No, you silly people, that’s a term from the horsey set, not the BDSM set. But it’s essentially what happened to me as I was trying to lose 5 pounds on a vacation. The occasion is Mrs. Edge’s family reunion, and instead of being cooped up in an oversized cottage on the Carolina shore with a dozen and a half in-laws, I decided to make time to be out of the house for a while. It’s tough, because most of the time they are cooking and eating. The kitchen is awash in cookies, chips, donuts, cake, sausages, bacon, cheeses, potatoe salad, and pretty much everything else that I’m trying to avoid for the next few months.

And yes, the parallel with the orgasm denial which Mrs. Edge and I sometimes practice has provided me with a few moments of ironic humor, especially when I’ve cooked a few things that everyone raves about, but which I won’t eat.

Anyway, the shoreline highway has been long, flat, and beckoning. Here’s a few shots of me mugging it up at the various mileposts. On this particular day, I started out too late in the morning, and got a bit overheated on the way home. I pulled over to the side of the road and waded into the ocean to cool off, shoes and all. And when I made it home, I waded into the pool exactly the same way.

I’ve scheduled this post to show up later, so I’ll have been back for several days when this gets published.  The weather has been great so far; it’s hot and sunny, so I’ve been keeping my shirt on when I ride, and using suncreeen before I head out.

And no, I’m not wearing a sweater. I’m posing shirtless for the handful of readers who prefer the “natural” look on a man.

. . . Here comes . . .

The Geezer!

“Get off my lawn, you damn kids!”

Yeah, how many gray-haired superheros do you see lately, huh? Not many. You know why? Because they retired and moved to Florida, that’s why. They’re living in a high-rise condo by the Gulf of Mexico (although a few of them are living in a retirement community off of Key West). That means that there are only a few of us left up here in New England.

Unfortunately, we get a little busy, what with the leaf raking and lawn re-seeding, and the trips to the dump on the weekends, so we don’t have much time for that crime-fighting stuff anymore. But that’s okay, most of the crime here in the ‘burbs are petty things anyway, like the neighbor who doesn’t leash his freakin’ dogs, or the guy at the end of the block who burns leaves without a permit. Oh, and the damn teenager who just got his license and who keeps driving up and down the street at all hours, his amped stereo blasting, ba-doompa, ba-doompa, ba-doompa so you can hear him coming a mile away. And none of that good music, like we used to have back in my day, mind you. No, nowadays it’s all that new stuff that doesn’t have any words to it, just guys wearing mascara, screaming into the damn microphone.

And never mind that, how the hell do these spoiled kids afford to drive around all day with gas prices so high? I’ll tell you how: their damn parents just give’em the gas credit card and off they go. No appreciation these kids, let me tell you. When I was that age, we had to borrow a car from Dad or an older brother and he’d make us wash it and fill the tank before we returned it. We’d drive down to the local malt shop and the waitresses would skate out to the car and. . . hey, do they even have skating drive ups anymore? No. Godammed fast food joints put’em outta business, that’s why. All that greasy food gives me heartburn now, not like those burgers we had back in my day. I could eat two of them with a side of onion rings and wash it down with a chocolate malt. . . and that’s another thing: those damned fast food joints don’t even have freakin’ milkshakes anymore, now they sell you this frozen edible plastic in a cup. You know why? Because the dairy all goes to making those damned protein bars and liquid diet shakes that everybody drinks now. Pretty soon we’re not even gona need teeth, we’ll just drink our steak dinner out of the foil carton.

And don’t even get me started on why you can’t get a good steak anymore. . .

Yeah, yeah, I know - y’all just saw my butt a couple of weeks ago. But I’ve been kind of busy, and Mrs. Edge hasn’t taken any shots of me like she promised. And we’re on vacation this week, and cooped up in a house with over a dozen other people, with not much chance for me to pose.

So, I’m sorry, but you’ll have to make do with another shot of my butt right after a good, hard bike ride. My vanity is your gain, today.

Just because some of you asked so nicely.

