SwankiVY's Book Collection!

Fiction/Literature/Classics
Adams, Richard	Watership Down	One of the two stories I know of told from the point of view of animals that I actually like. I read this long ago, but acquired a copy many years later at a used book store.
After Dinner Conversation	Short Story Series Volume Three	Bought a copy to have on my shelf because one of my stories was in it.
Alighieri, Dante	The Purgatorio	Mike found me this classic at the library book sale.
Angelou, Maya	I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings	Mike found me this classic at the library book sale.
Austen, Jane	Emma	Bought this used at Mojo's.
Block, Francesca Lia	Beyond the Pale Motel	Birthday 2015 gift from Dad.
Block, Francesca Lia	The Elementals	Bought this from Amazon on a whim.
Block, Francesca Lia	Necklace of Kisses	She usually writes young adult fantastical stuff, but this is a nice genre bend into adult fiction for her. About a character from her other books hitting middle age. Bought new.
Bohjalian, Chris	Midwives	Mike found this at the Friends of the Library Book Sale for me.
Brashares, Ann	The Last Summer (Of You & Me)	Bought this used at Mojo's.
Brontë, Charlotte	Jane Eyre	What a fantastic and wonderful romance! If such things are a cliché now, it's because Charlotte thought of it first!
Brontë, Emily	Wuthering Heights	Hey Heathcliff, it's me, Cathy! Classic romance. Picked it up at the library book sale.
Brown, Rita Mae	Rubyfruit Jungle	I received a copy of this book in my goody bag at the 2015 Lambda Awards. A lesbian classic!
Buck, Pearl S.	The Good Earth	When Mikey found a box of books by the dumpster and asked if I wanted any, I picked this out 'cause it's a classic and I'd never read it.
Burgess, Anthony	A Clockwork Orange	My sister was into this book when we were kids, and I loved the movie, so I bought a copy when I saw it at a used book store.
Camus, Albert	The Fall	Don't know why I have this or where I picked it up.
Camus, Albert	The Plague	Ditto above.
Camus, Albert	The Stranger	One of those many I took from sister L, possibly to read someday.
Cervantes, Miguel de	The History of Don Quixote (Dore Illustrations)	Inherited from my grandparents' library.
Cisneros, Sandra	The House on Mango Street	I ganked this from sister L 'cause I had never read it and it seems to be required reading in a lot of schools.
Clancy, Tom	Red Storm Rising	I think I stole this from my parents.
Colfer, Eoin	Plugged	Paperback was a birthday gift 2018 from Dad. Hardback was a holiday gift 2024 from Dad.
Colfer, Eoin	Screwed	Holiday 2013 gift from Stacy!
Coupland, Douglas	Microserfs	Bought used at Mojo's.
Dickens, Charles	David Copperfield	I suck, I haven't read this.
Dostoevsky, Fyodor	Crime and Punishment	Swiped from my sister L in hopes of filling out my classics library somewhat.
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan	The Hound of the Baskervilles	Bought at the Book Swap for book club.
Dunn, Katherine	Geek Love	Bought new from Goering's. This borders on science fiction in some aspects but mostly it's just very odd fiction.
Eugenides, Jeffrey	The Marriage Plot	Bought new from Barnes & Noble because I liked his previous book.
Eugenides, Jeffrey	Middlesex	Bought new from Borders after my friend Jessie recommended it.
Evans, Danielle	Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool Self	Holiday 2013 gift from Stacy!
Fairweather, John	Border Crossings	This is Phil's copy but he doesn't seem to care that I haven't given it back. My high school English teacher wrote this, and though he says it's a "novel" and "fiction" and all these other lies, you know it is totally about his own life. I started to read it but seriously couldn't get into it. It's autographed.
Golden, Arthur	Memoirs of a Geisha	Mike found this for me at the library book sale after I'd read and liked it.
Golding, William	Lord of the Flies	Mike found this at the Friends of the Library Book Sale for me.
Grisham, John	The Appeal	I got this for one of my book club books.
Guerruckey, Matthew	Drunk Monkeys Anthology: Volume 3	Got a contributors' copy of this because one of my essays was published in it. This is not entirely fiction because it contains some nonfic, but there's not a better category for it in my list.
