Holding chopsticks all alone - the snow keeps falling

47.

Love Haiku: Japanese Poems of Yearning, Passion, and Rememberance by Patricia Donegan - Valentine's Book! I love haiku. But more so modern haiku that breaks away from the connection to nature. This is a slim book collecting a bunch of Japanese haiku relating to love. They are translated into english, but the author doesn't bother to convert them into English haiku, which was kinda disappointing. Just goes to show: Never send a buddhist to do a poet's job.

Demography may be involved.

48.

Bestsellers: A Very Short Introduction by John Sutherland - One of the many titles in Oxford's A Very Short Introduction series. I was intrigued by the contents because of work, but I think I needed something a little more robust. There are some interesting tidbits, but overall not much more than a book of lists.

I'm afraid that you're a little - ah - unfamiliar with the upbringing of children.

49.

Gladiator by Philip Wylie - This one has been sitting on my shelf for quite some time. I have lent it out a bunch, but only just got around to reading it. Thought to be the inspiration for Superman. It is about Hugo Danner, super strong, bulletproof and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. It is also a tragedy about a man trying to find his place when he is so clearly different from everyone around him. Beginning and endings are both a little rough, but the middle has some really great stuff.

They barely glanced at the moccasin prints, faint in the dustfilm, upon the baked ground.

50.

The Searchers by Alan LeMay - I think the movie is one of the best westerns ever made and part of me hopes someone will remake it as the book has a lot more to it. Part of me also dreads that possibility. Very odd ending in the book, which I think reads very differently now then when written, but who knows.

It inspires a heretofore undiscovered taste for bad poetry, and, say, sappy songs.

51.

Sheriff of Yrnameer by Michael Rubens - Book club pick! A light Sci Fi satire about Han Solo protecting a village from maruading bandits who want their crops. A little too many 'homages' and not enough creativity. Felt, in places like it was written by editors. Not un-fun, but very light.

Fortune Liquors was already cordoned off by yellow crime scene tape.

52.

9 Dragons by Michael Connelly - Found a pristine hard copy in a bar. Used to read Connelly, so I thought I would do that and return the copy for others to enjoy. That was over a year ago. Oops. First half is overally procedural (by design?) the second is middling thrilling. Ok, but the Harry Bosch character has become a bit of a bore.