Not on the list reading: "Flyboy Action Figure Comes With Gasmask" by Jim Munroe

Ok, so imagine yourself at the library in a cramped little aisle on your hands and knees looking on the bottom shelf for a book written in 11th century Japan that you do not actually want to read.  Then imagine that next to that book on the shelf is a book about a guy who can turn into a fly.  What would you be more interested in reading?  I'm going with the one called Flyboy Action Figure Comes With Gasmask.


I'm not going to say this is the best book I've ever read, but I am going to say I enjoyed it a lot more than the three chapters I read of The Tale of Genji.  That's not actually giving it enough credit.  This was pretty fun to read.  Flyboy was published in 1995, and it's a total reflection of its time.  It's all riot grrrl, anti-George Bush (the first one), let's dye our hair blue and pretend we're in Green Day.  Oh, and let's have a superpower, too, but not really a useful superpower; let's be able to turn into a fly.  Hmm.


The book follows Ryan, "Flyboy," as he meets Cassandra, who turns out to also have a secret of her own: she has the ability to make things disappear -- including cops' guns, an honorary diploma for George Bush (right on stage!), and even people when she has to -- and I mean disappear permanently, not some magic trick.  Ryan and Cassandra fall in love, of course, and begin a life of world-saving action-heroism that mostly is all Cassandra with her actual superhero talent and then a little bit of the fly.  A fly, really?


So, yeah, it's not the best book ever, but it totally kept me occupied and entertained, which is really what I think books are for.

#90 - "Under the Net" by Iris Murdoch

I'd like to begin by saying a) I liked this book and b) I have no idea why it's on this list.  Under the Net is the story of Jake Donaghue in London, who's a 30-ish, unmotivated, kinda lazy, fun to have around kind of guy.  I actually think Jake would be my friend if I knew him.  He drinks a lot, gets himself mixed up in all kinds of crazy schemes and caught up in ridiculous situations, and he's just not really all that interested in doing his actual job, which is to translate French novels into English, something he does instead of writing his own novels as he should.


The plot revolves mostly around Jake and his complicated love life.  Basically, he finds himself in something worse than a love triangle, it's a love quadrangle.  You practically need a fancy diagram to figure it out.  Jake loves singer Anna Quentin (she's six years older than him, which makes me think Jake is pretty awesome).  Anna, however, loves Jake's really good friend turned mortal enemy, Hugo Belfounder (millionaire and fireworks company owner/movie producer).  Hugo, meanwhile, is head over heels for Anna's younger sister and famous movie actress Sadie.  Of course, to round out the quadrangle, Sadie loves Jake.


When Iris Murdoch wasn't busy making this book too philosophical and serious, which happens on (boring) occasion, I actually really liked it.  Some of the messes Jakes gets into and the wild drunken ideas he has are laugh-out-loud funny, and it's fairly lighthearted.  Until the end.  I don't even want to talk about the end because I really don't know what happened there.  For the most part, this was an enjoyable read.  However, I have absolutely no idea why it's considered the 90th best book ever written.  It may have something to do with all that philosophy I skimmed past.  But, either way, I liked this book and I'd recommend to anyone.

#91 - "The Tale of Genji" by Murasaki Shikibu

The Tale of Genji is considered the first novel ever written in the world, in 11th century Japan.  Does that make you want to read it?  How about if I tell you it's over 3,000 pages long ... written in the 11th century ... in Japan ... ?  Because my answer is "no."  I read three chapters, which I think gives me a good enough idea that I can't possibly care enough to commit myself to that.  Go ahead and judge me.  I'm moving on.