Bookish.

Bookish.

This weekend, I finished reading Chuck Palahniuk's Survivor, and adored every minute of it. Until the ending. I'm not going to give away any clues here, because as we all know with Chuck Palahniuk, he likes to really hand you a mindfuck with his endings. I'm about ready to read it again, only backwards, as the chapter and page numbers so subtly suggest. Other than being completely blown away by my own cluelessness, I really enjoyed the book. As usual, I've learned so much usable trivial knowledge from Palahniuk, peppered amongst his mad plot.

However, since then, I've started reading Jeffrey Eugenides' Middlesex, and again, am adoring every minute. Yesterday, I brought the book to work to read at lunch, only to gaze at it longingly all day, wondering if people would notice if I snuck in a few pages at my desk. At lunchtime, I settled into a shady table in our outdoor atrium, and managed to read a few lines in peace before someone came over and practically had to shake me from the book to get my attention before asking, "do you mind some company?" My brain said YES I MIND SOME COMPANY I'M TRYING TO READ HERE but my mouth so diplomatically said, "sure! sit down." Today, I will be avoiding all social contact by scurrying away to an off-campus park. I'm about 120 pages into it, and if anybody would like to join me, pick this excellent prize-winning novel up and hop to it. We can have a little internet book club.

Many months ago, I promised myself I'd read 25 books while I'm 25. It's getting awfully close to August again and ergo me no longer being 25, and I've knocked off somewhere between 4 and 7 books from the list, a far cry from the 2+ per month I had intended. Also, those 4-7 books have been solely Palahniuk and Sedaris. I'm almost done with their entire catalog, along with Eugenides (once I finish Middlesex), and therefore, I hereby beg you for new suggestions. What books totally swept you off your feet? I have a hard time with fancy Jane Austen stuff and long winded landscape descriptions. I like edgy writing and beautiful, difficult themes. Sex always helps. Ready, go: