71. The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes (*****) Really sweet. Newberry Honor Book.
72. Ten Books That Screwed Up the World and Five Others That Didn't Help by Benjamin Wiker (****) Very interesting. I would recommend reading it. PG-13 rating, though.
73. Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment by James Patterson (***) Sci-Fi. Amazingly these books sort of enthrall me. Plenty of plot twists that are totally unexpected, and I love the main character, Max. Some language.
74. Maximum Ride: School's Out Forever by James Patterson (***) Ditto above.
75. East of Eden by John Steinbeck (****) This book blew me away. I loved the themes and the redemption and the lessons. Beautifully woven words. BUT, unfortunately, I would have to give at the very least a PG-13 rating. This book is intense, vulgar and packed with language and "adult situations" prostitution... you name it. Ultimately it's a story of good vs. evil, our personal struggles with our own sin nature and the redeeming power of God to save, IF we choose to be saved. Amazing.
76. Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie (****) One of Agatha Christie's most famous novels. Read it and you'll know why.
77. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (****) I can't help it. I love it.
78. The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis (*****) Reviewed HERE
79. Scumble by Ingrid Law (****) Pretty awesome. Companion to Savvy, so read that one first if you haven't already.
80. Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller (****) Surprisingly I kind of loved this book. It's funny, because I found myself deeply identifying with the author and two paragraphs later raising my eyebrows. Haha, ok, not really. What I mean to say is, this book advertises itself as "Non-religious thoughts on Christian spirituality" and that's basically what it is. A lot of Christians would probably be offended by some of what Donald Miller has to say. It's not for everyone. But, again, I liked it.
81. Farewell Summer by Ray Bradbury (***) Sequel, or rather, extension of Dandelion Wine. And, disappointingly, not nearly as good. It just didn't hit me the same way. *shrug* But, regardless I still consider the author as having some kind of special magic juice in his pen instead of ink. Wonder where I could get some of that?
82. A Shot in the Dark by Richard Powell (****) Well, if you're in the mood for an action movie from the 1950s but you're really more in a reading mood than a watching mood, and you'd like some soldier-y action and a lot of pretty girls, er dames all referred to by their hair color (i.e. "a blond" "a brunette", etc.) and you like characters that are always making cute remarks, see? And you like those same characters to be addicted to cigarettes in a big way (back in the 50s this was totally normal) and you like international crimes and big deals, and some really fantastic (and funny) descriptive passages. And just some plain awesome lines, like for instance this one: "According to the books, back in ancient times you had to rescue women from dragons before they felt that they had a first mortgage on you. There must have been a surplus of men in those days. In modern times a mouse would do." Well, then. This book is for you.
83. Prison to Praise by Merlin Caruthers (***) Feels sort of like a faith thriller. :) Good stories. I'm not sure I agree with all the author's theology but in all honesty, I doubt there's any book on faith or theology with which I agree 100%.
84. Lord of the Flies by William Golding (****) This book is hard to describe without totally giving away the whole central theme. Which, without going into too much detail and trying not to sound too shallow at the same time is basically good vs. evil. It's about human nature, society and government. In the author's words "The theme is an attempt to trace the defects of society back to the defects of human nature. The moral is that the shape of a society must depend on the ethical nature of the individual and not on any political system however apparently logical or respectable."
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