No list of ten things today. Why, you ask? Because it's April 26, so it's a list of 26 things! Specifically, it's an A to Z list. Readers who've been around a few years may remember the A to Z movie meme that caltrask55 pioneered back in aught-three, and some of you may even remember that I subsequently did similar lists of songs, TV shows, and books. A couple of months ago I had the idea of posting A to Z lists on the 26th of each month, but such lists are time-comsuming endeavors, and I didn't have time in February or March to put one together. But this month I did.
Today: an all-new list of books! These are all books that I have read and enjoyed, if not necessarily my favorite books. (Many of them would place in my top 100, though.) And I didn't even have to cheat this time
- About a Boy by Nick Hornby
- It can still make me laugh out loud after a half-dozen readings
- The Book of Lists by Irving Wallace, David Wallechinsky, and Amy Wallace
- Big surprise that this was a favorite of mine when I was a kid, huh?
- Carter Beats the Devil by Glen David Gold
- The descriptions of Carter's stage shows are worth the price of admission
- Drummer Hoff by Barbara and Ed Emberly
- One of my favorite picture books
- Eight Million Ways to Die by Lawrence Block
- A great hard-boiled detective novel with a surprisingly moving ending
- The Flying Hockey Stick by Jolly Roger Bradfield
- My favorite book as an elementary school student
- The Golden Book of Fun and Nonsense by Louis Untermeyer (ed.)
- This nurtured my love of the absurd and the surreal
- Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh
- I would have killed to have a spy route
- In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson
- Amazingly funny travel book
- Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes
- "Whoa! They should've called this Johnny Deformed!"
- Kill Your Darlings by Max Allan Collins
- A mystery novel about a mystery novelist who solves mysteries.
- Lamb by Christopher Moore
- Very funny but surprisingly respectful novel about the early life of Jesus Christ
- Moo by Jane Smiley
- I really like books set on college campuses, and this one is one of the best
- Native Tongue by Carl Hiaasen
- The bit about the Corvair is what makes it great
- On Writing Well by William Zinsser
- Possibly the best book ever written about writing
- The Princess Bride by William Goldman
- I've met a couple of people at the store who don't realize that the "abridgement" is a joke... which makes it an even better joke!
- Quarry's Greatest Hits by Max Allan Collins
- An admirably unsympathic potrait of a killer for hire, including a great short story, "A Matter of Principle"
- The Rainmaker by John Grisham
- I like the strong anti-insurance company stance Grisham takes in this novel
- Shoeless Joe by W.P. Kinsella
- I don't like baseball, but I like books about baseball. Go figure.
- Tulia: Race, Cocaine, and Corruption in a Small Texas Town by Nate Blakeslee
- The injustices described in this book infuriated me, and after reading it I went around for days telling people we needed to give Texas back to the Mexicans
- The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella
- An amusing chick-lit novel about a lawyer who ends up working as a maid and chef at a fancy country estate
- Vinnie's Head by Marc Lecard
- Funniest book about decapitation you'll ever read
- The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
- An entertaining mystery for children that's clever enough for adults
- X-Men: The Dark Phoenix Saga by Chris Claremont and John Byrne
- I've never been a big X-Men fan, but this is still a really good story
- The Year of Pleasures by Elizabeth Berg
- An interesting novel about coming to terms with the loss of a loved one
- Z for Zachariah by Robert C. O'Brien
- A solid post-apocolyptic tale for young adults