The World According to Garp by John Irving
First Printing
****

John Irving is a master storyteller. A true shame this is only the second novel I have read of his (the first being A Prayer For Owen Meany).  We first meet Garp's mother, the eccentric and soon-to-be-accidentally-famous feminist, Jenny Fields.  Garp is an eccentric himself, altogether as unique and odd as his given full name, T.S. Garp. He becomes a great high school wrestler and shortly after decides he is meant to be a famous author, similar yet different from his mother (Jenny wrote an accidental manifesto for women-rights...a manifesto which spawned characters of all kinds to enter Jenny's and Garp's life in good and awful ways.  Irving really shines when it comes to the characters he creates, characters such as Ellen James and the cult-followers called the Jamesians...so realistic I actually embarked on some research).  Most of the novel is about Garp's eccentric life and his stories and novels he creates, along with the colorful people he is surrounded by.  Funny, heartfelt, and wonderful!

Nobel Prize for Literature - 2011
20 Poems by Tomas Transtromer
First English Edition
****

I am slowly working my way through all of the Nobel Literature winners, and I have finally arrived at  one of the best poets of all time, Tomas Transtromer.  I am part Swedish, this might be a reason why his poems really spoke to me.  Poems filled with such beauty and imagery.  My favorites within this collection (from 1954 through 1970):  "Balakirev's Dream" and "Solitude". 

Nobel Prize for Literature - 2011
Bright Scythe by Tomas Transtromer
First American Edition
****

This collection encompasses most of Transtromer's famous poems through his entire lifetime.  Some, of course, can be found in 20 Poems. Some of his poems can be strange and dark, yet they are all filled with such illustrious imagery.  My favorites within this collection:  "Baltics", "The Forgotten Captain", and "Sorrow Gondola No. 2". 

The Bat by Jo Nesbo
Signed First British Edition
****

Perhaps it's some minuscule undiscovered element within  the Norwegian Sea which enables these Norwegian writers to write thrillers so well.  Whatever it is, bravo!  I read Nesbo's The Snowman years ago, not realizing at the time it was the 7th book in the Harry Hole series.  It provoked me to collect all of the books in the series and The Bat is the very first.  Where we meet Harry Hole and discover his backstory, his flaws, and his brilliance.  His post in Oslo sends him down to Australia to help solve a crime, a murder of a minor Norwegian celebrity.  We meet some interesting mates and goons and a mystery unravels.  A great novel and hell of a lot of fun to read!

Whites by Norman Rush
Signed First Printing
****

Norman Rush is a superb writer, in the vein of V.S. Naipaul and Kent Haruf.  This is the 3rd book I have read of his and Whites is his first published work,  a collection of short stories.  Rush is a White-American who writes about Africa and its peoples, as well as the visitors of this great continent.  Whites is filled with stories of Bostwana, Bastwana people, local customs and rituals, and Foreign Service Officers and other outside visitors. 
My favorites:  "Bruns", "Near Pala", and "Alone In Africa".

Sea Prayer by Khaled Hosseini
Signed First Printing
****

I have collected and read everything Hosseini has published.  My favorite, of course, being The Kite Runner. 

Sea Prayer is more of a letter to a son than an actual short story.  But it does not take away the brilliance and depth of beauty this short letter is filled with...not to mention the beautiful sketches that accompany the prose.  They are refugees on the run about to embark on a perilous sea journey.  I did choke up a little at the end, and I have no doubt that if there was more substance and length, a tear would have flowed down my cheek. 

Islandborn by Junot Diaz
Signed First Printing
*****

5 stars for a picture book?  Sure, why not? Diaz is the writer of the acclaimed Pulitzer winning novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, so I already knew he could write.  However picture books are an altogether different genre. He was able to pack in so much beauty, sadness, warmth, and creativity inside this gloriously illustrated book. 
I read this book aloud to my 6-year-old son on Thanksgiving morning and afterwards we discussed how we are from many places and it is a wonderful thing we are all so different. 
Islandborn is about a young girl who can't quite remember where she emigrated from since she was too young at the time.  She finds a substitute for memories through the stories of others.  "Just because you don't remember a place doesn't mean it's not in you."   

