Just started Gone Girl -- maybe four chapters in -- and I love it. She's an incredible writer. I'm a little wary about hating the plot of it toward the end, because there was a pretty divisive twist, right?

a German novel that I've never heard of (WG Sebald: Vertigo, 1990)

I didn't even know it was German, just that I'd never heard of it, and didn't care enough to click. I didn't disagree with a whole lot of, though, so maybe it was important?

I do think choosing just fifty anything from the whole history of literate is tough, and she might have been better off choosing only books, or only cultural events.

I'm a little wary about hating the plot of it toward the end, because there was a pretty divisive twist, right?

To say the least .

I didn't even know it was German, just that I'd never heard of it, and didn't care enough to click. I didn't disagree with a whole lot of, though, so maybe it was important?

Yeah, given this

an attempt to identify some of the hinge moments in our literature – a composite of significant events, notable poems, plays, and novels, plus influential deaths

it's actually a pretty good list, but I think I'd like to see at least a small attempt to explain why a book is a turning point.

Even as little as "The Moonstone": First detective novel, "Life of Johnson": The epitome of biography, etc.

This must have some debate-worthy items on it

It's not a bad list, but it's really incomplete without "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," the first detective story, and something by Wells and/or Verne for SF. "The Song of the Shirt" is one of the first well-known works about the treatment of the working poor, but I would have gone with Dickens. I think it also needs Little Women as a milestone in realistic literature for young people; and Penguin paperbacks, which made literature much more widely available.

Amy,

I don't know what to say without spoiling. I will just say that the book is a trip and a half. I truly disliked the ending and I think megan liked it.

I think megan liked it.

I'm not sure liked is the right word, but I thought it was the perfect ending, the one that made the most sense.

Ok, in my hunt for a good iPad ebook reader, I joined goodreads. And uploaded all my books. Oddly, their app has a reader that you can download and read books in, but you can't seem to add your own books to. I also downloaded another free app, to try. Will let you know if its good.

meara, have you tried Readmill app?

"The Song of the Shirt" is one of the first well-known works about the treatment of the working poor, but I would have gone with Dickens.

Thanks for the explanation, Ginger. Although I'd argue that Elizabeth Gaskell was better than Dickens in her literary treatment of the working poor, Dickens was first.

So read Maire Brennan's A Natural History of Dragons this weekend. And I enjoyed it! Although it wasn't long enough.

You know those tales of the late-Victorian age, of robust elderly ladies who march out into the wilderness and have great adventures, ignoring propriety because they have both funds and experience? This book is about the creation of one of those fierce old biddies, starting at age 11 with her attempt to dissect a dead bird.

One could bill this as Jane Austen with Dragons: a loose alternate universe in which country names and maps are different but the social context is much the same as our early 1800s, except for the fact that dragons exist and our heroine is utterly fascinated by them. Except she is a well-bred young lady and such interests are considered far too outre and inappropriate. She finds a way, anyway, via some supportive family members and an advantageous marriage.

It's clearly the first of a series, and my major complaint is that the next one isn't in my hands right now, darn it.

I'm a bit disappointed I was so busy yesterday, because Brennan was doing a signing at Borderlands in SF and it would have been fun to meet her. Ah, well. Perhaps another time.

Clannad's Maire Brennan? I had no idea she was a published writer. I'll have to track down Natural History of Dragons quickly.