fitfool

Trying to remember the books I read in the 5 years after I graduated from college. Many of my fondest memories of Michael involve lazy Saturdays reading in bed with him. We'd occasionally interrupt each other to read a bit from whatever book or magazine or newspaper we were reading which frequently led to discussions and sometimes arguments. Reading, napping, getting something to eat, and then reading some more. He had taught college-level English and Freshman Writing. Had I mentioned that before? I enjoyed trying to pull this list together since it reminds me of so many times together. Michael used to say he felt like he read a lot more than he did because he would hear a lot of whatever I was reading since I liked to read aloud to him. Even towards the end, when he was in the Surgery Recovery Room after his brain biopsy, I read my notes on Light in August to him and we retraced what we remembered of that book. When he was in the hospital he asked that I read to him from the New Yorker and Harry Potter. I miss my reading buddy.

Fiction

Waiting: A Novel -By Ha Jin ("Every summer Lin Kong returned to Goose Village to divorce his wife, Shuyu.")
Beloved -By Toni Morrison
Sula -by Toni Morrison
Song of Solomon -by Toni Morrison
Because They Wanted To -By Mary Gaitskill
Cathedral -by Raymond Carver
What We Talk About When We Talk About Love -by Ramond Carver
Vox -by Nicholson Baker
Fermata -by Nicholson Baker
The Mezzanine -by Nicholson Baker
July, July -by Tim O'Brien
Lolita -by Vladimir Nabokov
Light in August -by William Faulkner
American Psycho -by Bret Easton Ellis
Happy All the Time -by Laurie Colvin
The Kitchen God's Wife -by Amy Tan
Brazil -by John Updike
The Quality of Life Report -by Meghan Daum ("No biggie, Boots")
Eating Chinese Food Naked -by Mei Ng
Typical American -by Gish Gen
Balzac and the Little Seamstress -by Dai Sijie
Oracle Night -by Paul Auster
City of Glass -by Paul Auster
Fat City -by Leonard Gardner
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius -by Dave Eggers
About a Boy -by Nick Hornby
Speaking with the Angel -Edited by Nick Hornby
Shopgirl -by Steve Martin
The Prince and the Pauper -by Mark Twain
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn -by Mark Twain
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer -by Mark Twain
The Sun Also Rises -By Ernest Hemingway
Soup's Drum -by Robert Newton Peck
Roxana Slade -by Reynolds Price
A Private State: Stories -by Charlotte Bacon
Bargains in the Real World: Thirteen Stories -by Elizabeth Cox
The True Account: A Novel of the Lewis & Clark & Kinneson Expeditions -by Howard Frank Mosher
2182 Kilohertz -by David Masiel
Martin Quinn -by Anthony Lee
The Book of Salt -by Monique Truong
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime: a novel -by Mark Haddon
The Bobby Gold Stories: a novel -by Anthony Bourdain
Chinese Takeout: A Novel -by Arthur Nersesian
The Wapshot Chronicle -by John Cheever
The Wapshot Scandal -by John Cheever
Back When We Were Grownups -by Anne Tyler
The Accidental Tourist -by Anne Tyler
Catcher in the Rye -by J.D. Salinger
Yonnondio From the Thirties -by Tillie Olsen

Science Fiction / Fantasy / Children's
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
The Golden Compass -by Philip Pullman (His Dark Materials trilogy)
The Subtle Knife -by Philip Pullman (His Dark Materials trilogy)
Ender's Game -By Orson Scott Card
Speaker for the Dead -By Orson Scott Card
Xenocide -By Orson Scott Card
Children of the Mind -By Orson Scott Card
Ender's Shadow -By Orson Scott Card
Seventh Son (part of the Tales of Alvin Maker) - By Orson Scott Card
Alvin Journeyman -by Orson Scott Card
The Worthing Saga -by Orson Scott Card
Memories of Earth -by Orson Scott Card
The Running Man -by Stephen King (Richard Bachman)
Bridge of Birds: A Novel of An Ancient China That Never Was -by Barry Hughart

NonFiction
Absolutely American: Four Years at West Point -By David Lipsky
The Things They Carried -by Tim O'Brien
How Children Learn -by John Holt
How Children Fail -by John Holt
The Rise and Fall of the American Teenager -by Thomas Hine
The Case Against Standardized Testing -by Alfie Kohn
High-Tech Heretic: Why Computers Don't Belong in the Classroom and Other Reflections of a Computer Contrarian -by Clifford Stoll
Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers -by Mary Roach
Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America -by Barbara Ehrenreich
The Big Bang: Nerve's Guide to the New Sexual Universe -by Emma Taylor and Lorelei Sharkey
Blackhawk Down -by Mark Bowden
Killing Pablo: The Hunt for the World's Greatest Outlaw -by Mark Bowden
Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing -by Ted Conover
Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal -by Eric Schlosser
In Cold Blood -by Truman Capote
The Drama of the Gifted Child: The Search for the True Self -by Alice Miller
Compassion and Self-Hate: An Alternative to Despair -by Theodore Rubin, MD
Leaving a Trace: On Keeping a Journal -by Alexandra Johnson
The Ethical Slut -by Dossie Easton and Catherine A. Liszt
The Complete Book of Running -by James Fixx
The Runner's Sourcebook -by Ellen E. Sampson
The Craft of the Cocktail -by Dale Degroff
How to Cook Without a Book -by Pam Anderson
Couplehood -by Paul Reiser
Babyhood -by Paul Reiser
On Fire -by Larry Brown
Naked -by David Sedaris
Me Talk Pretty One Day -by David Sedaris
Holidays on Ice -by David Sedaris
Fraud -by David Rakoff
Kitchen Confidential -by Anthony Bourdain
Drinking: A Love Story -by Caroline Knapp
Swingin' At the Savoy -by Norma Miller
Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas -by Hunter S. Thompson
Persepolis -by Marjane Satrapi (graphic novel)
The Strategy of Conflict -by Thomas C. Schelling
The Average Family's Guide to Financial Freedom -by Bill and Mary Toohey
All About Credit: Questions (and Answers) About the Most Common Credit Problems -by Deborah McNaughton
The Art of Spelling: The Madness and the Method -by Marilyn vos Savant
The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II -by Iris Chang
Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art -by Scott McCloud
Faster: The Acceleration of Just About Everything -by James Gleick

Self-Help
The Road Less Traveled -By M. Scott Peck
Men are From Mars, Women are from Venus -By John Gray
How To Win Friends and Influence People -By Dale Carnegie
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People -By Stephen R. Covey