 | Blindness (Harvest Book) by Jose Saramago
Buy new: $9.98 / Used from: $0.01 Lives up to the hype, but don't believe people who tell you it's difficult. The characters are easier to remember than characters with names in other novels, and the dialogue flows nicely with capitalizations to let you know when the speaker has changed. The plot is gripping, the characters expertly drawn.
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 | Welcome to Our Company: Your Office Manual by Yolanda Nave
Buy used from: $0.01 A weird little relic of a book. Skip it.
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 | The Tale of the Unknown Island by Jose Saramago
Buy new: $10.51 / Used from: $1.08 Could have been better.
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 | The Maze by Maurice Sandoz
Buy used from: $30.00 A weird gothic book illustrated by Dali. Has a great buildup to a disappointing conclusion.
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 | Vile Bodies by Evelyn Waugh
Buy new: $10.08 / Used from: $4.00 I'm currently in the midst of a Waugh obsession. Waugh is amazing, and this book shows him at his strongest. Waugh is a complete original: nowhere else will you find his peculiar combination of witty dialogue, hilarious characters and devastating tragedy
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 | The Same Man: George Orwell and Evelyn Waugh in Love and War by David Lebedoff
Buy new: $19.76 / Used from: $0.01 Waugh's life is just as entertaining as his novels. The chapter on his experiences in WWII with Churchill's son (The Waugh to End All Waughs) is priceless--it reads like a madcap comic movie. The Orwell parts are good too, and the book's conclusions are profound and original.
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 | Batman: Arkham Asylum (15th Anniversary Edition) by Grant Morrison
Buy new: $10.18 / Used from: $8.47 The Dark Knight makes you want to read more Batman.
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 | Aunts Aren't Gentlemen by P G Wodehouse
Buy used from: $0.87 The final chapter in the Jeeves saga. Funny like the rest.
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 | Free-Range Chickens by Simon Rich
Buy used from: $0.01 Simon Rich is a great new comic talent. Even though this book concludes his two-book deal, I hope he writes more.
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 | Black Mischief by Evelyn Waugh
Buy new: $10.23 / Used from: $4.98 Worthy of being read because it's a Waugh, but pales in comparison to other Waugh.
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 | Decline and Fall by Evelyn Waugh
Buy new: $10.19 / Used from: $0.20 Vies with Vile Bodies for top spot. Vile Bodies is known for its sudden turn ending, but I think Decline and Fall is much darker. It has several dark turns, and features some pretty shocking demises. I forgot to say it's also incredibly funny. Such is Waugh.
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 | Numbers in the Dark: And Other Stories by Italo Calvino
Buy new: $14.49 / Used from: $0.93 Not the best Calvino, but there are still some gems (The Man Who Shouted Teresa the brightest among them). Most of them are overly political or overly theoretical. However, if you like Calvino's little thought experiments (along the lines of Qfwfq), you may like it.
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 | Marcovaldo: or the Seasons in the City by Italo Calvino
Buy new: $10.60 / Used from: $1.23 My favorite Calvino so far. The stories are whimsical (my favorite kind of Calvino) and infused with magic. They're also short and hilarious. The language flows nicely and nothing is under or overstated. Perfect. Marcovaldo is a great character who will stick in your head.
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 | The Dreams by Naguib Mahfouz
Buy used from: $0.01 Author's collection based on his own dreams. Unfortunately, it's a bit too dreamlike--none of them seem to have any readily apparent deeper meaning and the whole book is a bit disjointed. I've seen better representations of the dream state (The Unconsoled)
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 | Not Quite What I Was Planning: And Other Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Ob by Larry Smith
6 word life summaries. My favorites: "Me see world! Me write stories!" and Stephen Colbert's "Well, I thought it was funny."
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 | The Complete Poems of Cavafy: Expanded Edition by C.P. Cavafy
Buy new: $16.42 / Used from: $0.50 I love his poems based on the ancient Greek world, not so much the "sensual delight" ones. Those ones all seem the same. Ancient Greek favorites: "The God Abandons Antony," "Waiting for the Barbarians"
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 | An Adult Evening of Shel Silverstein - Acting Edition by Shel Silverstein
Buy new: $8.00 / Used from: $4.35 Not that great...I only read it recently and already I've forgotten most of it. Stick with the poems.
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 | Candy Story (European Women Writers) by Marie Redonnet
Buy new: $10.00 / Used from: $3.99 An interesting enigma of a book. A series of tragedies surrounding an aimless woman. The fringe characters are interesting: most have nearly identical names, and two of them seem to be direct mirror images of each other. Lots of mysterious things going on under the surface here.
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 | Embers by Sándor Márai
Buy new: $11.20 / Used from: $0.01 A story of friendship and betrayal--but who was really betrayed? Mixed feelings. It reads quickly, it's suspenseful, there's too much repetition and not much satisfaction at the end. But it does make you think.
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 | Percy Gloom by Cathy Malkasian
Buy new: $18.95 / Used from: $6.00 Yes, I read it again! I love it so.
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 | The House of Paper by Carlos Maria Dominguez
Buy used from: $1.39 Only ok. Very forgettable.
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| Earwitness by Elias Canetti
Buy used from: $59.95 A fun little book if you can find it. Some surprisingly touching little character sketches here.
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 | Animals of the Ocean, in Particular the Giant Squid (HOW) by Dr. Doris Haggis-on-Whey
Buy new: $12.24 / Used from: $10.00 Funny like the previous two installments, but I feel the humor starting to wear out. Definitely recommend the first two in the series, however.
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 | Mickle Makes Muckle by Michael Augustin
Buy new: $18.00 / Used from: $5.35 Cute poems and magical little stories. "The Handbag" is the standout of this collection, but it's all a lot of fun. Recommended!
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