45, 46
46. Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer
45. Days of the Dragon, D. K. Caldwell*
44. Four Past Midnight, Stephen King*
43. The Eyre Affair, Jasper Fforde
42. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, Stieg Larsson
41. Days of the Dragon, D. K. Caldwell (not yet published)
40. Poltergeist, Kat Richardson
39. The Sweet Potato Queens' Book of Love: A Fallen Southern Belle's Look at Love, Life, Men, Marriage, and Being Prepared, Jill Conner Browne
38. Greywalker, Kat Richardson
37. Blockade Billy, Stephen King
36. The Pelican Brief, John Grisham*
35. The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon, David Grann
34. While My Pretty One Knits, Anne Canadeo
33. Ur, Stephen King* (audio)
32. The Firm, John Grisham*
31. Free-Range Knitter, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee*
30. Misery, Stephen King
29. Spook Country, William Gibson (audio)
28. The Lost Continent: Travels in Small-Town America, Bill Bryson
27. People are Unappealing*: True Stories of Our Collective Capacity to Irritate and Annoy *Even Me, Sara Barron
26. The Green Mile, Stephen King*
25. Bag of Bones, Stephen King*
24. The New Dead: A Zombie Anthology, ed. Christopher Golden
23. Relentless, Dean Koontz
22. Stephanie Pearl-McPhee Casts Off: The Yarn Harlot's Guide to the Land of Knitting
21. The Girl Who Played with Fire, Stieg Larsson
20. Guns, Germs, and Steel, Jared Diamond
19. The Stand, Stephen King*
18. Hollywood's Stephen King, Tony Magistrale
17. Hidden Empire, Orson Scott Card
16. Harem, Dora Levy Mossanen
15. Dies the Fire, S.M. Stirling
14. The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark, Carl Sagan
13. Knitting Rules! The Yarn Harlot Unravels the Mysteries of Swatching, Stashing, Ribbing, & Rolling to Free Your Inner Knitter, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, aka the Yarn Harlot
12. Bold Spirit: Helga Estby's Forgotten Walk Across Victorian America, Linda Lawrence Hunt
11. Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, Rebecca Wells
10. Patient Zero, Jonathon Maberry
9. God's Country, Percival Everett
8. Heart of Stone, C. E. Murphy
7. The Secret Life of Houdini: The Making of America's First Superhero, William Kalush and Larry Sloman
6. The Good Fairies of New York, Martin Millar
5. Limeys: The True Story of One Man's War Against Ignorance, the Establishment and the Deadly Scurvy, David I. Harvie
4. The Secret Life of Bees, Sue Monk Kidd
3. Tatham Mound, Piers Anthony
2. Alas, Babylon, Pat Frank
1. Neverwhere, Neil Gaiman
While I enjoyed this book, I'm not entirely sure what Krakauer was trying to prove about Chris McCandless. That he wasn't crazy? That he wasn't suicidal? That he wasn't just some ill-prepared kid who wandered into the bush to die?
Krakauer follows McCandless's ramblings around America, through Mexico, up to South Dakota, then on to Alaska. I think Krakauer is trying to figure out McCandless's why McCandless wanted to live in the bush. What motivated him, how did he die, what mistake did he make to end up rotting on a bus in the middle of the Alaskan bush?
Krakauer offers up several theories of how McCandless died and does finally give one that seems to fit. Ultimately, he decides that McCandless just wanted to live more fully--he was a fan of Thoreau and Tolstoy and wanted to find truth in life away from money and college and all the other things that oppress us. Of course, McCandless was lucky enough to have a talent for making money, and also lucky enough to have had his college 100% paid for. He disdained money and he hated having to go to college, which to me makes him a spoiled little boy who has time for big dreams and flights of fancy and spontaneous road trips. Lucky him. Do I think he was stupid? No. Do I think he suffered from hubris? Yes. I think he was a little ridiculous to go into the middle of the woods and not mention to anyone where he was going. I think he was an idiot to not contact his family, to make them wonder where he was for 2 years until he was finally found dead.
Now reading: Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde, the sequel to Eyre Affair.
