After 11 months of service (and almost 14 in country), I feel that not being dead or back in the States is something to be proud off. And, to be honest, the only reason I'm here on LJ right now is that I wanted to see how much had changed in my "things I've done" and "books read" lists. Yes, I've done a lot more, and yes, I'm significantly better read now than I was before.

Fantastic.

Things are good. I've hit my stride (more or less). One of the classes I teach is so popular that we keep adding new students each week. Turns out, I'm a great teacher. Not necessarily what I want to do with the rest of my life, but at least I know I'm good at it. Making friends. Working hard. Eating well.

The trick to life here, just as with anywhere else, is to constantly ask yourself some questions: "If I were leaving tomorrow, would I be doing the same things?" "Is this living my dream? Is it a step on the path to living it?" "Will this really matter in 5 years? In 20?"

The Peace Corps is both less and more than as advertised. But that doesn't mean that I can't keep getting outside of my comfort zone and help as many people as possible. It's been a hell of an experience. 've changed so much in the past year, it's almost frightening to think of how different I'll be when I come home to visit in 13 months.

Holler back. Check out the blog @ subjectverbobject.com. Shoot me an email @ theresac@gmail.com.

So I might as well update whilst I'm here.

Life in Benin is good. It's motherfucking hot and humid, but we're hitting "le chaleur," which is to say, the hottest part of the year. Thank goodness it's starting to dry up a little bit here in the South (finally!). I love heat and humidity but enough is enough.

Let's see . . . I live in an apartment within walking distance of my office. Yes, I have an office. I work with a small NGO that works with Beninese entrepreneurs. I do a fair amount of programming, web design, and project management. I'm blessed in that I can see real, physical results for my projects, but sitting behind a computer all day isn't quite so bomb.

I don't really have any amazing or stunning insights. I mean, I'm glad I'm here, and I'm certainly going to stick it out for my two year committment, but the Peace Corps isn't everything it's advertised as. It's strange, sometimes it's better than anything I could have possibly imagined, and others, it's fucking hell on earth. I wouldn't say I'm bitter, exactly. More, resigned, I guess. That's the way the chips fall, and right now there isn't a damn thing I can do about it.

However, I'm making friends in my community, and in the Peace Corps community too. It's . . . well, life is always interesting, isn't it?

Hopefully everyone will see this on their Friends pages and leave comments! Yay comments! Yay! Yay!

Heh.

I just want to remind everyone about good ways to keep secrets.

1) Don't tell the world you have a secret. If no one knows you're hiding anything, no one will ever ask what you're hiding.

2) When someone asks you a direct question about the secret, answer casually, but lie. Do not follow up with a wink, nudge, smirk, or any other sign that you may not be telling the truth. Be matter of fact, and whatever you do, don't say "none of your business" or "no comment."

3) If a story is necessary, don't make it complicated. "Keep It Simple, Stupid" is an excellent phrase to live by.

Remember that the point is not make yourself feel better because you know it and "they" don't, nor is it to keep the knowing "unofficial." The point is to keep the damn secret.

My invitation is in the mail.

July 5.

Francophonie.

Information Technology.

BOO-YAH.

Just wanted to share. It's gonna be a wild wild ride!

Your Inner European is Dutch!

Open minded and tolerant.

You're up for just about anything.

Who's Your Inner European?

Is anyone else completely not surprised?

create your own personalized map of the USA

or check out ourFlorida travel guide

I'd say I'm doing pretty well, all things considered. Gotta get some more red states in there, though. ;)

The usual 'bold the ones you've done' drill.

01. Bought everyone in the pub a drink

02. Swam with wild dolphins

03. Climbed a mountain

04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive

05. Been inside the Great Pyramid

06. Held a tarantula

07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone

08. Said 'I love you' and meant it

09. Hugged a tree

10. Done a striptease

11. Bungee jumped

12. Visited Paris

13. Watched a lightning storm at sea

14. Stayed up all night long and watched the sun rise

15. Seen the Northern Lights THIS SUMMER!!!

16. Gone to a huge sports game

17. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa

18. Grown and eaten your own vegetables

19. Touched an iceberg

20. Slept under the stars (does in a tent under the stars count?)

21. Changed a baby's diaper

22. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon

23. Watched a meteor shower

24. Gotten drunk on champagne

25. Given more than you can afford to charity

26. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope

27. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment

28. Had a food fight

29. Bet on a winning horse

30. Called in sick when you were not ill

31. Asked out a stranger

32. Had a snowball fight

33. Photocopied your bottom on the office photocopier

34. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can

35. Held a lamb

36. Enacted a favorite fantasy

37. Taken a midnight skinny dip

38. Taken an ice cold bath

9. Had a meaningful conversation with a beggar

40. Seen a total eclipse

41. Ridden a roller coaster

42. Hit a home run

43. Fit three weeks miraculously into three days

44. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking

45. Adopted an accent for an entire day

46. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors

47. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment

48. Had two hard drives for your computer

49. Visited all 50 states/every county

50. Loved your job

51. Taken care of someone who was shit faced

52. Had enough money to be truly satisfied

53. Had amazing friends

54. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country

55. Watched wild whales

56. Stolen a sign

57. Backpacked in Europe

58. Taken a road-trip

59. Rock climbing

60. Lied to foreign government's official in that country to avoid notice

61. Midnight walk on the beach

63. Visited Ireland

64. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love

65. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger's table and had a meal with them

66. Visited Japan

67. Benchpressed your own weight

68. Milked a cow

69. Alphabetized your records

70. Pretended to be a superhero

71. Sung karaoke

72. Lounged around in bed all day but I'm always mad at myself when I'm done :(

73. Posed nude in front of strangers

74. Scuba diving

75. Got it on to "Let's Get It On" by Marvin Gaye

76. Kissed in the rain

77. Played in the mud

78. Played in the rain

79. Gone to a drive-in theater

80. Done something you should regret, but don't regret it

81. Visited the Great Wall of China

82. Discovered that someone who's not supposed to have known about your blog has discovered your blog

83. Dropped Windows in favor of something better but I always come back :(

84. Started a business

85. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken

86. Toured ancient sites

87. Taken a martial arts class

88. Swordfought for the honor of a woman

89. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight

90. Gotten married

91. Been in a movie

92. Crashed a party

93. Loved someone you shouldn't have

94. Kissed someone so passionately it made them dizzy

96. Had sex at the office restaurant

97. Gone without food for 5 days

98. Made cookies from scratch

99. Won first prize in a costume contest I was Snow White when I was like five and I won a My Little Pony board game and this lovestruck little boy followed me around...

100. Ridden a gondola in Venice

101. Gotten a tattoo

102. Found that the texture of some materials can turn you on

103. Rafted the Snake River

104. Been on television news programs as an "expert"

105. Got flowers for no reason-- as in purchased

106. Masturbated in a public place

107. Got so drunk you don't remember anything

108. Been addicted to some form of illegal drug

109. Performed on stage

110. Been to Las Vegas

111. Recorded music

112. Eaten shark

113. Had a one-night stand

114. Gone to Thailand

115. Seen Siouxsie live

116. Bought a house

117. Been in a combat zone

118. Buried one/both of your parents

119. Shaved or waxed your pubic hair

120. Been on a cruise ship

121. Spoken more than one language fluently competently, okay?

22. Gotten into a fight while attempting to defend someone (not physical)

123. Bounced a check

124. Performed in Rocky Horror

125. Read - and understood - your credit report

126. Raised children

127. Recently bought and played with a favorite childhood toy

128. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour

129. Created and named your own constellation of stars

130. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country

131. Found out something significant that your ancestors did

132. Called or written your Congress person/Member of Parliament

133. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over

134. ...more than once?

135. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge/Q E II Bridge

136. Sang loudly in the car, and didn't stop when you knew someone was looking

137. Had an abortion or your female partner did

138. Had plastic surgery

139. Survived an accident that you shouldn't have survived

140. Wrote articles for a large publication

141. Lost over 100 pounds

142. Held someone while they were having a flashback

143. Piloted an airplane

144. Petted a stingray

145. Broken someone's heart

146. Helped an animal give birth

147. Been fired or laid off from a job

148. Won money on a T.V. game show

149. Broken a bone

150. Killed a human being

151. Gone on an African photo safari

152. Ridden a motorcycle

153. Driven any land vehicle at a speed of greater than 100mph

154. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced

155. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol

156. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild

157. Ridden a horse

158. Had major surgery

159. Had sex on a moving train

160. Had a snake as a pet

161. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon

162. Slept through an entire flight: takeoff, flight, and landing

163. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours

164. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states

165. Visited all 7 continents

166. Taken a canoe trip that lasted 2 days

167. Eaten kangaroo meat

168. Fallen in love at an ancient Mayan burial ground

169. Been a sperm or egg donor

170. Eaten sushi

171. Had your picture in the newspaper

172. Had 2 (or more) healthy romantic relationships for over a year in your lifetime

173. Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about

174. Gotten someone fired for their actions

175. Gone back to school

176. Parasailed

177. Changed your name

178. Petted a cockroach

179. Eaten fried green tomatoes

180. Read The Iliad

181. Selected one "important" author who you missed in school, and read

182. Dined in a restaurant and stolen silverware, plates, cups because your apartment needed them

183. ...and gotten 86'ed from the restaurant because you did it so many times, they figured out it was you

184. Taught yourself an art from scratch

185. Killed and prepared an animal for eating

186. Apologized to someone years after inflicting the hurt

187. Skipped all your school reunions

188. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language

189. Been elected to public office

190. Written your own computer language

191. Thought to yourself that you're living your dream

192. Had to put someone you love into hospice care

193. Built your own PC from parts

194. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you

195. Had a booth at a street fair

196: Dyed your hair

197. Been a DJ

198. Found out someone was going to dump you via LiveJournal

199. Written your own role playing game

200. Been arrested

201. Shot someone

202. Sang a solo in public, while sober

203. Kissed a hummingbird

204. Given birth

205. Eaten some tree-bark

206. Baked your own bread, without a machine

207. Braided the bread

208. Foraged and eaten wild food, and/or used wild herbs as medicine

209. Climbed a waterfall

210. Walked in total darkness

211. Went snorkling in the Great Barrier Reef

212. Been mistaken as someone of the opposite sex, and they never realized it

213. Had a supernatural experience

214. Performed at a poetry reading

215. Been to a fetish party

216. Been strip searched

217. Gotten a lapdance at a strip club

218. Gotten hate mail from something of yours that had been published

219. Met someone in person who you first knew on-line

220. Cross-dressed

Book Meme

bold those books you've read

italicize started-but-never-finished

underline the ones you really, really like

strike through the ones you hated

add three of your own

post to your own livejournal.

1. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy Tolkien

2. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen

3. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman

4. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams

5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling

6. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee

7. Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne

8. 1984, George Orwell

9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis

10. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte

11. Catch-22, Joseph Heller

12. Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte

13. Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks

14. Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier

15. The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger

16. The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame

17. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens

18. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott

19. Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres

20. War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy

21. Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell

22. Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's/Philosopher's Stone, JK Rowling

23. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, JK Rowling

24. Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, JK Rowling

25. The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien

26. Tess Of The D'Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy

27. Middlemarch, George Eliot

28. A Prayer For Owen Meany, John Irving

29. The Grapes Of Wrath, John Steinbeck

30. Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, Lewis Carroll

31. The Story Of Tracy Beaker, Jacqueline Wilson

32. One Hundred Years Of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez

33. The Pillars Of The Earth, Ken Follett

34. David Copperfield, Charles Dickens

35. Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl

36. Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson

37. A Town Like Alice, Nevil Shute

38. Persuasion, Jane Austen

39. Dune, Frank Herbert

40. Emma, Jane Austen

41. Anne Of Green Gables, LM Montgomery

42. Watership Down, Richard Adams

43. The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald

44. The Count Of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas (I tried it in French, gimme a break)

45. Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh

46. Animal Farm, George Orwell

47. A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens

48. Far From The Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy

49. Goodnight Mister Tom, Michelle Magorian

50. The Shell Seekers, Rosamunde Pilcher

51. The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett

52. Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck

53. The Stand, Stephen King

54. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy

55. A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth

56. The BFG, Roald Dahl

57. Swallows And Amazons, Arthur Ransome

58. Black Beauty, Anna Sewell

59. Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer

60. Crime And Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky

61. Noughts And Crosses, Malorie Blackman

62. Memoirs Of A Geisha, Arthur Golden

63. A Tale Of Two Cities, Charles Dickens

64. The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCollough

65. Mort, Terry Pratchett

66. The Magic Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton

67. The Magus, John Fowles

68. Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

69. Guards! Guards!, Terry Pratchett

70. Lord Of The Flies, William Golding

71. Perfume, Patrick Suskind

72. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, Robert Tressell

73. Night Watch, Terry Pratchett

74. Matilda, Roald Dahl

75. Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding

76. The Secret History, Donna Tartt

77. The Woman In White, Wilkie Collins

78. Ulysses, James Joyce DAMN STRAIGHT

79. Bleak House, Charles Dickens

80. Double Act, Jacqueline Wilson

81. The Twits, Roald Dahl

82. I Capture The Castle, Dodie Smith

83. Holes, Louis Sachar

84. Gormenghast, Mervyn Peake

85. The God Of Small Things, Arundhati Roy

86. Vicky Angel, Jacqueline Wilson

87. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley

88. Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons

89. Magician, Raymond E Feist

90. On The Road, Jack Kerouac

91. The Godfather, Mario Puzo

92. The Clan Of The Cave Bear, Jean M Auel

93. The Colour Of Magic, Terry Pratchett

94. The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho

95. Katherine, Anya Seton

96. Kane And Abel, Jeffrey Archer

97. Love In The Time Of Cholera, Gabriel Garcia Marquez

98. Girls In Love, Jacqueline Wilson

99. The Princess Diaries, Meg Cabot

100. Midnight's Children, Salman Rushdie

101. Three Men In A Boat, Jerome K. Jerome

102. Small Gods, Terry Pratchett

103. The Beach, Alex Garland

104. Dracula, Bram Stoker

105. Point Blanc, Anthony Horowitz

106. The Pickwick Papers, Charles Dickens

107. Stormbreaker, Anthony Horowitz

108. The Wasp Factory, Iain Banks

109. The Day Of The Jackal, Frederick Forsyth

