Should auld acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind?

Well, it's New Year's Eve, and most likely I won't be watching the ball drop in Times Square. Not sure what I'll be doing instead, but I've never much of a fan of watching people freeze in a big crowd--watching people in general, yes; just not so much on t.v.

So today I finally took my car in to get the screw taken out of my tire, and it only took 3 hours!!! Well, the actual tire repair only took about 20 minutes; it just took them 2+ hours to get to my car. So I got to wander around the shops nearby (and amazingly, I didn't buy anything but lunch).

And I was able to take my tire in this morning because I couldn't swim: my club team has been kicked out of our normal pool so that a bunch of college swim teams can come train with it.

Where I usually swim

So the Masters group I swim with is now practicing at Ft. Lauderdale High School ("Home of the Flying L's" apparently; not exactly sure what a flying L is tho...), but I guess we didn't get pool time today. But on the plus side FLHS is actually closer to my house than our normal pool, so I don't need to drive as far... although that does cut down on some of my prime phone call making time.

But, in any case, have a good new year. Maybe I'll go check out a movie this afternoon...

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And days o' auld lang syne.

5 golden rings, 4 calling birds...

Now, I believe it's either the fourth or fifth day of Christmas, depending on what day one is supposed to start counting, but I figure, given the international dateline et al, that somewhere at this moments it's the 5^th day (cause it's already tomorrow in Australia).

Oh, btw, I'm back in Florida, and things go alright. Work got it's internet connection back, after not having it since Hurricane Wilma (yes, 2 months).


"...People go absolutely berserk at that point
....They come running in from other rooms...
....The rest of it, we don't know;
....12... monkeys mating, 11... donkeys dancing, 10... pigmies farming,
....9... socks a... swimming; FIVE GOLDEN RINGS!
....This is a human thing. We only like to learn a little bit of a song..."
..........Eddie Izzard, Dress to Kill

I'll be home for Christmas...

Well, my trip home for Christmas ends today, and with it my stable internet connection. I return to Florida later this afternoon, and for the time being, won't be able to reliably update here (so if you're wondering where I've gotten to, I'm just generally without an internet connection).

Boxing Day, yesterday, went rather well--although I managed to try to go to a bunch of closed places (but still got my stuff done, amazingly). I had lunch with some old high school friends, and I got to drive all the way up to Austin and hang out with some crewU'ers (and yeah! the t-shirt is nearing delivery--which reminds me I need to get ordering specs from Mary).

Otherwise, not so eventful, other than recovery practice was lovely (ahhhh, how I like Monday morning workouts).

wiki-wiki-wiki-wiki     ;-)

I'd like to teach the world to sing...

In perfect harmony
I'd like to by the world a Coke
And keep it company
(that's the song...)


Merry Christmas, y'all.
(and hopefully, one year soon, the polar bears will meet up with the jingle)

Said the night wind to the little lamb...

Well, before I say anything else, David Sedaris is funny. Me Talk Pretty One Day is probably the funniest book I've every read; and I'm only feeling the need to share this today because I picked up Holidays on Ice earlier. By the way, I highly recommend checking out "Make that a Double" from Pretty--it's hilarious.

Anyways...

Do you hear what I hear?
What I really wanted to mention today--on Christmas Eve--is my favorite Christmas songs. I've got 3, and I like these above others because they never fail to brighten my mood. While I do appreciate Vanessa Williams' versions of "Go Tell It on the Mountain / Mary Had a Baby" and "What Child is This", Enya's Gaelic "Silent Night", and some others, they don't inspire me like these:

• All I Want for Christmas is You (Mariah Carey)--Mariah's bouncy addition to the Holiday songbook never fails to make me smile. And while it's starting to be redone by others, Mariah's still my fave.
• Feliz Navidad--I'm not exactly sure who sings the "classic" version that I like so, but I do know it is not Celine Dion. What possessed the French-Canadian chanteuse to cover a Spanglish song, I'll never know; I just know she makes me appreciate the "real" version all the more, with its mariachi/ranchero vibe in all its glory.
• Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer (Elmo & Patsy)--From rhyming "scene of the attack" with "incriminating claw marks on her back", to its comical retelling of a normal Christmas nearly destroyed by a drunkenly stroll, this is pure holiday goodness. The video ain't too bad either. And why it got blacklisted from radio I don't understand.
  

