2. Practical Demonkeeping by Christopher Moore

Moore, Christopher. Practical Demonkeeping. New York: Avon, 2000.

My dear soon-to-be husband has had this book on our bookshelf almost the entire time I've known him. He hasn't read it yet, but any time I was looking for something to read he'd suggest this book. Now I'll be recommending this book to him.

It's Moore's first book, published in 1992. While his style is rough around the edges and his trademark humor is yet to emerge, I still somehow found this a much more memorable book than You Suck, the only other book of his that I've read. It's not high literature. It won't change your life, cause you to rethink your values, or illuminate the world we live in. What it will do is entertain you, bring on a few chuckles, and dole out a few minutes of escape.

1. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

Carroll, Lewis. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There. Ed. Hugh Haughton. Centenary ed. London: Penguin, 1998.

I have read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland so many times that I have large sections of it memorized. When I was young, I got sick often. In particular, I seemed prone to ear infections and strep throat. When I was sick, my Dad would drop me off at my grandparents' house and they would take care of me for the day. Now, I've never been one of those people who sleep well when they are sick. I wasn't allowed to watch TV so my options for entertainment were limited to either homework or reading. My options for reading were Heidi and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Heidi has never interested me much so I read Alice's Adventures many, many times. I even wrote a book report on it once. I always suspected as a child that as much as I enjoyed it, I was still missing something.

If you've never seen the Penguin Classics series, I heartily recommend them. The introductory material offers a pretty interesting overview of Carroll's life as well as discussions on identity and childhood. Carroll's background in both religion and mathematics colors many aspects of the story. The annotations in the back aide in the unraveling.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland has earned it's place as a classic of English literature. Re-reading it was a delight.

The List

Expect the list to grow somewhat. My goal is to have a full list of 200 to pick from. However, as it stands:

1. Flatland by Edwin Abbott

2. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebee

3. A Miss Marple by Agatha Christie 4. Drawing Down the Moon by Margot Adler 5. The Biodiversity Crisis: Losing What Counts by American Museum of Natural History

6. Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews

7. Total Recall by Piers Anthony

8. The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood

9. The Harmony Silk Factory by Tash Aw

9. Thinner by Richard Bachmn 10. Servants of the Map: Stories by Andrea Barrett

11. Jennifer Government by Max Barry

12. The Feast of Love by Charles Baxter

13. The Last Unicorn by Peter Beagle

14. Folk of the Air by Peter Beagle

15. Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett 16. The Long-Legged House by Wendell Berry 17. A Continuous Harmony by Wendell Berry

18. the Demolished Man by Alfred Bester

19. Valiant by Holly Black

20. Ruby by Francesca Lia Block

21. A Man For All Seasons by Robert Bolt 22. The Book of Imaginary Beings by Jorge Luis Borges

23. Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain

24. Tortilla Curtain by T.C. Boyle 25. Audrey Hepburn's Neck by Alan Brown 26. Heat by Bill Buford

27. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

28. Running With Scissors by Augustine Burroughs

29. Possession by A.S. Byatt

30. The Postman Always Rings Twice by James Cain

31. Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote

32. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis, Carroll

33. Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather

34. The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Micheal Chabon 35. Hide-and-Seek with Angels: A Life of J.M. Barrie by Lisa Chaney 36. Ward No. 6 and Other Stories by Anton Chekhov

37. Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke

38. Arsonist's guide to Writers' Homes in New England by Brock Clarke

39. Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke

40. King Rat by James Clavell 41. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

42. Microserfs by Douglas Coupland

43. Five Patients by John Crichton

44. Tales of the Unexpected by Roald Dahl

45. The Witches by Roald Dahl 46. Only Revolutions by Mark Z. Danielewski

47. White Noise by Dan DeLillo

48. The Isalnd Under the Earth by Avram Davidson

49. Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond

50. Man in the High Castle by Philip K Dick

51. Florida Road Kill by Tim Dorsey

52. Hammerhead Ranch Motel by Tim Dorsey

53. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

54. The Sign of Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

55. Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

56. The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

57. Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot

58. Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich

59. Like Water For Chocolate by Laura Esquivel

60. The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides

61. The Corrections by Jonathan Fanzen 62. Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner

63. Dark Desire by Christine Feeman 64. Dark Prince by Christine Feeman 65. The Fourth Bear by Jasper Fforde 66. White Oleander by Janet Fitch

67. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

68. Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café by Fannie Flagg

69. Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer

70. Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman

71. Dreaming in Cuban by Christina Garcia

72. Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons 73. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

74. Princess Bride by William Golding

75. Tin Drum by Gunter Grass 76. Starting With Ingredients by Aliza Green

77. Power and the Glory by Graham Greene

78. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

79. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

80. The Accidental Time Machine by Joe Haldeman

81. Maltese Falcon by Dashell Hammett

82. Tess of the D'Ubervilles by Thomas Hardy

83. Red Dragon by Thomas Harris 84. The Island of Lost Maps by Miles Harvey 85. The Medieval World: Europe 1100-1350 by Friedrich Heer

86. Catch 22 by Joseph Heller 87. Sex With Kings by Eleanor Herman 88. Sex With the Queen by Eleanor Herman

89. Tourist Season by Carl Hiassen

90. The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love by Oscar Hijuelos 91. Seeds of Wealth: Four Plants That Made Men Rich by Henry Hobhouse 92. The Tattooed Map: A Novel by Barbara Hodgson