110. The Illustrated Mum, Jacqueline Wilson

111. Jude The Obscure, Thomas Hardy

112. The Secret Diary Of Adrian Mole Aged 13 1/2, Sue Townsend

113. The Cruel Sea, Nicholas Monsarrat

114. Les Miserables, Victor Hugo (almost done!)

115. The Mayor Of Casterbridge, Thomas Hardy

116. The Dare Game, Jacqueline Wilson

117. Bad Girls, Jacqueline Wilson

118. The Picture Of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde

119. Shogun, James Clavell (this one is on my shelf, waiting for me to finish QuickSilver :))

120. The Day Of The Triffids, John Wyndham

121. Lola Rose, Jacqueline Wilson

122. Vanity Fair, William Makepeace Thackeray

123. The Forsyte Saga, John Galsworthy

124. House Of Leaves, Mark Z. Danielewski

125. The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver

126. Reaper Man, Terry Pratchett

127. Angus, Thongs And Full-Frontal Snogging, Louise Rennison

128. The Hound Of The Baskervilles, Arthur Conan Doyle

129. Possession, A. S. Byatt

130. The Master And Margarita, Mikhail Bulgakov

131. The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood

132. Danny The Champion Of The World, Roald Dahl

133. East Of Eden, John Steinbeck

134. George's Marvellous Medicine, Roald Dahl

135. Wyrd Sisters, Terry Pratchett

136. The Color Purple, Alice Walker

137. Hogfather, Terry Pratchett

138. The Thirty-Nine Steps, John Buchan

139. Girls In Tears, Jacqueline Wilson

140. Sleepovers, Jacqueline Wilson

141. All Quiet On The Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque

142. Behind The Scenes At The Museum, Kate Atkinson

143. High Fidelity, Nick Hornby

144. It, Stephen King

145. James And The Giant Peach, Roald Dahl

146. The Green Mile, Stephen King

147. Papillon, Henri Charriere

148. Men At Arms, Terry Pratchett

149. Master And Commander, Patrick O'Brian

150. Skeleton Key, Anthony Horowitz

151. Soul Music, Terry Pratchett

152. Thief Of Time, Terry Pratchett

153. The Fifth Elephant, Terry Pratchett

154. Atonement, Ian McEwan

155. Secrets, Jacqueline Wilson

156. The Silver Sword, Ian Serraillier

157. One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, Ken Kesey

158. Heart Of Darkness, Joseph Conrad

159. Kim, Rudyard Kipling

160. Cross Stitch, Diana Gabaldon

161. Moby Dick, Herman Melville

162. River God, Wilbur Smith

163. Sunset Song, Lewis Grassic Gibbon

164. The Shipping News, Annie Proulx

165. The World According To Garp, John Irving

166. Lorna Doone, R. D. Blackmore

167. Girls Out Late, Jacqueline Wilson

168. The Far Pavilions, M. M. Kaye

169. The Witches, Roald Dahl

170. Charlotte's Web, E. B. White

171. Frankenstein, Mary Shelley

172. They Used To Play On Grass, Terry Venables and Gordon Williams

173. The Old Man And The Sea, Ernest Hemingway

174. The Name Of The Rose, Umberto Eco

175. Sophie's World, Jostein Gaarder

176. Dustbin Baby, Jacqueline Wilson

177. Fantastic Mr. Fox, Roald Dahl

178. Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov READ THIS

179. Jonathan Livingstone Seagull, Richard Bach

180. The Little Prince, Antoine De Saint-Exupery (and in 2 languages!)

181. The Suitcase Kid, Jacqueline Wilson

182. Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens

183. The Power Of One, Bryce Courtenay

184. Silas Marner, George Eliot

185. American Psycho, Bret Easton Ellis

186. The Diary Of A Nobody, George and Weedon Grossmith

187. Trainspotting, Irvine Welsh

188. Goosebumps, R. L. Stine (does this count for any one of the series?)

189. Heidi, Johanna Spyri

190. Sons And Lovers, D. H. Lawrence

191. The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Milan Kundera

192. Man And Boy, Tony Parsons

193. The Truth, Terry Pratchett

194. The War Of The Worlds, H. G. Wells

195. The Horse Whisperer, Nicholas Evans

196. A Fine Balance, Rohinton Mistry

197. Witches Abroad, Terry Pratchett

198. The Once And Future King, T. H. White

199. The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Eric Carle

