Book 66: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

I loved this book! My Father recommended it to me a while ago and told me that he would loan me his but that didn't happen. So while I was at a second hand book store in the summer I bought my own copy of both The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and The Restaurant at the End of the Universe.

I had always heard glowing reviews of the book and I can see why. Not only is The Hitchhiker's Guide a superb novel and extremely funny but it is also a excellent social commentary. Because I'm a FYP student I can no long just sit down and enjoy books and as annoying as that is I think it made me appreciate the book even more.

After completing The Hitchhiker's Guide I went onto goodreads and read some of the reviews and was shocked and appalled to find out that about 25% of them were negative and people saying that they hated the book. Needless to say, I have come to the conclusion that they don't have a good sense of humor and don't understand some of the idea's that Adams presents.

I give this book ten towels out of ten. It was extremely well written and it was extremely good. I recommend that everyone read it.

Book 65: The Prince

I loved this book. As a child I spent a lot of time researching the middle ages and how they waged war, among other things. I also spent a lot of time playing a game called Stronghold Crusader which is a strategy game that takes place during the Crusades when you build a castle, army and farms and whatnot. I found that this really spoke to the child that still lives deep inside me.

Machiavelli's style is unparalleled in books that I have read on how to gain and maintain power and it. I give The Prince eight out of ten. As many of the other FYP books I've read I do believe that this is a key feature of anyone's personal library.

Book 64: On the Dignity of Man

I must say I did not enjoy this book much. I found it extremely dry and it felt like a rehashing of everything that we learned before this. It was a cross between Thomas Aquinas and Augustine.

I give this book a four out of ten. It was alright just not the greatest. I could live without having read this but I'm glad I finished it.

Book 63: Symposium and Phaedrus

I really enjoyed this book. Through FYP I've gained a great appreciation for classics. I found the Symposium extremely enjoyable read.

I don't have much more about this book just because it's been so long since I've read it but I really did enjoy it. I give this book seven out of ten. It's definitely on my growing list of books to buy.

Book 62: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

So many things happened int his book that I had forgotten and it is beautifully written but it will never be my favourite Harry Potter book. After the Philosopher's Stone and the Chamber of Secrets there's almost something anti-climatic about the third part of the series.

I love the roles of Dumbledore and Sirius Black in this book. The importance of family is really highlighted in this book and I think that this is something that's really important in every book but especially in youth fiction.

I am a huge fan of Snape. The first time I read the books when I was younger I hated him but as I've grown older I've grown to appreciate him. The third book is an important step in the road to discovering who Snape really is and why he is always so resentful of Harry. Although Snape is often portrayed as a villain, his true colours shine through in this book when he tries to protect Harry, Hermione and Ron.

I give this book ten cat hairs out of ten. All of the Harry Potter books played an integral part of my childhood and I will always have a great appreciation for these books. I believe that they are something that everyone should at least attempt to read at some point in their life.

Book 61: Paradise

This again is another beautiful book by Dante. I believe one of my friends summed it up very well when she said that she felt that it was so complicated that she felt very frustrated when she read because she felt that she wasn't getting as much out of it as she should be.  Paradise is very dense and I still don't understand it fully and part of me doubts I ever will even though the farther we get into the lectures the more I begin to understand the who Divine Comedy. Many of the lectures stress the fact that you can spend your whole life studying the Divine Comedy and still not fully comprehend its complexity so I feel alright about not being able to understand everything as well as I feel I should.

I would give Paradise 6 out of 10. I did like it but it wasn't as good as the other books in the Divine Comedy. I still believe that everyone should own and read it.

Book 60: Purgatory

Although my review for Inferno was less that glowing I can honestly tell you all that I really enjoyed Purgatory. Like Inferno, it was a literary masterpiece and still hasn't lost the idea of punishment but seems less cruel and a lot more awesome.  I don't have a lot more to say about the book other than it was far more easy to read that Inferno. I hate to compare the two so much but the are so connected in my mind that they are nearly impossible to differentiate between.

Like Inferno, I believe that no library is complete without one copy of this book. Also I believe it be impossible to only to own a portion of the Divine Comedy. I give this book 8 out of 10. It was a beautiful book, as was inferno, without the cruelty that we have seen previously. Again, I believe that everyone should read it and would go as far to say that no reading the Divine Comedy in it entirety should be a crime punishable by death. Although this may seem a little extreme I assure you it is not. All you have to do is read them and you will understand what I mean.

Book 59: Sexing The Cherry

Sexing The Cherry has very quickly made it to my list of favourite books. Normally before I put a book on this list I spend many hours in deep contemplation about whether or not the book really deserves this great and high honor but when I was halfway through Sexing the Cherry it became apparent to me that to not give this book that high honor would be a disgrace and that I should give up on reading all together for the rest of my days.

As many of the other books I have read recently it raises many questions about the nature of love amongst many other issues that we face in our society. I would go as far as to that this book has changed my life. I found it while looking in a window display at school and thought it sounded interesting so I decided to read it.

As FYP keeps on telling me language falls short most of the time when trying to describe something we have seen, experienced or felt this would 100% true of this situation. I have no words to use to try and tell you how great this book is or why you should read it. It has been the singular most moving book I've read so far this year, which is saying something because I have read quite a bit.  I give this book 10 bananas out of 10. I know some people do not feel as strongly about this book as I do and that many people didn't enjoy it much and thought the ending was very weird. Although the book was at times unconventional it brings out so things that we could spend years exploring. I strongly recommend this book.

Book 58: Inferno

This may be one of the most interesting books I've ever read, that being said I didn't enjoy it as much as many other people I know did.

For those of you who have spent your life living under a rock and have no idea what Dante`s Inferno is or what it is about I want to begin by assuring you your are not alone. I also want to also assure those of you who have many misconceptions about hell you are also not alone. For instance, I do believe that many of the people who will never read this believe that hell is filled with fire; whereas, those of us who are familiar with Dante all know that the middle of hell is actually a frozen lake due to the lack of Amor and as to quote my good friend "Lucifer's Junk" is the centers of the earth's gravity.

As I mentioned in the introduction to this blog I didn't enjoy the Inferno. I found it disturbing, which in all fairness I should. The punishments were cruel, as they should be, and I don't agree with Dante when he puts Brutus in the lowest circle of hell. That being said I do not believe that any library is complete without at least one copy of this book. I rate this book 7 out of 10. It has beautiful imagery in it and I believe that everyone should read it at least once.