A Man Without a Country by Kurt Vonnegut

 A Man Without a Country is a pleasant if a bit slight book of short essays. The Vonnegut humor is present but it all seems a bit tossed off. B

The Dark Tower (The Dark Tower Book # 7) by Stephen King

 After six years or so I finally reached the end of The Dark Tower.  Was it worth reading the whole series? I guess, but while reading this book the narrative very explicitly says that I should have also read Insomnia because it is important to the story. And also apparently Hearts in Atlantis and Everything's Eventual should have been read also. And the book itself is fairly ridiculous. One of the characters dies saving Stephen King's life. Also loudly announced is the appearance of the deus ex machina which seems to crop up frequently in the ending of King's novels. So you kind of have to just go with it. It at times was a bit tedious but the slow dissolution of the ka-tet was emotional. And as for that controversial ending, I didn't mind it. B

The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut

 Have I read The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut before? I really don't know. It is possible that I read it as a teenager but I didn't really recall any of it. Though the name of the main character was already in my memory from somewhere. Hmmm...

Anyway I enjoyed it. Maybe not Vonnegut's very best but still enjoyable. A nice diversion while taking a break from reading another super long book. A-

Old reading list

 So while reading Breakfast of Champions I was trying to remember the last time I had read it. I'd guess somewhere between 15 and 25 years ago. If only I had kept track of what I read... wait I totally did for a few years. I hadn't thought of that old list of books I'd read in years. I wasn't as exact with keeping track as I am with movies- I didn't even always record the date or even month, or the author either. Anyway starting sometime in 2001 this is what I read

2001

Preserver by William Shatner

Hitchhiker's Guide 

ST:DS9 Avatar 1  (note ST is short for Star Trek - and yeah I read a lot of Star Trek books back then)

ST:DS9 Avatar 2

Planet of the Apes

Shoeless Joe

ST: Cloak

On the Road

Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay

ST: New Frontier: Restoration

Cat's Cradle

The Magician's Nephew

2002

ST:DS9: Section 31 Abyss

The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe

The Catcher in the Rye

ST:DS9 Demons of Air and Darkness

White Noise

Hardboiled Wonderland and The End of the World

Sir Apropos of Nothing

ST:DS9 Twilight

ST: New Frontier: Cold War

Curious Case of Sidd Finch

The Spy Who Loved Me

ST:DS9: Cathedral

ST:DS9: Lesser Evil

ST: New Frontier: Being Human

An Anthropologist on Mars

2003

Ball Four

Breakfast of Champions 

1984

Brave New World

The Big Sleep

From Russia with Love

ST:DS9 Rising Son

The Quiet American

Cannery Row

The Power and the Glory

Live and Let Die

God Emperor of Dune

The Wind-up Bird Chronicle

Howling Mad

ST:DS9 Left Hand of Destiny Book 1

Libra

Heretics of Dune

The Boys of Summer

Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde

The Invisble Man

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Demian

Post Office

Homicide

Pulp

Tortilla Flat

The Sun Also Rises

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Our Man in Havana

ST:DS9 Left Hand of Destiny Book 2

Fahrenheit 451

Player Piano

ST:NF Gods Above

ST:NF Stone and Anvil

Moonraker

War of the Worlds

The Lord of the Rings

Welcome to the Monkey House

2004

Fast Food Nation

Master and Commander

The Long Goodbye

ST:TNG A Time to be Born

Diamonds are Forever

The Grapes of Wrath

Rosemary's Baby

ST:NF No Limits

ST: Captain's Peril

ST:DS9 Unity

Wild Sheep Chase

Dr. No

Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

Life, The Universe and Everything

So Long and Thanks for all the Fish

Mostly Harmless

ST: DS9 World of DS9 1

Cosmopolis

Goldfinger

The Metamorphosis

Siddhartha

The End of the Affair

Thunderball

On Her Majesty's Secret Service

You Only Live Twice

American Gods

The Plague

For Your Eyes Only

The Man with the Golden Gun

Choke

Octopussy and the Living Daylights

Brighton Rock

Bob Dylan Chronicles 1

Captain's Blood

2005

ST:NF After the Fall

Kafka on the Shore

Star Wars: The Cestus Deception

Star Wars: Yoda

Star Wars: Labyrinth of Evil

Take the Canoli

Killing Yourself to Live

Interview with the Vampire

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Assassination Vacation

Sex Drugs and Cocoa Puffs

Indecision

2006

The Vampire Lestat

Queen of the Damned

I Am Legend

Slaughterhouse Five

The Black Dhalia

Chuck Klosterman IV

2007

Harry Potter 7

The Prestige

God Bless You Mr. Goldwater

The Maltese Falcon

Songs of the Doomed

Stardust

So at this point I stopped keeping track for some reason. I probably just forgot since it seemed like I wasn't reading as much in 2006/2007. So what do I recall reading between 2007-2012? Lemme think....

The Hunger Games trilogy

a bunch of Michael Connelly books

The Road

The Left Hand of Darkness

Puppet Masters

Under the Dome

11/22/63

Gone Girl

Princess of Mars

Ready Player One

Starship Troopers

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy

most of the Ender's Game/Bean books

a whole lot of YA titles for a library school class including:

    -Twilight

    -Speak

    -Looking for Alaska

    -Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

    -Monster

    -Feed

    -The Chocolate War

Angels and Demons

and according to my Amazon Purchase history

    -ST:NF Blind Man's Bluff

   -1Q84

    -World War Z

    -Captain's Glory

    -The Stranger

    -The His Dark Materials trilogy

    -Lolita

    -Dreams from my Father

    -ST:NF Missing in Action

    -In Cold Blood

Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut

I could totally understand if someone said they hated Breakfast of Champions. But also.. I love it. It is that type of book. It has a very thin plot. The plot isn't the point. And it meanders around about everything in life and society but isn't really much about anything either. This is maybe the third time I've read it and I probably enjoyed it now more than I did as a teenager or a twenty-something. It is just there trying to make sense out of life and all of creation and not really succeeding because that's an impossible task. Not for everyone, but for me A.

The Last Wish (The Witcher # 1) by Andrzej Sapkowski

 After spending the summer being bogged down by books that were either excessively long, way too dark, or just plain disappointing The Last Wish was an enjoyable read. Will I continue on with the series? Maybe, maybe not. But yeah - it wasn't bad. I was surprised at how closely the television series stuck to the book. B+

Horror Book # 34 Jaws by Peter Benchley

 

The film Jaws is an all time classic. The book not so much. Literally all the best scenes from the film aren't even in the novel. And then the book has subplots not in the movie that 1) make some of the characters quite unlikable and 2) aren't even resolved in the end! They aren't even about the shark. I think a novelization of the film done afterwards would be better than the actual book. C+