Z

Done! 26 weeks of library visits. Crazy.

It's late, so I'll make this brief. I'll simply say that I enjoyed all of the Z selections. They were Annika's recommendation of Roger Zelazny's A Night in the Lonesome October [280/after], Zox's A Line in the Sand, and the 1964 classic, Zorba the Greek.

All 3 were enjoyable and fun. I'm so glad that I ended this on a high note. I only wish I'd been able to articulate more what I appreciated about them all. Oh well. On the bright side, I definitely broadened my horizons somewhat when it comes to musical artists, authors, and even got to sneak in some movies I'd never seen before, but had always wanted to. So this was an interesting experiment, although I'm not likely to repeat it anytime soon.

To quickly recap the (half)year's picks, and give them grades here's how it would go:

A
Flight by Sherman Alexie -- A
We Can Breathe Under Alcohol by An Angle -- F
In Stitches by The Actual -- A
American Dreamz -- A-

B
Sharp Teeth by Toby Barlow -- A+
23 by Blonde Redhead -- D
Blackboard Jungle -- C-

C
Winkie by Clifford Chase -- D
Lord Vishnu's Love Handles: A Spy Novel (sort of) by Will Clarke -- B+
Delivery Man by Elvis Costello & The Imposters -- C+
Capote -- C

D
Walpuski's Typewriter by Frank Darabont -- C
Beyond by Dinosaur Jr -- C
Good Night, Witness Light by Daphne Loves Derby -- C
We All Belong by Dr Dog -- A
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels -- B-
The Descent -- A-

E
Category 7 by Bill Evans -- B+
The Vegas Years by Everclear -- D
What Are You On? by East River Pipe -- C+
Meet the Eels: Essential Eels 1996-2006 Vol.1 by The Eels -- A+
Earth vs The Flying Saucers -- C-

F
Bottomfeeder by B.H.Fingerman -- A
Critically Ashamed by FM Static -- D+
Holding a Wolf by the Ears by From Autumn to Ashes -- F
The Frighteners -- D

G
Mad Dogs by James Grady -- B
On a Wire by the Get Up Kids -- I don't remember, but in the 'review' post, I claimed it was just 'okay', so... C?
Grumpy Old Men -- C

H
Six Bad Things by Charlie Huston -- A+
White Chalk by PJ Harvey -- B-
Keep Your Eyes Ahead by The Helio Sequence -- B+
Hoffa -- B

I
Setting Free the Bears by JOhn Irving -- C+
Returning to the Sea by Islands & Inland Traveller by Isolation Years -- I don't remember enough about either album to grade them properly, and my reviews didn't help.
Impostor -- C+

J
V: The Second Generation by Kenneth JOhnson -- B-
Chase the Light by Jimmy Eat World -- C-
Joy Ride -- C

K
Tick Tock by Dean Koontz - F
Yours Truly, Angry Mob by the Kaiser Chiefs -- B+
King Kong -- A-

L
No book, and can't remember enough about the Liars albums to grade them (doh!) and Last Man on Earth gets a D+

M
Gil's All Fright Diner by A. Lee Martinez -- B
Heretic Pride by the Mountain Goats -- A
Rabbit Habits by Man Man -- C-
Haarp by Muse -- C
@#%&! Smilers by Aimee Mann -- B+
Marathon Man -- A-

N
Fear Itself by Johnathan Nasaw -- C+
Nirvana by Nirvana -- A
North Country -- A-

O
Because it is Bitter, and Because it is my Heart by Joyce Carol Oates -- A-
Stop the Clocks by Oasis -- B+
Blame it on Gravity by the Old 97s -- B+
The Out of Towners -- B+
Omega Man -- C-

P
Lullaby by Chuck Palahniuk -- A+
Pretty. Odd. by Panic! At the Disco -- A
The Fragile Army by Polyphonic Spree -- A-
Texas by PlayRadioPlay! -- A-
Platinum Blonde -- B-

Q
Smoked by Patrick Quinlan -- B+
The best of ? and the Mysterians -- C
The Quiet American -- B-

R
The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex -- A+
Don't You Know Who I Thought I Was by the Replacements -- C-
Rendition -- A+

S
The Almost True STory of Ryan Fisher by Rob Stenett -- A
Don't remember enough about either musical artist (again!) and the Station Agent ranks a B.

T
The Orion Protocol by Gary Tigerman -- B+
Pass once again on the musical selection (so much meh that it doesn't even register in my memory banks six weeks later)
There Will Be Blood -- A+

U
Vacation by Olin Unferth -- B+
18 Singles by U2 -- A-
Under the Influence of Giants by Under the Influence of Giants -- I don't remember, but I liked them at the time of the review. Um. A B, then?
United 93 -- A+

V
Starbucks Nation by Chris Ver Wiel -- D-
The Best of the Vines -- A-
Vacancy -- C

W
Mr Sebastian and the Negro Magician -- A
Brain Thrust Mastery by We Are Scientists -- A
Get Behind Me Satan by the White Stripes -- A
Westworld -- B

X
X-Men the Last Stand -- B+

Y
The Highly Effective Detective by Richard Yancey -- A-
Show Your Bones by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs -- A
The Eraser by Thom Yorke -- A-
Year of the Dog -- A

Z
A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny -- B+
Line in the Sand by Zox -- B+
Zorba the Greek -- A-

Whew!!