ForReasonsKnown

So, last October, I had a drunken makeout session with Ray, a singer, also the best friend of a guy who's had a "thing" for me for awhile.  Needless to say, when his best friend found out about our little makeout session, he freaked out and didn't talk to Ray for like a month and didn't talk to me for about 4 months.  The best friend in question has been rather quickly becoming extremely emotionally unstable, and has pretty much alienated all his friends, including Ray, and so whereas before the door was shut on anything further happening due to said 'anger over make out session," that door has been kicked RIGHT THE FUCK OPEN now, as proven by a Hawaiian themed party over the weekend that Ray was hired to sing at, and to which I went with the specific goal of, well, having him.

And have him I did.  Sorry for the TMI factor, but you know - my blog, I can write whatever I want and all I need to say is EIGHT FREAKING TIMES people.  There are muscles in my body that hurt that I didn't even know I had.

Now, he's not the relationship type (that whole musician thing) but we've been friends for a couple years and have always had to dance around this little "thing" between us.  By the way, once we went home from the party at 4:30am and, well you know, we literally cuddled the rest of the night.  When I'd turn from him his arm was around me or he was holding my hand or rubbing my back.  It was really nice.  So while it more than likely won't lead to any sort of relationship or whatever, it was a hell of a lot better than a "fuck and see ya" type of incident.

I have a million bruises all over my body (???), muscles that hurt so bad I couldn't really move yesterday, and it looks like perhaps I spent the night with a vampire but.........one of the best nights ever.  Here's some pics for posterity purposes. 

**Edited to add - apparently you have to click on the pictures to get the captivating captions for each one...***

Me&Ray

Ray

Me&Traci

Ray,Jon,Traci

Me&Becky

I met someone.

***Edited to add****   Hahaha....hehehe....so, OF COURSE, he whom is mentioned above?  Married.

Well of course I had to go and talk about my death dreams yesterday.

The guy I mentioned a few posts back, that I was sort of seeing, who was waiting for me to make a decision about Eric?  Died last night after flipping his Harley 4 times.

I know I've mentioned here before about my prophetic dreams, so I'm not going to delve into the specifics again.

To date, the only dreams that have actually come true are the ones about people dying (irony at its finest, I swear) but a very long time ago, I started having dreams about the man I'm going to end up with someday. 

They've sort of happened in reverse order, in that the first dream I had we were actually planning our wedding, complete with happily picking out wedding invitations with my mom.  I never see his face.  In the first dream, after picking out invitations, I had to go somewhere and he walked me to my car.  After giving me a hug, I looked up at him and asked, "How am I going to find you when I wake up?"

Throughout the years I've dreamed about him from time to time, and can remember a few details - he drives a nice pick up truck, which is a work truck and he's some sort of skilled, blue-collar type worker - plumber, electrician, something along these lines.  From what I gather in my dreams he owns his company, and has a lot of work in new construction.

Weird facts, I know...but what can I say?

I've been so closed off to love for so long, that when I have a dream about love or being in love, especially involving this particular person, everything comes whooooooooooshing back.  All those warm, butterflies in your stomach, nothing in the world is wrong type feelings.  When I dream I'm in love, my entire body feels it IN REAL LIFE...sort of like the dream I had when I met Jesus.  (I think I've gone into this before...)

I thought that I was falling in love with Eric, but in hindsight, I don't really think it was LOVE.  I think he was my rebound guy, or my transition into at least knowing I was capable of being open to it.  But what I felt for him was nothing like what I feel in my dreams, and nothing like the love I've felt in the past.  If I can so easily let go of him as I have, and it really wasn't difficult once he started displaying his true self, then it couldn't have been REAL..it'd have been much harder to let go of if it was.

The thing is, when I wake up from these dreams, I'm soooo incredibly sad because it's not real.  I wake up lonely, with no one even in sight, with me not even being in a position to be considering being good for another human being, but with that aching desire to love and be loved.  It SUCKS. 

