonia by Willa Cather
  52. Howards End by E.M. Forster
  53. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
  54. Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger
  55. The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie
  56. Jazz by Toni Morrison
  57. Sophie’s Choice by William Styron
  58. Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner
  59. A Passage to India by E.M. Forster
  60. Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
  61. A Good Man Is Hard to Find by Flannery O’Connor
  62. Tender Is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald
  63. Orlando by Virginia Woolf
  64. Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence
  65. Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe
  66. Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
  67. A Separate Peace by John Knowles
  68. Light in August by William Faulkner
  69. The Wings of the Dove by Henry James
  70. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
  71. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
  72. A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
  73. Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs
  74. Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
  75. Women in Love by D.H. Lawrence
  76. Look Homeward, Angel by Thomas Wolfe
  77. In Our Time by Ernest Hemingway
  78. The Autobiography of Alice B. Tokias by Gertrude Stein
  79. The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett
  80. The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer
  81. Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys
  82. White Noise by Don DeLillo
  83. O Pioneers! by Willa Cather
  84. Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller
  85. The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells
  86. Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad
  87. The Bostonians by Henry James
  88. An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser
  89. Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather
  90. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
  91. This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald
  92. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
  93. The French Lieutenant’s Woman by John Fowles
  94. Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis
  95. Kim by Rudyard Kipling
  96. The Beautiful and the Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald
  97. Rabbit, Run by John Updike
  98. Where Angels Fear to Tread by E.M. Forster
  99. Main Street by Sinclair Lewis
  100. Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie