108. "A Romanov Fantasy: Life at the Court of Anna Anderson"

A Romanov Fantasy

107. "Mickey and Friends Haunted Halloween"

Mickey and Friends Haunted Halloween"

106. "Mercer Mayer's Little Critter Spooky Halloween Party"

105. "The Tiger Has a Toothache"

104. "Chameleons Are Cool" by Martin Jenkins

Chameleons Are Cool

103. "Summerfolk: A History of the Dacha" by Richard Lovell

102. "A Virtuous Woman" by Kaye Gibbons

101. "Raining Cat Sitters and Dogs" by Blaize Clement

100. "Three Sisters" by James D. Doss

Three Sisters

99. "The Dead Fathers Club" by Matt Haig

The Dead Fathers Club by

98. "This Far, No Further" by John Wessel

This Far, No Further

96-97. Two books that shall not be named

95. "Last Rituals" by Yrsa Sigurdardottir

Last Rituals

94. A book that shall not be named

This is a book written by the relative of a missing person whose case has received international publicity. Having read another book by one of this person's relatives, I thought this work would provide an interesting, different perspective on the story. However, I believe it came out too soon after the disappearance, and the author lacked adequate time and distance to process his emotions before writing the book. I certainly can't fault him for wanting to write a book, even if he did it for the money; looking for a missing relative obviously consumed most of his time and money. But I think he would have benefited from a good coauthor or editor to ensure things like consistent verb tenses and strong focus. The book rambles; I'm 50 pages in and have yet to learn anything I didn't already know about the missing person, the case, and the suspects.

93. "Gator A-Go-Go" by Tim Dorsey

Gator A-Go-Go

92. "Dying to Meet You"

Dying to Meet You is

91. "Teeth, Tails, & Tentacles" by Christopher Wormell

In Teeth, Tails, & Tentacles" by Christopher Wormell

90. "The Saggy Baggy Elephant" by K. and B. Jackson

The Saggy Baggy Elephant

69. "The Sexual Criminal" by J. Paul de River

The Sexual Criminal by J. Paul de River was written as a textbook for police officers dealing with sexual crimes, and it isn't for the faint of heart or stomach; in fact, there's a "mature content" warning on the back cover. Despite being written in the late 1940s, the book contains the most graphic crime scene photos I've ever seen (and that's saying something). I skipped a couple of chapters that I knew would upset me too much (such as the one on sadistic, sexual abuse of animals).

De River might be familiar to aficionados of the Black Dahlia case, because he fixated on a suspect and illegally detained the man, keeping him handcuffed in a hotel room for several days. Prior to that disgrace, he'd headed up a sex crimes unit for the LAPD and apparently had forged a fairly successful career solving sexual crimes.

The book itself is interesting primarily for the interviews with an array of offenders. A common factor is their attempts to minimize or deny their own involvement in their crimes. De River's analyses seem forced at times; he uses terms like "will to power" in an attempt to explain and analyze why these offenders did what they did. This approach, which is semi-philosophical and sort of psychological, doesn't effectively explain the mindset or development of psychopathic criminals, however.

68. "Matilda" by Roald Dahl

The title character of Matilda is, in typical Roald Dahl fashion, delightful, precocious, mischievous, and perhaps a tad evil--but only for the best purposes. This is a fun book about a neglected girl who turns her brilliance to helping her only friend, the schoolteacher who encourages and befriends her.

67. "The Last Picture Show" by Larry McMurtry

I wanted to read Larry McMurtry's The Last Picture Show because he alluded to it quite frequently in Walter Benjamin at the Dairy Queen. And I wasn't disappointed: It's a sometimes funny, sometimes sad coming-of-age story set in a small Texas town. The three protagonists, teenagers facing the end of high school and the beginning of the rest of their lives, struggle to define who they are and what they want and how to achieve those desires.

As much as I enjoyed this novel--and I did--I don't plan to read the sequels. McMurtry revisited these characters in several subsequent novels, but I think I prefer to keep them eternally teenaged in my mind, on the cusp of an unrealized adulthood.

89. "Baby Bear Discovers the World"

Baby Bear Discovers the World

88. "The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane" by Katherine Howe

The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane

87. "Our Baby" by Tony Bradman

"Our Baby" by Tony BradmanOur Baby (Collins Toddler)

86. "Muppet Babies: Head to Toe"

"Muppet Babies: Head to Toe"

85. "Bored--Nothing to Do!" by Peter Spier

Bored--Nothing to Do