Last night I had a dream of a farmhouse of some sort, on a good amount of land.  He had bought the property for us and was about to surprise me with it.  Still, I haven't seen him, and even though I often have dreams of being with other people (both people I know and celebrities, etc..,) the dreams with him are different.  There's a comfortableness with him, there's an ease between us that I don't know if I've ever experienced before.

I wake up wanting to immediately go back to sleep (not uncommon for us depressive types so this definitely is NOT HELPING MATTERS) with an aching and a yearning for love that, I suppose, I'm glad is back (or is still there somewhere) but at the same time, oh the sadness.

**Edited to add - Eric drives a pickup truck...probably one of the things that got me feeling like maybe he was "it"?  Although he didn't fit the blue collar worker portion of things being a software engineer, but of course I told myself that maybe my self concious was seeing the word "engineer" and turned it into plumber, electrician in my head.  Do you see how my mind works???  It's no wonder I'm freaking crazy.

I really hate to use this blog as a "waaaaah, whoa is me" sounding board, and so I've sort of been neglecting it for awhile, since there's really nothing new going on, and definitely nothing positive to report.

Obviously the economy sucks, everyone's aware of this, and the job market is horrific.  Right now it feels like I'm going to be stuck exactly where I'm at forFUCKINGever and, well, who wants to read about that?

So, I'm barely hanging on here in Wisconsin.  Depression's back in FULL FORCE, gets harder and harder to (quote the following movie!) remind myself to breathe every day... blah blah blah.

ttyl.

I'm going to be completely honest.  Over the last 1 month and 1 week of sobriety, my eyes have been opened to a lot of ugliness, mostly my own.

Although I would NEVER abuse or purposely mistreat my daughter in ANY way, shape or form, I realize now just how much a priority partying was in my life.  Over the last month, I've had this overwhelming desire to BE A MOM to my daughter, something I haven't felt since her first few years of life.  I didn't realize that I hadn't been feeling this, but now that I'm experiencing it...it's really put into perspective just what alcohol does to people.

That neverending quest to numb myself succeeded in ways I never intended.  I never intended to prioritze partying over my daughter, but that happened.  I'm not proud of this, but I'm glad that I realize it now.  Being my daughter's mom is by far the very best opportunity I've ever been given, and I've let so many years blur & whiz by while I drank myself into oblivion, all the while thinking that it wasn't affecting her negatively, I was still able to be what she needed right?  Wrong.  Sooo very wrong and deluded.  I won't waste any more time - I can see clearly now.

Keep your fingers crossed for me - I have a final interview tomorrow for the company I interviewed with on Thursday.  Hopefully I'll have some good news tomorrow night!  :)

1. What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before?

Quit partying for good.  Ok, it's been 3 weeks but...with the exception of pregnancy almost 12 years ago, I've never gone even close to this long without at least drinking.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

I didn't make any last year, perhaps that should've been a hint to just what an unproductive year it was going to be?

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

No.

4. Did anyone close to you die?

My cousin Johnny, heroin overdose, way too young.

5. What countries did you visit?

Kenosha, Lake, oh...haha...it says countRies, not counties.  None.

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?

A decent job that I don't despise and that is NOT 3rd shift.

7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

December 12th, last day I partied.  One day at a time one day at a time.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

I sound like a broken record but, the no partying thing tops the list.

9. What was your biggest failure?

Just about everything else I did all year.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

Lots of illnesses, no injuries.

11. What was the best thing you bought?

Christmas presents for my daughter.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?

My daughter's now an all A student!  :)

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

My own.

14. Where did most of your money go?

Again, broken record.  Partying, rent (previous to losing everything), car.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

We saw Kanye West in May, I was really excited about that.  N.E.R.D. and Lupe Fiasco opened for him and ended up being better than he was. which was surprising.  Also, was very excited about new Killers CD that came out in December.  Oh - of course, the Twilight movie.