NBCCA - 2013
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
First Printing
***

This is a novel about immigration, and the effects on ones persona, psyche, and viewpoints. At times it was moving and gripping, at other times it crawled and slithered.  It is filled with philosophy, sociology, and adventure...but at the heart is a love story, an everlasting one.  As teenagers growing up in Nigeria, Ifemelu and Obinze fall in love.  Soon after, they part ways, one to America to attend University and live a solid life and the other to London to live a dangerous undocumented life which marks his destination.  Through all of this we get a first-person point of view of what it is like to struggle with your identity as an immigrant, documented or not.  A good read.     

PEN/Faulkner Award - 2019
Call Me Zebra by Azareen Van der Vliet Oloomi
Signed First Printing
*

Zebra (she gives herself this odd nickname) is a self-proclaimed anarchist, atheist, and autodidact. She is also very annoying.  She is "recrossing borders I have already crossed in order to map the literature of the void and prove...that thought worth preserving in our pitiable human record was manifested in the mind of an exile".  Starts out promising with her father and her having to escape Iraq and winding up in America.  After her father dies, she decides to trek back to where she came from, re-living the treacherous trek back 'home'.  However, nothing really happens and the whole novel is just frustrating as hell.  Do yourself a favor, and skip this one!

Interview With The Vampire by Anne Rice
Signed First Printing
****

I finally got around to reading this masterpiece.  And a masterpiece it is.  I put this up with there with  Shelly's Frankenstein (not quite on the level of Stoker's Dracula).  The first book in the Vampire Chronicles.  A fascinating and bloody tale of how one becomes and learns to live life as a vampire.  Louis is the main vampire who is telling his tale and we learn of his first 'master' Lestat and the young girl he is enchanted by name Claudia.  Other vampires (Lestat) show up later in his centuries-long journey.  One character trait of Louis I did find shocking is that of him being almost weak, enfeebled.  My favorite character by far was Claudia.  A wonderful Halloween read!

Prix Goncourt - 2016
The Perfect Nanny by Leila Slimani
First American Edition
****

This one has been on my to-read shelf for some time now and I am glad I finally got to it.  A gripping, spine-chilling, horrifying subtle tale of a family entrusting a meek seemingly fragile nanny to their two young children.  I don't want to give anything away, therefore I won't say any more, other than Leila Slimani is an amazing writer and I am surely going to be checking out more of her books in the near future!

Nobel Prize for Literature - 2018
Drive Your Plow Over The Bones Of The Dead by Olga Tokarczuk
First American Edition
****

I read Flights, her book which won the Man Booker International Prize and I liked it but wasn't quite blown away.  After she recently was crowned the Nobel laureate, I had to read her latest.  This one nearly blew me away...it was so so good.  I could have read it in one sitting if it wasn't for my pesky job getting in the way.  The story takes place in a remote location in Poland where we meet an elderly seemingly sweet lady and a few of her neighbors and friends from the nearby village.  During the wintertime the place is mostly vacant shy of her and two of her neighbors.  This elderly lady is adamantly against hunting and the killing of animals, which most other neighbors take part in.   Peacefulness is suddenly interrupted by strange murders one-after-the-other. Could the murderers really be the animals within the area avenging the deaths of their fallen? Tokarczuk loves to blend a lot within her novels, and this one has a bit of astrology, philosophy (mostly Blake), and plenty of subtle suspense and crime.  A magnificent novel and a stupendous writer!

Pulitzer Prize for Fiction - 2011
NBCCA - 2010
A Visit From The Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
Signed First Edition
***
Don't let the 3 stars fool you, Egan is a great writer.  This novel however, just didn't do it for me.  It starts out promising when we first meet Sasha, one of the two main protagonists.  She is a kleptomaniac, a New Yorker, and a former employee of the other main character, Bernie Salazar.  Bernie is an aging punk-rocker and successful record producer.  Believable characters, interesting quips, but way too circuitous and tortuous with no real reason for this format, in my opinion.  But as I said, Egan is a great writer and I look forward to reading her other work. 

