He avoided looking at the sheeted figure lying on the bed.

36.

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie - I saw this discounted in a bookstore and realized I didn't have any money. A week later I went back and got it. I had never read Agatha Christie and boy was that a mistake. Its a little dated but that lady was twisted.

Returning to the slaughterhouse with a cast on his left hand...

37.

Facing Ali by Stephen Brunt - I have been on a real Muhammad Ali kick lately. I heard quite a bit about this one years ago and thought it might be very interesting. A whole bunch of Ali's opponents were interviewed about their thoughts of the Greatest Of All Time.

I'll hope that's not a metaphor.

38.

The Bricklayer by Noah Boyd - Read this one because of work. Pretty good action-adventure thriller starring ex-FBI agent, now bricklayer, Steve Vail and his dealings with the nefarious Rubaco Pentad. Pretty disposable, but not a complete waste.

One of the drinks on the tray will be a Pink Lady.

39.

The Natural by Bernard Malamud - Baseball!! Yup, baseball season has started, so I read a classic of baseball fiction. I remember seeing the film on a ferry as a kid, but I think I saw it more than once. The film has a heck of a lot more magic/mythic qualities. In the book, Roy Hobbs is a whole lot more of a douche. Still, who doesn't want a bat named Wonderboy that was carved out of a tree cleeved by lightning?

An accident? Perhaps.

40.

City Life by Witold Rybczynski - Book club pick! Supposedly a sweeping cultural history of cities in North America. Has some interesting bits, mostly about Chicago, malls, and de Tocqueville, but overall a little bit of a let down. Makes me wonder what his new city book is about.

He was a tall man, wide across the shoulders, slightly stooped, greying at the temples.

41.

Without Fail by Lee Child - No. 6 in the Jack Reacher series. This one got me from the get go. Reacher is hired by the Secret Service to try and kill the Vice President. It all goes down hill from there. Couldn't stop reading it and blew through the last 120 pages in one night. Obviously his editor gave him a stern taking to aftr the last one.