16. What song will always remind you of 2008?

Anything by The Killers, Everyone Nose by N.E.R.D., anything by Atreyu.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder?  Sadder
b) thinner or fatter? Fatter
c) richer or poorer? Much poorer

18. What do you wish you’d done more of? 

Saving money, being responsible, making good choices for my daughter and I.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?  

Partying. 

20. How did you spend Christmas? 

With my family, who are all very glad I've finally realized I was going out too much, spending too much time with people who really in the end don't give a shit about anything other than continuing to party.  Unfortunately I was also battling a sinus infection so I wasn't much fun on Christmas.

21. Did you fall in love in 2008? 

Yes - in and out of love with Eric.

22. What was your favorite TV program? 

The Office, Lost, Battlestar, Top Chef, One Tree Hill

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? 

Hate is too strong a word...but very much dislike - yes.

24. What was the best book you read?  

Book 4 of the Twilight series, which was my favorite of all four and is probably in my top 5 of all time.  Also, it was the first book ever that made me cry.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery? 

Atreyu

26. What did you want and get? 

Fun times 

27. What did you want and not get? 

Peace of mind, a good night's sleep

28. What was your favorite film of this year? 

Hmmm, even though it could never have lived up to the book or my imagination, Twilight.  Also Dark Knight.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? 

35, spent it partying at The Kickstand and Towne Square, followed by an after party at Janie/Trisa's.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? 

Less rock & roll lifestyle type living

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008? 

Um.....non existent?

32. What kept you sane? 

I was very much NOT sane most of 2008

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? 

Robert Pattinson - mrrrrrrrrowl

34. What political issue stirred you the most? 

Prop 8, all things Barack

35. Who did you miss? 

Didn't really spend any time missing people in 2008 that I can think of.

36. Who was the best new person you met? 

I think I met her in 2007 but we started hanging out in 2008 so - Jessica.

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008. 

Life is precious and can end abruptly by doing nothing at all.  When you add to those odds by making horrific choices and living like you're 21 again, really you're just asking for it.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year. 

Well, I'm quoting my favorite lyrics and you can find them at the top of this here website, but they're really brilliant and completely pertain to me at any given point so:        My heart, it don't beat, it don't beat the way it used to and my eyes, they don't see you no more. 

And my lips, they don't kiss, they don't kiss the way they used to and my eyes don't recognize you no more.

I can't tell you how many times I've come here to a blank page, started typing, only to stop one or two sentences in - my own words making even me sick.  It's the same ol' story really, nothing's changed.  I'm STILL not working, although I start a job next Tuesday (Oct. 14th) making 1/2 of what I made at my last job but, you know, the economy being what it is combined with my shaky history over the last few years and, well, I have to take what I can get.  It's better than no money.

I'm going to be 35 on Saturday and I have never been so low or felt so horrific about the state of my world in my entire life.  I'm not working,  I'm living with my parents (although feel lucky that I had the option at least), repo'd car, creditors coming after me like you wouldn't believe and, really, because of the enormous pay decrease I'm taking, there's no end in sight to any of it.

The trip to Vegas that was scheduled for this weekend got cancelled due to the people at cheapoair.com cancelling our outbound flight and since we weren't able to take one of their alternate flights, they were going to try to charge another $250 per ticket.  Which, fine, I can't afford it anyway OBVIOUSLY but when I informed Eric that the trip was cancelled, he said to keep my babysitting plans (H's dad) and plan on spending the weekend with him.  At first he thought he'd take me gambling since, you know, cancelled Vegas trip and all, but I'm really not big on gambling.  We'd been talking for some time now about how a weekend in bed, getting up to do nothing other than shower or answer the door for food delivery sounded downright HEAVENLY, so I suggested what better time for that plan than this weekend?! 