Actually, Grandma reminds me of the biggest issues I've got with Christmas radio. It really pisses me off that radio (meaning the radio industry as a whole) feels the need to completely switch to Christmas formats before Thanksgiving (I may have even heard one start just after Halloween this year) and then just instantly switch back instantly at 12:01 a.m. on Dec.26. Now I really have 2 issues here: 1) I don't really want to hear just Christmas songs 24-7, except maybe Christmas Day; 2) I hate, hate, hate the implication that Christmastime is supposed to start in November and end with Christmas. Have these folks never heard of days called Thanksgiving or Little Christmas.... It's almost as if the marketing folks of the world are trying to convert the 12 days of Christmas to before the 25^th, rather than the time afterwards, running up to Jan.6.

I find it so bad that I consciously refuse to listen to the all-Christmas stations, which consequently means I basically don't hear any of my favorite noëls without a CD. All of which is unfortunate, because I do like to occasionally hear, say, Debbie Gibson's "Sleigh Ride" or Brenda Lee's "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree", among others. I just wish they'd interlace those with non-Christmas songs, waxing the Christmas-song toward the 25^th, and then waning from the 26^th on...

But, Bah! Enough ranting, back to wrappin'.
Felicidades y Merry Christmas.

I get a little bit closer to feelin' fine

Everyday is a winding road, or rather, everday I would be driving a winding road if I were still living in San Antonio. Now this road, which I've been driving/riding for the past 20 years or so, is the way I get to the pool. It's actually only become any kind of issue since I left, apparently, as the majority of it is now under major reconstruction.

Because of this construction, half the road is closed, so it's now done to 2 lanes from 4. Given the traffic on it, this would make the daily drive to and from work at the pool not a lot of fun. Already, the stoplights that have gone up on it, which have doubled the travel time from 7 minutes to 15-20 drive me crazy. I think I'd really be hating it's current state.

But in any case, in other news, I finally finished The Republic this morning (yeah!), and survived through practice both last night and this morning (and given that the yardage is double what I've been doing--7,000--as is the intensity). And later today I'm gonna meet up with one of my fellow Marshall/Alamo Area alums, Kathy. That is assuming I get some more packing and wrapping done...

Oh there's no place like home for the holidays

So last night after work I flew back to San Antonio for a Christmas break. And at the moment, I'm munchin' on some beef fajitas from T.C.'s... ahhhh it's good to be back.

Hmmmm, maybe today's title should've been "Feliz Navidad".... I guess I'll ponder that as I clear out the 605 emails that landed in one of my Inboxes since October 24.

Interjections! show excitement or emotion; they're generally set apart from a sentence by an exclamation point...

...or by a comma when the feeling's not as strong.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas--even though I'm not quite sure if the tree's up in the Grand Hotel, which I'm guessing is in New York City. Still things here in Lauderdale are rather festive, even if I avoided Winterfest over the weekend. Course, there's no snow, but that's ok: I'm not much on shoveling or slick streets. Anyways, today is my last work day before heading back to Texas for Christmas, so I've been frantically trying to get stuff done before my departure (like wrap presents, watch & return some DVDs, find a ride to the airport--you know the important things).

What has been up of late? Well, I finished off about 90% of my shopping, saw King Kong (which was alright--I wasn't super keen to see it, but is is a good adventure movie, if you're looking for one) and went to my swim team's and work's holiday parties (the former was alright except I paid $10 and didn't get any food because I had to leave before it was served--no I'm not bitter about it--and the latter was excellent, though I'd rather have gotten the dancing chicken than what I ended up with--tho the rattlesnake eggs I did get are rather cool).

Other than that, pretty much the only real eventful thing is that I have a screw in one of my tires, which is slowly causing air to leak out. I probably should get it fixed before leaving town today, but with all the holiday craziness I figure it would be better to wait until I get back next week. So my car will just have to be screwed for a little longer, I guess... (yeah, I know it's bad, but I couldn't resist)

Oh! the best part about going home: I should be able to post my back-logged blogs! (yeah! the crowd goes wild)









[ really posted Dec.24.05 ]

So we pray to as many different gods as there are flowers...

So worried about saving our souls.... Ahhhh, such fun, still off-line at work, and the home computer is now really screwed (may my G3 rest in peace).

