#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.