Friday Reads

Happy Friday all! I spent last week reading Eating Animals, and I already updated you on how it changed my life. Then, for some brain candy, I read Are You There, Vodka? It's me, Chelsea by the sometimes hilarious Ms. Chelsea Handler to empty my brain out. Empty is actually a good word to describe the whole book. The first five essays in it are, well, meh. Not hilarious, not inspiring, and more self-indulgent than anything else. Though the book picks up some steam by the end, I'm still not exactly impressed. Her first book, My Horizontal Life, is much funnier, probably because everyone has awkward sex stories that are relatable. Lord knows I certainly do.

Anyway, this weekend I am going to try and finish two books, one of which I have been positively aching for.

I have a huge writer crush on Lorrie Moore, ever since I read her short stories in my college Creative Writing Workshop course. Bonus points to Ms. Moore for being a college English (not creative writing!) teacher in her professional life. While this means that we have to wait a long time for her books, they are always filled with gorgeous writing, feminist themes, and thought provoking memories. This lady is magic, and inspires me to put a little more extraordinary into the mundane things I write on this here blog.

While I am so stoked for A Gate at the Stairs, it is definitely a book that needs to be savored in a quiet place, and since the bulk of my reading is done on my gray couch, surrounded by my fat cats, with Kev playing video games or watching terrible movies in the background, I also have Everfound, the final book in the Skinjacker trilogy by Neil Schusterman, on the back burner. I have to admit, I read this trilogy on the recommendation of one of the kids in my 8th grade LA class, who ranted and raved about them, and asked me if I had started them every day until I had no choice but to start for my own mental sanity. While I haven't fallen in passionate love with this trilogy (they are a little too over the top for me, and some of the characters could be developed better), I am excited to see how he wraps things up.

Don't forget to tweet your Friday Reads with the hashtag #fridayreads. More importantly, don't forget to read!

What are you reading this weekend?