But on the plus side, most of my shopping is done, and next week I'm headed home for Christmas. And while I'm there, hopefully, I get to catch up on the 2+ months of email that's backed up. On the plus side, I've got a journal to post wherever I do get back online (and then I'll start trying to be more creative here).

Btw, Court, it was not sarcasm.

Wish it were a Sunday, 'cause that's my fun day

Actually, (hopefully) most of today's manic-ness was on the drive to work, and afterwards has been rather ok. Recently, I've been trying to push my arrival time to work earlier, but haven't had much success. This is usually because I tend to not get out of the house an earlier despite my best plans (some of which is partially to blame on Buffy and Angel both being on whilst I dress--on FX and TNT).

Today, however, was an exception. I actually managed to depart the house about 10 minutes early--definately a shocker. But any advantage I gained was lost the instant I strayed from my normal path to work. This morning, due to a lack of milk and o.j. in my fridge, I decided to grab a Dr Pepper on the way to work. Since my normal route doesn't cross the path of a convenience store, most inconveniently, I turned onto an alternative street and into traffic.

Normally, my trip into work takes about 10-15 minutes, so when I got stuck on one block for 15, I knew I was in trouble. To add to this, when I could finally turn off the wickedly congested road, I had to turn away from the office as I was on the wrong side of the street. So I took a right, away from work and the convenience stores on the way to it, and doubled back to return to my normal route so I could only be a wee bit late to the office. However, when I got back around, the normally vacant train tracks I must cross had a train on them, stopped.

So I called into work, explained what was happening and got advice on a detour--way to the south. Thirty minutes later I got to the office--such a good way to start the week.

[ really posted Dec.24.05 ]

Work, work; ah don't ya be lazy...

I can mash potatoes; I can do the twist... and apparently I can also inadvertently miss a couple days of blogging. Not too much to report, tho. I finished most of my Christmas cards last night and dropped them in the mail this morning (the ones not done are for the people I still need to track down addresses for: Neil, Raul, Greg...)

I also only read a few pages of The Republic--it's pesky like that--and I'm still working on getting a hold of a local rowing club. Got gas for $2.21, which is really good for this next of the woods (although it's probably lower in S.A.). I'm supposed to go see The Chronicles of Narnia tonight (although Memoirs of a Geisha also comes out today). Oh! I also got my ticket home for Christmas and my move in January... interestingly, my December ticket was $600 (round trip), my January one was $80 (it is one way, tho). Now I ask you, is that in any way fair?

And coincidently, Dirty Dancing was on TV last night... man I'm being boring today.

[ really posted Dec.23.05 ]

Ring, ring, ring goes the telephone

The lights are on, but no one's home... Well, actually, someone's home, the phones just aren't actually ringing yet. The phones are supposed to go operational today, but I'm not holding my breath that they will. [Note: The phones actually did go up the next day.]

As for the weekend, it went well. I finished reading The Moviegoer on Saturday, so I'm now back to reading The Republic (I'm reading other books between Plato's "books"--i.e. chapters--to help manage getting through it). Actually, I've only got about 30 or so pages to go, so I may just power through the 2 remaining books and be done with it, possibly in time for my trip home for Christmas (so I can return it).

Why am I reading The Republic, you may ask? Well, kinda stupidly, it's because I wanted some insight into the cave scene in The Matrix Reloaded. Interestingly, more than just the allegory is applicable from Plato's work in the trilogy... maybe I should've taken a philosophy course at some point.

But, anyways, back to the weekend:
On Friday night, after swimming, I headed out with some fellow FLA Masters to see Æon Flux. Now, I've liked Æon (pronounced "eon" if you're wondering) since originally spying it on MTV years ago, and when I saw Charlize Theron in the role I was a tad dismayed. Mostly because in transition from animation to live-action Æon lost her way-cool ram-horn-esque coif, but also because the look of the film seemed off...

So I went into the movie a little concerned that things would be off, and they were, but I ended up really liking the movie and feeling that it was true to the original series. Now whether or not this is because I don't truly remember the shorts or because the movie actually is true to the intent of the show, I'm not sure.

The movie also cleared up a lot of questions I had about what was going on or why such and such was there--like why a fly caught in someone's eyelash was at the beginning of each show. And the cinematography junkie in mean was very happy with the look of the film. The fact that the show's creator wasn't directly involved in the movie didn't seem to effect things too much (which, in a way is sad, although I believe is o.k. with the adaptation).