National Book Award - 2018
The Friend by Sigrid Nunez
Signed First Edition
****
I have always liked dogs, however no one would ever truly label me as a dog lover.  After reading this poignant affecting novel right after losing our dog Charlie of 11 years, my affection for our canine brethren has certainly grown.  This story is not just about a dog.  It is a story about human friendship and love.  A woman suddenly loses her longtime friend, mentor, and possible love.  From this loss, she inherits his Great Dane.  A giant of a dog she must somehow keep inside her small NYC apartment.  She grows to love this dog as he alleviates some of her grief.  This is a powerful novel...a must read!

Man Booker Prize - 2010
The Finkler Question by Howard Jacobson
Signed First Printing
****
Perhaps I was Jewish in my previous life, because I do love Jewish authors, Jewish tales, and Jewish humor.  Within this novel we meet and spend lots of time with 3 men, 2 Jewish, and 1 want-to-be.  It is an exploration of what it means to be Jewish.  Libor Sevcik is an elderly retired professor.  His two students: Sam Finkler a well known philosopher, and Julian Treslove a former BBC radio announcer and non-Jew.  After spending a mournful evening together remembering Sevcik's and Finkler's wives, Treslove embarks on his journey home while it is nearing midnight.  This is when he is unexpectedly attacked, an anti-Semitic attack Treslove believes.  Although Treslove is not Jewish, nor does he or his friends believe he looks Jewish.  This begins a great internal and external journey where Treslove explores his Jewishness. Quirky characters.  Hilariously funny at times.  And very touching.  A great solid novel!

Man Booker International Prize - 2019
Celestial Bodies by Jokha Alharthi
Signed First UK Edition
***
More historical fiction than literary fiction, this is a novel of Oman.  A country in the Middle East most people - including myself - do not know much about.  Centered around 3 sisters and how they embrace life and marriage and love.  We learn a lot about Oman, how it evolves from a slave-owning society to a promising yet complex nation seeking it's own voice and identity.  Alharthi is a spectacular writer.  Poetic and beautiful at times.  However, most of the time, I hate to say, I was a little bored. 

The Naive & Sentimental Lover by John Le Carre
First American Edition
***

This novel is a complete detour from all of his other works that are filled with governmental workers, spies, politicians, and villains.  The Naive is a love story, yet a very quirky one at that.  About a straight-laced successful man becoming enamored with a bohemian couple  and deciding to forego work and responsibilities and his own wife in order to prance around in Paris and other extravagant and seductive locales.  It was as if Le Carre and Henry Miller spent a scandalous week together consuming as much absinthe and hallucinogenic drugs as possible and afterwards Le Carre crawled home to his writing desk where he wrote this twisted stream-of-consciousness tale.  It was messy at times.  Overall, a tad above average at best.    

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
First Edition
*****

Capote is a master of the pen.  I am embarrassed to say this was the first time I have read this book.  It is grim and insightful and rich...rich with characters and stories-within-stories and scenery...and life and death!  This is a non-fiction novel, therefore everything in this book actually took place.  Most of the quotes are to a 'T'.  Capote did extensive research and it shows through his brilliant re-telling.  A family of 4 is gruesomely murdered, seemingly for no reason whatsoever. A true scene of macabre. A hunt of the killer or killers ensues.  Capote then takes us into the minds and shoes of the killers themselves...the why, the how...breaking down their lives and psyches.  A gripping tale for sure...you never want to stop reading!      

Mrs. Fletcher by Tom Perrotta
Signed First Printing
****

I enjoy a Tom Perrotta novel or short story.  His characters are always full of life and flaws.  His stories are filled with satire, fearlessness, and laugh-out-loud humor.  He does not hold back with this story about a 40-something woman who is dealing with single life, possible breakdowns, her clueless sometimes-wayward college-aged son, her own sexuality, and the fact that someone anonymously texted her calling her a MILF.  It is a quick read, and a great one at that!