Haddon, Mark	The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time	My friend Heather left this at my mom's when she moved, so she let me have it.
Hale, Shannon	The Actor and the Housewife	I've liked Hale's kids' fantasy type books, so I wanted to read her adult books too. Jeaux bought this for me for holiday 2009.
Haley, Alex	Roots	My sister L let me swipe this from her collection. She's not a big reader but for some reason liked this. I thought it was awesome.
Handler, Daniel	The Basic Eight	Holiday gift from Amanda--she knows I like Lemony Snicket. :)
Handler, Daniel	Watch Your Mouth	Holiday 2013 gift from Stacy!
Heller, Joseph	Good as Gold	I bought this sight unseen from the used book store on the strength of Catch-22.
Heller, Joseph	Portrait of an Artist, as an Old Man	Holiday gift from Lindsay, 2025.
Heller, Joseph	Something Happened	Bought used at Mojo.
Hesse, Herman	Siddhartha	Found at a used store and decided to add it to my collection since it was cheap.
Hiaasen, Carl	Basket Case	Mike picked this up for me at the library book sale, I'd already read it but liked it (and the author!) enough to want my own copy.
Hiaasen, Carl	Double Whammy	Mike found this at the Friends of the Library Book Sale for me.
Hiaasen, Carl	Lucky You	Mike bought me a used copy of this book at the book sale.
Hiaasen, Carl	Native Tongue	Mike found this at the library book sale and picked it up for me.
Hiaasen, Carl	Nature Girl	Solstice present from Daddy.
Hiaasen, Carl	Sick Puppy	Another book Mike picked up for me at the book sale.
Hiaasen, Carl	Star Island	Bought used at Mojo's.
Hiaasen, Carl	Stormy Weather	Mike got this one for me too. He's a great author.
Hiaasen, Carl	Strip Tease	Another book Mike picked up for me at the book sale.
Hiaasen, Carl	Tourist Season	Another book Mike picked up for me at the book sale.
Huxley, Aldous	Brave New World Revisited	I've read Brave New World but not this one, just took it because I thought I might someday.
Kerouac, Jack	On the Road	Sister P was (is?) a fan of the beats, so I swiped this from her collection to become enlightened.
Kerouac, Jack	San Francisco Blues	Ditto above.
Kerouac, Jack	Satori In Paris & Pic	Ditto above.
Kerouac, Jack	The Subterraneans	Ditto above.
Keyes, Daniel	Flowers for Algernon	"The daring novel of a startling human experiment!" Not only is the idea awesome, but it's told well--from the point of view of the experiment himself. I read this as a kid, but bought a copy many years later in a used book store.
Kidd, Sue Monk	The Dance of the Dissident Daughter	Bought used at Mojo.
Kidd, Sue Monk	The Mermaid Chair	Mike found this at the Friends of the Library Book Sale for me.
Kidd, Sue Monk	The Secret Life of Bees	I got this at the library book sale--it was a good read, so I wanted my own copy.
Kingsolver, Barbara	Animal Dreams	Mike got me this from the library book sale.
Kingsolver, Barbara	The Bean Trees	Mike got me this at my request at the library book sale.
Kingsolver, Barbara	The Lacuna	My sister bought this for me for holiday 2011.
Kingsolver, Barbara	Pigs in Heaven	Mike was at the library book sale and found this for me.
Kingsolver, Barbara	The Poisonwood Bible	I'd already read it when I bought a copy for myself at the library sale, but I really liked it that much as to need it in my personal library.
Kingsolver, Barbara	Prodigal Summer	Mike was at the library book sale and found this for me.
Knowles, John	A Separate Peace	Fantastic book I enjoyed as required reading in high school.
Koontz, Dean	Odd Thomas	I bought this for a book club book, new from Barnes and Noble.
L'amour, Louis	The Haunted Mesa	Bought at Book Swap for book club.
Lamb, Wally	The Hour I First Believed	Bought used at Mojo.
Lamb, Wally	I Know This Much Is True	I picked this up at the library book sale after having read it and liked it.
Lamb, Wally	She's Come Undone	Wally Lamb does a great job with messed-up characters, and I had read his other book I Know This Much Is True, so when I saw this at the library book sale I grabbed it.
Lamb, Wally	Wishin' and Hopin'	Bought used at Mojo.
