#87 "The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood" by Rebecca Wells

I was a little young when this book, and later the movie, peaked in popularity. Finding a copy in a B&B in Ireland I jumped at the opportunity to rediscover the story with an older perspective. I have to say, I love it, and I totally understand why it was such a long standing bestseller. It's not making it onto my favorites list, but if you haven't read it or have only seen the movie, the book is worth your time.

#86 "Pain, Parties, Work" by Elizabeth Winder

Another biography, this one focusing on one summer early in Sylvia Plath's life. The book was well written enough and intriguing. Certainly I feel more comfortable exploring Plath's work now, after she's been painted as a happier person, than under previous gloomy descriptions.

#85 "Little Bee" by Chris Cleave

I have to wonder, when men write female leads like this, what they're love life is like. This book is tragic and felt shockingly relevant with all the news about Nigeria these last few months. Worth the time.

#84 "The End" by Lemony Snicket

That was somewhat disappointing. How old is Sunny by the end of this series???

#83 "The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side" by Agatha Christie

So this is why everyone loves Agatha Christie.

#82 "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson

This was my first Bryson book, even though A Short History has been sitting on my bedside bookshelf for the last two Christmases. Listening to it while hiking across Ireland was wonderful, Bryson is clearly a good author and his popularity is not undeserved. But I have to say I was astonished and enraged at Bryson's irresponsible, one-sided presentation of all public silviculture policy in the US. As someone who spent a reasonable amount of their undergrad reading and analyzing the scientific and political influences on US silviculture policy and practice, I know it's a mixed bag. The US has had to create most of these practices from theory and test them before the world can know what practices are successful and which aren't. And when you're talking about trial forestry practices you're talking about 40-100 year dedicated studies that run across entire states.

We still don't know how to foster forests the ideal way, and Bryson doesn't help the matter by informing the public of his single opinion, and suggesting that we all just do it his way. It's so socially irresponsible I could spit.

#81 "Fifth Avenue, 5am" by Sam Wasson

Wasson is so in love with Audrey Hepburn that this book was at times intolerable. But if you ignore the 10 to 20 times where he goes off on a rant about how Audrey is queen and we should all bow down to her, then there is still some good information about the transition of this novel into a motion picture. Middle of the road non-fiction.

#80 "Death Comes to Pemberley" by P.D. James

I really should avoid this whole reading unofficial sequels to books I really enjoy. I liked the book better than the series, but still, Jane Austen should be left to Jane Austen... and Hank Green.

#79 "The Penultimate Peril" by Lemony Snicket

This book was at least an improvement. Almost done!

#78 "The Grim Grotto" by Lemony Snicket

More inventions that don't make any sense. But I can power through!

#77 "The Slippery Slope" by Lemony Snicket

I do think this was possibly the worst of the series... or was it anything after book 3? But if you want to get to the end, you have to read them all.

#76 "The 10pm Question" by Kate DeGoldi

This novel is a classic coming of age story wrapped up in psychological problems. It took me a while to get into it, but about 7 chapters in I found a reason to invest in all the characters and I finished it in that sitting. Worthwhile for mid-to-late teens who have experienced mental issues.

#75 "Must Love Dogs" by Claire Cook

I somehow keep forgetting that I've read this book and then re-reading it, but enjoying it so much more than the movie (which is quite the statement when you consider that Diane Lane is a favorite actress of mine), so much so that I don't stop. I think I'm up to three times now... or is it four? I know it's not serious literature, and a part of me is a little judgmental that I've read it more than once, but the rest of me is too busy enjoying the fluff.

#74 "The Carnivorous Carnival" by Lemony Snicket

Not the best from the series, but I'm pushing through. I will finish these books, if it's the last full series I ever read.

#73 "The Gift" by Lauraine Snelling

This was just a fluff book, but one of the few ebook options from my library which actually discusses horses. Not recommended.

#72 "Bowled Over" by Victoria Hamilton

The second book in this series, for all the time spent on personal relationships and not on the murder didn't develop the love story much beyond the first. It was perfectly fine for a book on tape to listen to while training, but not all that entertaining.

#71 "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern

This was a wonderful read full of mystery, magic and romance. I highly recommend it to anyone with the slightest interest in magical fiction.

#70 "When the Killing's Done" by T.C. Boyle

This was another book that I kept putting down and grudgingly picking up again over the last 6 months. It took me a rather long time to realize that the reason I was so turned off by it is that every character has one primary emotion: anger. All of their external and internal dialogue was full of anger, frustration and hatred, and who wants to fill their head with that? I don't think I'll bother reading the other T.C. Boyle book we have in the house. I'd rather be happy when reading.

On the other hand, I kept reading this book because it was focused around an ecological debate of preservation vs. conservation. Almost always facinating.

