Just to break up the Book Reports a little, how about an AtoZ? Courtesy of my LibraryThing, which makes it easier.
A is for Alice in Wonderland, which isn’t too surprising.
B is for Beowolf, because it’s becoming culturally hot for no particular reason.
C is for Catch-22, although it’s a tough choice, because The Chosen and Chicken Soup with Rice have each been my Favorite Book, for a time.
D is for Dombey and Son, because I’m halfway through rereading it, and it’s wonderful.
E is for The Essential Calvin and Hobbes.
F is for Fire Watch, because for some reason we own two copies.
G is for Galileo, the Bertolt Brecht play, although I also am very fond of The Garden Party and other plays by Vaclav Havel, both of which maintain a certain political vibrancy.
H is for Hop on Pop, a drastically underrated book, up there with Dr. Seuss’ most magnificent creations.
I is for I Am the Messenger, which I haven’t read yet, but which comes very highly recommended.
J is for James and the Giant Peach. We own two copies of that one, too.
K is for Kind Hearts and Coronets, the screenplay, which actually isn’t as good a screenplay as one might think, but since it’s impossible to read it without recalling the wonderful movie, the experience is up to snuff despite itself.
L is for Leave it to Psmith, a perfect novel in every way.
M is for The Mask of Apollo, which is my oldest friend.
N is for The Norton Anthology of English Literature, because how could it not be?
O is for One for the Morning Glory, which you really should read.
P is for Pirke Avot, which doesn’t so much begin with a P as a pay, but I am not doing an aleph to tav, nor do I have books that start with more than four or five of those letters.
Q is for Queen Zixi of Ix, because the only other Q book I have is Quiddith through the Ages.
R is for Red Harvest, which I once read aloud at story readings, a chapter every other week, was it? Or maybe once a month? No, that couldn’t have been possible.
S is for Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street, soon to be a Major Motion Picture, with limited release on December 21 and wide release in ... January 2008. Curse them.
T is for The Tale of Two Bad Mice, which is actually an odd and disturbing story of domestic violence, and which resolves itself, if it can be said to resolve itself, in a way that is even more disturbing than the rest.
U is for Under Milk Wood: A Play for Voices, which (a) is a wonderful thing in itself, and (2) was a Happy College Experience for YHB.
V is for Vita and Harold, of which you have heard me speak.
W is for The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, because my Perfect Non-Reader loves the Oz books (although not so much the first one).
X is for Xenocide, because it’s the only book I own that starts with an X.
Y is for Yo! Yes?, an excellent picture book that is easy to read, charming, and instructive.
Z is for Zen Shorts, because I don’t own a copy of The Z was Zapped, and isn’t it good to have Zen Shorts?
I’ll add that these aren’t necessarily the finest books that start with those letters, nor even the finest such books that happen to be in the house, but they are in the house, and they do start with those letters, and that’s enough for one note.
Tolerabimus quod tolerare debemus,
-Vardibidian.