Other than the movie and book, and I did some Christmas shopping (I got a moose for my sister), and helped another friend move a ridiculously heavy entertainment center into her second story apartment (and a much lighter chair and desk). Oh, and I also tried to sabotage clean up her computer, but was only partially successful--and thankfully, I was able to undo some of what I did to make it function again.

Now if only I'd get going in getting back to rowing. I've got to get a hold of the place first, which necessitates a phone...


[ really posted on Thu.Dec.22.05 ]

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

Oh. my. word. When I think of Florida, I generally envision warm, semi-tropical beaches with palms gently swaying in the wind. Not so, at least today. It's cold, low 60s--yes, I realize it's not that cold--and with the A.C. finally working at the office, it ain't too warm inside either. So, having dressed in shorts and a t, since that is what I've been wearing of late for these more labor-intensive days at work, I'm cold.

Luckily, I remembered to bring a seat top to work with me--to combat over-zealous air conditioning. Oh, and in other news, it looks like the office won't have its net connection back for another 2-3 weeks. Such fun!


[ really pub.'d on Thu.Dec.21.05 ]

Good is good and bad is bad

We (meaning work) have finally moved into the new office and, for the most part, things are set-up (hence why I can write today). Originally, we were to move two weeks ago, yesterday (Tues. 11/15), but due to rain leaking into our new office space (Hurricane Wilma blew the roof off the building) our move got delayed a week. The frustrating part was our office found out the day we were to move that we couldn't move for another week, which meant that everything sat in boxes for a week awaiting the "new" move date.

But all is good now, except the office doesn't have phones or internet yet, and won't for a wee bit as the local utilities aren't setting up new accounts at the moment (all "new" set-ups have been postponed until the old connections have been reconnected).

So not too much going on these days at work. At the moment, I'm waiting for a rug cleaner to finish shampoo our carpets--such fun.

And you could find a rock to crawl right under
And let your good times pass you buy...

[ really posted Dec.22.2005 ]

Have a yabba-dabba-do time...

Stupid hurricane... it's kept me from updating. And I've not checked my email in a month; there were 198 unread items in my Inbox, 88 of which were things I need to get to reading...

Ahhhh, such fun.

Don't know why there's no sun up in the sky, stormy weather...

I woke up this morning at 6:30, turned on the Weather Channel, saw that Hurricane Wilma was about to come ashore, and went back to sleep. (I'd woken up in case I needed to go in to work. The storm's presence made me realize/think I didn't need to do so. By 8:00 a.m. I was awoken by the start of the storm arriving... no boards over windows so I could see breezes, etc.)

Luckily, Wilma moved over Florida rapidly (unlike the Yucatán), and was offshore by late afternoon. The image at left is probably from 10 a.m. or so (Tropical Storm Alpha, which later merged into Wilma, is on the right side).

There's a animated radar image of Wilma here, if you're interested (it's just of part of it's trip over Florida).

Can't go on
Everything I had is gone, stormy weather
Since my man and I ain't together
Keeps raining all the time
Keeps raining all of the time

I don't want to be the one the battles always choose

My second week of work has finished, I've managed to swim a couple times this week (thanks to finding a Masters team to train with), and Hurricane Wilma looms for a visit (albeit over the Yucatán at the moment)...

Overall, things go alright, although I've not even started looking for a place to row yet--it's just been kind of too crazy at the moment to do so. Actually, it's really that I deeply, deeply miss (and am in morning) from being away from my crew in Austin... yeah.

Otherwise, I'm still not really used to driving around Fort Lauderdale: the lights are rather (ridiculously) frustrating, and amazingly worse than Austin (at least there you don't miss every light; you do have to sit forever though). Work goes alright, although I'm not quite sure I've completely adjusted to being employed full-time (given that I was working part-time for, what, 2 years). But the workload is ok. My workload basically double at the end of the week, but I'm slowly getting to it and through it.

So what does the weekend hold? Well, Wilma's not supposed to hit fully until Monday/Tuesday, but we'll have rain all weekend (we actually started getting the outer-outer-outer bands of rain on Wednesday night). Even so, I'm gonna try to swim tomorrow morning, maybe check out a monster furniture sale tomorrow, and possibly see Elizabethtown (since I've seen Serenity and Wallace & Gromit since my arrival--both were enjoyable, if you're wondering).