200. Flowers In The Attic, Virginia Andrews

201. The Silmarillion, J.R.R. Tolkien

202. The Eye of the World, Robert Jordan

203. The Great Hunt, Robert Jordan

204. The Dragon Reborn, Robert Jordan

205. Fires of Heaven, Robert Jordan

206. Lord of Chaos, Robert Jordan

207. Winter's Heart, Robert Jordan

208. A Crown of Swords, Robert Jordan

209. Crossroads of Twilight, Robert Jordan

210. A Path of Daggers, Robert Jordan222. The Vampire Lestat, Anne Rice

223. Anthem, Ayn Rand

224. The Bridge To Terabithia, Katherine Paterson

225. Tartuffe, Moliere

226. The Metamorphosis, Franz Kafka

227. The Crucible, Arthur Miller

228. The Trial, Franz Kafka

229. Oedipus Rex, Sophocles

230. Oedipus at Colonus, Sophocles

231. Death Be Not Proud, John Gunther

232. A Doll's House, Henrik Ibsen

233. Hedda Gabler, Henrik Ibsen

234. Ethan Frome, Edith Wharton

235. A Raisin In The Sun, Lorraine Hansberry

236. ALIVE!, Piers Paul Read

237. Grapefruit, Yoko Ono

238. Trickster Makes This World, Lewis Hyde

240. The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley

241. Chronicles of Thomas Convenant, Unbeliever, Stephen Donaldson

242. Lord of Light, Roger Zelazny

242. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, Michael Chabon

243. Summerland, Michael Chabon

244. A Confederacy of Dunces, John Kennedy Toole

245. Candide, Voltaire

246. The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More, Roald Dahl

247. Ringworld, Larry Niven

248. The King Must Die, Mary Renault

249. Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert Heinlein

250. A Wrinkle in Time, Madeline L'Engle

251. The Eyre Affair, Jasper Fforde

252. The House Of The Seven Gables, Nathaniel Hawthorne

253. The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne

254. The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan

255. The Great Gilly Hopkins, Katherine Paterson

256. Chocolate Fever, Robert Kimmel Smith

257. Xanth: The Quest for Magic, Piers Anthony

258. The Lost Princess of Oz, L. Frank Baum

259. Wonder Boys, Michael Chabon

260. Lost In A Good Book, Jasper Fforde

261. Well Of Lost Plots, Jasper Fforde

261. Life Of Pi, Yann Martel

263. The Bean Trees, Barbara Kingsolver

264. A Yellow Rraft In Blue Water, Michael Dorris

265. Little House on the Prairie, Laura Ingalls Wilder

267. Where The Red Fern Grows, Walls

268. Griffin & Sabine, Nick Bantock

269. Witch of Blackbird Pond, Joyce Friedland

270. Mrs. Frisby And The Rats Of NIMH, Robert C. O'Brien

271. Tuck Everlasting, Natalie Babbitt

272. The Cay, Theodore Taylor

273. From The Mixed-Up Files Of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, E.L. Konigsburg

274. The Phantom Tollbooth, Norton Juster

275. The Westing Game, Ellen Raskin

276. The Kitchen God's Wife, Amy Tan

277. The Bone Setter's Daughter, Amy Tan

278. Relic, Duglas Preston & Lincolon Child

279. Wicked, Gregory Maguire

280. American Gods, Neil Gaiman

281. Misty of Chincoteague, Marguerite Henry

282. The Girl Next Door, Jack Ketchum

283. Haunted, Judith St. George

284. Singularity, William Sleator

285. A Short History of Nearly Everything, Bill Bryson

286. Different Seasons, Stephen King

287. Fight Club, Chuck Palahniuk

288. About a Boy, Nick Hornby

289. The Bookman's Wake, John Dunning

290. The Church of Dead Girls, Stephen Dobyns

291. Illusions, Richard Bach

292. Magic's Pawn, Mercedes Lackey

293. Magic's Promise, Mercedes Lackey

294. Magic's Price, Mercedes Lackey

295. The Dancing Wu Li Masters, Gary Zukav

296. Spirits of Flux and Anchor, Jack L. Chalker

97. Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice

298. The Encyclopedia of Unusual Sex Practices, Brenda Love

299. Infinite Jest, David Foster Wallace

300. The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison

301. The Cider House Rules, John Irving

302. Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card

303. Girlfriend in a Coma, Douglas Coupland