Mohawk by Richard Russo
Signed First Printing + Signed Re-Issue
****

If you are following my blog and/or IG, you will know I am awestruck by Russo.  He is one of my favorite authors.  Similar (yet better in my opinion) to John Irving.  He is what I call an Americana Novelist.  He gives us more than a glimpse into American culture, diving deep into communities and individual personas.  The characters he creates come to life and stick with you long after you turn the last page. 

Mohawk is his first novel and it is brilliant.  It is about a town in upstate New York and its inhabitants; within the 1970s.  There are rich characters, mysteries that slowly unravel, and stories that will engulf and enrich.  Worth the read! 

Origin by Dan Brown
First Printing
***

Dan Brown's fiction is enjoyable, although predictable and downright silly at times.  Origin is the latest Robert Langdon adventure.  We find the professor of symbology and religious iconology this time unravelling the mysteries behind the unveiling of answers to the most sought after questions:  'Where do we come from?' and 'Where are we going?'.  Attacks on religion aside, it was a fun ride.  But - and it is a big 'but' - I was really disappointed in the answers...I was expecting something much more profound.  There was such a huge build up of around 300 pages, and then bam a huge let down.  I really do hope Brown abandons Langdon, at least for awhile, and writes another stand-alone novel!  

Golden States by Michael Cunningham
Signed First Printing
***

I love reading an established author's first novel.  You can always sense greatness, in fact sometimes their first effort is their best effort.  In the case of Cunningham, his first is not as bad as he wants you to believe (he'd rather you not read it and has taken it off his oeuvre).  There is not much substance to this novel, but you can surely sense his greatness.  The story sort of meanders at times, just as the protagonist, David Stark, does as he approaches and swims through the depths of adolescence. A story about growing up, finding oneself, and making it through a broken home.  A nice story, not awful at all...and hopefully Michael Cunningham will soon realize this fact.   

Welcome To Hard Times by E.L. Doctorow
Signed Re-Issue
****

Another first-novel.  This time by the great E.L. Doctorow.  This a little bit of a departure from most of his later novels and short stories.  If you were to tell me that William Styron, or Thomas Berger, or even Patrick DeWitt wrote this novel I would believe you.  It takes place near the Badlands in a town called Hard Times.  A mean SOB wreaks havoc, killing, raping, and nearly burning down the whole damn town.  Even so, our subtle hero decides to re-build the town and establish a place of decency...will he succeed?  A great and gritty tale!

Nobel Prize for Literature - 1987
Watermark by Joseph Brodsky
First American Edition
***

This is a love story, an ode, to Venice, Italy.  And I liked this novella about as much as I liked visiting the city Venice itself...It was just so-so.  Some beautiful scenery/prose.  No watered-down passages in this book, however not much substance; not much of anything grows out of Brodsky's serene and delightful words. It was nice and it was pretty, yet perhaps I will like Brodsky's poetry much more, how I like Venice's sister cities of Florence and Rome significantly more?   

NOS4A2 by Joe Hill
First Printing
​****

Ok, WOW!  I did not expect to like this as much as I did.  I have read most of Joe Hill's work and I personally like him already over his father, therefore I knew this one would be good, but his best-to-date?...nope!  I love how Hill blends horror with comedy and mystery.  NOS4A2 is about a man named Manx who takes kids from their 'rotten' parents and delivers them to a place called Christmasland where Christmas is year-round and unhappiness is never allowed.  It is also about a young lady named Vic McQueen who uses her 'inscape' abilities to find things and people...and now she must find Manx and his Wraith.  An extremely enjoyable ride, unlike the one his victims take within the Wraith!   