Hasta...

Are you happy now?

Ok, Court, I've started.


Could you look me in the eye
And tell me that you're happy now?

Long is the road, and hard, that out of Texas leads to... Arkansas?

Day 1--San Antonio to Oxford, Miss.:
Actually, getting out of Texas is kinda hard in general, bastardization of Milton aside (particularly since I’ve subtly swapped the Hell and light references...). And since I had mentally established that by the end of today I would be at Ole Miss... well, I wasn't about to throw that away just because I'd not gotten to Dallas the day before.

So, instead, I got up at 4:40 a.m., took a rapid shower, took one last look at my now barren room--thanks to the day before--said good-bye to my mom (who for some strange reason just wakes up a strange, early hours these days), and hit the road.

Upon turning my radio on, and pulling out of my drive-way, Green Day's "Wake Me Up When September Ends" was on the radio, and for the most of the trip the radio would hold up--although I was also on a quest to find Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire on tape (yes, I have an "archaic" tape player in my car) to listen to on the drive. Regretfully, my trip to find it the night did not produce it. However, I did manage to remember to get gas ($2.79 per gallon), which was good as not much was open at 5:20 in the morning.

Amazingly, as I drove round 1604 and got on 35 (Interstate 35) there wasn't any traffic... at least until I entered Austin around 7 a.m. As I was a little sleepy at that point, and was getting a little frustrated at there’d be traffic then, I remembered I'd meant to get some stuff at H-E-B, so I pulled off to do that.

Re-awakened from my jaunt around the store, and as I listed to J.B. & Sandy, I headed back onto 35 and proceed through Austin, hearing "When September Ends" as I did. As I got into Round Rock, I spied what I figured was my last Cabana, and decide to pull over and get some breakfast tacos for the road. So I went in, got some chorizo & egg to go, and continued on up the road to Dallas.

From Austin to Dallas, I navigated through Waco (where I heard "When September Ends" again), and Waxahachie (where construction caused some lane closures), without too much incident. I navigated through downtown Dallas and to Irving (which is between Fort Worth and the Bid D) around 11:00 a.m., and as I needed lunch and figured I could use a break from driving, I pulled off pulled off 35 and met up with my friend Mandy for lunch. Beside I'd just heard my Dallas installment of "When September Ends".

After hanging out with just her (her husband was away at work; she had off to study for her medical Boards later this month), running some of her errands, catching up, grabbing some lunch, and getting some gas ($2.99); I headed back on the road around 12:30--one bag of Julio's chips lighter).

At this point, I switched over to I-30, and after getting through Dallas and over Lake Ray Hubbard (which is huge), there wasn't much of note for the next few hours, other than passing by Paris, Texas and hearing "When September Ends" again.

At 3:10 p.m. reached the state line with Arkansas (don't say "Ar-Kansas" you might get in trouble...), so in roughly 10 hours and after 500 miles, I'd finally made it out of the State. And hay, I was over halfway done with my driving for the day...

Work all night on a drink of rum...

San Antonio--Day 0:
What was supposed to be day 1 of my drive to Florida, turned into day 0. I had planned on getting up and packing around 8 a.m. (which I did manage), finish up around noon and get to Austin in time to see Serenity with Erin (one of my fellow crewU members)--as we'd talked about the movie for months--and then be on my way to Dallas (Irving, more correctly), and spend the night with a friend from high school. Alas, it was not to be.

Instead, packing-up all the crap in the room I'd been in took several hours longer. At 6 p.m. I finally finished up, and at that point decided that the 4+ hour drive to Irving would be too much. So, instead, I stayed home, went out to eat with my mom and step-dad, for the good-bye dinner I'd missed on Friday because I worked late (not leaving the pool until 9 p.m.). Mandy, the aforementioned friend in the Dallas area, was bummed that I wouldn’t get to have the lasagna she’d made, but was otherwise everything was ok.

And so, I went to bed, ready for the early wake-up then next day would bring, and the long drive ahead.

[really posted on Wed. Oct. 19, 2005]

Complete Booker -- Matt's list

A listing of the Man Booker Prize winners, as part of The Complete Booker.