Lee, Harper	To Kill a Mockingbird	Found at a used store and decided to add it to my collection since it was cheap.
Machiavelli, Niccolò	The Prince	Found at a used store and decided to add it to my collection since it was cheap.
Maguire, Gregory	A Lion Among Men	Jeaux's 2009 birthday gift for me!
Maguire, Gregory	Lost	Found at the library book sale. I like his writing so I grabbed it, even though I'd already read it.
Maguire, Gregory	The Next Queen of Heaven	Bought at Barnes & Noble because I had a coupon.
Maguire, Gregory	Out of Oz	The last in the Wicked Years series, I bought this on sale at Barnes & Noble.
Maguire, Gregory	Son of a Witch	Yule 2005 gift from Mike! It's the sequel to Wicked.
Maguire, Gregory	Wicked	Bought used at Mojo.
Martel, Yann	Beatrice and Virgil	Bought this used at Mojo's.
Martel, Yann	The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios	Bought this used at Mojo's.
Martel, Yann	Life of Pi	Bought this used at Mojo's, even though I had read it already.
Martin, Steve	Shopgirl	Given to me by Stacy because she knows I like character-oriented fiction. Yay!
Matheson, Richard	What Dreams May Come	My friend David gave this book to me, and I enjoyed it much more than the movie.
Miller, Keith	The Book of Flying	Read this and had to have my own, so I bought one. Nice sort of trippy story about a guy who searches for a way to get wings so he can be with the woman he loves. Waaay awesome for people who love to read 'cause it's about that.
Moore, Christopher	Bite Me	Bought this used at Mojo's.
Moore, Christopher	Bloodsucking Fiends	Bought this used at Mojo's.
Moore, Christopher	Coyote Blue	Bought this used at Mojo's.
Moore, Christopher	A Dirty Job	Bought this used at Carrollwood Book Swap.
Moore, Christopher	Fluke	Mikey and I bought this to read together but I ended up with the copy.
Moore, Christopher	Fool	Received this as a gift from Victor for birthday 2021.
Moore, Christopher	Island of the Sequined Love Nun	Bought this used at Mojo's.
Moore, Christopher	Lamb	Gift from Mike for holiday 2007--I really liked this one, and he sent me the special edition that kinda looks like a Bible.
Moore, Christopher	The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove	Mike found this at the Friends of the Library Book Sale for me.
Moore, Christopher	Practical Demonkeeping	Bought this used at Mojo's.
Moore, Christopher	Sacré Bleu	Bought at Barnes & Noble because I had a coupon.
Moore, Christopher	Secondhand Souls	Received as a gift for birthday 2019 from Dad.
Moore, Christopher	Shakespeare for Squirrels	Received as a gift for holiday 2023 from Lindsay.
Moore, Christopher	You Suck	Bought this used at Mojo's.
Moriarty, Jaclyn	Gravity is the Thing	Received as a gift for my 42nd birthday from my dad.
Orwell, George	Animal Farm	Required reading that nevertheless kicked ass.
Orwell, George	A Collection of Essays by George Orwell	No idea where I picked this up--perhaps a relic of J.W.?--but I haven't read it, just interested to do so someday.
Palahniuk, Chuck	Choke	Bought used at Mojo.
Palahniuk, Chuck	Damned	Gift from Dad for my 46th birthday, 2024.
Palahniuk, Chuck	Haunted	Bought used at Mojo.
Palahniuk, Chuck	Invisible Monsters	Gift from Stacy for holiday 2011.
Palahniuk, Chuck	Lullaby	Gift from Mike! Yay! I almost bought this myself but then he saved me the trouble. Good stuff from the author of Fight Club.
Palahniuk, Chuck	Rant	Bought this in paperback from Borders on a whim.
Palahniuk, Chuck	Snuff	Bought used at Mojo.
Palahniuk, Chuck	Tell All	Bought used at Mojo.
Potok, Chaim	The Chosen	Did a project on this while in school. Very enjoyable.
Quinn, Daniel	Ishmael	Mike bought me a used copy of this book at the book sale.
Quinn, Daniel	My Ishmael	Mike bought me a used copy of this book at the book sale.
Quinn, Daniel	The Story of B	Mike bought me a used copy of this book at the book sale.