Child of God by Cormac McCarthy
First Printing
*****

This may just be my favorite McCarthy novel.  And that is saying a lot, considering I gave 5 stars to the Border Trilogy.  But, man was this book terrifying, gripping, and even gratifying in a twisted way.  And the Faulkner-esque writing is superb...but of course you expect this from McCarthy.  This is a book I cannot wait to read again within the next 5-10 years to see what my thoughts are then. This story takes place in the hill country of Tennessee and our protagonist/antagonist is a 27-yearold  orphan who turns to brutality and disgust after losing his home.  The savage violence he commits are not usual, they are breathtakingly gruesome, yet you find herself craving the bloody yet poetic descriptions McCarthy offers and spews.  So poetic, so moving, so terrifying....so brilliant!    

Bay of Souls by Robert Stone
Signed First Printing
***

Robert Stone is hit or miss for me.  And this one was slightly off the mark.  Given the premise - a married professor in the midst of a midlife crisis falls for an eccentric colleague who believes herself to be possessed...he then follows her to her native island to participate in odd rituals but must be aware of not only supernatural enemies but also political corruption - it could have been much better.  It had its moments, but overall a true yawn.  

The Little Friend by Donna Tartt
Signed First Printing
****

I really wish Donna Tartt would write more.  I so admire her work.  She is one of my favorite living authors, yet she has only published a total of 3 novels.  This one is her second novel, and although not my favorite (that distinction goes to her first The Secret History) I found myself fully immersed in the plot, story, characters, and her beautiful style.  The setting takes place in Tartt's native state of Mississippi. It starts off with the gruesome murder of Harriet's older brother when she was only a baby, too young to really remember.  However, fast forward to her being 12 years old she swears she remembers her brother and suddenly, yet secretly, decides she is going to find her brother's killer.  The Little Friend is more about small town living, sociology, socioeconomic factors, and growing up in a shattered home...then it is a murder mystery.  A wonderful novel that I highly recommend!   

Prix Goncourt - 2013
The Great Swindle by Pierre Lemaitre
Signed First British Edition
****

I collect all of the Prix Goncourt winners, at least the ones that have been translated into English.  I find that some do not translate into English all that well, while others are brilliant in perhaps any language.  The Great Swindle is part of the later category.  I never wanted to put down this epic thriller ride!  The plot centers around 3 main characters who survive the Great War (WWI).  A horrific tragedy on one of the last days of the war binds these 3 together for life.  A corrupt Capitaine and 2 soldiers who try to carve out lives of their own in post-war France...through scams and swindles and hard crimes.  Through these great swindles, their lives get even more entangled, so much that you are sure they will never be able to be unwound.  Lemaitre is a great writer, and I am looking forward to reading more from him in the future.  

Of The Farm by John Updike
First Printing
****

Reading John Updike is like slicing through butter with a hot knife.  He is so subtle, simple, quaint, poetic, and smooth.  

Of The Farm is about just that...a farm that has been in Joey Robinson's family for several years.  Joey now lives in NYC and visits his mother from time to time, who is now the sole resident of the farm. His mother is elderly and is concerned only about what is to happen to the farm once she is 'gone'.  On this last visit, Joey brings his new wife and step-son, which causes sticky social situations throughout the story/visit.  Updike could have easily named this novel The Mother, since the plot really encircles her and her demeanor.  This was a very enjoyable short read.  

NBCCA - 1984
Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich
Signed First Printing
****

I enjoy a good Erdrich novel, as the Native American way of life and mysticism that encompasses it thoroughly interests me.  Love Medicine is her first novel and you see the foundation for her other works which have gone on to win the National Book Award and other elite awards.  This is a novel of two intertwining families set within a North Dakota reservation in the mid 1900s.  Erdrich gives us more than a glimpse into Native American life; the hardships, the beauty, and the pain.  All through interlocking stories with characters that are so well developed and easy to love. Very poetic, as only Erdrich can be.      

