#93: Read through the list of Pulitzer-Prize winning nonfiction and fiction books

Time to finally get a post up that I can refer back to when I cross a book off my reading list! I'll come back here and edit the list whenever I finish another one. A separate post will be dedicated to the nonfiction list.

Currently read: 7
To go: 79

List of Pulitzer Price fiction winners, as taken from Wikipedia:

• 1917: no award given
• 1918: His Family by Ernest Poole
• 1919: The Magnificent Ambersons by Booth Tarkington
• 1920: no award given
• 1921: The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
• 1922: Alice Adams by Booth Tarkington
• 1923: One of Ours by Willa Cather
• 1924: The Able McLaughlins by Margaret Wilson
• 1925: So Big by Edna Ferber
• 1926: Arrowsmith by Sinclair Lewis (declined prize)
• 1927: Early Autumn by Louis Bromfield
• 1928: The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder
• 1929: Scarlet Sister Mary by Julia Peterkin
• 1930: Laughing Boy by Oliver La Farge
• 1931: Years of Grace by Margaret Ayer Barnes
• 1932: The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
• 1933: The Store by Thomas Sigismund Stribling
• 1934: Lamb in His Bosom by Caroline Miller
• 1935: Now in November by Josephine Winslow Johnson
• 1936: Honey in the Horn by Harold L. Davis
• 1937: Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell (read in 2011)
• 1938: The Late George Apley by John Phillips Marquand
• 1939: The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (read circa 1995-1996)
• 1940: The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
• 1941: no award given^[3]
• 1942: In This Our Life by Ellen Glasgow
• 1943: Dragon's Teeth by Upton Sinclair
• 1944: Journey in the Dark by Martin Flavin
• 1945: A Bell for Adano by John Hersey
• 1946: no award given
• 1947: All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren
• 1948: Tales of the South Pacific by James A. Michener
• 1949: Guard of Honor by James Gould Cozzens
• 1950: The Way West by A. B. Guthrie, Jr.
• 1951: The Town by Conrad Richter
• 1952: The Caine Mutiny by Herman Wouk
• 1953: The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway (read in 2000)
• 1954: No award given
• 1955: A Fable by William Faulkner
• 1956: Andersonville by MacKinlay Kantor
• 1957: No award given^[4]
• 1958: A Death in the Family by James Agee (posthumous win)
• 1959: The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters by Robert Lewis Taylor
• 1960: Advise and Consent by Allen Drury
• 1961: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (read in 2014)
• 1962: The Edge of Sadness by Edwin O'Connor
• 1963: The Reivers by William Faulkner (posthumous win)
• 1964: No award given
• 1965: The Keepers of the House by Shirley Ann Grau
• 1966: The Collected Stories of Katherine Anne Porter by Katherine Anne Porter
• 1967: The Fixer by Bernard Malamud
• 1968: The Confessions of Nat Turner by William Styron
• 1969: House Made of Dawn by N. Scott Momaday
• 1970: The Collected Stories of Jean Stafford by Jean Stafford
• 1971: No award given^[5]
• 1972: Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner
• 1973: The Optimist's Daughter by Eudora Welty
• 1974: No award given^[6]
• 1975: The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara
• 1976: Humboldt's Gift by Saul Bellow
• 1977: No award given^[7]
• 1978: Elbow Room by James Alan McPherson
• 1979: The Stories of John Cheever by John Cheever
• 1980: The Executioner's Song by Norman Mailer
• 1981: A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole (posthumous win)
• 1982: Rabbit Is Rich by John Updike
• 1983: The Color Purple by Alice Walker (read in 2014)
• 1984: Ironweed by William Kennedy
• 1985: Foreign Affairs by Alison Lurie
• 1986: Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
• 1987: A Summons to Memphis by Peter Taylor
• 1988: Beloved by Toni Morrison
• 1989: Breathing Lessons by Anne Tyler
• 1990: The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love by Oscar Hijuelos
• 1991: Rabbit at Rest by John Updike
• 1992: A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley
• 1993: A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain by Robert Olen Butler
• 1994: The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx
• 1995: The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields
• 1996: Independence Day by Richard Ford
• 1997: Martin Dressler: The Tale of an American Dreamer by Steven Millhauser
• 1998: American Pastoral by Philip Roth
• 1999: The Hours by Michael Cunningham
• 2000: Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
• 2001: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon
• 2002: Empire Falls by Richard Russo
• 2003: Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides (read in 2010)
• 2004: The Known World by Edward P. Jones
• 2005: Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
• 2006: March by Geraldine Brooks
• 2007: The Road by Cormac McCarthy (read in 2010)
• 2008: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz
• 2009: Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
• 2010: Tinkers by Paul Harding
• 2011: A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
• 2012: No award given.
• 2013: The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson

oh hey

Remember me?