#69 "Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?" by Mindy Kaling

I loved this essay collection. I'm not a huge fan of the end of the Office and I've never even bothered to watch the Mindy Project, but Mindy Kaling wrote an incredible book here. Most definitely the slightly more self obsessed, and significantly younger counterpart to Tina Fey`s Bossy Pants. So good!

#68 "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin

It takes me forever to read this series, but at some point in the last two hundred pages they inevitably grab my attention and then I can't put them down. I'm too invested in Danny and Sansa to stop now.

#67 "Saturday Night Widows" by Becky Aikman

This memoir was entertaining enough for an audio book in the background of backpacking preparations, but it made me feel really old and out of place. Note: 20 somethings should not read memoirs about groups of widows.

#66 "Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist" by Rachel Cohn

The book was better than the movie. That's all that needs to be said.

#65 "Mostly Harmless" by Douglas Adams

The last of the Hitchiker's series was insane. I'm fairly certain that Adams must just not have a grip on earthly reality given the complexity of the universes he's created for these books. And poor Arthur Dent, his fate was inevitable I suppose.

The twisted fate of the Vogons was worth reading the whole series.

#64 "The People of Sparks" by Jeanne DuPrau

For a  book with such a promising first chapter, this sequal was as slow moving as the first. But now that I'm two books in, I suppose I should finish the series.

#63 "A Deadly Grind" by Victoria Hamilton

I'm not one for murder mysteries, but I needed an available audio book for my training. Hamilton's kitchen series isn't half bad, focusing more on the relationships than the murder.

#62 "Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card

Within the first 20 minutes of attempting to read this novel, I was told that the author was a homophobic a** and the book wasn't worth my time. But since it was already packed in my carry on and I had grown weary of the movie options, I pressed through. (It was particularly fun to read this on the plane, while the man across the isle and up a few rows was watching the movie version. I kept trying to figure out where he was in comparison to myself)

The book was like a YA attempt at creating a space-age "Lord of the Flies" rewrite. And it didn't achieve any of those goals. The plot was pretty much predictable, and the unnerving tone of LOTF was lost between characters' points of view. If the novel was supposed to have a message, it didn't come across well enough for a YA reader or a university level English class. I definitely won't be reading the next dozen in the series.

#61 "The Art of Racing in the Rain" by Garth Stein

This book was recommended to me on a plane ride, which must have been 10 years ago now; so it's only fitting that I finally read the thing on my flight back to Germany.

The book was wonderful for any dog lover, even if you have no interest in auto racing. By the end I was trying very hard to not obviously cry right before we landed.

Worth every minute of the five hours it'll take you to read!

#60 "The Hostile Hospital" by Lemony Snicket

I forgot how annoying it is to read these books in hard back. The crinkle cut pages are killer on something where you have to turn a page every 90 seconds.

But the series is nearing its end and soon I will get a 20 year break from it.

#59 "Finding Colin Firth" by Mia March

Well, it's chick lit, and for a book based around Colin Firth, there were an embarrassing number of errors with quotes and facts (which apparently only a Darcy fan would be able to edit). But for a book that my muma and I took turns reading aloud to each other, it wasn't a total waste of time. Just not as good as the poster ads plastered on the walls of the Tube would have me believe.

#58 "The City of Ember" by Jeanne DuPrau

As far as reading children's lit as an adult, this book is a low priority. It doesn't really grab your interest until the last 20 pages, and by then you've already decided not to read the next three sequels. But if you enjoy distopian children's lit, pick this one up after you've read Among the Hidden and The Runaway.

#57 "The Vile Village" by Lemony Snicket

Finally at home, I'm able to read these in physical form. But surprisingly this is slowing down the process.

But the Baudelaires are now runaways, which means this series is over half-way finished!

#56 "The Ersatz Elevator" by Lemony Snicket

While trying to finish all of your chores in a few days, and pack up your non-backpacking life into bags of the proper size and weight for international air travel, it is best to select books that are entertaining and quickly read.

Dear Lord, Snicket's writing style has gotten into my head. But at least I'm almost back on schedule! Now let's see how many books I can finish before I get home...

#55 "The Austere Academy" by Lemony Snicket

The plot thickens. If you're ever in search of a children's series with a plot practically as twisted as LOTR, this one is up your alley.

#54 "Someday, Someday Maybe" by Lauren Graham

Some more than solid chick-lit from a woman I adore, at least in her characters. Listening to Graham read her own story aloud made the central character's painful obliviousness and actor-hood (-ship?) tolerable. Overall, solid, but not the next must-pick-up book for your shelves.

#53 "Daily Rituals" by Mason Currey

I started reading this book because of a YouTuber review of it, and a mutual desire to be reading more non-fiction. But after the first 100 pages of almost exclusively authors, I practically gave up on it. Ultimately the only thing you will learn in this book that is not simply an anecdote for your next cocktail party, is that creative people access their creativity in a multitude of ways, so don't feel bad if you fall asleep at 8 or don't get out of bed until noon, someone very successful and famous, probably kept a similar lifestyle to yours.

#52 "The First 20 Minutes Personal Trainer" by Gretchen Reynolds

As part of training to walk across Ireland I'm trying to actually follow a practical training schedule. Right now that means adding cardio and strength training and building up the hours spent hiking every week. The First 20 Minutes is full of little tid bits and cultural hearsay versus the latest scientific studies to help you form a guilt-free and reasonable exercise routine.

#51 "Blind Your Ponies" by Stanley Gordon West

I loved every word of this book. I know nothing about basketball, and very little about small-town Montana, but the 40 or so characters, each trying to find some way to cope with the life they've had were incredibly captivating.

5 stars, every single day.

#50 "The Miserable Mill" by Lemony Snicket

Yeah... I read another one. But that's 4/13, so I promise you there will be no more than 9 more.

#49 "William Shakespeare's Star Wars" by Ian Doescher

This script is a re-writing of Star Wars in Elizabethan English with lots of famous Shakespeare lines thrown in. It's entertaining enough, but a pain to read in just a few sittings.

#48 "The Absolutist" by John Boyne

This book is absolutely brutal. Unlike reading Atonement or Regeneration, both set during World Wars and dealing with similar issues of sex, scandal, sexuality, and the mental tradgedy that is created by war, there was nothing good in this book. No happy moments, no character you wanted to love and support, no jokes that disrupted the just terrible, aweful, no good, very bad life that Tristan Saddler has.

#47 "Sabriel" by Garth Nix

I listened to one of the books in this trilogy a long, long, long time ago on a road trip. I fell asleep half way through and by the time I'd woken up, the story was so far gone that I couldn't follow. My losing interest really frustrated my dad. But true to my 12 year-old word, I tried again. This time with reading instead of listening, and it went much better.

The Abhorsen trilogy is much more engaging, and much easier to follow now. And I can't wait to get my hands on a copy of Lireal.

#46 "The Wide Window" by Lemony Snicket

Three out of 13. I need a break and some adult lit now.

#45 "The Reptile Room" by Lemony Snicket

Two down, 11 to go.

#44 "The Bad Beginning" by Lemony Snicket

I read these books for years. I got them every birthday and Christmas from my Grandma once I hit that age where she no longer knew what to get me. But I never made it to the end of the series.

A few summers ago I read the first two and a half books with a kid I was baby sitting and realized I did actually still care who Beatrice is and how the Baudelairs finally escape Count Olaf. Childish as it may be, I'm going to read them all the way to The End.

#43 "Lean In" by Sheryl Sandberg

There were passages in the introduction where I thought I was going to hate this woman. She was using having a leadership position in your chosen career as the ultimate definition of success. And consistently she told the reader what they "should" do and feel, unequivocally. But somewhere around the middle of chapter 2 I found myself thinking "Oh. Yes! This is why I do that."

Sandberg's book is enjoyable and easy to read, full of facts about the female (and human) feeling of inadequacy, and a necessary read for any woman who has ever debated between having a "woman's" family life or a "man's" career.

#42 "Mestengo" by Melinda Roth

Okay, it's a horse biography. Having some experience with horses and being from a Mustang state, watching this woman's misconceptions about horse psychology was entertaining.

#41 "If You Ask Me" by Betty White

As much as I love Betty White, this book was a bit of a let down. I only made it through because it was an audio book, and under 3 hrs at that. I suppose the lack of... va-va-voom was a result of this being her sixth book. But I don't think I'll be reading, or listening, to the others to find out.

#40 "Micro" by Michael Crichton

From beginning to end this book in both plot and prose reeks of Crichton imitation, not Crichton himself. This is no doubt because Micro was unfinished when Crichton died and was finished and edited by another author. It definitely hurt the quality of the book.

Oh what I would give to be able to read Jurassic Park for the first time again.

#39 "So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish" by Douglas Adams

Okay, this one was better. Not as good as Hitchhiker's but a much more logical plot that didn't involve much if any time travel. Finding out the big question can wait a little for now though, I've got some Michael Crichton books to read.

#38 "The DaVinci Code" by Dan Brown

I think I've seen this movie. But I know I was supposed to read the book. With big text, a rapid fire plot and easy puzzles to entertain the reader it was certainly the perfect thing to pick up on Super Bowl Sunday (a.k.a. I live in German so kick-off was at 1 am and I slept for 2 hours, I had to do something to keep myself awake).

The book was good, better than I remember the part of the movie that I saw being. But even then it was definitely a mystery/thriller, which I generally find entertaining but are not my daily cup of tea.