Nobel Prize for Literature - 2001
The Mystic Masseur by V.S. Naipaul
First American Edition
***

I was hoping for something more fun, perhaps outrageous or ridiculous.  Instead I got a blasé story about a man on a quest to find himself.  Even though the story did not intrigue me, the writing is still superb and flawless.  A true masterpiece in literary sense, especially being a first novel.  We see Ganesh fail at being a schoolteacher and a masseur, only to become a revered man of the community as a politician and a 'mystic'.  Delightfully humorous and you can't help but like Ganesh, most of the time anyway.       

Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk
First Printing
**

Ugh.  This is all I can say about this rubbish.  Ok, I can say more...  I expected more.  A great premise: A writer's retreat gone wrong. Where several people are locked in a cavernous theatre for 3 months with no way to leave, little to no food, and told they should just focus on what they came here for: to create their masterpiece.  It starts out very promising, the book that is.  Told in short stories by the various attendees, the stories themselves are sometimes horrifically absurd (just how I like my Palahniuk) and other times plain boring.  But outside of these aside-stories is where the not-so-good absurdness occurs.  People mutilating themselves for no true reason.  Others sabotaging the structure to make it either more miserable or near impossible to ever attempt escape. Feel free to skip this one (sorry Chuck, still love ya!).    

Grimus by Salman Rushdie
Signed First American Edition
**

Another 2 star, however I was not disappointed since I was going into this one without much anticipation.  Having read that Rushdie himself discredits this book, his first novel, I knew it wasn't going to be great.  There were good moments and a lot of potential but it just fell flat.  If you were to put into a blender The Alchemist, The Sibyl, and Thus Spoke Zarathustra, and blasted this concoction on high, this is the mess you would poor into your glass.  With a blend of philosophy, theology, adventure, science fiction, and mysticism you get the tale of Flapping Eagle, a man who drinks an immortal potion before traveling the physical and inter-dimensional world for around 500 years.  So many times I had to re-read a page or two to try to make sense of what was taking place.  One passage in the novel popped for me and should be Rushdie's mantra:  "I do not care for stories that are so, so tight. Stories should be like life, slightly frayed at the edges, full of loose ends and lives juxtaposed by accident rather than some grand design.  Most of life has no meaning - so it must surely be a distortion of life to tell tales in which every single element is meaningful?"

PEN/Faulkner Award - 1994
Operation Shylock by Philip Roth
Signed First Edition
*****

Wow what a brilliantly spun spy-like tale.  How Philip Roth never won the Nobel is beyond me.  No one writes like Roth did.  No one is as creative the way Roth was.  No one places himself (or herself) smack dab in their stories the way Roth did...which lifts the tale into a whole other literary realm, in my opinion.  This is more than a story of a doppelgänger / identity theft.  A thesis on Zionism and 'Diasporism'. An internal look at Jerusalem with its Jewish and Arab neighbors; the interlaced communities, groups, ideologies.  Philip Roth discovers that there is another Philip Roth tromping around Europe and the Middle East pretending to be the literary Roth.  Problems only exacerbate from there...with extreme diaspora ideas being contributed to Roth himself, to million dollar checks, kidnappings, and more craziness.  Roth is at his finest here...playing with us all along the way...Portnoy's Complaint on idealogical and perhaps psychological steroids.  Utterly brilliant!   

Nobel Prize for Literature - 2017
The Unconsoled by Kazuo Ishiguro
Signed First American Edition
****

Reading Ishiguro is like floating through a dream...or in the case of The Unconsoled, 'fighting' through a dream.  This is such a mesmerizing and at times frustrating novel.  You want the character to react a certain way only for Ishiguro to make him do the complete opposite..  This is a story of a renowned pianist who is invited to a precarious town...it only gets more peculiar from there where he finds himself entangled in an almost stream-of-conscience by-the-minute-ever-changing schedule and happenstances.  So odd, I have never read anything like it...therefore I absolutely loved it!  

