Item 16 - Finish 30 9 books - "Ulysses" by James Joyceand"The New Bloomsday Book" by Harry Blamires

From "Ulysses 'Seen'", something that everybody should check out, not just Joyce fans

This one was a little bit of a cheat as it's the third time that I've read "Ulysses." It's become a somewhat semi-annual tradition for me to start reading it as late in the year as I can and still finish it by Bloomsday. Each year I try to expand on the tradition and make that Bloomsday a little bit extra special. This year I added "The New Bloomsday Book" to the mix. I've read annotations for "Ulysses" before, but never quite so comprehensive."Ulysses" is one of those books that the more you read about it and what it means the better it becomes.

But this entry wasn't going to be about either of these books, I feel the very fact that I read a book about a book while I was reading the first book says enough about the amount that has already been said by other far more intelligent people. Instead, I was going to write about what I did with my Bloomsday to make it remarkable this year. I had a plan to get lamb kidneys and have a whole meal based around that. Unfortunately, I missed my chance to order them as I was distracted by a number of other things going on in my life.

I was able to salvage the day though, I bought some Guinness and got to share it with one of the only other people in my life that enjoys Joyce (and Guinness) as much as I do. My mom has had a few health problems recently (in comedy this is what would be called "Understatement"), so being able to share a beer with her and just getting to chat for a little while was special enough.

Besides, next year is the 110th Bloomsday. Shit's gonna get real.