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 | Birthday gift 2018 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 | 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. |
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. |
BACK TO THE BOOKS PAGE
|