Forty Down, More Awards

Hey look, at some point I read ten more books. Only one was actually on my recommended reading list, which has expanded from 60 to 80. Eyes on the prize, man, eyes on the prize...

Here are the last ten books, in no particular order:
Wistrix Donn by Peter DeVries
Blasphemy by Douglas C Preston
The Cherokee Trail by Louis L'Amour
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King
Christ the Lord by Anne Rice
Goblin War by Jim C. Hines
The Game by Ken Dryden
Diamonds are Forever by Ian Fleming
Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator by Roald Dahl
Live and Let Die by Ian Fleming


Remember, everybody's a winner here at WAR. Which only cheapens the entire experience.


The "WHO wrote this?" award goes to..
The Game.
Or, more specifically, to Ken Dryden, who has got to be one of the most intelligent, eloquent professional athletes in North American history. (I'd say "In history," but I'll bet all those crazy naked Greeks could probably wax philosophical with the best of them) Seriously a must-read for any sports fan who cares about what goes on beyond the field of play.

The "Well, at least it isn't another vampire story" award goes to...
Christ the Lord (the book, not the Man) by Anne Rice
It wasn't a great book, nor was it particularly well written, but hey, at least Rice gifted the world with something other than yet another vampire novel. Because there are far too many printed pages devoted to vampires of every mythology these days. I mean, the X-Men are currently fighting vampires. I wish I were joking.

The "You can't say I didn't warn you" award goes to...
Blasphemy, by Douglas Preston.
The book wasn't technically blasphemous. It's hard for a work of fiction to be truly blasphemous. Nevertheless, with that title, you really should have a pretty good idea what you're in for if you are of any particular religious persuasion.

The "Weaponized Shark" award goes to...
Live and Let Die, by Ian Fleming
Seriously. So many clever ways of killing and maiming people in this book. Mr. Big was one legitimately bad dude and a worthy foil to Bond, and I think it made this book stronger than any of the other Bond books I've read.

The "Everyone's a hero in their own way" award goes to...
Wistrix Donn, by Peter DeVries
...in their own not-that-heroic way...

The "Yeah, I just had space aliens devour humans in your kid's book. What of it?" award goes to...
Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator by Roald Dahl. Because, you know, he has space aliens devour humans. With crunching and screaming and everything.

The "Hotel Award" goes to...
The Cherokee Trail by Louis L'Amour
Because it was the Best Western. Get it?

The "Always a bridesmaid" award goes to...
Diamonds are Forever by Ian Fleming
Somehow, this book manages to be the runner up in two different categories: It is the 2nd best Bond book on this list and, in a way, the 2nd best Western as well. It was, however, probably the best horse-racing book in this batch, but I found the horse-racing part boring.

The "TMI" award goes to...
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King
Really, any of King's books could probably win this award. For those who've read it, I'm thinking specifically of the night in the cave after drinking the streamwater. T...M...I...

The "Best Use of the Giving Tree Mythos" award goes to...
Goblin War, by Jim C. Hines
Curious as to why? Read the book. I really don't want to spoil it. But it was wonderful.


Allll righty, that's 40 books checked off the list, here are my 9 favorites so far:

9. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

8. Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation by Joseph Ellis

7. Goblin War by Jim C. Hines

6. Blood Feud by Adrian Dater

5. The Game by Ken Dryden

4. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon

3. Ilium by Dan Simmons

2. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

1. The Stand: Complete and Uncut Edition by Stephen King