93. About a Boy by Nick Hornby 94. Inner Voices by Richard Howard

95. Point Counter Point by Aldous Huxley

96. Turn of the Screw by Henry James

97. The Black Tower by P.D. James 98. Unnatural Causes by P.D. James 99. Shroud for a Nightingale by P.D. James 100. An Unsuitable Job for a Woman by P.D. James

101. A Mind to Murder by P.D. James

102. Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

103. The Game by Diana Wynne Jones

104. The Trial by Kafka

105. Girl, Interupted by Susanna Kaysen

106. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey

107. Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer

108. Joust by Mercedes Lackey

109. The Fire Rose by Mercedes Lackey

110. White as Snow by Tanith Lee

111. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

112. A Wind in the Door by Madeleine L'Engle

113. A Swiftly Tilting Planet by Madeleine L'Engle

114. Many Waters by Madeleine L'Engle

115. An Acceptable Time by Madeleine L'Engle

116. Get Shorty by Elmore Leonard

117. Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin

118. Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis 119. Just Enough Liebling by A.J. Liebling 120. The Company by Robert Littell

121. The Missing World by Margot Livesey

122. Mirror Mirror by Gregory Maguire

123. Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire

124. Love In the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

125. The Rowen by Anne McCaffrey

126. Swansong by Robert McCammon

127. Asylum by Patrick McGrath

128. Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer

129. Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller

130. Becoming Madame Mao by Anchee Min

131. Lost Girls by Alan Moore

132. Lamb by Christopher Moore

133. Practical Demonkeeping by Christopher Moore 134. 69 A.D.: The Year of Four Emperors by Gwyn Morgan

135. Beloved by Toni Morrison

136. South of the Border, West of the Sun by Murakami 137. I Am a Cat by Soseki Natsume

138. The Enchanted Castle by E. Nesbit 139. Sex Collectors by Geoff Nicholson

140. Beyond Good and Evil by Nietzche

141. Witch World by Andre Norton

142. The Borrowers by Mary Norton

143. Black Water by Joyce Carol Oates

144. 1984 by George Orwell

145. Animal Farm by George Orwell 146. Sea of Faith by Stephen O'Shea

147. Metamorphasis by Ovid

148. Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palanuk

149. Microbrewed Adventures by Papazian

150. Marriage of Meggotta by Edith Pargeter

151. Complete Stories by Dorothy Parker

152. Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

153. Collected Short Stories by Edgar Allen Poe

154. Gateway by Frederick Pohl 155. The Omnivore's Dilema by Michael Pollan 156. In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan

157. Lost Souls by Poppy Z. Brite 158. William Faulkner by Carolyn Porter

159. Me and Mr. Darcy by Alexandra Potter 160. Monster of God by David Quammen

161. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

162. Something by Ruth Reichal 163. Still Life With Woodpecker by Tom Robbins

164. The Anvil of Ice by Michael Scott Rohan

165. Sewer, Gas, and Electric by Matt Ruff

166. The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell

167. Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

168. Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser

169. Lucky by Alice Sebold

170. Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris

171. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See

172. Pygmalian by George Bernard Shaw

173. The Shape-changer's Wife by Sharon Shinn

174. We Need to talk about Kevin by Lionel Shriver

175. Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie

176. Almanac of the Dead by Leslie Marmon Silko

177. Uncle Shelby's A.B.Z. Book by Sheil Silverstein

178. On Beauty by Zadie Smith

179. White Teeth by Zadie Smith

180. Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfield

181. The Hunger by Whitley Strieber

182. A Suitable Boy by Seth Vikram

183. Candide by Voltaire

184. A Man Without Country by Kurt Vonnegut

185. Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut

186. Big Fish by Daniel Wallace

187. The Book of the Dun Cow by Walter Wangerin

188. Madam Blavatsky's Baboon by Peter Washington

189. Porno by Irvine Welsh

190. Complete Fairy Tales of Oscar Wilde by Oscar Wilde

191. Imaginations by William Carlos Williams

192. A Writer's Diary by Virginia Woolf

193. Prozac Nation by Elizabeth Wurtzel 194. Our Mothers' War by Emily Yellin

195. Bone

196. The Invisibles

197. The Filth

New Challenges

In the beginning there was an AJC article about a man who read 500 books. A woman who worked with me, being a fairly competitive person, was challenged by her husband to read 200 books. Secretly, being a fairly competitive person myself, I thought to myself "if she can do it, why certainly, I can as well." And although I never made my goal of 200 books, I got close enough that first year to know that I could do it, but I wouldn't enjoy the reading much.

Part of what stood in my way was my choice of reading material. Much of it came from these long lists that other people wrote, and while I found many things that I enjoyed greatly, they didn't inspire me to sneak in reading time. So over time, my reviewing petered out and this site was more or less abandoned.

The time of the new challenge has come. 15 months & 150 books. Starting now and going till the end of 2009 I'm going to read 150 books. I will be working from a list of about 200 that I put together based on things that I've heard of, things that I always wanted to read, and things I found on other lists that sounded truly interesting. I am currently compiling this list. I'm at 141. When it's done, in a few days, I will post it.

Wish me luck, I hope to be writing you all much more soon.