My thighs are a bit sore; I wonder if anybody would volunteer to give me a massage?

I may have mentioned that last summer, Mrs. Edge and I spent the summer working out at a gym with a trainer. This was a result of my health scare combined with her thinking about getting lipo. We decided to give the harder route a try first.

We’d meet after work and on alternate days we would run our asses off on a treadmill, or would lift (or pull or push) weights. By the end of the summer I had lost 15 pounds, but more importantly, had toned up pretty well, and had learned how to exercise properly. Mrs. Edge kept going for another month, and developed some nice muscle definition for the first time in her life. Her back and shoulders were strong and she was getting that sexy V shape. I’ve documented my own progress through some of my HNTs, although I’ve been modest about mentioning how hard I worked at it.

Then the holidays hit. Thanksgiving turned into Christmas, and three months of eating, combined with the winter doldrums saw me gain 10 of those pounds back. When my formerly loose pants started to get snug again, I knew I had to act, if only to not be embarrassed about posting more HNTs. I mean, how many shots of my arm could I get away with?

I didn't really look like this, but I felt as if I did.

I bought a multi-purpose bench and a boatload of weights and made room in the “Utility Room,” which is what they euphemistically call the large closet that houses the washer, dryer, ironing board, pantry shelves, winter clothes, old toys, and the cat litter boxes. Since March, I’ve been making a point to work out according to the schedule we’d had the previous summer, concentrating more on my stomach and upper body. On Monday and Fridays I do 20 to 45 minutes of arm, shoulder, and chest exercises, and on Wednesdays I concentrate on lower body. Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays I do various abdominal exercises. Several days a week after work, I take off for a 5 to 7 mile bike ride in which I try to keep to 20 to 25 minutes at about 15 mph. That takes care of the cardio. Even after buying some good running shoes, I still have a hard time with running more than a mile or two; my legs and ankles just aren’t adapting, I get shin splints, and all sorts of aches and pains, probably from pounding the pavement with 20 or 30 more pounds on my body than I should have.

The point of this is that after several months I finally started seeing some progress in in getting back to where I’d left off, and lately I’ve been feeling pretty good about that. My pants are getting less snug, I’m seeing more definition in my arms and shoulders, and the other day I even noticed (finally!) some muscle definition around my abs.

Of course, I had to stand just the right way and suck in my gut, but hey - you’ve gotta take the little victories when they come, right?

So one morning I’m admiring myself in the mirror, interfering with Mrs. Edge as she’s getting ready for work, and I was going on about some imagined improvement or another, wondering aloud which clothes would enhance my physique, when she gave an exasperated grunt.

“You’re so vain,” she told me.

Vain? Me? No, no! I’m just critiquing my, uh. . . checking out my, er. . . looking for, um. . . trying to. . .

Yeah, okay, maybe just a little, teeny bit.

See, here’s the thing. Guys in our society, especially from my generation and before, don’t really think about how they look. A few gray hairs, a few wrinkles, a few extra pounds don’t seem to matter. With 20 women’s stores for every men’s store in your average mall, we’re simply not used to thinking about ourselves in that fashion. And I actually do feel a little silly looking at my body and trying to spot the small changes that happen over the weeks.

In fact, last year, the trainer, trying to psyche me up, said “Why are you here? Why are you punishing yourself like this?”

“Uh. . .”

“To look good, right? To be pumped, right? To show off those guns, right?”

“Uh, no, dude. I’m really here because I need to get healthy again.”

He looked at me for a moment and said, “Well, most people say that they’re trying to look better.”

I shrugged. To me, that seemed a bit. . . vain.

Vain? Personally, I realized that I hadn’t thought much about my own body in 20 years. Back in my late 20s and early 30s, I used to exercise a lot, and my job required a lot of physical labor. While I might have had an extra 5 or 10 pounds at any one time, I maintained the same weight and clothing size for years. That started changing when I hit my mid to late 30s. I modified my lifestyle, but at some point in my mid 40s I began spending more time behind a desk. My house was finished, so I did less work outside. And frankly, Mrs. Edge and I had hit a low point in our relationship which left me somewhat depressed, adding to my lack of concern with the changes happening to me. And stress at work, stress over other family situations, stress at work, stress over money at home, and stress at work have also taken their toll.