Rand, Ayn	Anthem	Rescued from sister L's languishing required-reading collection. Read it and enjoyed, though I wasn't overly impressed.
Reddish, David	The Passion of Sergius & Bacchus	Bought after meeting the author who was a fellow Lambda Award finalist; wanted to read his work, so I got it on Amazon.
Reid, Kiley	Such a Fun Age	Birthday gift from Ronni 2021!
Rowell, Rainbow	Attachments	I really enjoyed another book by this author, so I bought this one when I had a Barnes & Noble coupon.
Rowell, Rainbow	Landline	Birthday 2015 gift from Dad.
Salinger, J.D.	The Catcher in the Rye	I read this as a child and couldn't remember much except that Holden used lots of bad language, so I read it again as an adult and LOVED it. This particular copy (lovingly doodled on) was swiped from sister L's collection, since she didn't want it anymore.
Salinger, J.D.	Franny and Zooey	I bought this sight unseen at a used book store on the strength of The Catcher in the Rye.
Sebold, Alice	The Almost Moon	Bought used at Mojo.
Sebold, Alice	The Lovely Bones	Bought used at Mojo, even though I'd already read it.
Shute, Jonathan	Humane Society: Stories About Tragedy and Golf	A fellow Everything2.com user is the author of this book, so he sent me a copy since we kinda know each other. It's an "enhanced non-fiction"; the stories are based on his life.
Stevenson, Robert Louis	The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde	A "thrift edition" my friend Mike G. got me for a buck, insisting I read it since I never had but I love the musical.
Tatar, Maria	The Classic Fairy Tales	A nice collection of the old versions of the well-known fairy tales, and different versions of them. Interesting. Gift from Stacy!
Thoreau, Henry David	Thoreau: Walden and Other Writings	I figured something this classic ought to be in my library, so I bought a copy when I came across it at a used book store.
Twain, Mark	The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn	Read this as required reading in high school. Wasn't a fan. Took the book from L's library anyway.
Updike, John	Assorted Prose	I think this was in my parents' collection. I just took it because I've never read any Updike, and maybe I'll start here.
Vonnegut, Kurt, Jr.	Cat's Cradle	Bought used at Mojo.
Vonnegut, Kurt, Jr.	Slaughterhouse-Five	Heh, Vonnegut's cool.
Waters, Sarah	Tipping the Velvet	Bought used at Mojo.
Weisberger, Lauren	The Devil Wears Prada	I decided to pick this up because I saw the movie trailer and thought it seemed like an interesting premise. Hey! A book about hating your boss! Score!
Wells, H.G.	The Invisible Man	Sister L had this in her required reading pile, and I took it. I wonder how many people are assigned to read the other Invisible Man and get this one instead?
Wells, H.G.	The Time Machine	Weirdly enough, I never read this. Like so many others on this list, maybe someday.
Wells, Rebecca	Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood	I read this and its companion book long before there was a movie; very cool book with themes of mother-daughter relationships and close girlfriends.
Wells, Rebecca	Little Altars Everywhere	The companion to the above, more single stories about the family members rather than a continuous story.
Whalen, Sarah	This Doesn't Mean Anything	Received holiday 2024 from Dad.
Wharton, Edith	The House of Mirth	Mike found this at the Friends of the Library Book Sale for me.
Wiesel, Elie	Night	This was a powerful read. I never had it as required reading once, but I read and enjoyed it and stole my sister's copy, and one day I'd like to read Dawn.
Wilder, Thornton	Our Town	Ganked from my parents; my mom thinks everyone should read this. I haven't.
Woolf, Virginia	Between the Acts	Courtesy of sister P, I have been loaned a library of Virginia Woolf books that haven't done much so far except make me look like a Woolf fan and possibly make it seem like I know what the Indigo Girls' song about her means.
Woolf, Virginia	Mrs. Dalloway	Ditto above.
Woolf, Virginia	Orlando	Ditto above.
Woolf, Virginia	The Voyage Out	Ditto above.
Woolf, Virginia	The Waves	Ditto above.
Wright, Richard	Native Son	Sister L's got a lot of books she doesn't want anymore, doesn't she?
Zusak, Markus	The Book Thief	Birthday present from Mike, 2012.