So, for the last few weeks, that's been the plan.  Now, there's no real status change on the state of Eric and my "relationship" status, other than a very long past due conversation about our feelings (we both have them, confirmed) for each other and the fact that we'd be PERFECT together (great big DUH to those who know us and have been pushing for this forever) but we both agreed that neither of us is in any position right now to be in a "relationship" at least not as far as comittment and promises and everything that goes along with the decision that  OK - we're together now goes.  So we've been on the same page regarding "us" - we go out, have an awesome time, have great sex, know that we share feelings for each other that at least for now are going to go unexplored, and we're both completely fine with the arrangement.

Except.  Oh you knew there'd be an "except" right?  He does this thing where for a week or two we will be inseparable, he'll call constantly - several times a day minimum, and we'll make lots of plans and do lots of things, and go out a lot and, basically, can't get enough of each other and then BAM!  Usually over a weekend I won't hear from him at all and then for the following week it's hardly any phone calls at all, sometimes not even returning my calls and he's full of "I'm super busy this week" with regards to making plans, etc..,

It's constantly 1 step forward, 2 steps back with him.  I really honestly don't mind the arrangement we have as far as not committing, etc.., but what I can't stand is the get super close and then pull away abruptly thing.  We've fought about this before, always ending with him apologizing for being, well, HIM and then things are good again for a couple weeks and then BAM!  It happens again.

We are free to see other people.  I actually have another guy that I go out with from time to time (no sex, only out to bars usually) that is really wanting more from me (re. a relationship) and is a great guy and an awesome friend of mine.  He & I went on several dates over the summer, usually involving going riding on his Harley (weakness of mine) to Lake Geneva to some quaint place to eat, followed by drinks.  He's an awesome guy, there's several girls in our little part of the world that have expressed interest and he has turned them all down, choosing only to see what happens with him & me.  (We also have had the whole "not ready for a relationship" talk so he does know where I stand on the subject...) 

I know for a fact that Eric is seeing someone else as well so the only thing I can really think of is that during these "off times" he's with her which, fine, whatever but then just SAY SO, don't just blow me off completely for days at a time until I get pissed and then apologize and go back to everything being ok again only to do it again.  It's infuriating, not only because arggghh the whole sharing thing is HARD but because he's my best friend and it's difficult to be without one's best friend when going thru such a trying period as I'm going through.

Anyhow, wow, I just went all kinds of into things.  My point was this...after the Vegas trip got cancelled and Eric and I make these weekend plans, he tells me the other day that I've got him all weekend EXCEPT for Saturday night because while he's a software engineer by trade, he DJs part time for extra cash and he has a paying gig that night.

Um, the night that is MY ACTUAL BIRTHDAY?  Also, if we do plan on just staying in bed all weekend, like we're just going to cut right down the middle of it for you to go DJ at some club in Chicago and I'm going to, what, stay at your place alone that night waiting for you?  No. 

I don't know what to do about him anymore.  I've been honest about my feelings for him here, I'm in love with him - I can admit that and maybe that causes me to place some undeserved expectations on him/our friendship that I shouldn't?  I don't mean to paint him to not be a good guy because, really, he's incredible and has been an amazing friend to me over the last howevermany months.  He's been there for me on many different levels, so I hope I'm not making him out to be some inconsiderate guy that's just trying to get in my pants every so often. 

But at the same time, I don't want to place too much confidence in him and "us" either, or go into this too blinded by love because right now, it seems to me that since we're not in the same place, and I'm getting hurt - whether his intention or not - maybe I need to take a break from him for awhile until we're both in different places. 

So, I'm considering cancelling my "birthday weekend" plans with him altogether and making entirely new ones with my friends, including the other guy who last night asked if he could take me out ON MY BIRTHDAY night.

Really, there's so much more in my life that I need to and should be focusing on other than LOVE and Eric and does he or doesn't he and all of that that I'm actually making myself a little sick with this obsession and wondering and thinking about and whatnot.  I feel like it's such a large amount of energy wasted on what, unrequited love that will inevitably leave me in even smaller pieces than I'm already shattered into?  I hate love.