Vain? The last year or so has been a “project” for me to get my body back to where I think it should be. I’ve been taking meds to lower my cholesterol and blood pressure, but I’ve managed to shave 50 points off the cholesterol just through a change in diet, and I’ve dropped a few points in my blood pressure just from kicking up the exercise.

Vain? I’ve cut out almost all dairy products, most fats, and cut way back on bread and wheat products. A typical lunch for me is a couple of slices of turkey breast, some lettuce leaves and a dab of mayo and mustard on high-fiber, whole multigrain slices of cardboard bread. I might have one or two hard boiled eggs a day for protein, with a measured 1/4 cup of unsalted almonds. I’ll cut up an apple and sprinkle cinnamon on it, or take some sections of other fresh fruit. I limit my “treats” to that one plain donut at our weekly production meeting, and maybe every couple of weeks an ice cream with my daughter.

Vain? I bought myself a heart rate monitor that calculates how many calories I’m burning so I can better tell how much activity that I’m getting during the course of the day. I find that I’ve become almost-but-not-quite obsessed with choosing the best carb/meat combinations at a restaurant, the routine that will burn the most calories for me, the bike route that will give me the best cardio workout.

Vain? Let me tell you, friends; this is some hard freakin’ work, and it’s not fast! It is very time and labor intensive. I remember musing last year with the trainer on how so many people come to the gym, expecting to “fix” ten or fifteen year’s worth of poor diet and lifestyle choices in 12 weeks or less. He told me that a quarter of the people drop out after 3 to 4 weeks into the program. That’s probably because you don’t start seeing any good results until at least 2 months into it, and that many people think that serious training is supposed to work miracles. He also thought that a few of the people, even though they have a diet plan that goes along with the workout program, tend to think “Well, I burned off 500 calories at the gym, so that means I can have that bacon cheeseburger for dinner.” It’s human nature, and I don’t blame people for getting frustrated. At least once a week, I get frustrated, too, thinking about how much energy I’ve been burning and how much time I’ve put into this, and how much food I’ve been passing up at parties and picnics.

Vain? I know that at the rate I’ve been going, I can expect to take another six months to a year in order to get to the point where I only need to worry about simply maintaining instead of losing. That’s a daunting prospect; too late many of us realize how much easier it is in the long run to maintain what we have than it is to try to repair the damage.

Vain? While I’m ashamed to have let myself go as far as I did, I’m also proud of my accomplishments. I feel better physically, and I’m starting to look better, as well. That makes me feel better about myself, which encourages me to keep at it. And Mrs. Edge has noticed the difference, too; I think that she’s just tired of listening to me turn my body into a project, obsessing over the little details. And taking up her mirror space while she’s trying to get ready for work.

Anyway, one of the reasons that I’m telling you this is because it helps me affirm my own commitment to this “project.” I’m not out to become a body builder. I am, however, committed to bringing my physical body to be more in sync with my mental age.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go take a shower while there is still some daylight; it makes it much easier to see the muscle definition on my back and shoulders. . .

Dev’s note on her top search terms led me to take a look at what my own have been; not just for last week, but for the last couple of years. I’ve sorted out the variations on the top searches; I’ve thrown out the searches on the blog name itself, and I’ve come up with a Top 10 list that’s not too surprising.

Mostly.

1. Orgasm Denial
2. Chastity Stories
3. Marina Sirtis
4. Thigh Boots
5. CB-6000 / 3000 / 2000
6. Chastity Porn
7. Fetish Wear
8. Frenum Piercing
9. Vanilla Wife
10. Male Chastity

Yes, after the variations on “chastity,” “orgasm denial,” and “fetish wear,” Marina Sirtis is one of the top searches that brings people here.