45. Days of the Dragon, D. K. Caldwell*
44. Four Past Midnight, Stephen King*
43. The Eyre Affair, Jasper Fforde
42. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, Stieg Larsson
41. Days of the Dragon, D. K. Caldwell (not yet published)
40. Poltergeist, Kat Richardson
39. The Sweet Potato Queens' Book of Love: A Fallen Southern Belle's Look at Love, Life, Men, Marriage, and Being Prepared, Jill Conner Browne
38. Greywalker, Kat Richardson
37. Blockade Billy, Stephen King
36. The Pelican Brief, John Grisham*
35. The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon, David Grann
34. While My Pretty One Knits, Anne Canadeo
33. Ur, Stephen King* (audio)
32. The Firm, John Grisham*
31. Free-Range Knitter, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee*
30. Misery, Stephen King
29. Spook Country, William Gibson (audio)
28. The Lost Continent: Travels in Small-Town America, Bill Bryson
27. People are Unappealing*: True Stories of Our Collective Capacity to Irritate and Annoy *Even Me, Sara Barron
26. The Green Mile, Stephen King*
25. Bag of Bones, Stephen King*
24. The New Dead: A Zombie Anthology, ed. Christopher Golden
23. Relentless, Dean Koontz
22. Stephanie Pearl-McPhee Casts Off: The Yarn Harlot's Guide to the Land of Knitting
21. The Girl Who Played with Fire, Stieg Larsson
20. Guns, Germs, and Steel, Jared Diamond
19. The Stand, Stephen King*
18. Hollywood's Stephen King, Tony Magistrale
17. Hidden Empire, Orson Scott Card
16. Harem, Dora Levy Mossanen
15. Dies the Fire, S.M. Stirling
14. The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark, Carl Sagan
13. Knitting Rules! The Yarn Harlot Unravels the Mysteries of Swatching, Stashing, Ribbing, & Rolling to Free Your Inner Knitter, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, aka the Yarn Harlot
12. Bold Spirit: Helga Estby's Forgotten Walk Across Victorian America, Linda Lawrence Hunt
11. Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, Rebecca Wells
10. Patient Zero, Jonathon Maberry
9. God's Country, Percival Everett
8. Heart of Stone, C. E. Murphy
7. The Secret Life of Houdini: The Making of America's First Superhero, William Kalush and Larry Sloman
6. The Good Fairies of New York, Martin Millar
5. Limeys: The True Story of One Man's War Against Ignorance, the Establishment and the Deadly Scurvy, David I. Harvie
4. The Secret Life of Bees, Sue Monk Kidd
3. Tatham Mound, Piers Anthony
2. Alas, Babylon, Pat Frank
1. Neverwhere, Neil Gaiman
While I enjoyed this book, I'm not entirely sure what Krakauer was trying to prove about Chris McCandless. That he wasn't crazy? That he wasn't suicidal? That he wasn't just some ill-prepared kid who wandered into the bush to die?
Krakauer follows McCandless's ramblings around America, through Mexico, up to South Dakota, then on to Alaska. I think Krakauer is trying to figure out McCandless's why McCandless wanted to live in the bush. What motivated him, how did he die, what mistake did he make to end up rotting on a bus in the middle of the Alaskan bush?
Krakauer offers up several theories of how McCandless died and does finally give one that seems to fit. Ultimately, he decides that McCandless just wanted to live more fully--he was a fan of Thoreau and Tolstoy and wanted to find truth in life away from money and college and all the other things that oppress us. Of course, McCandless was lucky enough to have a talent for making money, and also lucky enough to have had his college 100% paid for. He disdained money and he hated having to go to college, which to me makes him a spoiled little boy who has time for big dreams and flights of fancy and spontaneous road trips. Lucky him. Do I think he was stupid? No. Do I think he suffered from hubris? Yes. I think he was a little ridiculous to go into the middle of the woods and not mention to anyone where he was going. I think he was an idiot to not contact his family, to make them wonder where he was for 2 years until he was finally found dead.
Now reading: Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde, the sequel to Eyre Affair.