Man Booker International Prize - 2016
The Vegetarian by Han Kang
First American Edition
****

The Vegetarian is a bizarro novel in the bane of Kafka. A young woman is haunted by nightmares which in turn turn her away from eating meat altogether.  This decision disgusts her parents and husband and others close to her, for this is not natural in her Korean customs.  Yet what is really not natural is how she begins to (so it seems) turn into some sort of plant-life as she succumbs to her nightmares and fears and digs deeper into her new found vegetal life.  An interesting novel for sure. 

Angels by Denis Johnson
First UK Edition
****

Denis Johnson has been a favorite of mine for the past decade, and we lost him way too soon last year.  Angels is his first novel.  It has the essence of Jesus' Son and seems to borrow from Burroughs and Vollmann.  No doubt Johnson knows all to well the underbelly of America and can instantly transport you there whether you like it or not.  A story about 2 losers, 1 man and 1 woman.  A man hellbent to live a life of crime and make it 'big' and a woman lost in the world and unfit to mother her children.  Yet we root for these 2...Johnson is not only a great writer he is a sociologist miracle worker.  

A Gambler's Anatomy by Jonathan Lethem
Signed First Printing
****

Because of this novel I am now addicted to backgammon.  What this says about the quality I am not too sure.  I digress...Lethem wrote a real winner here.  Could it be better? sure.  Could I use more mysterious man in the world of gambling halls fighting it out with the rich armed only with his backgammon board?  sure.  But was this a great novel, regardless?  absolutely.  Bruno is not only a master backgammon player but he might just be psychic...so he thinks.  After a comfortable existence winning money from whales for years, he encounters a curious woman and a blast from his past which sends him down a spiraling road all while dealing with a possible cancerous tumor obstructing his vision.  Lethem always gives you so much in his novels...this was a great read!

Hear The Wind Sing by Haruki Murakami
First English Language Edition
****

If you were to ask me who my favorite living author is, 9 times out of 10 I would say Haruki Murakami.  I love his mastery of the subtle dreamy musically intelligent literary style he composes.  Hear The Wind Sing is his first novel and you can see a great foundation being set for his novels like Kafka By The Shore, Sputnik Sweetheart, 1Q84, etc.  Is this first novel flawless? absolutely not. Yet it has magic and believability.  A simple story about an aspiring writer who befriends a man named Rat in a bar and then mysteriously meets and dates a strange woman with only 9 fingers.  Reading Murakami is living through one of his dreams...so fascinating.   

Pinball, 1973 by Haruki Murakami
First English Language Edition
****

Pinball, 1973 is Murakami's 2nd novel.  You see growth in this one but it is a little disjointed at times.  Took me a little while to get into this one and I did find myself wandering.  Not as good as Hear The Wind Sing, until about 3/4 of the way through...then it just popped for me.  This is a sequel and we still have Rat and we still have the Narrator.  The story centers around the Narrator's brief obsession with pinball and running/working his translation business.  More bizarre things happen in this novel, as in the Narrator living with a set of twins seemingly not of this world.  And if you have read any of Murakami's later work you will find intertwining themes.  Love me some Murakami!

Varina by Charles Frazier
Signed First Printing
***

Perhaps I am being a little unfair with this rating, since I recently read the impeccable Cold Mountain.  But it just did not capture my attention thoroughly.  The writing, however, is superb.  Varina is the story about the woman who was married to Jefferson Davis (the President of the Confederacy).  Through the lens of Varina, we see the country on the brink of war before witnessing firsthand the American Civil War, then we take a walk through the aftermath where persecutions take place and hard times are realized.  We end sometime around the turn of the last century and we are left with compassion for Varina.  A nice story, but not as beautifully told as Cold Mountain.   

Man Booker Prize - 1983
Nobel Prize for Literature - 2003
Life & Times of Michael K by J.M. Coetzee
First American Edition
***

I believe there are those who are enamored with Coetzee and those who find his writing a little above average.  I happen to fall into the later group. With the premise and plot, this could have been much better in my opinion.  Michael K. is a young man who attempts to traverse a worn-torn country in order to take his ailing mother back to her hometown. He does not gather the right documents for his travels, which is just the beginning of his problems.  His mother winds up dying, he finds himself being accused of being an army deserter and then aiding guerrillas, gets entrapped inside a resettlement camp before being imprisoned.  Adventurous at times, however Michael K. is so directionless I find it hard to really be consumed by this novel.