That’s a result of a post - a blog meme, actually, from last year in which I named the sexy Ms. Sirtis (Deanna Troi of Star Trek, The Next Generation) as one celeb that I’d like to top. I linked to a small pic (I found a larger version of that pic that I intend to scrutinize very carefully for the next couple of hours) of that actress, done by the incredible guys at 4F Creations in which Ms. Sirtis is shown as a sort of latex Borg fetish pinup, which has now become one of my most popular search hits.

Latex Borg Fetish. Hmm, I don’t see that on the list of search hits, but I’m ever hopeful.

And here I was, worried that people only came here for the hawt chastity porn. I feel much better now, knowing that people don’t see me as a Johnny-one-note.

This comes at a particularly good time, though, because Ms. Sirtis is only a couple of years younger older than I am, making her one hell of an attractive “older experienced woman.” Since I’ve already had a rant about the delicious incredible Kim Cattrall, I think that I’m going to dedicate this post to the celebration of Marina Sirtis: yet another woman who continues to be even more attractive as she gets older.

Edit: In searching the IMDB, I discovered that she was born in 1955, not 1960 as I had read elsewhere.
ETA: Added the reference to Deanna Troi for the non ST geeks.

So, yesterday I had to opportunity to meet a really great guy; polite, well-mannered, and enjoyable company.

Oh yeah, and I got to meet Fusion, too.

*ahem*

Living out in the hinterlands of Southern New England, I don’t get the opportunity to meet many fellow bloggers, so it was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up when I learned that Fuse was going to be traveling through this area, and I thank him for arranging his travel schedule to accommodate my work schedule this week.

He called when he got into the Nutmeg State, and while I had given him some ideas on interesting sites to vist on the way in, he decided to press on to his hotel and tackle the sightseeing until the next morning, when (hopefully) the heat and humidity would be lower. He stopped by late Saturday afternoon, and I immediately put him to work cutting up the brush in my back yard so I could haul it away later on.

Well, not really.

We BSed for a while until Mrs. Edge, who had been out shopping, came home. Then, knowing that he had traversed the country seeing all sorts of great natural and man-made wonders, figured I’d give him a break from all that.

I brought him to the grocery store.

Hey, we all gotta eat, right?

We took a detour around town, but despite the fact that I live near a scenic ridge, Connecticut is really much more picturesque during the autumn when the leaves are changing colors and you can see the valleys and hills unobstructed. During our half hour ride, all we could see were a lot of green leaves.

While it’s a given that most of us can be someone that we’re actually not while on teh internetz, I found Fuse to be one of those people who is very much in person like his online persona. He really is good-natured, and modest. Good for him for being able to keep it real.

So we grilled up some steaks and vegetables and steamed some local corn, and polished off a few bottles of wine. He also called Kimba so we could say hi the old fashioned way, by voice. I told her that she sounded like “one of those British birds in a 60’s spy flick.” She protested, understandably, that she didn’t sound British at all. I told her that might be true, but were there any 60’s Australian spy flicks?

Kimba, you know I’m just teasing you, right? You have a nice, sexily husky, womanly,  Brit Aussie voice.

Oh, and we really did not take Fusion to Outback Steakhouse for “authentic” Aussie cuisine.

Afterwards he showed us some of the highlights of over 6,000 pics of his trip to Oz last year. We kept the poor guy up until midnight, so I hope he had a chance to sleep and get off to a decent start this morning.

We did give him some brownies to take for the road, though. You know, just in case he gets stranded and needs some sustenance to keep his strength up. He’ll spend a few more days around New England, and head out mid-week to parts south of here.

Travel well, bro.

Heh - Fusion’s coming by for a visit this evening. I’ll let you know all about it later - unless he beats me to it.

S&M Barbie lashed by public

From The Sun (UK):

July 16, 2008

BARBIE’S new S&M look has whipped up a storm – with protesters dubbing it “filth”.

The doll’s image is transformed with kinky fishnets, motorcycle jacket, black gloves and boots.

Makers Mattel say Black Canary Barbie, out in September, is based on a DC comic superhero of the same name.

