This book is now easily one of my favorite, top 10, books. I enjoyed this novel so much more than A Farewell To Arms.

The dialog was truer and precise, and you truly got a sense of personality in all of the characters. I could see myself on the same Parisian and Spanish streets as Jake, and certainly wished I was there along for the story.

I look forward to the next time I read the book, if only to discover the details I missed the first time.

(I’m putting this book on hold. Not sure my brain can process all his theories right now.)

This book is too bizarre to attempt to explain. Here’s a quick rundown of revelations spit out in the first 65 pages: there’s a great conspiracy going on, we are all mind puppets to lizards in the lower-fourth dimension, and below the new Denver airport there is a secret 9-level-deep secret base where many of the masterminds live. Yes, this guy is serious.

The hilarious and bizarre adventures of Ignatius J. Reilly make up one of the most wonderful novels ever written. It’s been years since I’ve picked up the book, but I can still see Ignatius in my mind’s eye, pushing the Lucky Dog hotdog cart. This is one of the few books that can get me laughing out loud, with huge, gut-busting guffaws. I love this book, and all the characters between the covers.

I picked up Kavalier & Clay because I knew it was somewhat about comic book creators, and I’m a recovering comic book collector. What I got when I finished the book was so much more than just a story about comics.

Great characters with heart and a few dreams. The writing is easy and believable. When the book was finished I wanted to keep hearing about the lives of the characters; what happens next?

I’ve been on a Rudy Rucker kick lately, so I picked up this one that I bought years ago but never read. It’s entertaining, but some of the ideas are a quite outdated and almost silly. He envisions the cyberspace of such crap movies as The Lawnmower Man and books like Neuromancer, where everything is accomplished using 3d goggles and sensitive gloves. You wander through this cyberspace, working on your computer and travelling through the Net to the Nortstrom store where you look at 3d models of the clothes you want to buy. Whatever.

Still, it’s entertaining and Rucker’s usual humor helps move the story along, although some of the dialogue is painfully stilted.

I’m a huge Murakami fan, but only a recent convert, so I still have many of his books to read. Having now finished this, I’m glad I read it. This novel has less mystical/spiritual details than some of his others, which was quite refreshing. Although I’m not sure I could relate completely with the main character all the time, the writing was superb, and the dialogue more than believable.

While I wouldn’t call this a “great” novel, it certainly was a fascinating read.

I can’t imagine the thought and research Gaiman put into this novel. There are so many details of gods and other things in the novel, many of which I’m sure he tried to keep as truthful as he could. I’m not sure how much I can talk about the book without giving some of the secrets away, so you’ll have to read it for yourself.

After re-reading this, I’m quite sure why this book has become a staple in every young reader’s bookshelf. It has an okay story, but about halfway though it starts getting a little too treacly, and then almost-preachy religious, to take seriously.

Still, any book that covers time travel is alright with me.

I’m almost tempted to pick up the rest of the series to see if the same muted religious themes are in place there as well. But then again, why waste my time.

I enjoyed this book so much more than I thought I would. I picked it up on a whim, and I’m glad I did. I wouldn’t normally consider myself all that interested in the quirks of the English language, but this book certainly proved me wrong. It’s funny, informative, and at times, quite rude, but damn it’s good.

It was pretty good, however, I’m not sure if I want to continue with the rest of the books covering Rabbit Angstrom’s life.