I barely do either!

In the months since I last posted (July... embarrassing), we've done some traveling to the UK, dealt with a home robbery, and celebrated our 5-year anniversary! I want to say it's been super busy around here but that hasn't really been the case. I think I like to say I'm busy (sometimes I think I really AM busy) when really all I'm doing is making turkey stock (watching a pot boil) and gasping aloud on the couch whilst reading about some other character's death in the "Game of Thrones" series. I know. My life is really exciting!

In other news, I've been able to knock out some items on my 100 List - see, I accomplish things. So I'll be back, and hopefully not six months from now!

#18: Attend my 10-year high school reunion

Well… 10 years went by pretty quick.  Not sure how I feel about that. We flew to Colorado at the end of June to hit up my 10-year reunion and get in some family time. Second time to Colorado in two months! That must be some sort of record since college. Since there was a snowstorm in May while I was there, I hoped for some great weather and my wish was granted! It was absolutely gorgeous the whole time. This was also Mark’s first time to Colorado in the summer. I KNOW. How is that even possible? Many of his trips have looked something like this:

I kept telling him, Mark, it’s SO NICE in the summer! Like SO NICE. Now he can finally believe me. I wanted to go to the mountains at least once but the weekend proved a little too busy, plus the weather didn’t look that great up there anyway. On Friday I got to have breakfast with a friend of mine and visit her house in Denver. One part of growing up that I’ve really enjoyed is seeing childhood friends create lives and families of their own. I don’t know why I find it so interesting; I guess I just think back to third grade and even though my friends are 28, I can still see the 8-year-olds in them! Friday night we went out with Richard to a couple of bars in downtown Denver, one of which had live music. And there was a thunderstorm! We don’t get those very often in the northwest.

The next day we headed to Greeley for the reunion. It was a small turnout – eight people (out of a class of 26) plus spouses and kids. There were more kids than there were graduates! Even though it was small, I really enjoyed getting to visit with the friends who came. A couple I hadn’t seen in at least eight years. We held the event at a park so people could come and go and bring their families if they wanted. It worked perfectly – kids had room to run around while their parents chatted and caught up.

After the reunion was over, we headed back to my mom’s place to have dinner with her and my uncle. The original plan was to stay the night in Greeley and go back to Denver on Sunday but it ended up being easier to just go back to Denver with Richard on Saturday night.

On Sunday Richard took us to the most delicious Creole café for brunch! It seemed very popular (tons of people outside waiting) but it didn’t take long to get a seat. I had the Cajun breakfast, comprising poached eggs (I GOTTA start poaching me some eggs), red beans with meat, potatoes, and the most amazing biscuit you’ve ever tasted. If you’re in Denver (they also apparently have locations in Fort Collins and Boulder), you have to go! Reasonably priced, too.

I had a great time in my homeland! My friend is going back to Denver for her high school reunion next weekend and I want to stow away… maybe I will.

#9: Attend soccer matches in South America and Europe

When we visited Florence last year we had the unique opportunity to attend a soccer match of Italy’s top division, Serie A. We arrived in Florence around 11 a.m. on a Sunday morning, plenty of time to arrange transportation to the afternoon match. We stayed in the apartment of a local girl, who we found on Airbnb (I should write a post on our experiences using this website). She was a great host, especially when it came to helping us find the ticket office by bus. Nothing Google can’t solve but it’s nice to have a local on your side! Transportation was so easy – hop on a local bus and end up at the ticket office. The line for tickets to the match was already out the door. We waited in the group outside for a while before finally being let inside the office – where we saw a sign that said that passports were required to buy tickets and ours were back at the apartment. Luckily we had just enough time to run out of the office and catch the bus back to the apartment, grab the passports, get back to the ticket office, wait in an even LONGER line and get our tickets all before the game started.

Waiting in line was… interesting. A guy cut in line near us and someone noticed and got angry. I have no idea what was being said but I have to tell you it was quite the experience being the only tourists in a group of locals! Very entertaining.

Fiorentina is the local team of Florence but I don’t remember who they played. It was a beautiful day for a match! I loved being able to see the rolling hills outside the stadium. I highly recommend going to a local event like this as a tourist. It’s a good opportunity to get away from the typical touristy haunts and rub shoulders with the locals. It was easily one of my favorite experiences of our whole trip.

Some differences between an Italian stadium and an American stadium:

• The visitors’ section was literally fenced in by sturdy plastic, presumably so the home fans can’t throw objects at the visitors? Or maybe it’s the other way around?
• No alcohol in sight – it’s prohibited within the stadium.
• As I mentioned earlier, you need a passport to buy a ticket. I think Mark said this makes it easier to keep the rabble-rousers out if they’ve caused trouble before. Your identity can be tracked.

All in all, very fun. Does anyone have any recommendations of non-touristy experiences during their travels? I’m thinking local markets and the like, anything that gets you into the heart of the culture!

A 100 List Update

I was browsing my 100 List the other day and I think it’s about time I updated it! I believe it’s been two years or so since I came up with it and after learning more about myself, there are some changes I need to make.

#9: Attend soccer matches in South America, Africa, and Europe

I suppose I shouldn’t close the door on Africa, but I was probably the most motivated to visit when my friend Nicole lived there for about two years. She’s now back in Seattle and since we didn’t take the opportunity to go when she was there, it’s not high on our priority list now. So I’m now only including South America and Europe. And actually, I’ve already fulfilled Europe. I can’t believe I forgot to post on it! That post is forthcoming.

#16: Own a cat

Cats are OK, I guess. But our neighbor has three of them and while I don’t hate them by any means, they track dirt all over the car, poop in our yard, and creep me out by peering into our basement windows when I least expect them. Friends may swear by how sweet their kitty is, but what’s to stop them from ripping up the leather couch or scratching my beautiful (yes, I love it more than I should) dining room table? It’s just too risky. I know I can train dogs but a cat is more of a loose cannon. I’m changing #16 to re-painting the kitchen.

#32: Own a Newfoundland, like in Peter Pan

Now that I’ve done research on the type of dog I want to own, I realize a Newfoundland wouldn’t be a good fit for me. They are too big and have way too much hair for me to handle. I want a dog who can run with me, and Newfoundlands would probably overheat. But I still think they’re cute! #32 is being simplified to owning a dog in general.

#62: Live in NYC at least once

Not saying this could never happen. But at this point it isn’t a realistic enough goal to focus on, so off it goes. #62 is now to create a gallery wall. But I’m kinda cheating because I already did this and just need to post about it… ha.

#93: Read through the list of Pulitzer-Prize winning nonfiction books

Well… I was going to change this to fiction instead of nonfiction but I think I’m just going to add the fiction winners also to #93. Because I like reading!

#74: Go to a stand-up comedy show

We actually went to a show with Mark’s sister and brother-in-law back in March! We went to see Adam Carolla at the Moore Theater in Seattle, which was a great venue for a comedy show. Adam was pretty entertaining and kept us laughing with his anecdotes and slideshows, like a rant on how every faucet knob in a hotel bathroom is different and why can’t they all be standardized (complete with pictures). I thought the end to his routine was very inspiring – he showed us his yearly income when he was starting out (lots of zeroes) and his income now (lots of zeroes but behind bigger numbers), proving that just because you come from very little doesn’t mean you can’t make something of yourself. He’s a prime example of someone who has worked very hard to be where he is and there’s nothing stopping you, either.

Yard work

Undoubtedly, the biggest task for a homeowner is yard work. Maybe every house is like this but I swear we seemed to find the house with the biggest area to keep up versus the square footage. I am not fond of yard work. I know there are people out there who are but I'm just not one of them. All that aside, it's really not too bad when you have clear goals (we're going to weed to HERE and then eat dinner) and gloves.

The picture above shows a patch of land behind our house that no one ever sees. Does that mean it doesn't exist? Sadly not. Even though no one sees it, we still get to keep it weeded. I don't remember what it looked like when we moved in last April but by THIS April, it looked like a greenbelt. See that small patch of weeds toward the back (technically the front) fence? Imagine weeds like that all the way up to the nearest window well. It was BAD. But after two sessions of weeding, it now looks like the above. We found all kinds of creepy crawlies who have hopefully found new homes NOT on our property (I "relocated" the slugs to our neighbor's yard... they're renters, they won't know) and it's nice to look out the office window (the one nearest the chimney) and not see a forest. I really wish I had taken a before picture because it's such a dramatic change but you'll just have to use your imagination.

Ahh yard work. It's painful at the time but you sure can see the fruits of your labor!