But religious group Christian Voice said: “Barbie has always been on the tarty side and this is taking it too far.

A children’s doll in sexually suggestive clothing is irresponsible – “it’s filth.”

Hmm. I wonder what they would have to say about the Catwoman Barbie that I bought on Amazon for only $75?

Edit:

RE: Allfor her

You mean this Jazz Cabaret Barbie & Friends?

Hmm. No, those little tarts couldn’t be appropriate for impressionable young minds, could they?

Edit:
RE: Patty

Of course, the Fairy Barbies are certainly much more appropriate because they don’t show as much skin, right?
Hmm. Very short skirt, lots of thigh, strapless top. . . Yes, certainly much more suitable for young gels, don’t you think?

Hey, wait - I just figured it out!

Any Barbie doll wearing black is overly (or overtly?) sexualized. Tops showing cleavage are fine as long as they are purple or pink. Dresses cut up to her little plastic ass cheeks are okay, as long as they are silver, blue, or look like an ice skating outfit. But anything of a similar design in black is assumed to be associated with dominatrixousity, which is obviously a bad thing.

Can’t be showing our skin for the wrong reasons now, can we?

Stop the presses! Here’s a Barbie wearing black, but she’s not showing any skin. At first glance, you might consider that to be a good thing, but look at that costume: Shiny black hood, just like them beedeesemmer people use. And shiny! And boots! And shiny! Hands on hips in a dominatrixity fashion. And did I mention shiny?

You may call this Batgirl Barbie a dominatirx, but I call sub on her. Sub, as in subterfuge and subversive. Pretending to be a good superhero, but in actuality promoting overt sexuality with her tight black shinyness.

If I were a member of one of those religious do-gooder groups, you can bet your ass I’d be on the phone to the boycott hotline to help stamp out this threat to our young, impressionable girls. Who’s in charge of this kind of thing, anyway?

I’ve been Sugasmed again! Thank you for your votes and your support.

Mrs. Edge, after seeing that post, is now thinking that she’d like to take some pictures of me for some future HNTs.

The J Word
“And while you’re with her, I’ll be with him.”

Transcending moment
”It’s that place between fear and arousal, and they are so very closely related.”

Mr. Sugasm Himself
Sugar Bank

Editor’s Choice
Chill Pleasure

More Sugasm
Join the Sugasm

See also: Fleshbot’s Sex Blog Roundup each Tuesday and Friday.

(Sugasm participants should re-post all the links above within a week. The following links may be excluded as long as you include all the above links.)

BDSM & Fetish
Bathroom bang
Bros Not Hoes - F/m Spanking Video Clip
Cock training
Galerías de spanking: Spanking Server
Games Grown Ups Play
The Most Amazing Sex (and I didn’t come)
Mr. and Mrs. Kink Have Great Sex (Again)
My First Ever Fetish Photography Shoot & Other Wonderful Things
New spanking gallerie - Two girls spanked
Religion and BDSM
Rope
TES Fest 2008 was fabulous!
Your Slut

Sex Advice
Ask Miss Bliss-How Do I Know If A Girl Likes Me?
Fetish Safety - Branding
The Kivin Method: Guaranteed Orgasm for Women

Erotic Writing and Experiences
Advanced Exhibitionism
Autobiography of a Masturbator: Porn O’Graphicus, Part 2
Club Tantra: My Experience, Unabridged
Distraction
Fucking no foreplay
Getting to fuck the neighbor 9
Him
HNT - Peach
Insanity never felt so good
Interludes - part 1
Memoir Of A Married Woman
Popping His Cherry
Re: Dinner Last Night
“Red Bottoms” (Complete)
Sloppy Seconds, Then Thirds
That Time of the Month
Whiskey Kisses (unedited)

Sex Work
Sex Worker Solidarity: Catalina
Happy Thoughts on Being a Phonesex Op…
Stamp on my forehead saying “ask me about your fetish”

Sex & Politics
Natalia Antonova on Objectification and Desire
Teen Sex: The New After-School Special?
Women Enjoy Relative Sexual Freedom this 4th of July

NSFW Pics, Videos & Audio
Bedroom Radio #18: Artemis Hunter and the Silver Bullet
Calstar Spanking - Severe deep stripe marks
Cheerleader is tired in gangbang video
Free video audition of Amsterdam sex performer
Half-Nekkid and Getting Shaved
HNT - A bit cheeky (Yes, that’s me!)
HNT - Purple Lace
Making Love to the Camera
Mz Berlin Took This Picture Of Herself In Her New Wasp Creation Corset

Sex Humor
Top 6 Reasons for Not Shaving Your Beaver

Sex News, Reviews & Interviews
Catalina loves Lochai
Comstock Films
Drink Semen for Better Health
Interview about spanking erotica with Spanked contributor Teresa Noelle Roberts
January Seraph Is A Hot Femdom Dominating Jade Indica In Lesbian Latex Role Play
The Monday Buzz: The Bandito
Penny Flame Fucks A Handyman With A Strap-On and Feeds Him His Own Cum
Product Research: Blow Job Dildo
Yes! Yes! Yes! Personal Lubricant

Thoughts on Sex and Relationships
Be nice… until it is time to not be nice…
Finding out your good friends are swingers
Naughty Text Messages and Perverted Friends Makes Life Fun
Sex Advice Review: “Tips to Better Sex and Sleep”
Silence.

Okay, here’s another one of those meme thingies that I got from that girl. What would we do without memes on weeks that we’re busy, I ask you.

“Someone” reckons that the average adult has only read 6 of the top 100 books they’ve printed. It’s not the Big Read though — they don’t publish books, and they’ve only featured these books so far. In any event . . .

1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Italicize those you started but did not finish.
3) Underline the books you LOVE.
4) Reprint this list in your own blog so we can try and track down these people who’ve read 6 or less and force books upon them.

1. The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
2. The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
3. The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
4. Lord of the Flies - William Golding
5. Life of Pi - Yann Martel
6. The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
7. The Color Purple - Alice Walker
8. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
9. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
10. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
11. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
12. Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
13. His Dark Materials (trilogy) - Philip Pullman
14. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
15. Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
16. The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkien
17. Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger
18. Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
19. Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
20. Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
21. Chronicles of Narnia - C.S. Lewis
22. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe – C.S. Lewis
23. Winnie the Pooh - A.A. Milne
24. Animal Farm - George Orwell
25. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
26. Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
27. On The Road - Jack Kerouac
28. Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
29. Charlotte’s Web - E.B. White
30. Hamlet - William Shakespeare
31. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
32. Complete Works of Shakespeare
33. Ulysses - James Joyce
34. Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
35. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo
36. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
37. The Bible
38. The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
39. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
40. Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
41. Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
42. The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
43. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44. Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
45. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
46. Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
47. The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
48. A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
49. The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
50. Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
51. Little Women - Louisa M. Alcott
52. Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
53. Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
54. Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
55. Middlemarch - George Eliot
56. Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
57. Bleak House - Charles Dickens
58. The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
59. David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
60. Emma - Jane Austen
61. Persuasion - Jane Austen
62. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
63. Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
64. The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
65. A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
66. The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
67. Anne of Green Gables – L.M. Montgomery
68. Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
69. Atonement - Ian McEwan
70. Dune - Frank Herbert
71. Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
72. A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
73. The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
74. A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
75. Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
76. The Secret History - Donna Tartt
77. The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
78. Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
79. Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
80. Bridget Jones’ Diary - Helen Fielding
81. Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
82. Moby Dick - Herman Melville
83. Dracula - Bram Stoker
84. Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
85. The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
86. Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
87. Germinal - Emile Zola
88. Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
89. Possession - A.S. Byatt
90. A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
91. Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
92. The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
93. Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
94. A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
95. The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
96. The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
97. The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
98. Watership Down – Richard Adams
99. A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
100. The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas

Funny - most people know me as a “reader,” but I have barely scratched the surface of the more popular works of fiction on this list. Who the heck makes up this stuff, anyway?