But you know, when there's nothing going on in your world, and you've complained about everything you can possibly complain about, there really just isn't much left to write about. 

I've got a couple job prospects FINALLY, one of which I'm supposed to hear from today with an offer.  I'm trying not to be negative by saying that it is paying about $10.00 per hour LESS than my last job, and focus only on the fact that I will actually have MONEY again which, let's face it, has been a pretty foreign idea to me the last few months, but it's hard not to think about TEN!  DOLLARS!  LESS!  PER HOUR!

Gah!

Let's see, besides incessantly sending out resumes that apparently go out into a black hole somewhere never to be seen by another human, I've been drinking to pass the time.  Just kidding.

Sort of.

No, I go out now about 1 time per week (Fridays) and am fortunate enough to have friends who want to spend time with me enough that they offer things like free shots of tequila and all the beer I can drink (dangerous) if I'll just go out and be my normal, jovial self.  And, queen of denial that I am, I'm able to snap into PARTY TIME - - EXCELLENT mode pretty much whenever so - yay for that.

I start a women's pool league tonight.  No, not of the SWIMMING variety... billiards baby.  We were supposed to play for our local, regular watering hole, however we got recruited to play for a rival bar in what will surely be forever known now as poolgate, at least that's what it seems like to our "regular" bar.  But, the rival bar offered many more PERKS than our regular bar so.....sorry Kickstand.  (How sad is it that low v-neck cut pool league SHIRTS are one of said perks?  But - in my defense - they do have a rather catchy and somewhat provocative saying / play-on-words on the front of them so -  what's a girl to do?)

My daughter is now in 6th grade, and qualified this year for gifted language classes.  Which basically means tougher spelling words, much more difficult reading assignments and, most excitedly, writing competitions.  I'm so proud of her, she's such a smart ass.  Literally.

Alright ya'll, I'm outta here. 

Amber - WHERE ARE YOU?

Let me start by saying that any men that happen to read me, may want to skip ahead to the next paragraph.  You've been warned.  Apparently the title of this entry should be the sole basis of this blog, seeing as how I am again on Day 1 and the last time I wrote anything here was Day 1 of my last cycle.  Also, I should have checked here to see when I last had my period because then I wouldn't have been freaking out for the last 4 days thinking I was late when I wasn't.  Oops.   Maybe my period makes me more introspective? 

Ok, now that that is out of the way.

Things haven't really gotten any better since I last wrote.  I'm still unemployed (stupid, sucky job market), and now in addition to losing my house, my car was also the victim of my lack of money.

My daughter and I officially moved into my parents' house on Tuesday.  While I'm sooo grateful that they had 2 extra bedrooms and the willingness to deal with us living with them, UGH - I'm 34 and LIVING WITH MY PARENTS.  Additionally, they have THREE dogs, all of which I'm allergic to so - you know - fun times.

Hmmm....what else is new?  My (now old) landlords have turned into complete psychos through all of this.  Granted, we had to break the lease, however we could have been douchebags and let them evict us, or at least stayed for the month's worth of security deposit that we put down initially but we didn't.  Additionally, we left the house in excellent condition.  It took a few more days than we'd planned on, seeing as how I had to move from a house to 2 bedrooms (lots of stuff got thrown away) but overall, we were very good tenants to them.  We were NEVER late on rent, took care of the house, made sure it was pretty much ready to rent again upon our moving out, etc..,

Well, we were these particular landlords' first tenants ever and, so, I don't think they realize just how good they had/have it with us because they're doing the following:

1)  Keeping our $1000 security deposit.  Which, fine, whatever, we broke the lease.

2)  Charging us an additional $33 per day over Aug. 1st that we needed to get everything out of the house and completely clean from top to bottom.  Another fine, whatever, technically they're keeping our security deposit which should cover all of August but, be assholes if you want.

