Challenge: 50 Books discussion

1. House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski

2. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner

3. The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner

4. Light in August by William Faulkner

5. Everything is Illuminated by Johnathan Safran Foer

6. Lullaby by Chuck Palahniuk

7. Beloved by Toni Morrison

8. Siddartha by Herman Hesse

9. The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brian

10. Love is a Mixtape by Rob Sheffield

11. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

12. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon

13. The Magician's Nephew by C. S. Lewis

14. The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis

16. The Horse and His Boy by C. S. Lewis

17. Prince Caspian by C. S. Lewis

18. The Thin Place by Kathryn Davis

19. 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke

20. Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson

21. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

What did you think of House of Leaves? I liked it, even though it was confusing and took me a long time to read. I felt like I accomplished something when I finally finished it.

I definately agree. What caught my eye was the crazy format. I didn't expect the story itself to be so engrossing, but I found myself drawn into it. Overall, I'm really glad I read it. :]

22. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers

23. Neverwhen by Neil Gaiman

Highly enjoyable read about a secret underground London society in which magic weaves itself into everyday life. Door, Richard, and various other remarkable characters treck through this unseen world in order to find the killer of Door's family and avenge them.

24. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

Surprisingly, this book was not as good as I expected it to be after hearing so much praise for it. It's was somewhat predictable. Jacob joins the circus after the tragic death of his parents, falls in love with Marlena who is the victim of the unpredictable violence of her husband. Eventually lives happily ever after. Overall, it was a quick light read and I was somewhat disappointed.

25. The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje

Lyrical, almost poetic. The haunting story of four lives which intertwine in a WWII Italian villa. Hana, the devoted nurse. Caravaggio, the injured theif. Kip, the haunted sapper. And the English patient, burned beyond recognition.

26. Travels in the Scriptorium by Paul Auster

Mysterious. A man wakes up in a white room with no memory of who he is or how he got there. The story is gradually pieced together through various visitors and a mysterious manuscript left on a desk.

27. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

Wow. Hearbreaking in every way, but also the tale of a slow healing. Told from the point of view of Susie Salmon as she watches her family from her vantage point in heaven after her brutal murder.

I'm surprised I haven't picked this book up until now, but so glad I did. I cried. Especially as Jack crushes all of his beloved ships in their glass bottles.

But as much as it is a story of a family's pain, it is also the story of one deep, enduring love. A love that reaches out from both heaven and earth and connects us to those we love.

watch out - this is one of my favorite books and they are making it a movie.

i'm worried it will be awful.

Oh, really? Hm. Don't know how I feel about that. It'll probably be one of those books-to-movie that's either really fabulous or absolutely terrible. Let's hope it's the first one!

28. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

I enjoyed this book quite a bit more than I expected. Having read The Fellowship of the Ring as well as the Two Towers, I was expecting a long and grueling read. However The Hobbit was neither. It was charming and delightful and I really loved it. Bilbo certainly is a loveable and memorable character!

29. Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding

I've never seen the movie, but the book was absolutely hilarious. I literally laughed out loud more than once while reading it, earning weird glances from various family members and passers-by. Bridget is relatable and witty. Light, quick, feel-good read.

Mary,

The movie is hilarious. Rene Zellweger is fantastic. Hugh Grant is Hugh Grant. Colin Firth does a good job. I'm not much for romantic comedies (my wife usually drags me to them) but I loved this one. I liked the sequel, also. Rent the DVD. You won't regret it.

30. Ahab's Wife by Sena Jeter Naslund
31. The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch