The Next Ten

48. The Wide Window, Lemony Snicket
49. My Secret, Frank Warren
50. The Miserable Mill, Lemony Snicket
51. Th Austere Academy, Lemony Snicket
52. The Ersatz Elevator, Lemony Snicket
53. The Vile Village, Lemony Snicket
54. The Hostile Hospital, Lemony Snicket
55. The Carnivorous Carnival, Lemony Snicket
56. Gathering Blue, Lois Lowry
57. The Slippery Slope, Lemony Snicket

I'm sure you've noticed the recurring theme -- I am in fact going through the entire Series of Unfotunate Events. The thirteenth and final installment came out earlier this month, and I am not letting myself open it until I have re-read the first twelve. The curiosity has been a good motivator -- will Snicket/Handler manage to wrap up the series as promised without falling into formulaic story resolution? He's actually in a fairly difficult situation as far as I'm concerned: a truly bad finale will not be satisfying for those like myself who have developed any kind of fondness for the Baudelaire characters but anything other than a miserable wrap-up will be a huge cop out. Not sure how the author's going to get out of that one, but I'll keep you posted. Even if The End turns out to be a disappointment, at least my list will be thirteen books longer, which isn't too shabby for less than a month's worth of reading.

44, 45, 46) Farseer Trilogy, Robin Hobb

Almost to halfway, The Farseer Trilogy, by Robin Hobb.

Rating:
4/5 stars

I know, I rate just about everything that. If you like high fantasy, Robin Hobb is up there with Guy Gavriel Kay and George RR Martin as one of the best authors around. I think this is the third time I've read this series, and she has 2 other trilogies that play in this world she has created (The Tawny Man trilogy, and the Liveship Traders). So reading them all again will get me further to my goal of, ahem, 100 books (cringe). Maybe I'll hit 75. I'm hopeful!

43) Soul Music, Terry Pratchett

Book the forty-third, Soul Music, by Terry Pratchett.
Rating:
4/5 stars

Review:
First of all, let me just say (again) that I love Terry Pratchett. His Discworld novels (of which there are around 40 now I think) are witty, hilarious, fantasy-flavored satires that effortlessly poke fun at modern culture. The topic for roasting this time was "Music with Rocks In" (rock n roll), with significant backstory about Death's relationship with his granddaughter. Not as good as Mort (but the followup to it) or Small Gods, it is still one of the better Discworld books.

The Silent Partner Finally Speaks

Okay, so I've had my name on this blog since the beginning of the year but have yet to actually post any of the books that I've read. Lest anyone think that I haven't been doing my share of reaching our audacious goal, I am finally breaking my silence. Don't get me wrong -- I am also sorefully behind schedule but, pollyanna that I am, cannot curb the belief that the elusive 100 will be attained. Here is my first half (almost), for now, without comment:

1. The Gift of Nothing, Patrick McDonnell
2. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, Dave Eggers
3. Till We Have Faces, C.S. Lewis
4. Lilith, George MacDonald
5. Something Rotten, Jasper Fforde
6. The Best American Essays 2005, ed. Susan Orlean
7. The Valkyries, Paulo Coelho
8. The Fifth Mountain, Paulo Coelho
9. The Best American Poetry 2005, ed. Paul Muldoon
10. Atonement, Ian McEwan
11. Veronika Decides to Die, Paulo Coelho
12. A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian, Marina Lewycka
13. Unveiled, Francine Rivers
14. The DaVinci Code, Dan Brown
15. Searching for God Knows What, Donald Miller
16. A Generous Orthodoxy, Brian McLaren
17. Squids Will Be Squids, Jon Scieszka & Lane Smith
18. Memoirs of a Geisha, Arthur Golden
19. Shadows of Ecstasy, Charles Williams
20. The Golden Key, George MacDonald
21. Financial Peace Revisited, Dave Ramsey
22. Post Secret, Frank Warren
23. We Share Everything, Robert Munsch
24. Summerland, Michael Chabon
25. Where’s My Cow, Terrry Pratchett
26. Uncle John’s Ahh-Inspiring Bathroom Reader, Bathroom Reader’s Institute
27. The DaVinci Code: A Quest for Answers, Josh McDowell
28. How Soccer Explains the World, Franklin Foer
29. The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell
30. Blindness, Jose Saramago
31. The Princess and Curdie, George MacDonald
32. About Time, Jack Finney
33. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
34. Power Evangelism, John Wimber
35. Through the Looking Glass, Lewis Carroll
36. Sold!, Zana Muhsen
37. The Emperor of Notting Hill, G.K. Chesterton
38. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, J.K. Rowling
39. More Ready Than You Realize, Brian McLaren
40. The Big Over Easy, Jasper Fforde
41. Eleven Minutes, Paulo Coelho
42. A Million Little Pieces, James Frey
43. Truth Comes Out, Nancy Heche
44. Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer
45. The Beatrice Letters, Lemony Snicket
46. The Bad Beginning, Lemony Snicket
47. The Reptile Room, Lemony Snicket

41 & 42) Unshaken & The Priest, Francine Rivers

Cheesy, short christian fanfic, but for all that, I enjoyed it. I'm a softie for my fundamentalist roots.