3)  Charging us $60 to have the dumpster emptied 2x due to all the things we had to throw away.

4)  Charging us extra to have the bathroom floor recaulked.  Isn't this supposed to come out of the SECURITY DEPOSIT?

5)  Charging us to have the front doorknob replaced, due to the door swelling due to the summer heat.  Um, what?  If you're going to do this - again - isn't this what a SECURITY DEPOSIT is for?

I could probably go on and on but it's really boring and infuriating and just one more thing to worry about.

So, yeah, I guess you could say that I've officially hit rock bottom..... lost job (check), lost house (check), lost car (check).   Right now, the only reason I know which way is up is that it is exactly opposite from which point I'm looking.

And on that note, a book list:

Key
1) Bold the books you have already read
2) Italicize the books you intend to read
3) Personally added: Notes in parentheses next to note-worthy titles.
4) THE FIVE PEOPLE YOU MEET IN HEAVEN SHOULD NOT BE ON THIS LIST.

***********************

1) Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
2) The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien
3) Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
4) Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling (I've only read 2 of the series but I'm bolding this anyways, so there.) 
5) To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee 
6) The Bible
7) Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
8) Nineteen Eighty Four by George Orwell
9) His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman
10) Great Expectations by Charles Dickens (I can't stand Charles Dickens.)
11) Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
12) Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
13) Catch 22 by Joseph Heller 
14) Complete Works of Shakespeare (Not his complete works, but enough to make bolding this only a partial lie)
15) Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
16) The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien
17) Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks
18) Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger
19) The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger (this is my favorite book of all time!)
20) Middlemarch by George Eliot
21) Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell
22) The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald 
23) Bleak House by Charles Dickens
24) War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
25) The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams (I'm guessing the movie doesn't count?)
26) Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
27) Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28) Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
29) Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
30) The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
31) Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy 
32) David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
33) Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis
34) Emma by Jane Austen
35) Persuasion by Jane Austen
36) The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe by CS Lewis
37) The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
38) Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis De Bernieres
39) Memories of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
40) Winnie the Pooh by AA Milne
41) Animal Farm by George Orwell
42) The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
43) One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez (Beautiful. Perfect.)
44) A Prayer for Owen Meaney by John Irving
45) The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
46) Anne of Green Gables by LM Montgomery
47) Far From The Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
48) The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (2nd favorite book of all time!)
49) Lord of the Flies by William Golding
50) Atonement by Ian McEwan 
51) Life of Pi by Yann Martel (Own it; I hear it's just brilliant.)
52) Dune by Frank Herbert
53) Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons
54) Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
55) A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth
56) The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57) A Tale Of Two Cities by Charles Dickens (this is the only Dickens book I like)
58) Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
59) The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon
60) Love In The Time Of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61) Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
62) Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
63) The Secret History by Donna Tartt
64) The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
65) Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
66) On The Road by Jack Kerouac
67) Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy
68) Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding 
69) Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie
70) Moby Dick by Herman Melville (Does it count if I have TRIED to read this book several times but make it like 2 pages in and die of boredom?)
71) Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
72) Dracula by Bram Stoker
73) The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
74) Notes From A Small Island by Bill Bryson
75) Ulysses by James Joyce
76) The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
77) Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome
78) Germinal by Emile Zola
79) Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
80) Possession by AS Byatt
81) A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
82) Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
83) The Color Purple by Alice Walker
84) The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
85) Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
86) A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
87) Charlotte's Web by EB White
88) The Five People You Meet In Heaven by Mitch Albom
89) Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90) The Faraway Tree Collection by Enid Blyton
91) Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
92) The Little Prince by Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93) The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks
94) Watership Down by Richard Adams
95) A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
96) A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute
97) The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98) Hamlet by William Shakespeare
99) Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
100) Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

Not bad - 35 out of 100 - apparently the average person has only read 6 on this list so - yay for me!