Those read in blue (7 of 41 as of October 2008)

2008 - The White Tiger (Adiga)
2007 - The Gathering (Enright)
2006 - The Inheritance of Loss (Desai)
2005 - The Sea (Banville)
2004 - The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst
2003 - Vernon God Little (Pierre)
2002 - Life of Pi by Yann Martel
2001 - True History of the Kelly Gang (Carey)
2000 - The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
1999 - Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee
1998 - Amsterdam by Ian McEwan
1997 - The God of Small Things (Roy)
1996 - Last Orders (Swift)
1995 - The Ghost Road (Barker)
1994 - How Late It Was, How Late (Kelman)
1993 - Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha (Doyle)
1992 - The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje & Sacred Hunger (Unsworth)
1991 - The Famished Road (Okri)
1990 - Possession (Byatt)
1989 - The Remains of the Day (Ishiguro)
1988 - Oscar and Lucinda (Carey)
1987 - Moon Tiger (Lively)
1986 - The Old Devils (Amis)
1985 - The Bone People (Hulme)
1984 - Hotel Du Lac (Brookner)
1983 - Life & Times of Michael K (Coetzee)
1982 - Schindler's Ark (Keneally)
1981 - Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie
1980 - Rites of Passage (Golding)
1979 - Offshore (Fitzgerald)
1978 - The Sea, the Sea (Murdoch)
1977 - Staying on (Scott)
1976 - Saville (Storey)
1975 - Heat and Dust (Jhabvala)
1974 - The Conservationist (Gordimer)
1974 - Holiday (Middleton)
1973 - The Siege of Krishnapur (Farrell)
1972 - G (Berger)
1971 - In a Free State (Naipaul)
1970 - The Elected Member (Rubens)
1969 - Something to Answer For (Newby)

Pulitzer Project -- Matt's list

A listing of the Pulitzer Prize winning books for "the Novel" (1918-1947) and continuing through with "Fiction" (1948-on).

The Pulitzer Project

Those read in blue... (9 read as of Oct.2008)

2008 - The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
2007 - The Road (McCarthy)
2006 - March (Brooks)
2005 - Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
2004 - The Known World (Jones)
2003 - Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
2002 - Empire Falls (Russo)
2001 - The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay (Chabon)
2000 - Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri

1999 - The Hours (Cunningham)
1998 - American Pastoral (Roth)
1997 - Martin Dressler: The Tale of an American Dreamer (Millhauser)
1996 - Independence Day (Ford)
1995 - The Stone Diaries (Shields)
1994 - The Shipping News (Proulx)
1993 - A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain (Butler)
1992 - A Thousand Acres (Smiley)
1991 - Rabbit at Rest (Updike)
1990 - The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love (Hijuelos)

1989 - Breathing Lessons (Tyler)
1988 - Beloved (Morrison)
1987 - A Summons to Memphis (Taylor)
1986 - Lonesome Dove (McMurtry)
1985 - Foreign Affairs (Lurie)
1984 - Ironweed (Kennedy)
1983 - The Color Purple by Alice Walker
1982 - Rabbit is Rich (Updike)
1981 - A Confederacy of Dunces (Toole)
1980 - The Executioner’s Song (Mailer)

1979 - The Stories of John Cheever (Cheever)
1978 - Elbow Room (McPherson)
1977 - no award
1976 - Humboldt’s Gift (Bellow)
1975 - The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara)
1974 - no award
1973 - The Optimist’s Daughter (Welty)
1972 - Angle of Repose (Stegner)
1971 - no award
1970 - Collected Stories by Jean Stafford (Stafford)

1969 - House Made of Dawn (Momaday)
1968 - The Confessions of Nat Turner (Styron)
1967 - The Fixer (Malamud)
1966 - Collected Stories by Katherine Anne Porter (Porter)
1965 - The Keepers of the House (Grau)
1964 - no award
1963 - The Reivers (Faulkner)
1962 - The Edge of Sadness (Edwin O’Connor)
1961 - To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
1960 - Advise and Consent (Drury)

1959 - The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters (Taylor)
1958 - A Death in the Family (Agee)
1957 - no award
1956 - Andersonville (Kantor)
1955 - A Fable (Faulkner)
1954 - no award
1953 - The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
1952 - The Caine Mutiny (Wouk)
1951 - The Town (Richter)
1950 - The Way West (Guthrie)

