The 50-A-Day Project: Books 41-50

This was a slog. I tried to be ambitious and read some fiction authors--Robert Ford, Evelyn Waugh, Eudora Welty, and Joseph Heller--I hadn't read before but who are pretty universally adored. Well, that didn't work out. Some were worse than others, but I can honestly say I was underwhelmed by every last one of them. I'm willing to accept it might be me. I'd also be willing to try again with any of them, so if you have a recommendation, let me know.

I figured the summer months would be the hardest for me to keep pace (lots of work, lots of free concerts, and lots of hot air circulating in my apartment...air conditioning is for the weak!), and I was most certainly correct. But the summer is quickly receding, and the last three books I've read (I'm late writing this, so I'm now almost done with Book 53) have been a breeze, so I feel a rally coming up in my favorite season.

After finishing the 50th book, I had tallied 15,366 pages in 246 days (I think...I lost track of when I finished the 50th book due to hurricane overload), for an average of 62.5 pages a day. I know--that average has been dropping every time I check in. I'll do better in the fall, OK? Wait, why am I promising something to you? Get off my back! I'll do what I want, jerk.

Anyway...

Best Fiction Book: Catch-22 by Joseph Heller (by default...I really didn't like it that much, but there were at least some parts I liked)
Best Nonfiction Book: The Impossible: Rodney Mullen, Ryan Sheckler, and the Fantastic History of Skateboarding by Cole Louison (full disclosure: I know the author, but it is an honest answer)
Toughest Read: Losing Battles by Eudora Welty
Easiest Read: Fame Junkies: The Hidden Truths Behind America's Favorite Addiction by Jake Halpern
Number of Books on Loan: 0
Number of Books Given as Gifts: 0
Number of Books Signed by the Author: 1 (The Impossible: Rodney Mullen, Ryan Sheckler, and the Fantastic History of Skateboarding by Cole Louison)
Book That Was Sitting on the Shelf the Longest: Catch-22 by Joseph Heller. Much like last time's BTWSotStL, this one was probably bought at the Friends of the Library Book Sale in Ithaca, NY, in 1994 or 1995, because it's a discard from the Finger Lakes Library System. I started reading it once before but couldn't make it through. But I persevered this time, for better or worse.

Best Passage:

[The author is talking with an agent, Cal Merlander, at the International Modeling and Talent Association convention, where children look to be "discovered."]

"'What about this girl?' I asked, pointing to an adorable four-foot blonde in pigtails.

'She's cute, but she's not superbright,' Merlander said.

'How do you know that?'

'I just know--like this one over here,' he said, gesturing toward a stocky girl of about ten. 'I guarantee that she is from a town with a population of five thousand or less. It's obvious that she comes from a community where manners and posture are not that important. She's a farm kid. This one right here, 4702, she's a bright kid--the type who runs the parents. She'll be in the health care business. This one here is also bright, but in a more literary way. She'll be a writer. She'll be your competition in a few years. And this one here--she'll be a hooker.'

'A hooker?'

'Yeah,' said Merlander."

from Fame Junkies: The Hidden Truths Behind America's Favorite Addiction by Jake Halpern