Book # 10 - Lolita by Vladimir Nabakov

I read Lolita maybe 18 years ago... and in that length of time I can easily forget how something ended. But upon reading it this time I noticed that a MAJOR plot point is hidden right there on page two without much context and only hinted at again on the very last page. So maybe the first time I read it I missed that plot point. Also the book mentions Don Quixote, Les Miserables and Little Women. And since I've now read all those books I can see how themes in each of those novels are also represented in Lolita. Even rereading it now I still enjoyed it, Humbert may be a creep but he is definitely interesting and funny. A

Book # 59 Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie

One of the things I kept thinking about while reading Midnight's Children is how was this book ever made into a two hour movie? I feel like I may have to check it out now. Anyway, I enjoyed the book even though I'm pretty sure I didn't "get" all of it and a lack of knowledge about the history of India probably didn't help. Still the book was often compelling and had a nice balance of seriousness and whimsy. A

Book # 86 - The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

At this rate it feels like I'll never finish this list of 100 books. Somehow it took me ten days to get through The Old Man and the Sea and I'm pretty sure it is meant to be read in one sitting. But I did really enjoy it and I don't have anything negative to say about it. Really even calling it a "novel" is a stretch because it is so short. A.

The Outsider by Stephen King

I rather enjoyed The Outsider by Stephen King. It seems like it had been awhile since I read anything "fun" and that zipped along nicely. A few list books are mentioned... Slaughter House Five, To Kill A Mockingbird and 1984. B+

The Age of Anxiety by Pete Townshend

Well if one of my favorite rock stars writes a novel I'll have to read it. The Age of Anxiety seems to be about too many different things all at once to really make an impact, especially for a book that is fairly short (it did fit in a Catcher in the Rye reference though). It is mostly about the narrator's godson, a rock star, and the various women in his life. It is also about the narrator himself and his feelings about aging. For the most part I really enjoyed the first 2/3 of the book. But the problem is there were just too many threads and many actually do come together a bit too perfectly in the end with a few cheesy soap opera type reveals. C+

Book # 40- Middlemarch by George Eliot

Ok, I need to make more progress on the main 100 list... I'm looking at what I posted last year and I only crossed three books off! This year let's make it 10. First off - Middlemarch.  I'm not really too sure what to say about it. It was long and mostly kept my interest but it isn't something I'm going to run out and recommend to people. But at least I get to check it off of my list. Also it is yet another book that mentions Don Quixote. Let's say an A-.

Mystery Book # 40 - The Circular Staircase by Mary Roberts Rinehart

I'm trying to remember exactly when I started reading The Circular Staircase... maybe July? August? Anyway it took forever and it is actually a fairly short book. I started out enjoying it but I probably stretched the reading time out too long so that by the end I didn't care when the mystery was solved. So let's say B-. So lesson learned - don't read a book solely in 10 minute increments once a week.