Booklist Update - Almost Done!

1. The Story of English by Robert McCrum
2. The Help by Kathryn Stockett 
3. A Concise History of the Arab-Israeli Conflict by Ian Bickerton and Carla Klausner 
4. A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin

5. A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin

6. A Storm of Swords by George R. R. Martin

7. A Feast for Crows by George R. R. Martin 

8. A Dance with Dragons by George R. R. Martin 

9. Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh (when is "Downton Abbey" returning?!)

10. Wind, Sand and Stars by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
11. Hot, Flat and Crowded by Thomas L. Friedman 
12. The Narcissism Epidemic by Jean M. Twenge and W. Keith Campbell 
13. The Call of the Wild by Jack London
14. Mapping Human History by Steven Olson
15. Fall of Giants by Ken Follet 
16. Dune by Frank Herbert
17. Panic in Level 4 by Richard Preston
18. A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley
19. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
20. The Yiddish Policeman's Union by Michael Chabon 
21. Watership Down by Richard Adams 
22. The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel
23. The Autobiography of Malcolm X as told by Alex Haley
24. The Godfather by Mario Puzo
25. The Blind Side by Michael Lewis
26. Eight Men Out by Eliot Asinof
27. The Maze Runner by James Dashner

28. Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo

29. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon (The Avengers did wonders for my imagination's happiness)

30. East of Eden by John Steinbeck 

Most of these were finished up at the beach and on my traveling journey to Israel.  What to say about some things? The Maze Runner was a giant, unrecommendable (not a word, yes I know) disappointment; Fall of Giants was great, great, great, if at times slightly implausible; Mapping Human History was a wonderful read, though I understand the criticism it has received (after all, it's such a new science!); Watership Down a classic of due praise; Panic in Level 4 an up-and-down thriller depending on your interests; The Arab-Israeli Conflict recommended to me, and I understand why; and The Help was much, much better than I expected! 

But nothing, nothing struck me, stayed with me as much as Antoine de Saint-Exupery's memoir.  Oh, my God.  It's been so long since I was moved by writing in a spiritual way.  Stories and characters have long inspired me and engaged me, but something about Saint-Exupery's prose--his ability to convey so little and so much at the same time--was just beautiful.  I want to be him.  He is an inspiration.  He puts into words what I have felt, without even my being a pilot.  He is the real-life incarnation of so many elements I have tried to portray in my newest manuscript, without my evening realizing it.  I wish, I wish I could have met him, that I could meet him.  His memoir is a 10/10.