1949 - Guard of Honor (Cozzens)
1948 - Tales of the South Pacific (Michener)
1947 - All the King’s Men (Warren)
1946 - no award
1945 - Bell for Adano (Hersey)
1944 - Journey in the Dark (Flavin)
1943 - Dragon’s Teeth I (Sinclair)
1942 - In This Our Life (Glasgow)
1941 - no award
1940 - The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

1939 - The Yearling (Rawlings)
1938 - The Late George Apley (Marquand)
1937 - Gone with the Wind (Mitchell)
1936 - Honey in the Horn (Davis)
1935 - Now in November (Johnson)
1934 - Lamb in His Bosom (Miller)
1933 - The Store (Stribling)
1932 - The Good Earth by Pearl Buck
1931 - Years of Grace (Barnes)
1930 - Laughing Boy (Lafarge)

1929 - Scarlet Sister Mary (Peterkin)
1928 - The Bridge of San Luis Rey (Wilder)
1927 - Early Autumn (Bromfield)
1926 - Arrowsmith (Lewis)
1925 - So Big (Ferber)
1924 - The Able McLauglins (Wilson)
1923 - One of Ours (Cather)
1922 - Alice Adams (Tarkington)
1921 - The Age of Innocence (Wharton)
1920 - no award

1919 - The Magnificent Ambersons (Tarkington)
1918 - His Family (Poole)

Don't dread what ain't been read...