304. The Lion's Game, Nelson Demille

305. The Sun, The Moon, and the Stars, Stephen Brust

306. Cyteen, C. J. Cherryh

307. Foucault's Pendulum, Umberto Eco

308. Cryptonomicon, Neal Stephenson (bought and waiting on my shelves!)

309. Invisible Monsters, Chuck Palahniuk

310. Camber of Culdi, Kathryn Kurtz

311. The Fountainhead, Ayn Rand

312. War and Rememberance, Herman Wouk

313. The Art of War, Sun Tzu

314. The Giver, Lois Lowry

315. The Telling, Ursula Le Guin

316. Xenogenesis (or Lilith's Brood), Octavia Butler

317. A Civil Campaign, Lois McMaster Bujold

318. The Curse of Chalion, Lois McMaster Bujold

319. The Aeneid, Publius Vergilius Maro (Vergil)

320. Hanta Yo, Ruth Beebe Hill

321. The Princess Bride, S. Morgenstern [or William Goldman]

322. Beowulf, Anonymous

323. The Sparrow, Maria Doria Russell

324. Deerskin, Robin McKinley

325. Dragonsong, Anne McCaffrey

326. Passage, Connie Willis

327. Otherland, Tad Williams

328. Tigana, Guy Gavriel Kay

329. Number the Stars, Lois Lowry

330. Beloved, Toni Morrison

331. Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal, Christopher Moore

332. The mysterious disappearance of Leon, I mean Noel, Ellen Raskin

333. Summer Sisters, Judy Blume

334. The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Victor Hugo

335. The Island on Bird Street, Uri Orlev

336. Midnight in the Dollhouse, Marjorie Filley Stover

337. The Miracle Worker, William Gibson

338. The Genesis Code, John Case

339. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Robert Louis Stevensen

340. Paradise Lost, John Milton

341. Phantom, Susan Kay

342. The Mummy or Ramses the Damned, Anne Rice

343. Anno Dracula, Kim Newman

344: The Dresden Files: Grave Peril, Jim Butcher

345: Tokyo Suckerpunch, Issac Adamson

346: The Winter of Magic's Return, Pamela Service

347: The Oddkins, Dean R. Koontz

348. My Name is Asher Lev, Chaim Potok

349. The Last Goodbye, Raymond Chandler

350. At Swim, Two Boys, Jaime O'Neill

351. Othello, by William Shakespeare

352. The Collected Poems of Dylan Thomas

353. The Collected Poems of William Butler Yeats

354. Sati, Christopher Pike

355. The Inferno, Dante

356. The Apology, Plato

357. The Small Rain, Madeline L'Engle

358. The Man Who Tasted Shapes, Richard E Cytowick

359. 5 Novels, Daniel Pinkwater

360. The Sevenwaters Trilogy, Juliet Marillier

361. Girl with a Pearl Earring, Tracy Chevalier

362. To the Lighthouse, Virginia Woolf

363. Our Town, Thorton Wilder

364. Green Grass Running Water, Thomas King

335. The Interpreter, Suzanne Glass

336. The Moor's Last Sigh, Salman Rushdie

337. The Mother Tongue, Bill Bryson

338. A Passage to India, E.M. Forster

339. The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Stephen Chbosky

340. The Phantom of the Opera, Gaston Leroux

341. Pages for You, Sylvia Brownrigg

342. The Changeover, Margaret Mahy

343. Howl's Moving Castle, Diana Wynne Jones

344. Angels and Demons, Daniel Brown

345. Johnny Got His Gun, Dalton Trumbo

346. Shosha, Isaac Bashevis Singer

347. Travels With Charley, John Steinbeck

348. The Diving-bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby

349. The Lunatic at Large by J. Storer Clouston

350. Time for Bed by David Baddiel

351. Barrayar by Lois McMaster Bujold

352. Quite Ugly One Morning by Christopher Brookmyre

353. The Bloody Sun by Marion Zimmer Bradley

354. Sewer, Gas, and Eletric by Matt Ruff

355. Jhereg by Steven Brust

356. So You Want To Be A Wizard by Diane Duane

357. Perdido Street Station, China Mieville

358. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Anne Bronte

359. Road-side Dog, Czeslaw Milosz

360. The English Patient, Michael Ondaatje

361. Neuromancer, William Gibson

362. The Epistemology of the Closet, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick

363. A Canticle for Liebowitz, Walter M. Miller, Jr

364. The Mask of Apollo, Mary Renault

365. The Gunslinger, Stephen King

366. Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare

367. Childhood's End, Arthur C. Clarke

368. A Season of Mists, Neil Gaiman

369. Ivanhoe, Walter Scott

370. The God Boy, Ian Cross

371. The Beekeeper's Apprentice, Laurie R. King

372. Finn Family Moomintroll, Tove Jansson

373. Misery, Stephen King

374. Tipping the Velvet, Sarah Waters

375. Hood, Emma Donoghue

376. The Land of Spices, Kate O'Brien

377. The Diary of Anne Frank

378. Regeneration, Pat Barker

379. Tender is the Night, F. Scott Fitzgerald

380. Dreaming in Cuban, Cristina Garcia

381. A Farewell to Arms, Ernest Hemingway

382. The View from Saturday, E.L. Konigsburg

383. Dealing with Dragons, Patricia Wrede

384. Eats, Shoots & Leaves, Lynne Truss

385. A Severed Wasp, Madeleine L'Engle

386. Here Be Dragons, Sharon Kay Penman

387. The Mabinogion (Ancient Welsh Tales), translated by Lady Charlotte E. Guest

388. The DaVinci Code, Dan Brown

389. Desire of the Everlasting Hills, Thomas Cahill

390. The Cloister Walk, Kathleen Norris

391. My Antonia, Willa Cather

392. Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath

393. The Moonstone, Wilkie Collins

394. Conceived Without Sin, Bud MacFarlane Jr.

395. Pierced by a Sword, Bud MacFarlane, Jr.

396. Tully, Paullina Simons

397. On the Beach, Nevil Shute

398. Cat's Eye, Margaret Atwood

399. Earth Abides, George R. Stewart

400. Alan Mendelsohn, the Boy From Mars, Daniel K. Pinkwater

401. The Talisman, Stephen King and Peter Straub

402. Black House, Steven King and Peter Straub

03. The Seventh Son, Orson Scott Card

404. The Prophet, Khalil Gibran

405. Firebrand, Marion Zimmer Bradley

406. The Brothers Karamazov, Fyodor Dostoevsky

407. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Robert Pirsig

408. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Mark Twain

409. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

410. The Iliad, Homer

411. Tom Jones, Henry Fielding

412. A Song of Ice and Fire, George R. R. Martin

413. Stories of Your Life and Others, Ted Chiang

414. The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin

415. Red Mars, Kim Stanley Robinson

416. Time and Again, Jack Finney

417. The Captive Mind, Czeslaw Milosz

418. The Wicked Pavillion, Dawn Powell

419. Van Gogh's Bad Cafe, Frederic Tuten

420. Norwegian Wood, Haruki Murakami

421. Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand

422. The Bridge Across Forever, Richard Bach

423. Magdalena the Sinner,Lilian Faschinger

424. A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess

425. The Red Tent, Anita Diamant

426. The Eight, Katherine Neville

427. To Say Nothing of the Dog, Connie Willis

428. The Subterraneans, Jack Kerouac

429. Belinda, Anne Rice

430. Of Love and Other Demons, Gabriel Garcia Marquez

431. The Manchurian Candidate, Richard Condon

432. The Merchant of Venice, William Shakespeare

433. The Shining, Stephen King

434. Neverwhere, Neil Gaiman

435. Peter Pan, J.M. Barrie

436. Dreams Underfoot, Charles de Lint

437. Villette, Charlotte Bronte

438. Christy, Catherine Marshall

439. North and South, Elizabeth Gaskell

440. Meridian, Alice Walker

441. The Magician's Nephew, C.S. Lewis

442. Alexander Hamilton, Forrest McDonald

443. Wizards First Rule Terry Goodkind

444. The Notebook, Nicholas Sparks

445. Enchantment, Orson Scott Card

446. Winterdance, Gary Paulsen

447. The Last Full Measure, Jeff Shaara

448. My Side of the Mountain, Jean Craighead George

449. Quicksilver, Neal Stephenson (ok, not finished yet, but I'm working on it :))

450. Diplomacy, Henry Kissinger (also current bedside reading)

451. Globalisation and It's Discontents, Joseph Stiglitz

Yep. It's a meme-of-the-day sort of thing. Also, I don't like how LJ-ers use the word "meme." Whatever whatever.

PS, and I say this entirely without irony, MARY AND I ARE BFF!1!!1!!11one!!1one!!!!!

Erm . . . what the hell am I oing to do with this thing?