Monday, October 18, 2010

The Number Devil

Book #125 (Unique books)
Book #26 in 2010

The Number Devil: A Mathematical Adventure
by Hans Magnus Enzensberger
"Annoyed with his math teacher who assigns word problems and won't let him use a calculator, twelve-year-old Robert finds help from the number devil in his dreams."

October 9th to October 17th - 9 days - 262 pages

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Roald Dahl's Revolting Rhymes

Book #124 (Unique books)
Book #25 in 2010
Roald Dahl's Revolting Rhymes
by Roald Dahl
"Humorous retellings in verse of six well-known fairy tales featuring surprise endings in place of the traditional happily-ever-after."

October 10th - 1 day - 43(ish) pages

The Princess Bride

Book #123 (Unique books)
Book #24 in 2010
The Princess Bride
by William Goldman
"Westley . . . handsome farm boy who risks death and much, much worse for the woman he loves; Inigo . . . the Spanish swordsman who lives only to avenge his father's death; Fezzik . . . the Turk, the gentlest giant ever to have uprooted a tree with his bare hands; Vizzini . . . the evil Sicilian, with a mind so keen he's foiled by his own perfect logic; Prince Humperdinck . . . the eviler ruler of Guilder, who has an equally insatiable thirst for war and the beauteous Buttercup; Count Rugen . . . the evilest man of all, who thrives on the excruciating pain of others; Miracle Max. . . the King's ex-Miracle Man, who can raise the dead (kind of); The Dread Pirate Roberts . . . supreme looter and plunderer of the high seas; and, of course, Buttercup . . . the princess bride, the most perfect, beautiful woman in the history of the world.S. Morgenstern's timeless tale--discovered and wonderfully abridged by William Goldman--pits country against country, good against evil, love against hate. From the Cliffs of Insanity through the Fire Swamp and down into the Zoo of Death, this incredible journey and brilliant tale is peppered with strange beasties monstrous and gentle, and memorable surprises both terrible and sublime."

September 25th to October 8th - 14 days (2 weeks) - 398 pages

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Paper Towns

Book #122 (Unique books)
Book #23 in 2010
Paper Towns
by John Green
"One month before graduating from his Central Florida high school, Quentin "Q" Jacobsen basks in the predictable boringness of his life until the beautiful and exciting Margo Roth Spiegelman, Q's neighbor and classmate, takes him on a midnight adventure and then mysteriously disappears."

September 22nd to September 25th - 3 1/2 days - 305 pages

The Phantom Tollbooth

Book #121 (Unique books)
Book #22 in 2010
The Phantom Tollbooth
by Norton Juster
"A journey through a land where Milo learns the importance of words and numbers provide a cure for his boredom."

September 19th to September 22nd - 3 1/2 days - 256 pages

So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish

Book #120 (Unique books)
Book #21 in 2010
So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish
by Douglas Adams
"Back on Earth with nothing more to show for his long, strange trip through time and space than a ratty towel and a plastic shopping bag, Arthur Dent is ready to believe that the past eight years were all just a figment of his stressed-out imagination. But a gift-wrapped fishbowl with a cryptic inscription, the mysterious disappearance of Earth's dolphins, and the discovery of his battered copy of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy all conspire to give Arthur the sneaking suspicion that something otherworldly is indeed going on. . . .
God only knows what it all means. And fortunately, He left behind a Final Message of explanation. But since it's light-years away from Earth, on a star surrounded by souvenir booths, finding out what it is will mean hitching a ride to the far reaches of space aboard a UFO with a giant robot. But what else is new?"

September 15th to September 18th - 4 days - 214 pages

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Eat, Pray, Love

Book #119 (Unique books)
Book #20 in 2010

Eat, Pray, Love: one woman's search for
everything across Italy, India, and Indonesia

by Elizabeth Gilbert
"This beautifully written, heartfelt memoir touched a nerve among both readers and reviewers. Elizabeth Gilbert tells how she made the difficult choice to leave behind all the trappings of modern American success (marriage, house in the country, career) and find, instead, what she truly wanted from life. Setting out for a year to study three different aspects of her nature amid three different cultures, Gilbert explored the art of pleasure in Italy and the art of devotion in India, and then a balance between the two on the Indonesian island of Bali. By turns rapturous and rueful, this wise and funny author (whom Booklist calls "Anne Lamott’s hip, yoga- practicing, footloose younger sister") is poised to garner yet more adoring fans."

August 11th to September 14th - 35 days - 334 pages

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

Book #118 (Unique books)
Book #19 in 2010
Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
by Douglas Adams
"There is a long tradition of Great Detectives, and Dirk Gently does not belong to it. But his search for a missing cat uncovers a ghost, a time traveler, AND the devastating secret of humankind! Detective Gently's bill for saving the human race from extinction: NO CHARGE."

August 6th to August 9th - 4 days - 306 pages

Thursday, August 5, 2010

A Wrinkle in Time

Book #117 (Unique books)
Book #18 in 2010
A Wrinkle in Time
by Madeleine L'Engle
"Everyone in town thinks Meg Murry is volatile and dull-witted, and that her younger brother, Charles Wallace, is dumb. People are also saying that their physicist father has run off and left their brilliant scientist mother. Spurred on by these rumors and an unearthly stranger, the tesseract-touting Mrs Whatsit, Meg and Charles Wallace and their new friend Calvin O'Keefe embark on a perilous quest through space to find their father. In doing so, they must travel behind the shadow of an evil power that is darkening the cosmos, one planet at a time. This is no superhero tale, nor is it science fiction, although it shares elements of both. The travelers must rely on their individual and collective strengths, delving deep within themselves to find answers."

August 3rd to August 5th - 2 1/2 days - 211 pages

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

B is for Beer

Book #116 (Unique books)
Book #17 in 2010
B is for Beer
by Tom Robbins
"In this story for both children and adults, kindergartner Gracie decides to find out just what beer is and why her father likes it so much. Along the way she discovers more than she probably expected."

August 2nd to August 3rd - 1 1/2 days - 125 pages