06/??/05-12/24/05: The Republic by Plato [yeah!]
12/24/05-12/27/05: Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris
12/27/05-01/07/06 : The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell
01/07/06-01/23/06 : S is for Silence by Sue Grafton
01/24/06-02/06/06 : Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
02/07/06-03/05/06 : The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst
03/06/06- : The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous & Broke by Suze Orman
03/11/06-04/09/06 : The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
04/10/06-06/11/06 : Dracula by Bram Stoker
06/06/06-06/18/06 : A Year in the Merde by Stephen Clarke
06/18/06-06/26/06 : In the Merde for Love by Stephen Clarke
06/27/06-07/01/06 : Between You and I: A Little Book of Bad English by James Cochrane
07/02/06-07/12/06 : Eragon by Christopher Paolini
07/12/06-07/24/06 : The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the making of the Oxford English Dictionary by Simon Winchester
07/25-26/06 : QBQ! The Question Behind the Question: What to Really Ask Yourself; Practicing Personal Accountability in Business and in Life by John G. Miller
07/26/06-08/21/06 : The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
08/22/06-09/03/06 : Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie
09/03/06-10/13/06 : Inferno by Dante Alighieri
10/14/06-11/11/06: The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
11/12/06: Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
11/13/06-12/7/06: Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
12/9/06: The Giver by Lois Lowry
12/10-25/06: Atlantis Found by Clive Cussler
12/26-31/06: The White Dragon by Anne McCaffrey
----------2007----------
1/2-14/07: The Diamond Age by Neil Stephenson
1/15-20/07: The Broker by John Grisham
1/20/07-3/22/07: Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie
03/23/07-04/19/07: The Magic of Thinking Big by David Scwartz, Ph.D.
04/20-23/07: The Partner by John Grisham
04/23/07-05/13/07: Baja Oklahoma by David Jenkins
05/13-28/07: American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
05/29/07-07/19/07: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
06/16-24/07: Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen
07/19/07-11/19/07: Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
07/24-28/07: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
09/15+16/07: Hero by Perry Moore
09/28/07-10/03/07: Playing for Pizza by John Grisham
11/20/07-12/02/07 : Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
12/03-23/07 : Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
12/23/07-1/6/08 : His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman
----------2008----------
01/6-13/08 : T is for Trespass by Sue Grafton
01/13/08-2/29/08 : A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
03/2/08- (abandoned 1/2-way on 5/12/08): God: A Biography by Jack Miles
05/6-7/08: Hotter After Midnight by Cynthia Eden
05/12-17/08: Zodiac by Neal Stephenson
05/18-21/08 : Amsterdam by Ian McEwan
05/22/08-06/12/08 : The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
06/12/08-(break on 08/31/08): The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
08/31/08-09/30/08: 13 Things That Don't Make Sense by Michael Brooks
09/14-21/08: Anathem by Neal Stephenson
09/25/08-11/09/08 : Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham
11/10-16/08: Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris
11/16+17/08: Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris
11/17+18/08 : Club Dead by Charlaine Harris
11/18-22/08: Dead to the World by Charlaine Harris
11/22/08 : Dead as a Doornail by Charlaine Harris
11/23-27/08: Definitely Dead by Charlaine Harris
11/27-29/08 : All Together Dead by Charlaine Harris
11/29/08: From Dead to Worse by Charlaine Harris
11/30/08-1/29/09 : The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad
12/4-7/08: The Appeal by John Grisham
----------2009----------
1/29/09-2/6/09 : The History of Swimming by Kim Powers
2/7/09-4/16/09 : The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
3/28/09-4/21/09 : Watchmen by Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons
4/17-19/09 : The Associate by John Grisham
4/22/09-5/20/09 : The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas
5/15-17/09: Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris
5/25-30/09: The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau
5/30/09: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
6/1/09: The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan
6/3/09: The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan
6/5+6/09: The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan
6/6+7/09: The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan
6/7/09-7/24/09: Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
7/25/09-8/1/09: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince by JK Rowling
8/1-5/09: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling
8/5-30/09 : Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
8/31/09-9/27/09 : Cryptononmicon by Neal Stephenson
9/28/09-10/6/09 : The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Babery
10/6/09-12/17/09 : Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes (translated by Edith Grossman)
11/11-15/09: Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko
12/18-24/09 : How to Lose Friends and Alienate People by Toby Young
12/24/09-1/3/10: Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko
12/27-29/09: The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
----------2010----------
1/3-6/10: U is for Undertow by Sue Grafton
1/6-13/10- : Day Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko
1/14-17/10: Twilight Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko
1/18-23/10 : Last Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko
1/23-31/10: No Exit by Jean-Paul Sartre
2/1-13/10: The Flies by Jean-Paul Sartre
2/14/10- : The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
4/3-13/10: Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Jules Verne
4/23-26/10: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
5/2/10-11/13/10: Moby Dick by Herman Melville
5/15/10: Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris
5/18-22/10: The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan
10/22+23/10: The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan
11/13-27/10: The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
11/27/10-12/3/10: Odd Man Out by Jeff Commings
12/4-29/10: The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle
12/30/10-1/2/11: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by JK Rowling
----------2011----------
1/2-4/11: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by JK Rowling
1/4-7/11: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by JK Rowling
1/7-14/11: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by JK Rowling
1/14-21/11: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by JK Rowling
1/22-29/11: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by JK Rowling
1/29-31/11: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling
1/31/11-2/6/11: The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson
2/6-11/11: The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson
2/12-18/11-: The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
2/18-22/11: Snow Crash by Neil Stephenson
2/23/11-3/15/11 : The Complete Book of Swimming by Doc Counsilman
3/6-31/11: The Epic of Gigamesh
4/1-23/11: The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien
4/24-30/11: The Quants by Scott Patterson
5/1-29/11: The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie
5/29-31/11- : The Throne of Fire by Rick Riordan
5/31/11-6/3/11 : Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris
6/3-10/11: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
6/11/11-7/5/11: The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
7/6-8/11: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
7/8+9/11: The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan
7/10/11: The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan
7/10+11/11: The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan
7/11-13/11: The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan
7/14-26/11 : The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan
7/26-28/11: The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan
7/28/11-8/5/11: Boys Adrift
8/5-12/11: The Great Hunt by Robert Jordan
8/12-20/11: The Dragon Reborn by Robert Jordan
8/20-27/11: The Shadow Rising by Robert Jordan
8/28/11-9/11/11: The Fires of Heaven by Robert Jordan
9/12-20/11: Lord of Chaos by Robert Jordan
9/22/11-10/9/11: A Crown of Swords by Robert Jordan
10/9-18/11: The Path of Daggers by Robert Jordan
10/19+20/11: The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan
10/21-31/11: Winter's Heart by Robert Jordan
11/1-15/11: Stardust Melodies
11/16-24/11: Crossroads of Twilight by Robert Jordan
11/25/11-12/7/11: Knife of Dreams by Robert Jordan
12/7/11- : The Gathering Storm by Robert Jordan & Brandon Sanderson