The Beach by Alex Garland
First American Edition
****

Having never seen the movie I really didn't know what was going to happen.  Didn't know if I was going to come across another species, cannibals, aliens, dream-like scenarios, or just a simple back-packing trip gone awry.  This novel was excellent.  Literarily speaking, not top-tier by any means.  But a great suspenseful novel that makes you want to keep reading and reading.  We follow Richard, a young man trekking through Thailand and other parts of Asia.  He mysteriously is given a map to a secluded beach.  Seeking solace and the unknown he embarks on this adventure and gets more than what he bargains for.  A great read.  Now I need to see the movie. 

About A Boy by Nick Hornby
Signed First American Edition
****

I thoroughly enjoy Nick Hornby's writing.  So smooth and absorbable. He can truly write about human conditions, spirits, and relationships.  He is serious, quirky, funny.  I found myself laughing out loud several times whilst reading this novel.  Will is a middle-aged man who is not too keen on 'real' relationships or kids, especially ever having one of his own.  Through unexpected and unconventional means a young boy, Marcus, enters his life and changes his entire make-up for the better.  What a wonderful novel!  

Wonder Boys by Michael Chabon
Signed First Printing
****

Having never seen the movie with Michael Douglas, I was not sure what I was getting myself into with this novel.  Considering it is Chabon, I knew there were going to be crazy characters and I would more than likely have a great time.  And I was certainly not disappointed.  What a ride it was with sentences like this:  ..."having engaged...in activities as diverse as...committing grand larceny...he was now on his way to spend Passover...with the family of his dissolute professor's estranged wife, in a dented Ford Galaxie within whose drunk lay the body of a dog he had killed".  A brilliant novel!

National Book Award - 1997
Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier
Signed First Printing
*****

Admittedly this was slow going at first but once I got a hang of Frazier's style, I was awestruck.  He brilliantly paints picturesque landscapes amongst the ugliness and sadness of war and grief.  Nearing the end of the American Civil War we are allowed into the world's of Inman (a soldier trying to make his way back home from the calamities of war) and Ada (a young woman who must learn to live anew within a rugged life she is not used to).  At the heart of this tale is a heart-wrenching love story.  One of the most beautiful lines and one which somewhat sums up Cold Mountain: "...he loved her and wished to marry her, though he realized marriage implied some faith in a theoretical future, a projection of paired lines running forward through time, drawing nearer and nearer to one another until they became one line."  A must read!      

The Paperboy by Pete Dexter
Signed First Printing
****

I always enjoy Pete Dexter.  As a former journalist, he can always spin a story and he creates some of the most memorable characters.  The Paperboy takes us right into the bowels of the business of investigative journalism and into the life's and inner-workings of these 'paperboys'...2 brothers and a not-so-trustworthy co-worker.  The main story they are involved in: attempting to prove a man innocent who sits on death row inside a Florida prison.  Sometimes dark and twisted, sometimes laugh-out-funny, yet always downright brilliant!  

What Is The What by Dave Eggers
Signed First Printing
****

Wow, what a novel!  This is a biographical novel of a Sudanese immigrant (an original 'Lost Boy'), named Valentino Achak Deng.  Eggers did take liberties with this story, however most of what Valentino experiences and survives within this novel did truly happen.  This is a novel which will make you literally shed tears and laugh out loud in public places.  How Valentino survived as a displaced immigrant for 15 years within Africa before coming to live in America is a story of determination and faith and grit. From witnessing his home country of Sudan being torn apart by its own government and outside influences and sink into a civil war, to walking thousands of miles just barely escaping the jaws of lions and crocodiles and the bullets of those hunting him down, to finding a temporary home in Kenya at a refugee camp, to finally finding 'peace' in America...whew!  A must read for sure!