Bermuda Locke† - ††† Crosses (Bermuda Locket)

49 - 57

Bluebeard by Kurt Vonnegut

God Bless You, Mr Rosewater by Kurt Vonnegut

World War Z by Max Brooks

The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger by Stephen King

The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King

The Dark Tower III: The Wastelands

The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass

Dr. Bloodmoney by Philip K. Dick

40 - 48

In no particular order:

Portnoy's Complaint by Philip Roth

A Man Without a Country by Kurt Vonnegut

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

American Pastoral by Philip Roth

The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

The Pleasure of My Company By Steve Martin

Watch Out by Joseph Suglia

Hocus Pocus by Kurt Vonnegut

Unfortunately, I have not kept up with this over the summer. Though I'm not surprised, summer tends to be my busiest time of the year (I work a lot) and much of the time I'm drained at the end of the day.

37, 38, & 39

#37 The Iliad by Homer

#38 The Aeneid by Virgil

#39 Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut

Done, done, DONE with epics, so done, I'm not going to bother to write about what I thought of them... come to think of it, that says a lot in itself.

Breakfast of Champions was amazing. I never expect less with a vonnegut novel and I have yet to be disappointed. Stylistically, it is the same as any of his other novels, but the narrative is anything but conventional. Here, the novels narrator is the novelist, who is a character in the book as well, actively shaping the events. Besides that, the normal eccentricity that exists in Vonnegut's work is here, perhaps in full force. I love this book.

35 & 36

The Odyssey by Homer, Translated by Alexander Pope

The Lost Books of the Odyssey by Zachary Mason

This was the second time I read The Odyssey, and as with the first time, I am amazed at how relavent the issues brought forth in the epic still are. The reader is engaged with a man trying to find home, himself, and atonement for his sins. It doesn't matter that The Odyssey is well over two thousand years old.

The Lost Books of the Odyssey was an interesting read. Zachary Mason wrote it as though the texts were discovered and he was translating them for a modern audience. The reader finds the same issues as with the original text, but with one difference, here there seems to be more of a sense of mortality. Often, Odysseus seems to accept his fate and growing age. A lot of the valor that was in the original is gone and replaced with more melancholy.

#34

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

While I can't say I found this book to be something I would recommend (mostly because it was just so darn predictable), the book does have some very nice qualities about it. Foremost, the locals that the story takes you to are amazing and detailed, so much so that at times it feels as though the project was originally a travelogue but turned into a history lesson with vampires. The history aspect was really interesting to read, though I'm not sure how much of it is factual, for all I know most of it is, though I'm more into Roman history it was still interesting. However, as much of the plot is predictable, and the ending is a let down, I could still see a vampire enthusiast or a history "nerd" enjoying this book.

#33

Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller

I was just simply floored by this novel. I've always heard great things, but it really floored me. It has been criticized for being "sloppy" and not well thought out, but in reality it was well thought out, and every sentence was carefully crafted by Miller. The sentences are just beautiful, and when you read a book, fly through a the first third of it because of the pacing, but can go back and remember every detail... well the writer did a fabulous job. Before I read the book, I was always curious as to why it was banned in this country for so long, being labelled as "obscene". Well, after reading the first few pages it is easy to see why people would have been stuffy about it. People back then, and to this day in the states, are stuffy when it comes to sex, and a good portion of the book involves prostitutes and the word "cunt".