27. Columbine

By Dave Cullen (408 pp)

This book is really tough to read and just as tough to put down. It's a journalistic account of what happened at Columbine H.S. in 1999. The author did incredible amounts of research and was committed to telling the whole story. There were so many things that the initial news accounts got wrong. He also talks about the events that came after. You've got to be ready for it but it's worth reading.

26. The Book Shop

By Penelope Fitzgerald (123 pp)

This is going to be a giant spoiler but I don't recommend that you read this. In fact, I threw the book away when I got home so no one else would have to read it. I've heard of Fitzgerald for some time and wanted to read one of her books. This is the story of a widow who opens a book shop in 1959 in a rundown town. Some of the locals are charming and supportive. Others are petty and awful. The setting and characterization are wonderful. The story is also wonderful until the end when terrible things happened to all the good people. The petty people won. And the widow ends up with nothing and taking the train out of town. Only recommended if you enjoy your soul crushed by story's end.

25. Girl of Nightmares

By Kendare Blake (332 pp)

This is the sequel to Anna Dressed in Blood. Annie read the first one when she was here so I ran out and bought this so I could give it to her when I saw her in Orleans. Another fun to read, scary YA. Recommend if you've read the first one.

24. Housekeeping v. The Dirt

By Nick Hornby (153 pp)

This is another collection of columns from The Believer. I read the first collection, The Polysyllabic Spree in 2005. Each month Hornby makes a list of the books he's purchased and then the books he's read and writes about it. I'm a huge Hornby fan and loved this book although there are a few columns where he sounds like a man filling up space, like he'd woken up that morning and thought: Shit, my column is due today and I have an Arsenal match to watch. There's also the unfortunate column where he's mortified to find himself buying and unable to get through a sci-fi book.  But most of the time he manages to make books I've never heard of sound too interesting to miss and several times I found myself jotting down a title so I could look for it. Later I discarded those because I already have so many books to read.

23. War Dances

By Sherman Alexie (209 pp.)

Almost three years ago, Bob and I saw Sherman read at Wordstock. It was one of those deals where you had to pay for the reading, but you got a signed book. So Bob and I each have our own copy. This is another pretty slight book for $23—I read it on the bus in 3 days — but it's Sherman. I'm pretty sure I read the title story in the New Yorker and it is brilliant. The book is a collection of stories, memoir and poems and is terrific.

22. Among Others

By Jo Walton (302 pp.)

Tina Connolly recommended this to me awhile back and it's been on my list since then. I was a little out of it yesterday and spent all afternoon mowing through this book. It's set in 1979-80 and is about a girl with a wretched childhood who goes to boarding school in England and reads tons of sci-fi books. Yes, seriously. But it's good. The protagonist is wonderful. There is a speculative element but that's not the point of the story. It's not going to be for everyone but I loved it.

21. Blue Nights

By Joan Didion (188 pages)

What was I thinking? I just read post-apocalyptic cotton candy and thought: I should read something a little more challenging. Where's that new Joan Didion?

It's about her daughter who died at 39. The daughter's illness started the same year that Didion's husband died. Here's a woman in her late 70's reflecting on death and aging. 

I started it last night before I went to bed. Then I had insomnia and stared into the dark, trembling with anxiety and sadness. 

So, it's good? It's a slight book, more like a long magazine article between hardcovers. Kinda cheeky to charge $25 for that but it's Joan Didion. I still need to read her earlier stuff. I keep meaning to go dig around in the basement and see what we have.

20. Angelfall (Penryn & The End of Days)

By Susan Ee (256 pp ebook)

Post-apocalyptic Twilight with angels. I've been loving these fun easy-to-get-into books. Angels have done damage to planet Earth. Penryn is  a scrappy girl just trying to keep her family together. Can't wait for Book 2. Recommend.

19. Olive Kitteridge

By Elizabeth Strout (270 pp.)

I keep calling this book Olive Strout. Kim recommended it to me a long time ago. We saw Ms. Strout at Arts & Lectures in Jan 2011. This book has been sitting here to read forever and you know what? I brought it with me on vacation because it was skinny and easy to stick in the backpack. I'm going to do a post about how I decide what to read next because my system is really a head-scratcher.

This is a book of connected short stories that include the character Olive Kitteridge. Sometimes her part is minor. Sometimes she's the whole story. The stories range through a large part of her life. She's not the nicest lady but she's portrayed with great love and compassion. I recommend.

18. Anna Dressed in Blood

By Kendare Blake (211 pp. eBook)

Kira reviewed this book and I wanted something fun and easy to get into for my trip. This was perfect. It's scary and unexpected things happen and has great characters. It's about a guy who hunts ghosts. Anna is a ghost with some surprises. I recommend.

17. The Tesseract

By Alex Garland (273 pp)

When I visited Kira she had credit at the used bookstore and told me to pick something out. I picked this. Alex Garland wrote The Beach and the movie 28 Days Later and other things that I like. It's about a bunch of different people in Manila with switching POV characters and it takes awhile to see how it's going to connect in the end. Also its suspenseful. I liked it a lot. I'm thinking about reading it again. But I think it might be a hard sell for folks who like their narrative more straightforward.

16. The Gunslinger

By Stephen King (300 pp)

I've intended to read this series forever and I finally started it. This book was published the same month I graduated from high school. So: a long time ago. Now I've got 6 more books to look forward to. Actually a new one came out this year, so 7! It's about a pitiful but badass guy who is traveling the ends of the earth (or someplace like earth) to find the man in black.