Kiss of the Spider Woman (Arena Books)26 reviews Manuel Puig Vintage, 2006 for the footnotes + "Reality . . . Isn't Restricted by This Cell We Live In" + An unlikely friendship, and some plot twists... + Very visual gay "Thousand and One Nights" + kiss of the spider woman             The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle: A Novel287 reviews Haruki Murakami Vintage, 1998 Quite the story, you just can't walk away from it. + Chronicle of the Lost + Weird but engaging I just finished reading The Wind Up Bird Chronicle, I stayed up too late several nights in a row because I couldn't put it down. Sometimes scary and haunting but altogether very beautifully written and very true to the human situation.             Remains of the Day, the194 reviews Kazuo Ishiguro Faber & Faber, 1998 A charming, multi-layered classic + Bantering and Dignity + A reminder of the dangers of rationalizing away one's feelings I'd heard of the movie but only decided to read the book after reading a blurb about it in a magazine recently. The start of the book is rather slow, meaning there's not a lot of action drawing you into the story, but once you reach the middle and end of the book there is a wonderfully subtle ...             Dog Soldiers40 reviews Robert Stone Mariner Books, 1997 A Time Capsule for the 60s in decline + Great Chase! + my favorite book by a great american author + Michael Herr meets Jim Thompson             The Power and the Glory (Penguin Classics)99 reviews Graham Greene Penguin Classics, 2003 "One mustn't have human affections--or rather one must love every soul as if it were one's own child." + A David Attenborough of the literary world. + A man on the way + Glorious human frailty             A Fan's Notes63 reviews Frederick Exley Vintage, 1988 good in sections + My favorite novel + For Something Completely Different... + He left his capacity for hoping at P. J. Clarke's             The Stranger528 reviews Albert Camus Vintage, 1989 American translation brings out stylistic subtleties + One of the best books ever written. + Oh, the absurdity! + Perfect             Gilead: A Novel299 reviews Marilynne Robinson Picador, 2006 Grace + Another book you can't put down to you finish it. + A Beautiful Novel, Well Worth Your Time This book is full of grace. An old minister, who knows he is dying, writes letters to his young son, telling him who he is, what he observes and believes. The epistlatory format and slow moving narrative might put off some readers who crave overt conflict and action in a novel. For me, reading ...             Death Comes for the Archbishop (Virago Modern Classics)2 reviews Willa Cather Virago UK, 2006 Tale of the Old Southwest and the Missionaries + An American Classic To be honest, the title was not one that I would have picked up on my own, and the book was recommended to me several times before I decided to read it. (You can't tell a book by it's Title) Worthy of all of it's critical acclaim, I have read this novel over several times, not only for it's ...             The Sportswriter106 reviews Richard Ford Vintage, 1995 sports for the mind Last night I finished reading Richard Ford's The Sportswriter. I read it a couple years after reading Independence Day. Although I didn't love Independence Day, I was curious to get back to the main character of both books, Frank Bascombe, and see what he had done earlier in his life. I think ...             The Lost Weekend (New York Classics)9 reviews Charles Jackson Syracuse University Press, 1996 One of the very best American novels + The inside of the bottle + "The barometer of his emotional nature was set for a spell of riot" + A movie so stark, it might cause liver disease + Addictive Reading Material             The Sheltering Sky (P.S.)108 reviews Paul Bowles Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2005 lost in the desert + One of a Kind + Trip to the Maghreb + Character is Destiny             Journey to the End of the Night (New Directions Paperbook)93 reviews Louis-Ferdinand Celine New Directions, 2006 The Finest Book About Humanity Ever Written + travel is useful + Bleak and yet hilarious + You Can't Ignore Genius + Razor Sharp             Pedro Paramo1 review Juan Rulfo Suhrkamp Verlag KG, 2003 How to handle Ghosts in literature One of the most challenging parts reading this novel is to keep the characters in the period where the action takes place. It is a clear example of juxtaposition of periods (time frames); somehow giving the reader the illusion the main character is on every page. Nevertheless, if you want to give ...             Soul Mountain90 reviews Gao Xingjian Harper Perennial, 2001 Wonderful Wanderings of Goa Xingjian + You have to learn to read this book + A journey of one's mind written with subtle religious tenor + a well constructed spiritual and cultural journey + tranquil reflections against a moving, Chinese landscape             Remains of the Day, the194 reviews Kazuo Ishiguro Faber & Faber, 1998 A charming, multi-layered classic + Bantering and Dignity + A reminder of the dangers of rationalizing away one's feelings I'd heard of the movie but only decided to read the book after reading a blurb about it in a magazine recently. The start of the book is rather slow, meaning there's not a lot of action drawing you into the story, but once you reach the middle and end of the book there is a wonderfully subtle ...             The Lost Weekend (New York Classics)9 reviews Charles Jackson Syracuse University Press, 1996 One of the very best American novels + The inside of the bottle + "The barometer of his emotional nature was set for a spell of riot" + A movie so stark, it might cause liver disease + Addictive Reading Material             Soul Mountain90 reviews Gao Xingjian Harper Perennial, 2001 Wonderful Wanderings of Goa Xingjian + You have to learn to read this book + A journey of one's mind written with subtle religious tenor + a well constructed spiritual and cultural journey + tranquil reflections against a moving, Chinese landscape             A Fan's Notes63 reviews Frederick Exley Vintage, 1988 good in sections + My favorite novel + For Something Completely Different... + He left his capacity for hoping at P. J. Clarke's             Pedro Paramo1 review Juan Rulfo Suhrkamp Verlag KG, 2003 How to handle Ghosts in literature One of the most challenging parts reading this novel is to keep the characters in the period where the action takes place. It is a clear example of juxtaposition of periods (time frames); somehow giving the reader the illusion the main character is on every page. Nevertheless, if you want to give ...