Not that this is really necessary, but...

The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest by Steig Larsson
The final book (for now) in this series, I think I liked the second one the best, but this was still really good.
776 points

While Mortals Sleep by Kurt Vonnegut
My brother picked this out for me (again). I think I liked the first one I read more, but this was still an enjoyable read, especially if you're a Vonnegut fan. This was another collection of short stories, published after he died.
472 points

The Help by Kathryn Stockett
I first heard about this book while doing a research project about libel and slander. Apparently the author is being sued for likeness of character- a women claims that Stockett uses her life stories in the novel without permission. The book has gotten hugely popular since then and there's a movie coming out based on the book. It was a good read, but I'm interested to know the truth behind the court case. I can see both sides of it, and I'm not sure what ended up happening, I'll have to look it up. I'm glad I read this before I saw the movie, something I've been bad at lately.
744 points

Starting Over by Ken Sharp
Collection of interviews with John Lennon, Yoko Ono, and other key players in the production of Lennon's last album before his death, Double Fantasy. This was interesting to me because I love them, so every little fact is fun to read about, otherwise I don't know that others would find this a thrilling read.
472 points


I think it would be great to keep this around as a book club of sorts. Great idea, Matt.

Not that this is going to help me, but...

I just finished Never Let Me Go by Kazou Ishiguro. It is amazing. Haunting is the best word to describe this for me. If not haunting, deeply relatable. I saw the movie before I read the book and I think that while the movie is amazing in its own right, I wish I had read the book first. My favorite book of this challenge.

As an aside, Would you guys want to keep this blog going just as a book "club" thing for book suggestions etc.

I can't believe it's only been a year, and I can't believe that it's been a year at the same time.

488 points

Four days...

and I've only got to read one 14,000 page book..

I haven't updated since January and this is all I remember......

Solar by Ian McEwan
Mostly I read this because I love Atonement, and it was about a scientist who works with solar power, but it ended up being mostly about that scientist screwing a lot of women and getting really fat.
352 points

I Am The Messenger by Markus Zusak
Jenna lent me this over winter break, and I really liked it. This Australian teenage cabdriver gets these mysterious playing cards that tell him an address to visit, and at each place, there's something wrong with the people who live there that he needs to fix. Parts are really sad, but cool idea.
368 points

World of Trouble: The White House and the Middle East by Patrick Tyler
I had to read this for my class on US and Middle East relations, and it was basically a history by US president. I really liked it because it presented a complex issue in an easy to understand way, bringing in the personalities of each president and helping me understand what actually goes on between the US and that region.
640 points

Alright let's do this.

I have been a lazy shit these past few months and haven't updated at all. But that's my loss, I guess, because there are a few books that I probably read in the beginning of the summer that I don't remember, so I won't be including them here.

Here's what I do have, in no particular order:

Insatiable by Meg Cabot
Trendy vampire book that I received as a graduation present. I was excited to read a Meg Cabot book after so many years of loving The Princess Diaries, but this was not my really thing.

664 points

No Impact Man by Colin Beavan

A man and his family set out to live one year without creating any impact on the environment. Honestly written, has a lot of good ideas for people who are interested in this sort of lifestyle. Had a lot of unnecessary background info on environmental issues, or maybe this book is better suited for people who are new to this topic.

488 points

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson

If you have not yet read this book, get it out of the library. Today.

800 points

The Girl Who Played with Fire by Steig Larsson

This one was even better. I started it yesterday before dinner and stayed up til 4am to finish it.

830 points

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

Recommended by Matt, this book was a quick read but SO good. I got so scared that I had to lock my bedroom door at night and I thought people were going to eat me while I was sitting on the subway reading it.

504 points

Armageddon in Retrospect by Kurt Vonnegut
Recommended by my brother, I'm pretty sure this was the first Vonnegut book I ever read all the way through? It was actually a collection of short stories and really funny/ironic. I just got While Mortals Sleep out of the library, so I will probably read that next.

440 pages

Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil by John Berendt
Another one of my brother's. This murder mystery took place in Savannah, Georgia and was a great, great story with some really colorful, Southern characters. Definitely recommend checking this one out.

600 points

Cooking for Mr. Latte by Amanda Hesser
Written by NYTimes food writer, this was a cool mix of recipes and narrative about her experience eating and cooking in NYC. Really enjoyable to read about restaurants in Manhattan since I'm here right now, not so enjoyable because I will probably never be able to afford them. Need to get this out of the library again so I can copy down some of the recipes.

536 points

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
I recommend this one for sure, the main character was so likable and the writing style was really refreshing.

568 points

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

I've been wanting to read this since I read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle over a year ago. A lot of people drool over this book and say it's their favorite. I thought it was really good, Matt I think you will also like it a lot. I pretty much wanted to punch the dad in the face the whole time so it got pretty frustrating, but I loved how the story was told from multiple perspectives.

776 points

Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts

I have been meaning to read this book since summer before junior year. Oops. It was definitely worth the wait though and is an awesome summer read because it is so long. If you read one book from this list, besides the Steig Larsson books, make it this one. This guy's story is really crazy and I loved reading more about living in India.

1,144 points

The end. Phew.

Edited to add: Wow, I knew that was a lot of books, but I didn't realize I was going to more than double my score. One more reason why taking the subway kicks the ass of a driving commute. Also, not being in school anymore has been pretty great as well.

NEXT

I also finished this about a month ago and am just posting it now. I read the majority of Next by Michael Crichton on my road trip, and then finished it up back in Syracuse. I couldn't put it down. The story has about 12 main characters, with intertwined story lines. The novel focuses on several issues related to bioethics and genetics. This is a fast paced, action packed novel that draws awareness to some current issues with the field of genetics. I really enjoyed reading this and look forward to reading other Crichton novels like Prey and State of Fear.

9/10

760 points

Mother Night

I have been meaning to post here for awhile now but I keep forgetting. I finally finished Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut. This was not my favorite Vonnegut novel. I had a hard time getting into it and I felt it dragged slightly through the middle.

5/10

488 Points