Fifty Books Project 2026

Carlton's Books 2008

This was a good reading year. I enjoyed nearly all the books I read this year. Check out my Favorites from a Year of Reading.

50. The Napoleon of Notting Hill
by G. K. Chesterton
49. The Giver
by Lois Lowry
48. The Unbearable Lightness of Being
by Milan Kundera
47. The One Percent Doctrine
by Ron Suskind
46. The Year of Living Biblically
by A. J. Jacobs
45. Sounds of the River
by Da Chen
44. At Large and At Small: Familiar Essays
by Anne Fadiman
43. The Titan's Curse
by Rick Riordan
42. The Tale of Despereaux
by Kate DiCamillo
41. The Assault on Reason
by Al Gore
40. Twilight in Delhi
by Ahmed Ali
39. The Sea of Monsters
by Rick Riordan
38. If I Only Knew Then...
compiled by Charles Grodin
37. The Lightning Thief
by Rick Riordan
36. Homegrown Democrat
by Garrison Keillor
35. The Good German
by Joseph Kanon
34. Barrel Fever
by David Sedaris
33. The Mission Song
by John le Carré
32. The A.B.C. Murders
by Agatha Christie
31. A Dog Among Diplomats
by J. F. Englert
30. When You Are Engulfed in Flames
by David Sedaris
29. The Green Mile
by Stephen King
28. The Idiot
by Fyodor Dostoevsky
27. For One More Day
by Mitch Albom
26. A Briefer History of Time
by Stephen Hawking
25. Assassination Vacation
by Sarah Vowell
24. Timothy; or Notes of an Abject Reptile
by Verlyn Klinkenborg
23. Live and Let Die
by Ian Fleming
22. The Awakening
by Kate Chopin
21. Flint
by Louis L'Amour
20. Things I've Learned from Women Who've Dumped Me
edited by Ben Karlin
19. Spreading Fires
by John Knowles
18. Life of Pi
by Yann Martel
17. The Call of the Wild
by Jack London
16. The Amber Spyglass
by Philip Pullman
15. A Room of One's Own
by Virginia Woolf
14. The Alchemist
by Paulo Coelho
13. Persuasion
by Jane Austen
12. Animal Farm
by George Orwell
11. Strange New Land
by Peter H. Wood
10. Father Brown: The Essential Tales
by G. K. Chesterton
9. Finding George Orwell in Burma
by Emma Larkin
8. The Lodger
by Marie Belloc Lowndes
7. Born Standing Up
by Steve Martin
6. Franny and Zooey
by J. D. Salinger
5. A Dog about Town
by J. F. Englert
4. The Subtle Knife
by Philip Pullman
3. The Golden Compass
by Philip Pullman
2. The Kreutzer Sonata
by Leo Tolstoy
1. 700 Sundays
by Billy Crystal

50. The Wee Free Men
Terry Pratchett

49. A Wind at the Door
Madeline L'Engle

48. The Double
Fyodor Dostoevsky

47. Night
Elie Weisel

46. A Wrinkle in Time
Madeline L'Engle

45. Doom: Knee Deep in the Dead
Dafydd ab Hugh and Brad Linaweaver

44. Kraven's Last Hunt
J. M. DeMatteis

43. The Shipping News
E. Annie Proulx

42. Cannery Row
John Steinbeck

41. I Am the Cheese
Robert Cormier

40. The Mist
Stephen King

39. In the Lake of the Woods
Tim O'Brien

38. Faust
Goethe

37. The Princess Bride
William Goldman

36. Resume with Monsters
Robert Browning Spenser

35. The Chocolate War
Robert Cormier

34. The Bhagavad Gita
Krishna

33. The Motion of the Second Hand
Dean Shunti

32. The Inferno
Dante Alligheri

31. Phantoms
Dean Koontz

30. The Tao Te Ching
Lao Tzu

29. Moby-Dick
Herman Melville

28. The Homing
Jeffrey Campbell

27. The Things They Carried
Tim O'Brien

26. Making Money
Terry Pratchett

25. Monsignor Quixote
Graham Greene

24. Pet Sematary
Stephen King

23. The Crying of Lot 49
Thomas Pynchon

22. Candide
Voltaire

21. Dracula
Bram Stoker

20. The Stranger
Albert Camus

19. Breakfast at Tiffany's
Truman Capote

18. Anthem
Ayn Rand

17. The Power and the Glory
Graham Greene

16. Life of Pi
Yann Martel

15. The Bonfire of the Vanities
Tom Wolfe

14. The Plague
Albert Camus

13. The Secret Bedroom
R. L. Stine

12. Slaughterhouse-Five
Kurt Vonnegut

11. The Dark Tower
Stephen King

10. The Abolition of Man
C. S. Lewis

9. The Pearl
John Steinbeck

8. Anna Karenina
Leo Tolstoy

7. The Martian Chronicles
Ray Bradbury

6. The Big Over Easy
Jasper Fforde

5. Fight Club
Chuck Palahniuk

4. Hard Times
Charles Dickens

3. The Body Artist
Don DeLillo

2. Basket Case
Carl Hiaasen

1. Born Standing Up
Steve Martin

Christopher's Books 2008

46. Bridge to Terabithia
by Katherine Paterson
45. Holes
by Louis Sachar
44. Ender's Game
by Orson Scott Card
43. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
by Junot Diaz
42. I Am the Cheese
by Robert Cormier
41. The Joy Luck Club
by Amy Tan
40. Cosmopolis
by Don DeLillo
39. The Yiddish Policemen's Union
by Michael Chabon
38. The Magus
by John Fowles
37. The Giver
by Lois Lowry
36. A Wrinkle in Time
by Madeleine L'Engle
35. Tuck Everlasting
by Natalie Babbitt
34. Brighton Rock
by Graham Greene
33. London Fields
by Martin Amis
32. Darkness at Noon
by Arthur Koestler
31. The Day of the Locust
by Nathanael West
30. Pale Fire
by Vladimir Nabokov
29. The Echo Maker
by Richard Powers
28. The New York Trilogy
by Paul Auster
27. Black Swan Green
by David Mitchell
26. Titus Groan
by Mervyn Peake
25. Teacher Man
by Frank McCourt
24. The Moviegoer
by Walker Percy
23. Rabbit Remembered
by John Updike
22. House of Leaves
by Mark Z. Danielewski
21. Lost Boy
by Thomas Wolfe
20. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
by JK Rowling
19. Blood Meridian
by Cormac McCarthy
18. Watchmen
by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
17. Lame Deer, Seeker of Visions
by John Lame Deer and Richard Erdoes
16. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
by JK Rowling
15. Nine Stories
by JD Salinger
14. Of Mice and Men
by John Steinbeck
13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
by JK Rowling
12. Rabbit at Rest
by John Updike
11. Clear Springs
by Bobbie Ann Mason
10. Bird by Bird
by Anne Lamott
9. Catch-22
by Joseph Heller
8. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
by JK Rowling
7. Rabbit is Rich
by John Updike
6. Tobacco Road
by Erskine Caldwell
5. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
by JK Rowling
4. Rabbit Redux
by John Updike
3. Pilgermann
by Russell Hoban
2. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
by JK Rowling
1. Rabbit, Run
by John Updike

Randy's Books 2010

1) Remains of the Day
by Kazuo Ishiguro

2) The Dhammapada
translated by Ananda Maitreya

3) Goodbye, Columbus and Five Short Stories
by Philip Roth

4) The Poetry of Sappho
Translated and Notes by Jim Powell